Whether you love GM, hate GM, or are of no opinion on the matter, there’s no denying the success that they enjoyed with their 1964-1972 A-body intermediates. Spread across four of their five divisions, they were a smashing success right from the start. Millions were assembled over those nine years, and of course, entries such as this 1965 Buick Skylark Gran Sport (GS) were part of the formula. This West Werner Bremerton, Washington, example is as clean as a whistle, so let’s give it a review and see if we can determine the secret to GM’s success. Discovered here on craigslist by Curvette, this refined muscle car is available for $22,500.
Pontiac offered up its LeMans/Tempest-based GTO performance car, kicking off a trend in 1964, and Oldsmobile was quick to follow with its 442. Buick jumped on the bandwagon in ’65 with the GS and presented it as a more refined version of its corporate cousins. Total Buick intermediate (A-body) production that year, including all body styles for the Special/Skylark/GS series, amounted to 205K units, with the GS responsible for almost 16K copies. GS body styles included two-door hardtops, two-door sedans (post coupe), and convertibles. The listing for our subject, which is an estate sale, is light on details, so the images have to do the talking. We are told that new paint, which appears to be Sahara Mist Poly (paint code S), was applied ten months ago – and this car looks sharp! The finish is deep, there’s no rust or dents, strong chrome and stainless steel trim, and a very sound-looking black vinyl top. Buick’s ubiquitous road wheels finish off the presentation, and they work very well with narrow white stripe tires.
The seller lists the mileage recording as 15,795 miles, and that’s what the five-digit odometer reads, but looking at the engine compartment, I question that total. What I am seeing is a 325 gross HP, 401 CI V8 engine that appears to be stock and complete, and likely experienced more than 15K miles of use. The seller states, “Runs and drives great, does have a motor noise.” A motor noise, hmm! That’s suspicious, as it could be very minor or a cause for great concern. Making the rear-wheel connection is a Super Turbine 300, two-speed automatic transmission – a bit of a wet blanket on the performance aspect of this car, but I imagine all in all it pulls out with some style.
The interior is described as “very nice,” and it does present well. Actually, the buckskin vinyl upholstery and color-coordinated carpet look new, while the center console shows no age-related deterioration. The instrument panel is typical GM for the era, uninformative, but what’s there is very clear, clean, and legible.
Well, I was pretty excited about this car at first; I like understated, and that’s this Buick to a tee. The price seemed right, too. But the second time through, and focusing on that engine noise business has made me rethink this GS. I appreciated the seller’s honesty, and if you like what you see here and you’re local, you can physically check it out and possibly determine the source of the mystery noise. Beyond that, you pay your money and take your chances, right?
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Nice car, but not worth the gamble at the current price. There is too much downside, all assumed by the buyer. This is a dealer, if they thought it was a simple fix, they’d fix it themselves and increase the price.
Steve R
Exactly!!!
LOL. I saw a Buick dealer sell a Riveria for $500 because it had a noise in the engine. One of the mechanics bought it, replaced two rocker arms and drove it for several years. The UC manager managed to get mad at him and made a fool of himself. After all the UC manager wanted to unload it rather than to possibly take a beating on it.
That may be what is making the noise with this one.
The 65 GM intermediates were some of the best designs of th 60’s. I don’t however like engines that make funny noises. Too much money for a possible expensive problem.
Great car, clean with good options and color combo. I own one, a very satisfying car to drive and deceptively fast (easy low 14’s) even with the two speed. if I had to guess, assuming the easy stuff has been investigated, it’s got a cracked or broken piston. The nailhead is a tough tough motor, but the 60 year old OEM pistons did not age well. Buy it for 18, spend 6 on the motor and beat the hell out of it.
These cars did not run low 14’s .This car would not break 15.
Correct, especially in this configuration. 15’s was about the best you could hope for without some modifications.
Speaking from personal experience, I got my untouched 80k original to run 14.5’s with just a distributor recurve. Were you not able to do that with yours?
Now don’t get all defensive on me, but if a ’66 SS 396/ 360 horse 4 speed that was road tested by professional drivers, (Popular Hot Rodding and Car and Driver) could only muster a 14.6 @ 94 to 97 MPH, I’m having a pretty hard time seeing a 325 horse nail head with a 2 speed slush box putting down 14.5 times. Just sayin’.
I agree 100%! Low 16s are probably closer to the truth.
nice looking GS. shame there is a noise in the motor. too much money to roll the dice. love the colors though. 1 of the best looking taillight panels.
