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Interesting ad. All the Skylarks I have ever seen were made by Buick. This is either a Buick or an Olds Cierra. Ran when parked. I wonder what year that was. Price is cheap.
From my viewpoint and knowledge, that vehicle is most likely a 1991 Buick Century, that is if they even got the year right since both the make and model are incorrect...
Yes, Buick Century hope they got the year right. That body had a good run from 1983 - 1996 and many were sold mainly to older drivers. There are many still around and wagons were part of the offerings. Regards, Trent in Los Angeles
That A-Body platform from the 80's & 90's were good sellers... so much so that I purchased quite a few of them as salvage to rebuild... In fact, below is one I purchased with 235 miles... After only a few days out of the showroom it was totaled... After rebuilding this one, I just couldn't part with it... It now only has less then 5500 miles and is still part of the family...
Hi John: Very interesting. Sad story about 235 miles and a big wreck. Was the air bag deployed and anyone hurt? Nice that you were able to fix it. Where was the damage and how hard was it to fix? I still have my Dad's 85 Century he bought new with 86K miles. I also have a 92 Ciera SL wagon that hit 200,000 miles. Both are loaded and nice drivers. Over the run, 2 doors, 4 doors, and wagons were available as well as quite a few engine combinations starting with a 4 cylinder and several V6's. The popular 3800 was optional in the 80's along with a range of comfort and convenience options. I test drove a 4 cylinder which did not have overdrive so it seemed to work too hard at freeway speed. A while later I found the 92 wagon with the 3300 V6. Dad and I test drove a Pontiac STE platform cousin before he bought the Buick. However, the STE stickered for a lot more and he bought the Buick. Looking at older STE's the leather interiors just did last and the Buick's cloth is still good. Pontiac also made a neat S/E wagon which was sporty but neither Pontiacs have seemed to interest collectors. They are few and far in between now. I like the later alloy wheels on your 96. The A-bodies were a favorite rental car for me while traveling over the USA. Regards, Trent in Los Angeles
The vehicle was totaled in every sense of the word... From the right rear quarter, two right side doors and complete front end including frame... Also bent the right side seat frame and blew the air bag... Most people would not have attempted the rebuild, but it was an Oldsmobile and I couldn't see it rotting away in the salvage yard... I was able to purchase and repair it for about half of it's market value... No regrets however... I like driving it and have taken it on a couple trips to Michigan...
John I salute you, good job. While the 442s, W30's are the hot popular cars, nice drivers get ignored. The 83 up A body cars are nice drivers you can leave at the mall overnight and have it there after the double feature. There are places for both cars. Did you weld in a new front frame or have it straightened on a frame machine? Did you DIY or have some areas done by a shop? Do you have to replace the air bag with a matching computer sensor or is it a simple wheel mounted bag to replace? This car only has a driver side bag to deal with which made the repair easier than a later car with bags all over the place. Did you rebuild several of them for personal use or for resale? Glad to see someone keeping these cars on the road. I sure wish they called Intrigues "Cutlass Somethings" instead of "Intrigues" for all the people that had made Cutlasses best sellers for so many years are were used to buying a Cutlass. Those Intrigues were nice cars and started out with the popular 3800 V6 on board, nice colors and clean styling. Things might have worked out differently for Oldsmobile..... Regards, Trent in Los Angeles
Thanks Trent, I do most all mechanical type work myself except for paint and frame straightening work... In this case the frame itself was a bolt in, and I had a friend in the body business accomplish the welding for the new quarter and the front radiator support area... The air bag was a simple bolt in swap with a new OEM bag from GM... Since this Ciera had such low mileage, most all the sheet metal parts and even the frame were purchased new from GM... As for rebuilding these A-Bodies, I have done several as well as many G-Body & W-Body vehicles for personal use and resale...
John you are most welcome. I see you replaced the whole sub-frame and used new GM metal which was easy to get at that point in time. Was there damage to the subframe anchors to the uni-body? Did you have to straighten the pass floor or weld in a new piece? It was a lot of work but you have a nice result for sure. You are wokring on several nice generations of vehicles for sure. I have had a couple 78 - 80 Pontiac Grand AMs and like that generation of RWD and we all know how popular the Cutlasses were when new and to this day from 73 - 88. I have a W-Body 95 Cutlass Supreme convertible now and I really like the wide body cars. It drives like a slot car and is a comfortable ride because of the width of the interior. Three people in the back seat is not bad at all because of the width and flat floor. My uncle and I rode in a rental PT Cruiser and it was like being stuck in a phone booth with both of us in the front seat. I bought the 95 as a weekend cruiser but like driving it so much that I added 50K miles to it over the years. The 95 is low to the ground so it needs 2x6 wood under the front wheels for oil changes. I see by your avatar that you kept a red Cutlass for your self.... They are such nice cars. Regards, Trent in Los Angeles
No floor or frame mount areas were damaged... It was simply remove and replace the sub frame... Hopefully the weather will get better here and it will come out from under the covers and get a little sunshine...
April 17th, 2018, 06:37 AM
