Thought I'd Put In My 2cents. I Am Steve Caruso And Started A Suncoupe Registery Back In The Early 90's. I Own A GS Stage 1 Suncoupe (HERITAGE GREEN ) With An SCO Number. I Have Documented 2 Other Stage 1 Suncoupes, David Newton's Former Car ( HERITAGE GREEN ) And John Kemper's Recent Purchase ( WHITE ). I Also Have Seen The Former Poston GS 455 Car ( RED ) That Ended Up For Sale Here In Michigan. Thats The Only 4 GS Cars I Know Exist But I'm Sure There Are Probably Others. Before I Got Into Buick's I Have Seen A GS 350 Suncoupe That Was Dark Green With No Vinal Top. It Was For Sale In Shelby Township Mi Around Late 1988. It Looked Original. The Suncoupe Roof Was An Option On Skylark 350 Models. Remember There Were 4 Models, Skylark, Skylark 350, Skylark Custom, And GS. It Was Available On Skylark, Skylark Custom And GS As An SCO. Skylark 350 Suncoupe Production Was 3943 Per The Letter ( See Attached ) I Got From Buick In 1989. This Number Does Not Include Skylark, Skylark Custom, Or GS. The Suncoupe Was Available In 5 Colors, Not 7 As Some Buick Information Shows. You Could Get The Sunroof Without A Vinal Top, But Most Came With The Sport Vinal Top. Accent Tape Stripes Came With The Sport Vinal Top Unless Upper Level Chrome Was Ordered. Another Interesting Thing Was The Special Red Or Gold Carpet Avialable Only On Suncoupes. Buicks Trifold Sunroof Pamplet Says It's Available As Crank Or Slide Operation "your Choice" But I've Never Seen Anything But The 1/4 Turn Handle Then Slide Back. Not All Suncoupes Were Built In Flint, See The Attached Build Sheet From A Fremont, Ca Built Suncoupe That Also Has The Red Carpet. IF ANYONE HAS ANY SOLID INFORMATION ON SUNCOUPE CARS WITH SCO NUMBERS PLEASE FORWARD IT TO ME. IF YOU WISH TO ADD YOUR CAR TO MY REGISTERY SEND ME A NOTE.
When you say the Suncoupe was available in 5 colors. Are you saying body paint colors. Not 7 like most buick info? I think you would be able to get any suncoupe in anybody color that was used for any Skylark! The vinyl sunroof itself was availble in 5 colors that went with the Skylark 350 option. The vinyl sunroof itself was available in 7 colors when special ordered on a Skylark,Skylark Custom, GS. A matching vinyl top was available also but did not have to be ordered with the sunroof! Thanks Dustin
The Suncoupe was available with all paint colors. There were revisions to the color and trim book. I have 2 versions showing the Suncoupe. 1 is as you attached, revised 1/72. The other says 5 colors only. I believe it was the first printing as there is no revision date listed. They must have figured if it's a special order why not allow any color.
There is a local Suncoupe here in Minnesota that I see at car shows. It is a red Skylark 350 with a white sunroof. No vinyl roof on it though. If you ordered the production reports from Sloan for each of the coupes available for 72, you could tell how many sunroofs were special ordered for Skylarks, Customs, and GS. Or maybe one of the generous members can share.
I got the Sloan paperwork for both of my 72's and there was no mention of the sunroof or an SCO number. Has anyone else recieved any SCO information from Sloan? As mentioned by John Kemper in another thread my sales code was also 8 under the * column. 8 does not show on any of the order sheets I have. The story I heard about Skylark, Custom, and GS sunroof numbers was they were lost in a fire at ASC. Skylark 350 cars with the Suncoupe option accounted for 4.6 % of sales. If we apply that number to the others it would look like. 676 Skylarks 359 GS 1592 Customs Since it was more difficult to order cars with the SCO system I would guess those numbers would be quite lower than that.
Steve, If you snail-mail me a copy of the Sloan info, along with the full vin number and include all the info from the ID plate on the firewall I should be able to decode everything for you including the "*8" code. I know I have some info here for your car, but I need everything to decode it completely. I have been working heavily on the 71-72 car info the last 2 years and have come up with some interesting information. I think you would be surprised. You better include your phone # etc. so we can talk if needed. Here is my info, Classic Car Interiors 120 President Ave. Rutledge, Pa. 19070 Duane
Hi Steve - I run a factory Stage1 registry, trying to document the survivors. Please consider registering your Stage1, as it's important to determine how many of these fine cars are left. You can check out the registry website at www.stage1registry.com Thanks, and please let me know if you have any questions/concerns. PS - John K's Stage1 suncoupe is also a '*8' car.
The daily production reports for the Skylark, Custom and GS 2 door hardtops should show how many cars were built with the sunroofs. The reports go for about 7-8 pages and list the number of cars built with each option. I don't have reports for those bodystyles, but if someone on this list does, I'd be happy to make a spread sheet interpreting the data for them.
