1954 Buick Skylark Convertible

Buick debuted the Skylark in 1953 in celebration of the company’s 50th anniversary, with the vehicle based largely on a car shown at the 1952 GM Motorama. That car was designed as a limited production convertible utilizing components from the top-of-the-line Roadmaster series. Even loaded with luxury features that drove up the price of the car, Buick sold just under 1,700 units.

The following year also featured a Skylark model, but legendary GN designer Harley Earl came up with a totally different look for the 1954 model. Earl utilized the Century chassis that was shorter and lighter than the Roadmaster but added a performance component by putting the larger 322 cubic inch “Nailhead” engine from the Roadmaster between the frame rails of the Skylark. As with the previous model, the car came loaded from the factory with most of the available “options” as standard equipment. Buick chose to mothball the Skylark name after the 1954 model year, resurrecting it again for a vehicle in the 1961 model year.

Despite the new look of the 1954 model, sales of the Skylark totaled only about half from the previous year. At the end of production only 836 Skylarks were sold. The Skylark name was dropped from the lineup for the 1955 model year and did not return until the 1961 model year.

This was an early production car, as the body tag indicates it to be the 44^th Skylark off the assembly line at the Flint, MI factory.  It presents in the correct Code 16 Lido Green with the proper Code 66 two-tone green leather interior.   The car has all the factory standard equipment, including the power antenna, power top and Selectronic AM radio.  Power comes from the 322 cubic inch V8 engine displacing 200 horsepower backed by the smooth-shifting Dynaflow two-speed automatic transmission.  Wide whitewall tires wrapped the correct Kelsey-Hayes 40-spoke wire wheels.

This rare 1954 is being offered for sale for the first time in well over a decade.  The car has been a part of the present owner’s portfolio since August 2007 and has been stored in a humidity-controlled environment under his ownership.  The vehicle was restored at some time prior to the present owner acquiring the car and it has been driven sparingly during his ownership.