Writing and photography copyright D. S. Brown except for Owner's Manual pages copyright Buick, spec pages copyright World Cars 1972.

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Average oneownercollectorcar.com Writing and photography copyright D. S. Brown except for Owner's Manual pages copyright Buick, spec pages copyright World Cars 1972. Metric= 5.7 L engine- 20.

1 Average oneownercollectorcar.com Writing and photography copyright D. S. Brown except for Owner's Manual pages copyright Buick, spec pages copyright World Cars Metric= 5.7 L engine L/100km overall average. The Buick Special debuted for the 1961 model year as a compact car based on the Corvair 'A body' platform. General Motors attacked the foreign compact car market with the Corvair and responded to the unconventional technology used in the imports with revolutionary engineering for a domestic vehicle such as air cooled rear engine, and independent suspension. Over at Ford, the conventional engineering and pedestrian styling of the Falcon made them the sales winner in the domestic compact market. The Plymouth Valiant was weird looking although it benefited from some terrific engineering most notably the long runners made possible on the slant 6 engine simply by tilting the angle of the cylinder banks. Rather than follow Ford's example, GM stayed the course of the other domestic compacts and offered cutting edge and often unusual technology when they broadened the use of the Corvair's 'A body' and allowed 'B-0-P' (Buick-Oldsmobile-Pontiac) to have a stab at the market. 1 / 5

2 Pontiac went totally wild with a 389 V8 sawed in half to create an inline 4 cylinder engine using a rope drive to turn a rear mounted transaxle in their Tempest. Oldsmobile wasn't far behind with an aluminum engine and turbocharging for the F-85. Buick came out with a really sweet engine destined to become the heart of the Grand National musclecars a few decades later but that is getting ahead of the story. In the early 1960s all the 6 cylinder domestic engines were inline engines. Buick managed to create a V6 for their Special that magazine testers of the day proclaimed to be nearly as smooth and powerful as a V8 while offering terrific economy of operation (cheaper tune ups and better MPG). Each of the compacts soon added a flashy 2 door hardtop bucket seat version. The Skylark was the bucket seat version of the Special was the last year of the truly compact Buick Special. In 1964 all of the 'A bodies' jumped from a 112 inch wheelbase to 115 inches with significantly longer overhang which bumped the cars into the 'intermediate' class. All GM divisions reverted to conventional engineering after seeing Ford's sales results with the unsophisticated Falcon. The basic A body stayed the course with some 'coke bottle' styling additions created for In 1968 the intermediate A body cars were redesigned with sweeping fastbacks and 'ponycar' dimensions. The front hoods were longer and the rear trunk was truncated. Intermediate 2 door A bodies rode a shortened 112 inch wheelbase while the 4 doors used a 116 inch wheelbase. The final year for this racy looking body was This OOCC 1972 Skylark was a one owner car originally ordered for highway cruising. This Skylark was setup similarly to a 1967 Cutlass Supreme Turnpike Cruiser but without the big block engine. To see a story on the Turnpike Cruiser check the 1967 GAS LOGS on this site. The OOCC Skylark combines heavy duty suspension for high speed stability with the extremely low highway friendly 2.56 axle which is similar to the Turnpike Cruiser's approach. The car was built Friday Jan 21, 1972 in Flint, Michigan and driven for 11 years by the original owner. He sold it coincidentally on his 59th birthday. The OOCC Skylark bench seat interior is plush and stylish like all Buicks. The original owner ordered a color keyed garbage can for the transmission hump, with the obvious intention of uninterrupted driving. No one wants to stop to throw out garbage. Because of the luxurious Buick interior, it isn't immediately evident that this Skylark is a bare bones car. Non power four wheel drum brakes, no A/C, no cruise control or power windows. The Skylark does have power steering, a heater/ defroster and a radio, but that's about it. 2 / 5

The odometer was purportedly on its first time round at an indicated 96,000 miles and its possible this is true mileage.

3 The optional body side and front fender trim molding, full wheel covers, whitewall tires and a vinyl top enhance the looks of the car. Ever practical, the original owner specified front and rear bumper impact pads. Under the hood everything is original and very clean. The OOCC Skylark has a factory installed block heater. The odometer was purportedly on its first time round at an indicated 96,000 miles and its possible this is true mileage. The OOCC Skylark was well cared for, miraculously escaping rust which is ubiquitous in the salt belt. The pristine Skylark was driven year round and came with two bias ply snow tires in the trunk. The original wheels had early 1970s era bias ply whitewall tires mounted with original hubcaps. The tires were old but the sidewall stripes were kept pure white by the original owner. The tires were set to 32 PSI which is the maximum inflation for the G78-14 bias ply tires according to the Skylark owner's manual. The original format bias ply tires reduce potential MPG because of their inherent higher rolling resistance compared to radials which have less 'tread squirm'. See the article about bias ply versus radials in the GAS LOGS introductory articles. 3 / 5

4 BUICK Skylark BBL MPG WHEN NEW POPULAR MECHANICS July 1972 issue ran an Owners Report on the 1972 Skylark 350. The owners reported almost identical city MPG to the OOCC Skylark. The PM average MPG from 963,353 miles of driving came to 11.9 MPG CITY and 14.5 MPG HWY. There were many complaints about the mileage. Former owners of 1960s Skylarks were annoyed by the drop in efficiency due to lower compression ratio and addition of emission controls. When this sleek new Buick Special/ Skylark bodystyle first appeared for the 1968 model year the car was indeed posting better MPG figures. POPULAR MECHANICS April 1968 ran an owner's report on a 1968 Special Deluxe equipped with the 350 which provides a direct comparison to the 1972 Skylark with 350. The 1968 Buick Special owners reported 13.2 MPG City and 16.2 MPG on the highway. Bear in mind that 1968 was the first year for emissions controls so engine efficiency was already compromised when compared to a 1967 Buick. WORLD CARS 1972 reported better gas mileage. In the preface the Editor explains that the MPG figures are 'approximate' calculated for "a medium load at a cruising speed of about 60% of the cars maximum speed on a varied run." WORLD CARS 1972 estimated top speed at 96 MPH which means they calculated gas consumption at a cruise speed of 57 MPH delivering 16.6 MPG. 4 / 5

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Mount polished. Frame layout

Mount polished. Frame layout November 2014 Brandt made a full mockup of the seat in vinyl to make changes and have patterns for the seats. We did some adjustments the height to lower the seats as much as possible. I was unable to