Since the 1920s, hot rodding -- modifying and racing hopped-up street cars on back roads or dry lake beds -- was a popular pastime among speed-crazed teenagers. During Prohibition, it was also practiced on a semi-professional basis by bootleggers and bandits of various stripes; there's nothing like the desire to avoid prison to inspire mechanical ingenuity and heroic driving feats.

Although early hot rodders became expert at coaxing more power out of production cars, they were more concerned with speed than looks. Unnecessary fripperies like fenders, windshields, or roofs were likely to be removed in the interest of saving weight. Any modifications focused on improving performance -- the California rake, for example, altering the suspension for a nose-down stance, was originally intended to increase weight transfer to the rear wheels on a fast start.

By the 1930s, there was a growing interest in custom styling. Unlike the custom-bodied prestige cars of the era, the subjects of this customization were usually inexpensive makes, like Fords, Chevrolets, and Mercurys. Since the owners of these cars didn't have vast amounts of money to spend, many of the modifications were fairly rudimentary: substituting grilles, bumpers, or lights from other models; adding or subtracting chrome; or lowering the body, sometimes by the simple expedient of adding weights under the hood and in the trunk. The custom craze rapidly evolved into distinct subcultures. Mexican-American pachucos, for example, favored radically lowered Chevys with appropriate decor, the ancestor of the modern lowrider.

Although the pachuco look became popular almost anywhere that had a significant Mexican-American population, before the war, custom cars were primarily a California phenomenon. As early as 1935, pioneers like Harry Westergard were setting up shops in places like Sacramento and Los Angeles, turning a hobby into a business. During the war, the great exodus of servicemen passing through California on their way to or from the Pacific theater helped the trend to spread to the rest of the country. By 1948, the first national hot rodding and custom magazines had appeared, and the custom car was becoming a cottage industry.

By the early 1950s, the custom car had developed its own, unique design vocabulary. A chopped car had its roof pillars, windshield, and windows shortened to lower the roof. A sectioned custom had a horizontal section removed from the body panels and doors to lower the beltline of the body. A channeled car had its floorpan altered, causing the body to sit lower on the frame. Headlights, taillights, or antennas might be frenched -- recessed slightly into the surrounding body panel -- or trim, badges, and other hardware shaved. The suspension might be raised or lowered to create either a rake or the tail-dragging look favored by the pachuco set. All of these were decorated in a startling array of what customizer George Barris dubbed "Kandy Kolors."



This early-fifties Chevrolet (we believe it's a '52) has been nosed and decked -- all badges, trim, and hardware has been removed from both the front and rear, including the trunk handle. Gaps have been filled with lead or other filler and painted over.

SKYLARKING

The stylists at the major automakers were hardly oblivious to this trend. Indeed, many senior stylists -- particularly at GM -- had customized cars of their own, often built by their subordinates and maintained at company expense. GM design chief Harley Earl was from California, and if he hadn't been hired by General Motors in 1926, it's not hard to imagine him becoming a customizer in the mode of impresario George Barris.

The influence of the custom (or, as George Barris styled it, "kustom") scene on mainstream design was seldom acknowledged directly. Senior auto executives were deeply conservative, and the young people who made up the custom and hot rodding scenes were hardly respectable -- not least because many of them were not white. The notion of marketing directly to what would later be called the youth market was still a decade or so away. Nonetheless, each year, the major automakers displayed modified and customized versions of production cars on the auto show circuit, and it's no coincidence that those dream cars began to borrow cues from the customs. A few years later, Barris told journalist Tom Wolfe that Detroit had lifted at least 20 designs from him, almost whole cloth.

In 1951, Ned Nickles, head of styling for GM's Buick division, customized his own convertible along the lines of Buick's recent XP-300 show car. Ivan Wiles, Buick's general manager, took a fancy to Nickles' car, and suggested making it a limited-production model to commemorate Buick's 50th anniversary. Clay models were quickly prepared, and a running prototype was ready by the spring of 1952. Dubbed Skylark, after the 1942 Hoagy Carmichael song, it was shown on the auto show circuit that summer to assess public reaction. In October, Wiles announced that Buick would respond to popular demand by offering a production version of the Skylark.


Stylish magazine ad for the 1953 Skylark calls it a "six-passenger sports car," which was stretching the point; it handled much like any other Buick of the time, which is to say ponderously.

DETROIT KUSTOMS

When the production Skylark bowed at the Waldorf hotel in New York in January 1953, it was joined by similarly customized models from Oldsmobile -- the Fiesta -- and Cadillac -- the Eldorado. All three were lavishly trimmed convertibles, and GM alleged that they were Detroit's answer to European sports roadsters. That was faintly ludicrous -- the bulky Skylark and Eldorado had about as much resemblance to an MG or a Jaguar XK-120 as the Queen Mary did to a speedboat. What they were was "Kalifornia Kustom" styling, toned down ever so slightly for mainstream tastes.

