It’s amazing how nostalgia works. We can take something that was wholly unremarkable, if not downright poorly engineered, and make it seem lovely decades later simply because enough time has passed. And it’s not just cars I’m talking about: VHS tapes, clothing, home decor – whatever we remember from younger, simpler days can be washed in the glow of yesteryear. The Buick Century shown here on eBay is undoubtedly one of the best surviving examples of a car that was otherwise unremarkable and certainly not a high watermark for GM. Still, it might trigger someone to open their wallet for a chance to relive their days in the backseat.
The seller has opened bidding at $2,500 with a reserve; there are no bids yet. The Century was smack-dab in the middle of the malaise era, and sadly, GM was losing the the battle with overseas competition badly. There was a formula at the time that seemed to subscribe to the notion that if we simply improved fuel economy enough, consumers would ignore everything else that was subpar about the car. Unfortunately, GM really didn’t solve the MPG problem, either, so you were left with a car that didn’t achieve remarkable fuel economy, or anything else for that matter. The Century offered a torquey V6 engine and rear-wheel drive, so thankfully it offered some relief in terms of driving dynamics.
However, that’s not saying much when it comes to early 80s GM products. If you weren’t impressed by the engineering, Buick attempted to wow you with luxury-grade features like leather seats, fake woodgrain trim, and some power features. Sadly, you didn’t get power rear windows for all that style, but your money did buy you powered rear vent windows. I don’t know how much comfort those would provide if the A/C ever failed, so best to get that R134 conversion done as soon as possible if you buy this example. The seller believes six can fit comfortably in this Buick, but I believe the transmission hump will make that a challenge in the back seat (or at least uncomfortable.)
The V6 churns out 110 horsepower and 190 lb.-ft. of torque, channeled through a 3-speed automatic transmission. Power is sent to the rear wheels in one of the final years of conventional RWD layout before GM transitioned to front-wheel drive in 1982. The seller notes that the reason this Century has survived in such lovely condition is because it belonged to snowbirds who left it in Florida each year when they returned home to New Jersey, sparing it the road salt and slush from up north. If you ever spent time in one of these cars as a kid, you may find yourself wanting to go back down memory lane and take a shot at this survivor Century. Would you, or is it simply best to leave it as a relic of the past?
Sweet Buick Lavery a great find. Thanks for the article. Reminds me of the gorgeous Seville. Look at those elegant square lines. 🤌
Pretty clear,,,to me, people today are so bamboozled by their info screens and all, they wouldn’t know a wonderful car if it ran them over. I want to thank the staff for featuring cars with plausible prices lately. It’s very refreshing, however, I’ve noticed, generally, cheaper cars don’t last long. I don’t know what the deal is here. I had the Olds counterpart, and was a wonderful car. Even ex-wifey couldn’t kill it. Most of us that are on their last vehicle, would love to have this. The only thing I can figure, is the “ipod generation” just laughs at this, nice try gramps, shame, great cars, nice seats, great heat/ac, things we have just grown accustomed to, had it all right here.
The dealer has it listed on their website for $7,995. No matter how nice, it would be surprising to see bids reach that level. These are probably too generic to generate that kind of interest on eBay.
Steve R
It’s really shameful how we devalue 4 doors, but your probably right. At least the six rest with its own brand. Top value about 6?
This car deserves a V-8 engine to compete with today’s aggressive drivers.
I had it’s Pontiac counterpart an 83 Grand LeMans.minus the a/c but with the same 3.8 V-6. It was nice, quiet and reliable and although slow was quite frugal on gas. This one should find a nice home soon
A nice basic classic car that appears in good shape. Though on the BaT there was a 1980 Olds Supreme diesel with a mere 18k miles that went for $6800, so there’s your comp. This might be worth $5000 to somebody. The $399 dealer fee seems rather hefty.
got to love the peppy 6cly line. the 6 in this car is a slug even going downhill. most likely the snowbird melted away, and they stole it from the estate.3k car tops
I’m one of those who remember the time in the backseat. Grandpa and grandma had the exact same model (in brown). I still have vivid memories of being picked up at the Fort Lauderdale airport for the 45 minute ride to their condo.
