1962 Buick Skylark Convertible

1962 Buick Skylark 2-door convertible. A rare survivor. . . According to on-line resources. only 8. 13 of these wonderful compact cars were built. My Dad bought one of these critters in '62. and as a kid I went on its first ride -- sitting in the back seat next to my great-grandmother. Many years later. I learned to drive in that car. And so many moons after Dad's car was retired. a late-mid-life-crisis compulsion caused me to buy one for myself.

This one is a Western car. . . Built in California. and lived in Central California until about 2 years ago. when it rode inside of a huge transport truck to the Mid-Atlantic. Red with off-white top and tan interior. Matching numbers. It's a car which I've driven fairly regularly. have enjoyed. and in which I feel secure. It's not a "show" car. but I think it's cute and it's been a decent "driver" for me. It's not showroom-new. but seems to be mechanically sound. Probably would be happy with a tune-up.

This. by the way. is a true "Skylark": it's not a Buick Special. which was a much more basic car. Its VIN # begins "3I2. " indicating. per Buick's 1962 VIN chart guide. that it's a Skylark ("3"). model year 1962 ("I"). made in GM's South Gate. California plant ("2").

Red with tan interior and top.  Engine is 3. 5L. 3528 CC. 215 Cu. In. V8. About 185 horses. Gasoline. OHV. Naturally Aspirated.   Automatic transmission. air-cooled. Engine was (according to the fellow from whom I bought the car) "re-built" in 1989. and it was very recently extensively worked on. A listing of some of the work done recently is below. All glass is intact. except for tiny crack at base of one of the small. rectangular front vent windows. Upholstery is great. New (6 months ago) AM/FM/CD player. Good sound. Odometer shows a bit over 6. 00 miles. but must have been reset at some point in recent past (before I bought it). NOTE: EBay required that I state the mileage before they'd allow this listing to be posted: I said 106. 00 because the odometer shows about 6. 00 now. but this cute little car certainly has over 100. 00 miles on it. Was. I understand. driven fairly regularly over the years. I do not know its actual mileage. and. unfortunately. have no way of determining it.

A zippy car. and I've found it to be great fun to drive. If you search "1962 Buick Skylark" on Wikipedia and other websites. you'll see a write-up re: just how good/reliable this engine was/is. The engine was bought from GM by a British car maker. and the motor was used in various British cars for years and years. I took it to a local car-folks gathering recently. and 3 different fellows came up. looked at the motor. and told me that their British cars have the same motor.

This particular car was. per its VIN #. manufactured at GM's plant in South Gate. California. and spent its life just south of Fresno. California. I brought it to Maryland about 2 years ago. With it being a "Western" car. it's not been attacked by snow. ice. and/or road salt. No rust to speak of. Undercarriage is in terrific shape.  Before I bought the car in 2015. I had it inspected by an experienced California inspector. His comments as to the car's undercarriage:  ". The exterior of the body is very presentable as it sits. I have to say the trunk floor and under carriage are the cleanest I've seen in a long time on one of these. There are absolutely no rust issues to worry about on this car. "

Convertible top works fine. New motor. but the top itself could use replacement -- looks fine on the outside. and I've not encountered any leaks. but the vinyl/padding is a bit scruffily forlorn on the inside and the rear plastic window is cloudy. Car was re-painted several years ago. and paint is in decent shape. though not "show" quality. Small area of in-painting on top. left of trunk -- in-painted over an apparent anomaly in surface preparation before the car was painted. The small. round outside mirror on the passenger side has a crack in the glass. I had this mirror installed -- found them for sale at a couple of different on-line parts sites. (I caused the crack when I bumped into the mirror's glass with something while walking in my garage. )

I am not a mechanic. and my knowledge of cars generally ends at knowing how to put gas into them. When I bought the car. it needed work. Since I've had the car. I've had 2 mechanics do a huge amount of work. Here's a list of some of what they did. in no particular order. along with stray commentary which they offered. Everything's in the mechanics' own words. All work was done within the past 2 years:

Thanks for your interest.

Please view all pictures carefully in order to judge condition for yourself.   Please ask all questions before end of auction. and I'll do my best to supply answers.  

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Thank you for your understanding. and for your business.

Also published at eBay.com

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