In ancient Rome, a "Centurion" was a commander of approximately 100-soldiers that were known as a "century". Fifty- or so years ago, a Buick "Centurion" was a "sporting", full-size car available in two- and four-door hardtop and convertible. Our subject here is a 1973 hardtop two-door; I wouldn't call this a "coupe", I found on Facebook Marketplace recently with a, hold onto your battle helmets, $7,500 asking price.
Actually, that's not too bad considering what you'd be getting. Despite some rust and a front bench that needs reupholstering, this car has a fairly sorted-out suspension (for its time) and a freshly rebuilt to "factory specification", 455 cubic-inch Buick V-8 engine. That means 260-net-horsepower and 380-foot pounds at just off idle. It also means about 8-miles per gallon around town. Stab and it and steer as we used to say.
Years ago, full-size cars that had a modicum or dollop of performance were referred to as "banker's hot rods". Never big sellers, they were profitable enough that the Big Three tried their hand at them multiple times although sporadically. Chrysler's "letter series cars" of the 1950's and 1960's and the Ford Motor Company's mid-1960's "Mercury Marauder" were examples of such. Throw in the 1966, 7-liter Ford Galaxie XL too but those cars, much like Chevrolet Impala SS', were more full-size muscle cars than cars the president of a bank, who liked to drive fast, would drive.
Buick, though, had the niche all to itself with their 1936-1942 and 1954-1958 "Century". The (original) "Century" was Buick's entry level "Special" stuffed with the engine from their Roadmaster while trimmed with some of the Roadmaster's interior baubles and bits. As part of Buick's 1959 model upheaval, the "Century" became the LeSabre based, Electra powered "Invicta", which, in turn, was replaced by the LeSabre-esque "Wildcat" from 1963-1970. Lastly and certainly not leastly, based on the sheer bulk of the things, the Centurion replaced the Wildcat from 1971-1973.
Typical of the era, auto scribes damned these cars with faint praise. They noted less body roll and improved directional stability, Frankly, there's only so much a smartly tuned suspension can do for a car that weighs in on the dark side of two-and-half-tons. Especially riding on balloon tires the gigantic sidewalls. Styling was pleasant if not handsome. A LeSabre in a dinner jacket, if you will.
Despite the improvement in ride and stability, these cars still wallowed and rolled; that was by design, though. The customer Buick was targeting at the time - Folks of my parent's generation who lived through The Great Depression and fought World War II, grew up with cars that many times were crude, spindly, wooden-wheeled affairs that kicked and bucked like horse-drawn carriages did. Softly sprung cars that were whisper quiet inside and floated down road were the lap of luxury. My parents wanted nothing to do with any car that reminded them of the stiff-legged rides of their youth.
Biggest no-no on our '73 here is the rust, of course. It's not an easy fix and many body shops stay away from it because it's not worth their time. Get it up on a lift and get somebody who knows what to look at to stick their head deep up and into the wells of this car. Considering this is for sale less than an hour northwest of Cincinnati, I'm a little surprised there's as much rust as there is. You get up here close to Lake Erie, and this sort of thing is an everyday occurrence. Even on cars less than ten-years old. Looks like the vinyl top was pulled too and they left the rivet holes for its trim pieces. Looks like you may have to spring for an entire re-spray. Ka-ching,
Technically, the Buick LeSabre "Luxus" replaced the Centurion for 1974 but the Centurion\Wildcat\Invicta\Century slot on the Buick lineup was actually replaced by the new-for-1973 Century model that could be ordered in "Regal" trim with a 455 CID Buick engine. We all know how that story ended with the OPEC embargo just as the 1974 model year began, making any car, big or small, with a V-8 a pariah. That admonishment of gas-guzzlers was fairly short lived, but big cars with the pretense of performance were, save for boutique editions, like the Roman Empire, gone for good.
No comments:
Post a Comment