Motion Pictures The most Radical Factory Car of 1954?

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The most Radical Factory Car of 1954?

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Definitley one of my favorite 50's GM cars.
Highly collectible and unfortunately, way out of my budget!
Thanks for posting that video!

 

Great story, but a few spelling errors! 54 Skylark is one beautiful automobile!

 

The '54 is so radical compared to a '53.

 

Especially the 54 Chevy running 55 Chevy running gear from the factory!

 

sky·lark
noun

A common Eurasian and North African lark, noted for its prolonged song during hovering flight.

Sounds about right.

 

Definitely the '54 Packard Caribbean with the most powerful flathead ever offered. The one-year-only 359" straight eight with an aluminum cylinder head and 4-bbl carb produced 212 horsepower and 330 lbs/ft of torque; it could run with the OHV8 Cad and Chrysler hemi.



jack vines

 

A buddy was asked to rebuild a 1954 packard Caribbean as cheaply as possible. So many intricate trim pieces and unique features, plus being a rag top with no top now. Living outside hadn’t been kind to it. He is a skilled metal man , but when he said the real cost ( he couldn’t do it cheap as it’s such a desirable car) the customer nearly had a heart attack .

 

I was looking at one of those cars at a show and the owner came over and gave me the entire history of the car and Buick. I could not get away from him

 

nothing like it in 54

 

I don't want to downplay the significance of the Buick, but Bob Bourke's Studebaker at a year old, was still in a whole 'nother league. Maybe not engineering wise, but just look at it! All the others were a loaf of bread comparatively. I might be a bit biased....

 

I had a 54 Special convertible, and the whole time I wished it was a Skylark.

 

the 1954 Studebaker Commander Starliner is hard to beat...(with minor mods)

 

But the styling of the Studebaker Commander was introduced in 1953. The car didn't change much for 1954.
On the other hand, the '54 Buick Skylark was a complete redesign both interior and exterior, and thus a more radical new car for that year...

 

Awesome car, an old friend of mine has one he's been restoring.Hoping he gets it done before long. I bet he does too.

 

54 Century, Special and Skylarks, had one of the coolest dashboards also.

 

When I was in high school, my girlfriend's parents had a '54 Century hardtop, cherry red with a black top. I thought that was one of the nicest looking cars back then and still do.

I would actually prefer it over the Skylark because I think the taillights on the latter don't fit the overall design as well as the stockers.

 

Hello,

Of all the things we have said about our mom, besides testing all of the great meals she prepared for our family over the years, she could not cook when they got married. She said she read and experimented with various simple dishes, fresh fish, vegetables, and rice. Our dad loved that meal all of these years. Think of a fancy sushi diner for dinner, almost every night. But, of course, she cooked normal hamburgers, steak and chicken prepped with sauces + flavor like any great restaurant, too.

Besides being a experimenter with our meals, she had good taste in cars. She did not drive and was an expert in getting us to the downtown area via the local bus services. She even took us on those red cars to Los Angeles at least twice a month. So, she still could not drive, but had her specific choices in cars for the family.

In 1956, our dad was in his final year of the 4 year new car purchase plan he created. He saved his money and by 4 years, he had enough to buy a new car with a trade in Buick. So, he took the whole family to the local Buick dealer to check out the future purchase. When we walked into the showroom, a Buick Skylark convertible was parked in the middle of the large room filled with other sedans.

She was walking around talking about the nice look and comfortable seating arrangement. The open air top being down was a draw and she was like in “heaven” so to speak. As nice as the Skylark was, my brother and I liked the spoked wire wheels the best. But, at the time, guys did not drive convertibles… ha!

As much time as we spent walking around, sitting in our places in the Skylark convertible, our dad was uncomfortable. He kept telling us the danger of convertibles, the lack of security and the noise when going on the open highways. Even to work, if he were to buy a convertible.

Jnaki

So, as he rumbled on, that was the last of our convertible conversations. Besides, my brother and I liked the idea of cruising around with the top down in sunny So Cal and along the beach communities. But, he nixed any idea of a convertible for his daily driver and our family car.

Many years later, I got a set of Skylark Wire Wheels and had the modifications done to fit the wheels on the 58 Impala. During that time, our dad still had his 57 Buick Roadmaster. Despite me telling him I would allow him to drive around in his 57 Buick with my Skylark Wire Wheels on, he refused. I am sure it goes back to the first Skylark convertible viewing and conversation way back then…

My wife and I saw this cool older Skylark convertible at a Woody's Diner in Newport Beach one year. From that point on, it was something she kept talking about for months. A convertible for one of our daily drivers? Now, I was sounding like my dad back in 1955.

So, last year, I/we finally got a Buick Skylark convertible...

The current 1/64 Impala has a silver primer sprayed on waiting for a good day to do the final black gloss spray coat and clear coat. And… the newly acquired Skylark Wire Wheels … YRMV

Then, it will be shades of the past, for the future…
Thanks @themoose

 

Cool stuff, I’d love one of each car mentioned! That Buick is absolutely gorgeous.
Dan

 

The Buick was a great car, my dad had a 55 Century 4dr HT. He also had a friend that had a 54 Victoria with a 239 Y block, three on the tree and a set of Porters and god I thought that car was the greatest!

 

You can push-start a Buick equipped with a Dynaflow transmission.

 

I owned a 53 Buick Skylark for 12 years, it was a great car and the price was right, I swapped it for my Gibson ES225 Electric guitar that I had paid $400 for. Should have kept the Skylark but I sold it to get a 37 Cord..

 

@John Lee Williamson
Indeed, oh the joy's of the Wilson Pre-Selector gear shift, and the myriad of other little surprises of Cord ownership!

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You are correct, you should have kept the Skylark !

 

The preselector works real good when you do the shifts in 2 steps - Clutch it and go to neutral then clutch it a 2 nd time and go to the gear you want. Always be stopped / barely rolling to select 1 st and reverse. So double clutch each shift. JW

 

Remember a Skylark 'vert sitting out in a row at Windy Hills; but there were a lot of neat cars in the junk yards back then.

 

@John Lee Williamson
Perhaps, if you still own the 37 Cord, it would be interesting to see a current photo of it.

 

Here I am with my 37 Cord 812 LWB Custom Beverly, I no longer own it, I sold it to Don Montgomery the Hotrod Book(s) author around 1985. Should have kept it too! JW

 

Again, you are correct, you really should have kept the Cord.

 

I think they styling of 53/54 Studebaker coupes were way ahead of anything on the market at the time.

 

Hey @sweetdick2
I agree with you, the 53 Studebaker coupes were way ahead of anything else at that time.
For me and my taste for the cool Studebaker coupe's, is this kick ass 55 Studebaker Speedster.
My friend here in Seattle owns these two cool Speedsters.
Thanks from Dennis.

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