Perhaps this was it – the money – that held back buyers from rushing into Buick dealerships and ordering a high-performance automobile. Or maybe the general perception that the Tri-Shield-badged cars weren’t the trendy drag strip attire for Saturday nights. Whichever the reason, the brand wasn’t perceived as a thrill-and-chill-machine maker, but the exceptions are famous.
After all, it was Buick who first had the idea of stuffing a big engine into a small body – and that was in the wake of the Great Depression in 1936. The story is well-known: a 320 cubic-inch (5.2 liters) straight-eight powered a small-bodied platform, resulting in the fastest Buick of its time. The model’s name derived from its performance: the Century hinted at the car’s ability to sustain 100 mph (160 kph) cruising for a prolonged time.
The recipe wasn’t refreshed in the post-war era until some two decades after domestic production resumed. In 1965, a “Gran Sport” (without the “d”) trim was added to the Skylark models. However, due to GM’s infamous “neutrality” in the horsepower wars’ hottest years, the 400-CID (6.6 liter) maximum displacement didn’t sit at the same table as other big-block players from Detroit.
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After all, it was Buick who first had the idea of stuffing a big engine into a small body – and that was in the wake of the Great Depression in 1936. The story is well-known: a 320 cubic-inch (5.2 liters) straight-eight powered a small-bodied platform, resulting in the fastest Buick of its time. The model’s name derived from its performance: the Century hinted at the car’s ability to sustain 100 mph (160 kph) cruising for a prolonged time.
The recipe wasn’t refreshed in the post-war era until some two decades after domestic production resumed. In 1965, a “Gran Sport” (without the “d”) trim was added to the Skylark models. However, due to GM’s infamous “neutrality” in the horsepower wars’ hottest years, the 400-CID (6.6 liter) maximum displacement didn’t sit at the same table as other big-block players from Detroit.
Couple Spent Two Years Rebuilding a '72 Buick GS455 Into the Muscle Car Legend It Once Was
When turning the pages of nostalgia to the “muscle car” chapter and scrolling through the names that honored the breed in the Golden Era, one...
www.autoevolution.com