Mechanically, the Skylark was a Buick Roadmaster convertible, sharing its hefty platform frame with cruciform bracing. Under the hood was Buick's brand-new "Nailhead" V8, displacing 322 cu. in. (5.3 L) and making 188 gross horsepower (144 kW). The Skylark came standard with most of the accessories in the Buick catalog, including power steering, power brakes, the Twin Turbine Dynaflow transmission, leather upholstery, and a set of attractive Kelsey-Hayes wire wheels.


This 1953 Skylark shows off its cut-down doors, lowered fenders, cutout wheel wells, and altered side trim. Like the customs it emulates, the Skylark is a "lead sled," with a great deal of lead filler to smooth out the largely handcrafted bodywork. As a result, it is somewhat heavier than the Roadmaster convertible on which it's based. (Photo © 2003 John D. Love; released to the public domain by the photographer)

What distinguished the Skylark was its styling. The doors were cut down, with a rearward taper that created a pronounced dip in the beltline, just behind the doors. The front and rear fenders were re-contoured to match. Where other Buicks had rear fender skirts, the Skylark's wheel wells were cut to expose the gleaming wire wheels. The windshield and side windows were chopped, making the car about two inches lower than a standard Buick. (To maintain headroom, the seat frames and steering column were also lowered slightly.) To accentuate the revised side profile, the chrome side spear was extended to follow the curve of the rear wheelhouse, rather than ending ahead of it, as on other Buicks. Finally, the front fenders were "shaved," stripping them of their customary Venti-Ports. For some reason, the Skylark lacked the crowning touch of the Fiesta and Eldorado, their dramatic "Panoramic" wraparound windshield.


The headlamps of 1953-1954 Buicks, including the Skylark, were inspired by the XP-300, a 1951 show car. They were one of the few external features not customized for the Skylark.

Seen through modern eyes, the Skylark looks like any other fifties Buick. Its impact is diluted by the fact that many of its unique styling features were quickly propagated through the rest of the line. At the time, however, the Skylark and its Oldsmobile and Cadillac siblings were quite dramatic. The prospect of a factory-built car that looked like a tasteful, well-finished custom was an enticing one, which is why the three cars drew huge crowds at the auto shows.


Like other '54 Buicks, the Skylark had a significantly lower hood than before. It greatly improved visibility, allowing the driver to see the fenders from the driver's seat for the first time. The Skylark still lacks Venti-Ports; Specials and Centuries had three in each front fender, the Roadmaster four. All Buicks now had the new Panoramic wraparound windshield. A year or so earlier, Harley Earl and the windshield vendor, Libbey-Owens-Ford, had to hire an optometrist from Cornell University to address persistent distortion problems.

Where the Skylark, Fiesta, and Eldorado fell down was on price. The heads of each division saw them as top-of-the-line, flagship models, and all three had prices to match. The Skylark was the cheapest, if you can call it that. At $5,000, it was nearly twice the price of a Buick Special convertible, and 50% more than the Roadmaster ragtop on which it was based. The Olds and Cadillac were even more expensive, at $5,715 and $7,750, respectively. The Skylark sold better than the others, but sales amounted to only 1,690 units, well under half of 1% of Buick's total production. Because each Skylark involved a good deal of additional hand labor, it was not terribly profitable, despite the high price.

After selling a dismal 458 units, Oldsmobile dropped the Fiesta, but Wiles decided to continue the Skylark for another year. It was even promoted to a separate series, rather than being part of the Roadmaster line. The Eldorado also continued, although for 1954, it was far more like any other Cadillac.


All '54 Buicks now had the extended chrome side spear, which kicks up to follow the curvature of the rear wheel well. The Skylark, now riding the nominally shorter Century chassis, actually had a half-inch-longer wheelbase than before, although overall length was 1.2 inches (30 mm)  shorter. With a full tank of fuel, it weighed close to 4,400 pounds (2,000 kg).

SKYLARK REDUX

The entire Buick line was redesigned for 1954, growing significantly in size. The Skylark was moved from the Roadmaster chassis to that of the smaller Century, but the Century had been enlarged to the point that it was almost as big as the previous year's Roadmaster. Power of the 322 cu. in. (5.3 L) Nailhead was up to an even 200 (149 kW), and a number of suspension changes improved handling, although agility was still not a Buick strong point.


This angle shows off the Skylark's unique ridged decklid, with high-mounted backup lights; on other Buicks, the backup lights are set at the lower edge of the decklid.

