The 1972 Buick Skylark Custom represented the end of an era in a number of ways. This was the last year that the brand’s mid-sized cars were called Skylarks. This was also the end 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 in new high-end Luxus and Regal series.
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.
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 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, which came off as more of a mid-level offering.
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” fender blisters from a 1970 reskinning. Compare that to the 1972 Cutlass Supreme, with its understated — nay, conservative — side styling. The Oldsmobile looked more luxurious even though it was priced slightly lower than the Skylark Custom.
The Cutlass Supreme also arguably had a fancier-looking interior than the Skylark Custom. And in general, the Custom did not get nearly the attention as the Supreme in marketing brochures. Perhaps that was because Buick was trying harder than Olds to steer buyers to its big cars.
Only a few 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.
Oh, the irony that the Cutlass Supreme’s generic notchback roofline was far more popular than the Skylark’s fuselage-shaped, semi-fastback roofline. Only a few years earlier that was the trendy look in American coupes.
Even the Cutlass Supreme’s two-door convertible sold 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, but 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). Along the way, the automaker 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 for sporty models such as the Pontiac Grand Am, but it arguably didn’t come across as luxurious as the Mercury Montego MX Brougham. The latter car outsold the top-end, mid-sized Buick four-door models for the first time in 1973.
Note that GM was the first U.S. automaker to offer four-door hardtops on its mid-sized cars in 1966 (aside from the 1956-60 senior Ramblers, which straddled the line between being a compact and an intermediate). Ford belatedly followed suit in 1970, but its four-door hardtop sold poorly and lasted only two years. A 1972 redesign switched to a pillared hardtop. The moral to this story is that four-door hardtops never gained nearly the popularity in the mid-sized class that they achieved in full-sized cars.
What put the 1973 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 1972 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 for the model year were modest, such as a new eggcrate grille that distinguished the Custom from lower-priced Skylarks.
Also see ‘1964-77 Chevrolet Chevelle Malibu shows growth of mid-sized American cars’
In a way the Skylark looked old hat compared to the new-for-1972 Montego and the one-year-old Dodge Coronet. Even so, the Buick had one advantage — it was less bloated. 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.
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 shrunk 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.
Share your reactions to this post with a comment below or a note to the editor.
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); Mercury Montego (1970, 1973); Oldsmobile Cutlass (1972)
It’s possible that Buick just wasn’t competitive with Oldsmobile at lower price points. The only 1972 Buick that outsold its Oldsmobile sibling was the Electra. The LeSabre was a fully competitive product with the Olds 88, but the 88 did more volume. The up level LeSabre Custom did about the same volume as the 88 Royale, but the base 88 significantly outsold the base LeSabre.
In the 1970s, the X-body Buick Skylark consistently outsold the Oldsmobile Omega, if I recall correctly. This carried through with the front-wheel-drive X-cars.
Yup. I have a graph in my 1970s compacts story (go here) that shows how Buick’s entry sold better than Oldsmobile’s or Pontiac’s from 1975-79. The Skylark nameplate was given to two-door models in 1975 and used across the board in 1976, thereby supplanting the Apollo nameplate. Did the switch in names help to boost sales or was this coincidental?
I’m sure the switch to the Skylark nameplate helped, as it had name recognition in 1976.
It seemed as though these smaller Buicks were bought by older women who wanted a Buick, but didn’t want to drive a bigger vehicle. This carried through with the front-wheel-drive versions.
The Oldsmobile Omega, meanwhile, never seemed to gain much traction in the market. Then again, from 1976 on, Oldsmobile dealers were selling every Cutlass and Delta 88 they could get on the lot, so they may not have had much incentive to push the Omega.
While Olds didn’t have an actual 4 dr post sedan in the Supreme series, their’s was a Cutlass Town Sedan as well as F-85 Town Sedan, Skylark sedan equivalent. I bought a 5 yr old ’72 Skylark 4 dr sedan in 1977, pretty plain Jane, no better than an F-85, so doubt it made any difference to 4 dr sedan buyers that the Cutlass version it wasn’t called a “Supreme”, as opposed to buyers for a Skylark “Custo,..overall in total the mid-size Cutlass/F-85 still ruled, sales-wise,, well, Supreme.
I imagine that GM hoped their pillarless 4-door intermediates would sell better than they did. Is that partly because the 2-door hardtops benefitted from halo models like the GTO and 442? Also, the shorter 2-door wheelbase in the 1968-72 models was frequently hyped as being sporty or sportier, therefore more appealing to younger buyers.
I have seen both a 1966 Chevelle Malibu and a 1971 Cutlass Supreme 4-door hardtop “in the wild” but never a Skylark or Lemans so you’re subject car is a rare sighting. I hope it remains preserved for years to come