1965 Buick Skylark Gran Sport Concours Restoration Guide

The 1965 Buick Skylark Gran Sport is the first-year production version of Buick's entry into the muscle car race started by Pontiac's GTO in 1964. AMC's approach was classic Buick: take the intermediate Skylark (which already had a 300 ci V-8 option) and stuff in the 401 ci "Wildcat" V-8 from the full-size Buick — the same engine used in the Electra, LeSabre, and Wildcat full-size cars. GM rules limited intermediate cars to 400 ci, so Buick called their 401 a "400" to stay within the rules. The torque output of 445 lb-ft exceeded both the GTO and the Oldsmobile 442 — the Gran Sport was genuinely fast and genuinely powerful.