Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Junkyard Find: 1980 Buick Skylark Limited

It took just eight years for the Buick Skylark to go from a big, rear-drive, credibly luxurious and status-enhancing machine to front-wheel-drive compact based on the unspeakably terrible Chevy Citation. Nearly all of the X-Platform cars are gone now, but the pimposity of this first-year Buick's whorehouse-red interior must have kept it away from The Crusher for more than three decades.
I think the Citation/Phoenix/Omega/Skylark fiasco of the first half of the 1980s did more to damage The General's long-term fortunes than any other vehicle they have ever built, and that includes the Vega. Millions switched to imports and refused to consider buying a GM car ever again, after getting burned by an X-Platform purchase. If my memory is correct, the only reason the Citation didn't set the all-time American record for most warranty problems in a single year was that its Phoenix sibling somehow managed to be even less reliable.
The one positive legacy of the X-Platform nightmare is the GM 60-degree pushrod V6 engine, which continues to be produced today. I don't remember seeing this "Saver V6″ emblem back in this day, but it looks like a factory-issue piece.


Here we see Bill Shoemaker and Magic Johnson pitching the allegedly luxurious '80 Skylark and the allegedly fuel-efficient '80 Electra. I know which one I'd have bought!
Finding a Weird Al cassette in the dirt next to this car helped alleviate my depression about GM's X-Platform-induced downward spiral, by reminding me of how much I enjoyed listening to Dr. Demento during the darkest years of the Malaise Era.

21 - 1980 Buick Skylark Down On The Junkyard - Pictures courtesy of Murilee Martin 02 - 1980 Buick Skylark Down On The Junkyard - Pictures courtesy of Murilee Martin 03 - 1980 Buick Skylark Down On The Junkyard - Pictures courtesy of Murilee Martin 04 - 1980 Buick Skylark Down On The Junkyard - Pictures courtesy of Murilee Martin 05 - 1980 Buick Skylark Down On The Junkyard - Pictures courtesy of Murilee Martin 06 - 1980 Buick Skylark Down On The Junkyard - Pictures courtesy of Murilee Martin 07 - 1980 Buick Skylark Down On The Junkyard - Pictures courtesy of Murilee Martin 08 - 1980 Buick Skylark Down On The Junkyard - Pictures courtesy of Murilee Martin 09 - 1980 Buick Skylark Down On The Junkyard - Pictures courtesy of Murilee Martin 10 - 1980 Buick Skylark Down On The Junkyard - Pictures courtesy of Murilee Martin 11 - 1980 Buick Skylark Down On The Junkyard - Pictures courtesy of Murilee Martin 12 - 1980 Buick Skylark Down On The Junkyard - Pictures courtesy of Murilee Martin 13 - 1980 Buick Skylark Down On The Junkyard - Pictures courtesy of Murilee Martin 14 - 1980 Buick Skylark Down On The Junkyard - Pictures courtesy of Murilee Martin 15 - 1980 Buick Skylark Down On The Junkyard - Pictures courtesy of Murilee Martin 16 - 1980 Buick Skylark Down On The Junkyard - Pictures courtesy of Murilee Martin 17 - 1980 Buick Skylark Down On The Junkyard - Pictures courtesy of Murilee Martin 18 - 1980 Buick Skylark Down On The Junkyard - Pictures courtesy of Murilee Martin 19 - 1980 Buick Skylark Down On The Junkyard - Pictures courtesy of Murilee Martin 20 - 1980 Buick Skylark Down On The Junkyard - Pictures courtesy of Murilee Martin

from The Truth About Cars http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com




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