I had a 65 Skylark convertible, put a SBC and 4 spd in it and never looked back. One of the most fun cars I have owned. Got lots of attention too at cruise nights because it was not just another Chevelle or GTO clone. Buy it, put a 383 Chevy in it and have fun. 👍
Buy it and change to a 430 Buick motor and 4 speed. Or a 455.
This would be an absolutely perfect LS swap candidate
Yes I would take a chance on this at a lower price!! Love the 65 GSs.
Had a chance to get one for my first car…Dad said NOPE!! Wanted one ever since!!
Keep the “other engines” out of this Buick!!
Had the absolute twin to this car about 40 years ago. Same paint, same interior, etc. Too bad it was just a rusty parts car. Did make a boat-load of money off parting it out, though. Probably a dozen or better 65 GS’s still out there wearing parts from my car – much better than the crusher.
Nice. I’d upgrade the brakes and suspension, Turbo 400, 15X7 Buick wheels w/yes, whitewalls or maybe redwalls.
As expected it’s a PNW car. “Motor noise” is quite vague but kudos to the seller for being honest about it. An ad with a video of the engine running would be helpful for potential long distance buyers. A noisy lifter is a whole lot less worrisome than a the dreaded knock. I actually like these Buicks. But too much money and too far away. GLWTS.
My employer out of HS had a GS convertible back in ’78. His kids were a little older than me. Was his mother’s car. Dark green with the white roof and interior. Got to drive it once on a cool day in May. Wonder whatever happened to that car.
could have a wrist pin noise. it can live like that a long time. i had a 63 riv with a 401 that had a noise but ran great. tore off the oil pan to find a broken piston skirt laying on the pan. that piston is now on the wall of shame.
@oldrodder: I’ll keep this constructive and factual. 60 year old road tests are exactly that. Inconsistant, deadline restricted and done in wildly different states of tune, track conditions and air quality. The best data we have on verified performance is the results of 25 years of the Pure Stock Muscle Car Drags (https://www.psmcdr.com/pastyears) These results are the product of races governed by inspections to confirm adherance to published rules, held at the same track in similar atmospheric condition by motivated drivers who have spent significant seat time understanding the performance advantages of their specific vehicle. I have been racing my 65 Gran Sport in this series, the first time I went in 2015 with an absolutely stock 80K 401 2 spd I ran 14.93@92 MPH. I then recurved the distributor, dialing in air/fuel ratios through jetting and installing a clutch fan got me 14.5@95. My attention then turned to suspension tuning: balancing corner weights, frt suspension extension, a gear change from 3.23 to 3.42, dialing in shock valving got me .2 improvement on my 60 ft’s and subsequently 14.0@97 (all on an unopened 80k drivetrain). THEN I rebuilt the engine with careful attention to balance, blueprinting, windage and parasitic drag. This has resulted in a best of 13.67@101. If you look close at the results of 2024 and 2025, there are three 65 Gran Sports active (more then 65 GTO’s, 442’s or L79 Chevelles), all inspected and rule compliant and the slowest is 14.40.This can all be confirmed in the linked actual race result data. You mention the two speed transmission, but you might not know that Buick had a switch pitch torque converter, which allowed for a very high stall under load/launch, when coupled with the outrageous torque of the 401 quickly compensated for the high 1st gear ratio by design. Probably more than you ever wanted to know, but the reliance on magazine road tests doesnt do us any favors.
I think that what you’ve accomplished with your car is quite impressive and you should be commended for it. I also agree in theory with your assessment of road tests done by automotive publications, but only “in theory”, and here is why.
Your results are from one car that has obviously been the recipient of meticulous various performance modifications.
I looked up the road test results of factory stock cars from at least 10 different automotive publications
Rhett, accidentally hit send.
The best results were as follows: 4 speed w/3.73 grears, 14.90.automatic w/3.23 gears- 15.70.
The average of all automatic cars was nearly 16 seconds.
There was a factory prepped 4 speed drag car with open headers and slicks that turned a 13.60
at the Winternationals (sorry, don’t know the year)
Bottom line is that your car is an anomaly and not the normal.
OldRodder, I can agree that not too many cars have been subject to the screwing around that mine has, but we have to be selective even as we look across magazine results. The Car Life coupe didnt even have a limited slip diff. And so yes the average could have been 16.0, but thats somewhat misleading. And really, thats nobody’s fault except Buick Marketing for not understanding the assignment and quite a bit has been written about that too. I guess I’ll have to settle to making the point is the Buick was as good a 2nd tier supercar as any other (hyd 396, 4 bbl 389, 390, 383, etc.) And in many cases, better.
Rhett, fair point and I’m happy that we could both see the others point of view.
And, as I said, kudo’s to you for what you have accomplished with your car.
Have a good one.