My first car was a 1980 Skylarl Limited / 2.8 / Navy with a Landau light blue roof / wire wheel covers. I'm positive it was made on 3 consecitive Fridays with one of those Fridays leading to a long weekend! It was plagued with problems that luckily the 60,ooo kilometre warranty took care of, such as new brakes and rotors ( I believe they were seriously under-engineered for the weight of the vehicle )@ 25,000 kms. ( and I was a VERY economical driver ); a small oil seal on the transaxle caused fluid loss (which I kept up with ) until it was repaired over a month at the dealer. One noteable obvious use of the " design and specifications subject to change without notice " smalll print, was my A/C high pressure hose just up and violently lost its' refrigerant one day; it had been caused by the lower radiator hose clamp screw head constantly wearing against the high pressure hose until it just failed ( out of warrany ). Well guess what, the new hose came with a plastic sleeve right at the exact spot where the screw had worn into the hose! I pleaded my case with GM, and that's when they invoked the above specs change notice and I had to pay the whole bill, which wasn't cheap! I had so many first time maintenance items performed ( spark plug/wires changes brakes, etc. ) I was told that the mechanics used my car (because it had A/C which necessitated a much closer firewall to the 3 rear cylinders) to show the other mechanics how to perform these tasks! Which all leads to one important lesson that hopefully younger people can absorb, which is: NEVER, BUT NEVER BUY A FIRST YEAR PRODUCTION CAR. We the buyers are used as guinea pigs, and at least in my case, are not even thanked for their sacrifice of time (mostly) and money.

I bought one of these new when they came out April 1979. Although it was a 4 cylinder, it rode extremely quietly along the highway. No wind noise & well insulated from road & engine noise.

Aww.. the glorious 2.5L Iron Duke.What an engine.Got one in my 89 Pontiac 6000LE.The Pontiac was my granmother's car she bought new and I inherited it when she passed in 2003.It has 185,000 miles on it and still purs like a kitten.The best 4cyl engine GM made.The A cars like mine were X cars on longer wheelbase.

I had the 2.8 litre engine equipped 1980 Skylark Limited. My grandparents gave me theirs in '85 when I graduated from college. They bought an '85 which was a very nice car despite the lack of air conditioning. Although the '80 was called a Limited, it did not have a rear defogging system of any kind. Seemed like GM cheaped out there. I was also unimpressed with the Delco AM radio that came standard in it. I replaced it eventually with a radio-cassette from Radio Shack. I should also mention that the '80 was very conservative looking in dark blue with a light blue vinyl roof. When I took it out to a small Canadian prairie city to start my first job in TV (master control operator), I would park the Skylark next to the top line Electra driven by the woman who owned the station and the Electra owned by her son-in-law, the sales manager. They must have found it a little weird that a lowly master control op. drove a Limited Skylark, and that he had the nerve to park beside them.

My first car was a 1981 Buick Skylark limited edition, 4 door, V6 engine, navy blue with tan interior. I named it Blue Thunder. My mother bought it in 1986, then gave it to me as a 17th birthday gift in 1989. I drove it to the ground, drag racing it after work around 11:30pm. It got me through senior year high school, college, and my first few jobs. I sold it for $200 at the end of 1994. I miss my handsome Buick!

My first car is a 85 Skylark Custom. Love it to death. she runs great.

This X-body car got me to and from college 22 years ago. I do miss it.

I like that so many of engine/suspension shots are from the engineering mockup of the car.

I'm still driving this car. Amazing.

I learned to drive in one of these. It was ok but, watch out if you have to break hardin wet weather. A lot of good memories.

Just bought a near mint 81 skylark....just changed some gaskets that were dry rotted...changed oil. ...New antifreeze ..New transmission oil.....she the Iron Duke purrs like a kitten........

i had an 81 that i put well over 100k on, was an okay car for the times was in the 80s

Rest in peace, Bob Bondurant! :(

Our '80 Century was in the same bronze color as the one in the film. Those were pretty good cars for getting around town.

0:26 "More cowbell!"

worked at buick dealership when these were new gosh we sold boatload of these!

Right and with nice interiors in a range of colors even for the small cars then. The Olds Omega is nice too. Yes, these are certainly more appealing to me that today's crap.

@jakesaintsrow123 Had its share of quality / durability issues. The paint oxidized badly at the 5 year mark. Headliner started drooping about that time. Interior door release latches broke internally requiring the door to bee opened from the outside. Cloth seating surfaces ripped. Plastic dash faded very bad. Rear view mirror kept coming off. The motor and trans were solid as a rock, although certainly not fast (2.5L , 3 speed auto combo)., I never left me stranded EVER.

@smithraymond09029 Wow So yours was "NEW"? NICE! My 1985 skylark Is in mint shape. body and interior. Headliner, seats, dash, Inside door handles everything works good and is in excellent shape on my skylark . 1985 models were The same as the 80 models with a few minor interior and exterior styling . Anyways I Bought mine in January of 2010 off of the original owners who were some old folks who bought the car Fully loaded in 1985. mine has the v6. Which has been Very reliable

Wow, that interior was actually pretty nice for a car that was basically an upmarket Citation.

