The 1972 Buick Skylark Custom represented the end of an era in a number of ways. Most obviously, this was the last year that the brand’s mid-sized cars were called Skylarks. This was also the end of the road for hardtops. Perhaps most importantly, 1972 marked the conclusion of Buick’s emphasis on sportiness rather than luxury in its mid-sized lineup.
For 1973 a new design would mark the return of the Century nameplate. In addition, hardtops were replaced with “colonnade” body styles. These had frameless door glass combined with thick B-pillars integrated into the roofline. And while four-door body styles adopted an airy, European look, the two-door models gained a brougham-style notchback.
It is curious that Buick waited so long to offer a notchback in light of that body style’s popularity at other General Motors’ divisions. In 1969 Pontiac shifted the Grand Prix to a mid-sized platform and gave it a more formal roofline than the LeMans’ semi-fastback hardtop. Then in 1970 Chevrolet adapted the Grand Prix’s notchback to its new Monte Carlo while Oldsmobile added the body style to its Cutlass Supreme series.
All three of those cars sold exceptionally well. Not so coincidentally, Buick now fielded GM’s least popular mid-sized lineup. This was quite a change for a brand whose Y-body compact had sold better than its Pontiac and Oldsmobile rivals when introduced in 1961. Back then the top-end Skylark was explicitly positioned as the most luxurious of GM’s Y-body triumvirate. Ads even had a similarity to the Ford Thunderbird’s. In contrast, both the Cutlass and LeMans were sold more for their sportiness.
Top-end Buick and Olds mid-sized models trade places
The above pattern held until the Y-body was upgraded to intermediate size in 1964. The Skylark began to tilt increasingly toward sporty whereas the Cutlass shifted more toward luxury when it gained the top-end Supreme series in 1966. By 1970 the role reversal was complete. The Supreme exuded more of a luxury vibe than the Skylark Custom.
Also see ‘Was the 1966 Olds Cutlass Supreme the first mid-sized brougham model?’
Consider our featured car, which is a 1972 Skylark Custom four-door hardtop. Although it was given a more formal-looking new grille, it carried over flamboyant “clown-pants” wheel blisters from a 1970 reskinning. Compare that to the 1972 Cutlass Supreme, with its understated — nay, conservative — side styling. Even though the Oldsmobile was priced slightly lower than the Skylark Custom, it looked more luxurious.
Only slightly more Cutlass Supreme four-door hardtops were produced in 1972 than the equivalent Skylark Custom — almost 15,000 versus 13,000 units. Where the top-end, mid-sized Oldsmobile really pulled ahead in sales was with its two-door hardtop, which tallied roughly 105,000 units to the Buick’s meager 34,000 units.
Even the Cutlass Supreme’s two-door convertible did better, producing roughly 12,000 units to the Skylark Custom’s 4,000 units. The top-end, mid-sized Buick did have one advantage: It was offered as a four-door sedan. However, that added only around 10,000 units.
Four-door hardtop never managed to gain traction
GM switched to pillared hardtop styling in 1973 partly in response to proposed federal standards that were not implemented (Langworth and Norbye, 1986). However, the automaker also managed to cut costs by merging the four-door sedan and hardtop into one body style. That resulted in a slight drop in sales of the new top-of-line Luxus four-door model.
I suspect that the problem wasn’t the lack of a hardtop. The six-window design may have had an admirably international flair, but it arguably didn’t come across as luxurious as the boxier Mercury Montego MX Brougham. The latter car outsold the top-end, mid-sized Buick four-door models for the first time in 1973.
What put the mid-sized Buick in contention sales-wise was its new two-door notchback colonnade, which was offered in Luxus and Regal trim. Together they added up to more than 163,000 units. That was still well behind the Cutlass Supreme (roughly 220,000 units) but ahead of the Grand Prix (154,000 units).
Squeezing one more year out of an old body
If the Skylark looks warmed over styling-wise, that’s because GM had to delay the redesign of its mid-sized cars due to a strike in 1970 (Strohl, 2024). Changes were modest, such as a new eggcrate grille that distinguished the Custom from lower-priced Skylarks.
In a way the Skylark looked old hat compared to the all-new, mid-sized Montego and the only one-year-old Dodge Coronet. Even so, the car had one advantage — it was less bloated. For example, the four-door Montego was 212 inches long and 78.6 inches wide. That was almost five inches longer and two inches wider than a Skylark.
Also see ‘1964-77 Chevrolet Chevelle Malibu shows growth of mid-sized American cars’
The Buick would catch up in 1973. Richard M. Langworth and Jan P. Norbye noted that the new GM mid-sized cars would be the last bodies “designed in an atmosphere of unlimited faith in the traditional way of building American cars — big on the outside, small on the inside, heavy, posh, and thirsty” (1986, p. 324).
So one could argue that the 1972 Skylark was the last sensibly-sized intermediate Buick — at least until they were strunk in 1978. Go here for that story.
NOTES:
Specifications and production figures were from the auto editors of Consumer Guide (1993, 2006), Flory (2004, 2013), Gunnell (2002) and Langworth and Norbye (1986). The 1972 Skylark was photographed at the LeMay Collections at Marymount.
RE:SOURCES
- Auto editors of Consumer Guide; 2006. Encyclopedia of American Cars. Publications International; Lincolnwood, Ill.
- Flory, J. “Kelly” Jr.; 2004. American Cars, 1960-1972. McFarland & Co., Inc.
- ——; 2013. American Cars, 1973-1980. McFarland & Co., Inc.
- Gunnell, John; 2002. Standard Catalog of American Cars, 1946-1975. Revised 4th Ed. Krause Publications, Iola, WI.
- Langworth, Richard M. and Jan P. Norbye; 1986. The Complete History of General Motors 1908-1986. Publications International, Skokie, IL.
- Strohl, Daniel; 2024. “Stirring the Tri-Shield.” Hemmings. Updated March 27.
ADVERTISING & BROCHURES
- oldcarbrochures.org: Buick Skylark/Century (1962, 1972, 1973); Oldsmobile Cutlass (1972)
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