Just to see how other people got thir buicks I got my 66 riviera from my dad which he drove in high school and was his first car, now I am doing the same so it is a really cool hand me down. Anyone else?
Mine was given to me by my Uncle who was the original owner. He and I shared a passion for all things automotive. We would talk about cars forever. For my High School graduation he handed me the keys to his pride and joy. The car I had fallen in love with 10 years before on the day he bought it, my 70 GS455. It was a good day :beer
Not really special, but special to me. When my '74 Camaro's springs were threatening to go into the trunk I had to leave it at home and leave for my freshman year of college sans auto. For a number of weekends my father would pick me up, drive us back to the Greater Cleveland Area, and we'd look for old muscle cars (I wanted a Hearse, though). We found a nice Cutlass convertible, but it had frame problems and mud. Then one day my father called around noon (waking me up) to tell me my uncle found a Skylark convertible in excellent shape. He told me it was similar in body-style to the Cutlass, but had more style and class. V8, 4V, etc. I agreed to get it. The smell of the air in the fall brings back fond memories of driving around car-hunting those weekends.
I gave up a 50 dollar deposit on a '67 Mustang fastback to go look at my convertible- which was less than 500 yards from the house I was living in at the time. I bought it the next day, I still remember driving the previous owner to the bank so he could deposit his 2895 dollars. I really wanted that Mustang, but the Skylark was a much better car I drive past his house twice a day, to and from work
I used to tease a fellow board member about his passion for Buicks(he has a bunch of them including a '56 and a '69 GS400 convertible), always telling him I was too young to drive a Buick. One weekend in October 2001 a mutual friend approached me about a car he came across. He knew I wasn't a Buick guy but I was a car guy, having just sold my Vette. He nagged me to check it out and I did. Since my Buick buddy wasn't interested in adding to his stable at that time I checked it out and bought it on the spot. I should mention the guy who found it once owned a '70 Skylark and always regretted selling it; he has regretted showing me the one I bought and now tells people there are 2 Skylarks he should have kept for himself!
I was always into old cars. I had a thing for Fords, particulary 68-69 Torino's. I also liked Mopars. I loved Super Bees. What got me into Buicks was my buddy's 72 GS350 with 1 dead cylinder and 180,000 miles. That car would, amazingly, beat everything he lined up against on the street. I was toted around in that car for a year. In 1997 I got the bug, I wanted one too. I went looking through the paper and found a 51,000 70 GS 350 in McKees Rocks, PA, known more around my parts for the strip clubs and crack problems than for cars. We drove down in his car so we could compare rust problems (his was badly rusted,and barely passed inspection). It was sitting in a church parking lot. It was clean with no rust, had some bondo but not much, a real nice interior, but it was undercoated :rant: That covered all the problems it could have underneath. I took a chance and laid down the $5000. Turned out to be a really good car. It does have frame issues though, right behind the front wheels in that boxed section, but over the years I've collected enough parts to solve its problems. BTW... I bought that wore out 72 GS350. The motor is gone, the frame, the roof, the quarters, the doors, the fenders are all wasted. The front seat was recovered in cloth, but is mildewed, the door panels are soft from mildew, the dashpad is junk. But it does have a nice hood, and an excellent core support. It has an AM/FM radio. The grill is decent, but cracked. The tranny was rebuilt and is in my 71 Skylark and the rear is a 3.42 posi. I don't want to get rid of it, although it should be put out of its misery. That car probably has more sentimental value than anything I own. I guess this car is more special than my 70 GS. But I will never get rid of the 70.
When I turned 16-1/2, my grandmother sold me the car for $1 because I needed a car and "she was all done driving". She died two weeks later. -Bob Cunningham
I went to buy a 67 Camaro and the guy sold it a few minutes before I got to his house. I looked in the recycler (california guys know this) and saw a 71 skylark for sale. I went and bought the skylark and have not looked back yet. :beer Although it is a 72 Skylark (lol)
Got my Skylark on my 16th birthday, back in....1987 :shock: . We've had some ups and downs, but I will never give it up...willingly :blast: :laugh:
I traded my 65 Ford F100 for the Buick plus $500. I had totally redone the F100 and had lots of sweat and tears into it. It took me a week to make the trade, but now I'm glad I did. Keith
Was in college and went to a local junkyard with a buddy to find a front fender for his civic. Well I saw this huge car in almost perfect condition sitting there and went to look at it. I didn't know anything about Buicks or large cars for that matter but it just looked cool. Popped the hood and it said 455-4 on top and the rest is history.