Handsome car, well optioned and in great shape. If I had an open bay and could pick it up for 4K, I’d shoehorn a more interesting drive train in it and drive the wheels off it.
I had the Olds equivalent. It was a dog with fleas. Mine had the 231 c.u. Inch V-6. I bought it third hand not knowing it had soft cams in it. I bought it in a 2 door coupe. It was my first car I bought. From rest to half way on the accelerator it gave what it could. Very slow off the line performance. From half all the way to the floor was more growl than bite. It didn’t go any faster. Mine was a stripper. Only extra was the automatic transmission. Mine came with lots of cigarette butts & dog hair in it. As a never smoker I didn’t know until I started cleaning it. The smell came right back. Just gross! I had it for 6 years & it threw a rod at 140,000 miles & 15 years of age. Worst car I ever owned.
You had a car for 6 years and it was the worst car you ever owned? If you had it 6 months, maybe…? Unless all you have had since have been new cars. :)
I was living in metro NY. The only way I can describe it is suffocatingly expensive. I was grossly underpaid in relationship to my pay. I bought that Olds with $900 with $300 left to pay to get it registered & insured. Plus about $400 in repairs to get it on the road. It nickle & dimed me for 6 years while I had it. I mistakingly thought through inexpierence that the car would eventually stop pulling money out of my pocket? It never did. Rebuilt transmission, it came with a by pass pipe. I had to put a catalytic converter on it to pass emissions. The drivers door was exceedingly heavy & the door bushings gave out at the same time the door stopped working. $600 for that repair. New carburator, timing chain & radiator. The list goes on & on. I vowed to never own another V-6 engine ever again.
GM had to get grandpa to give up that ’76 Century to get into this box? This is where the ad men really proved their merit. “Less is more!” Ugly then, ugly now.
My Dad rolled up in one of these and I thought we had arrived (it replaced a ‘76 Granada). Same color, I think it’s a good looking car. Hole in piston at 80k miles. He replaced it with a very similar ‘85 Bonneville… same fate with the 3.8L.
i had a 77 buick skyhawk v-6 hole in piston… dont remember the mileage…
Actually, you might want to forget your time in the backseat of one of these, because the rear windows didn’t roll down! That power window switch on the rear door was actually for the rear vent window. One of the more questionable decisions by GM during an era where there were lots of questionable decisions by GM.
Let’s take an already questionable driving car. And add very heavy wire wheel covers to make the ride (because of added unsprung weight) even worse. A total on-descipt car. I never rode in the back seat of one of these and I don’t care to ride in the driver’s seat today. Tha k you very much.
Deferred maintenance applies to used and new cars and houses, all of them. Whether it’s a well cared for ( following manufacturer maintenance schedules!!!) used car or a neglected one, expect return on investment.
It’s got all the options in that plush vinyl interior. You sure don’t see that oyster color very often. Nice Buick.
no
If given a choice, I would prefer the Pontiac 6000 or Chevy Celebrity version of this car.
This really would offer such a, rare these days, regular driving experience. No torque steer or drama. It wasn’t built to be fast or exciting. Just comfortable enough for a bunch of blue hairs with room for groceries, suitcases or sales samples.
1980 was the last year before the On-board feed back systems that GM had (originally called Computer Controlled Catalytic Converter or C4 before they had to change the name). This was a much better combo. Computerized carbs were not a good idea. I worked on many of them, no fun at all.
I HAD A BUICK REGAL WITH THIS ENGINE IN A 79 STARTED OVERHEATING AFTER LONG RUN WITH LOADS OF BOILING IN EXPANSION TANK STRIPPED ENGINE FOUND REAR BORE WAS POROUS LETTING COOLANT INTO CYLINDER REBUILT GOOD ENGINE OUT OF 2 BUT ONCE STARTED AND RUN FOR A FEW MINUTES OIL PRESSURE WOULD DROP TO NOTHING CHANGED OIL PUMP AND RELIEF VALVE NEVER DID SORT THAT OUT DONT KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO THAT CAR WISH I DID !
