Backfire
Thank you for the June issue’s tribute to the 1953 Buick Skylark. Like a best friend who introduces you to the love of your life, I first met these grand machines back in the 1970s. Bob and I were in our early 20s when he called me one day to see if I’d join him on another quest. I was living in New York at the time, so I dutifully drove my ’58 Buick Century across the George Washington Bridge to my friend’s house in New Jersey. Back in ’73, the Skylark was just an “old” car, and Bob had found one for $900. It needed a lot of work, but its drop-dead feature was the mint interior. Just like the one pictured in the article, this car’s cabin was two-tone cream and red leather, called Matador Red, with matching door panels.
Bob had found the ad in the Bargain News, and he was beside himself with excitement. He had bought another Skylark up in Connecticut that ran well and had a solid body, but a shabby interior. I looked at the ad closely and exclaimed, “Bob, did you look at this? Did you see where this car is?”
“Yeah, it’s in Maryland. So what? We’ll tow it with my dad’s Chevy station wagon.”
So, we loaded up the big wagon with extra gas, a battery, tires, and the toolbox. We talked Paul Casserman into coming along with us for an extra pair of hands. There was no GPS in those days, so I carefully scrutinized the street map of West Baltimore until we arrived at the blue house with the detached garage in the back. This is the moment many of you are familiar with: Heart racing, you stand anxiously as the owner raises the garage door.
There she sat. A cream-white Skylark, wire wheels and all. The light in the garage was too dim to make out details, so after a cursory walk-around to