Yes Interior space, No engine space. these are hard to work on.. practically need an engine lift to work on the engine

I have a mint 1980 skylark limited its plain white coupe with a White Vinyl roof with white leather interior has a couple issues but otherwise is really smooth I paid 1500 bucks for it. Mine has the 2.8 liter which I think is a decent engine and quite easy to work on even though I wish the Engine bay space was bigger but whatever. What I find different from mine is I have the white interior with a red dash.

1:22 "Sleek, aerodynamic...." 🤣🤣🤣

really? Do they still have it? I Have a 1985 Skylark Limited. My first car, its in Mint condition. Its Fully Loaded, Vinyl top, shifter on the floor with console, Beautiful Cloth blue interior, I Bought it off some old folks who bought it new In 1985 Fully loaded, I Bought it in january 2010, It has the 2.8l v6, and has been such a reliable car, it rides, runs and looks fantastic. I Got another car so Its forsale at the moment, has 155,000 Original KMS.

I want one still

Whoa - check out the mismatched body panels at 1:30. Something tells me that was a prototype or early production unit that already saw a fender or door swap.

@jakesaintsrow123 Looks like you have "a find". My car was purchased by my parents used in 1985 as a 1983 model with 34k on the ticker. It was a metallic tan/ beige type of color. Not sure what the official name was. Anyway, I finally sold it in March of 2000 for $300. The fellow that purchased it took it Tijuana Mex. where its fate remains unknown.

Laserdisc, huh? Very cool.

I want one!

I would buy one.

@smithraymond09029 I Have a Mint shape 1985 skylark. same car as this 80' Model and I Love It. Was yours a good car?

For its time, the Skylark (Chevy Citation) was a very advanced car. The problem was with the overall parts and the lack of understanding of six sigma (Kazen) process improvement, GM built very much a crappy car that could not and would not hold up. Why this platform did not last long although many of the design features still are used today (transverse engine design, FWD, weight reduction , etc). Kind of sad really a good idea before its time in execution. Thanks for digging up this promotional Laserdisc - a visit to their thinking in the late 1970s.

great video my lovely car i love it

My mom had an 84 that my grandmother gave her...it lasted about 7 years, before the timing belt blew out. In 1996, she bought an 85 Skylark at an auction. Wasn't a bad car, just had the trademark GM boxy look of the early-80s.

What I dont understand, is why use a primitive rear straight axle instead of making it fully independent to nearly eliminate camber angle on turns? They clearly can see the benefits of it up front. Why not use it in the back too? Like, was it to cut costs like not installing a water separator on early GM diesel V8's? Also, my 1974 plymouth satellite had the same exact windshield wiper spray design as this 1980 Buick.

@smithraymond09029 Mine has the v6. With the automatic. Mine gets about 22 MPG City . mine has the floor shifter and vinyl top which were all More "Scarce" Options on skylark even when New. I Have had no trouble whatsoever with mine it has been Such an awesome car, Mine is the 2.8 v6 with a carburetor. Mine is Baby blue with a dark blue vinyl top with Dark blue interior, I Love these cars and Always will this was my favorite skylark Body style EVER. What color was yours?

Those windshield washers seem like a good idea.

@NadrianATRS yeah with the ironduke 4 cylnder

Fwd cars the start of good traction and interior space in cars.

More like the 1980 Deathlark. The 1980 Junklark. Or my personal favourite, the 1980 Rustlark.

Remember my folks baught in 84 took my road test 16 failed because over the speed limit,pass next time,motor blew up at 36000 under warranty got a new engine good car after that

5 WOMEN! ( adults) and thier large suitcases! Try doing that today in a two door car! Impossible !

I had a brand new '80 Skylark. Liked it a lot, except it was tough on brakes, and I was really gentle with them.

38 MPG highway??? woah !

what went wrong with yours? I Have a Mint condition 1985 skylark limited Love it

I know people that had the 85. It wasn't a bad car. I think they were 6 cylinder engines.

0-60 mph in under five days.

@snipper2778 you have one? I Have a mint shape 1985 skylark limited

@Wyrebender Buy yours new? I Have a mint shape 1985 skylark limited..my first car

That horrible sag in the suspension before those 5 women got out....😖

77 likes & only 1 dislike ? Whats up with that??? October 23, 2017

My aunt had two and said those were her last

What about Y2K

I have 81 limited, love it! already gave it 2nd life, new flake paint, airride setup, yupp, now it looks as it supposed to! check my videos if you're interested

I had an early 1980 (manufactured in June 1979) and it was a horrible car.

It drove really nice, too bad it was so damn unreliable.

"sleek, aerodynamic styling" Good grief....

24/38 mpg? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!! Seriously though, it's not bad but it's not THAT good.

another piece of shit GM X Car.

Officially the biggest piece of shit Buick ever put out...