Horrible car. Period.
$2,500 is the right price for this car. Reserve price is probably North of $5,000.
I bought a used 1981 Buick with the 3.8 in it. Ran great after I replaced the timing chain & replaced the electric carburetor. Very comfortable car with the velour interior.
If memory serves me correctly, these back door windows don’t roll down which I always thought was a terrible idea by GM.
You are correct. In this downsizing exercise GM removed the window mechanism to allow more rear seat hip room. As we continue to see in the comments, this was not appreciated. Air conditioning was still considered an expensive luxury in the late 70s.
What some folks may not know because they weren’t old enough to remember? Everything was an extra line item. You want intermittent wipers? That will cost you. You want cruise control? That’s extra too. But if you want a cigarette lighter & ashtrays? They came automatically. Today they charge extra for that.
@ John Clyne, what you say is true and more. Every courtesy light except the dome light was an option. My ’81 Horizon did not have a glove box lock, lighter or day/night mirror, the last two I purchased over the counter. There was a prominent Olds dealer that didn’t equip their inventory with radios, regardless of model or other equipment. You picked out your car and walked over to the display and selected the radio. AM, FM, tape, CB? You’re the boss. And yes, Toronado came standard with AM-FM.
Yes, you are absolutely correct. I remember cigarette lighters on budget friendly cars were an extra. The in panel ashtray was there. Where the lighter sat was covered with a rubber grommet.
You’re right about the courtesy lights. My Gutlass only had the dome light. Nothing else. It had an AM radio because that was the base equipment. The speaker & a speaker grill in the center on top of the dashboard. It had a rear defrost because the car was bought new in New York. New York required cars to have that. It had dog dish hub caps. The fancy full color coded hub caps were extra. An arm rest was extra. The under hood light was an extra. The spare tire was a donut spare. Manufacturers cut every corner. I remember a friends sister bought a base Volkswagen Rabbit & he had to go with her to pick out the accessories she needed versus wanted. I think the only option she got was the cigarette lighter because she smoked. My sister bought her first new car in California & she got her car without consulting anyone. No radio & lighter. She added that later because she too smoked.
Been following the ebay auction and it “sold” for $4900, pretty much as I predicted. Half of these fall through so it may get reposted. If it weren’t so far away from me I may have been interested. Love a good granny car!
When I received my 1979 Oldsmobile in 1987 it had 68,000 miles on the clock. It was pretty much used up. It limped to 140,000 miles on the clock until it threw a rod. It was my lowest milage car I ever owned that blew up before 200,000 miles.
I hope the new owner gets a gently used 3.8 V-6? Mine had zero power for passing & was very slow from a full stop. Would I ever buy another V-6 vehicle? He’ll NO!
The latest Ford GT is a V6 (650hp?) and is worth like $750k on average. Also the Jaguar XJ220 (500hp?) is a V6. As is the 1990 Pontiac Bonneville (150hp?) A good V6 will do the job, just gotta find a good one. :)
Datsun Dan,
I bought that Oldsmobile for $900. My budget was $1200. Your suggested cars exceed that by leaps & bounds. I’m was merely suggesting anyone looking at a consumer level car on a budget look elsewhere instead of a V-6. An engineer designed that car to have zero power, poor acceleration & poor economy. It was a death trap when merging onto highways. He should have been shot with a ball of his own sh*t!
OK so some of the early V6’s were terrible. Maybe you got a lemon. Nowadays a V6 will get you 300hp and 30 mpg. They’ve come a long way.
Dealer re listed the car on his website for $6995, so the ebay sale fell through (many bidders are scammers, I know from expereince. some sellers too).
I was sold a car that had a known defect & the owner never told me? Pretty shady to me 🤨. That was long before Carfax. There was no way to check for myself that the car had any limitations. Buyer beware.
I did put a hex on them for being dishonest.