In 1984, I got a 4-day pass from the Army. Gave Dad a head's up, and then flew home, and we went to check out some cars he'd identified as possibles. It came down to a F*rd pickup w/ 390 and a stick, or a '71 LeSabre that was the Buick dealer's tranny mechanic's former car. The F*rd was perfect except for a *tiny* brake fluid leak, and the Buick was perfect, so I paid $1285 cash for the 2NABOT, and the rest is history. :TU:
My '70 Stage 1 I knew of my Stage 1 in a junk yard in Oh for at least 6-8 years before i purchased it. I looked at it before but decided I couldn't afford it. While talking to the owner on the phone one day, he asked me if i knew anyone who would be interested in it. I said me, but i couldn't afford it at the time. He told me if he didn't sell it in the next couple of weeks, he was going to part it out. It bothered me so much, that i went home and told my wife how distraught i was that he would part this car out....An all no's matching '70Stage car, with a/c and 4spd. I came home from work the next day and she asked me if i was going to buy the car, to which i replied, that i just couldnt swing it. She handed me a envelope where she had gone to the bank and got a note on the car. We agreed that we would not touch the car till it was paid off. Well, the rest is history.....saved it from a magnet! John
John, that makes your Silver car that much more outstanding. I didn't know it was a junkyard car. Looking at it now one would think you bought it new, parked it on a lift and uncovered it only on it's birthday :TU:
I was looking for a project car for my academy students and had the choice between a 70 Skylark and a 69 Lemans. Figuring we could make a Judge clone, I opted for the Pontiac. IT turned out to be a rust bucket. The more we took apart the worse it got! Finally about two weeks ago I decided to part out the Lemans and find another project car. The kids were disappointed, but understood that putting that much time and money into a rusted Lemans was impractical. I went on eBay and Lo and behold! The Lark I passed on for the Pontiac was back up for sale! The first guy who won backed out. Hopeful that the car was solid, I went up to Kansas to and it was far better than the Poncho. We bought it. Now the farther we take it apart the better it gets. We're all having fun with this!
1981, I already had a built 455 and needed a car. Was working in NJ at the time. Found a GS in Orange, NJ. Paid $350 for it. Had a dead battery, 1 working headlight, no grill, missing one muffler and a bad steering arm. Drove it 50 miles south down the Garden State Parkway with my buddies tags on it. Also had a blow out on the way and the other muffler fell off :laugh: :laugh: Lots of good memories! Here she is when we got back to the HoJo's in Toms River!
I always wanted a TR6 or little MG. Until I turned about 15. I saw a show called Due South and discovered the Riviera. Fast forward a couple of years. I think I looked at ever Riviera in about a 3 hour radius from me. Finally found the one that would be mine. My Grandfather has always had a Buick from as long as I can remember. He always says that a Buick is a symbol of "making it" He always asks me how the Riv is and refers to the "Rumble of the Buick Power"
67 My Grandfather ordered my 67 new, I bought it from him in 1979 for the grand sum of $500 as my first car. I sometimes am amazed that I have now owned it more than twice as long as he did. I always was taken with the car. I can remember as a kid and young teen looking for excuses to go ouot in the garage to see it.
Just about every one of them! o No: First one, '71 Skylark, was a one owner car, 40,000 original miles, and the owner was in the Military, moving overseas. That's what got me interested in Buicks, in the first place (the Power that this car had in Acceleration and Torque was uncompared to anything that I had driven before)! :bglasses: $800, for my first car (that turned into a GSX Stage II clone, shortly after). Another one of my '70 GSs, I kept asking the owner if it was for sale, as I worked with him for almost 2 years. "No, I'm going to restore it sometime..." (How many times have you heard that? ). One day, he's driving a different car to work, instead of the GS! uzzled: I had to ask, of course, "Where's the GS?". He said, "You need to come and look at it, and I'll make you a good deal on it." We went immediately after work, and the car was not in the same condition as I was used to seeing. When I offered to buy it, and was constantly turned down, the car was very Straight, just needed paint. This time, it needed a Rear bumper, DS 1/4, Trunk lid (Major rear end bodywork), as an old lady hit the GS as it was sitting at a Red Light, and she didn't even slow down from about 40mph! :af: I drove the car home, for $100 (and found all the original GS parts in boxes in the trunk, when I got it home, like the Console, Ram Air Cleaner, GS Grille, etc.)! I still have most of the parts from that car, on my other cars, to this day! :bglasses: My last GS, the one I'm currently restoring, a buddy called me up (knowing that I collect Buicks), and told me to come and see one that he found in a neighborhood. He gave me directions, and I went out there. I inspected the car, and the owner's wife came out and described the car the best she knew about it. She let me test drive it, and I came back ready to buy it, immediately! :shock: She explained that the owner (her husband) was sitting in jail, and she was selling his car for his Bail money! :eek2: I got that car for almost nothing, too! :beer