From the front, the Skylark looked less distinctive than before, sharing the same wraparound windshield as other Buicks. It retained its cut-down doors, but other Buick models now had the same beltline "dip" as the 1953 Skylark. Normal Buick hardtops also inherited the '53 Skylark's cutout wheel wells, so the new Skylark got scalloped wheelhouses, which Buick accentuated on some cars by painting them red. (The scalloping is less obvious on our all-black photo subject, unless you look closely at the shape of the wheel wells.) From the rear, the Skylark was much easier to spot, thanks to its wild-looking triangular chrome fins, which were not shared with any other Buick.


The curious, chrome-encrusted fins are flashy, but they seem poorly integrated with the Skylark's generally bulbous styling. Other Buicks of this era did not really have fins, except in the most vestigial sense. Buick did not really embrace the fin craze in a dramatic way until the bizarre, bat-winged 1959 models.

The Century had a reputation as a hot car, capable of 0-60 mph (0-97 kph) in 10.6 seconds and a top speed of about 110 mph (175 kph). Because the Skylark weighed 210 pounds (95 kg) more than a standard Century convertible, it was somewhat slower: 0-60 mph times stretched to around 12 seconds, with top speeds a bit over 100 mph (160 kph). That was still not bad for 1954, but Skylark buyers were advised to be more circumspect when answering stoplight challenges.


The interior of the '54 Skylark was basically identical to that of the Century, except badges and the standard leather upholstery. Large, round speedometer reads to an optimistic 120 mph (195 kph). The aircraft-inspired toggle switches to the right of the steering wheel are for the heater and ventilation controls.

The '54 Skylark required much less hand labor than the '53, which enabled Buick to cut the price to $4,483. It was still too expensive for most Buick customers, and production totaled only 836. Wiles had been hoping to expand the line for 1955, adding a hardtop, but the low sales made it pointless. The Skylark was dropped before the end of the model year, although the name was revived in 1961 for the upscale version of Buick's Y-body compact.

Ironically, just a few months after the demise of the Skylark, Ford unveiled perhaps the most ambitious of the "Detroit customs," the two-seat Thunderbird. For all the fervor about the Thunderbird as an American sports car, it was essentially a heavily customized Ford convertible; shortened, chopped, channeled, and sectioned in the best custom car tradition.

FLIGHTS OF FANCY

By the late fifties, Detroit production cars had begun to outdo the customizers for outlandishness, and stylists had become less close-mouthed about the influence of the custom scene. George Barris told Tom Wolfe that when he visited Detroit in 1960 he was amazed at how much the stylists knew about his work; he had thought they had nothing but contempt for him. The influence of the custom scene would grow throughout the sixties, as automakers courted the youth market. By 1970, you could order a paint job as lurid as Tom Wolfe's "Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby," right off the standard dealer order form.

As Detroit began more like the customs, the custom scene began to lose its creative momentum. From a mechanical standpoint, hot rodding was entering a new golden age, as were lowriders, but stylistically, the customizers became increasingly reactionary, recycling the same themes they'd been exploring since the thirties. Perhaps it was the intrusion of commerce -- when companies pay for the rights to make toys and model kits of your work and Detroit hires you as a consultant to find out "what the kids are going for," a certain conservatism begins to prevail. The rods and customs built today don't look that much different than they did forty years ago. Still, the design language that the custom scene developed continues to influence automotive design, as cars like the Chrysler PT Cruiser demonstrate.

The Skylark is highly collectible today, fetching prices well into the six-figure range. Their customized body panels are hard to come by, making restoration challenging and expensive. But then, customs have always been more about art than practicality.

---

NOTES ON SOURCES

Our primary source for the history of the Skylark was "1953-1954 Buick Skylark" by the Auto Editors of Consumer Guide (15 October 2007, HowStuffWorks.com, http://auto.howstuffworks.com/1953-1954-buick-skylark.htm, accessed 7 December 2008), with additional information from "1953-1966 Cadillac Eldorado" by the Auto Editors of Consumer Guide (23 October 2007, HowStuffWorks.com, http://auto.howstuffworks.com/1953-1966-cadillac-eldorado.htm, accessed 8 December 2008); "GM's Glamorous Threesome: Cadillac Eldorado, Buick Skylark, Oldsmobile Fiesta" by John G. Tennyson, from Special Interest Autos #134 (March-April 1993), reprinted in Terry Ehrich, ed., The Hemmings Book of Buicks (Hemmings Motor News Collector-Car Books) (Bennington, VT: Hemmings Motor News, 2001); and "1953 Oldsmobile Fiesta: When the Dream Came Alive..." by John Lee, from Special Interest Autos #106 (July-August 1988), reprinted in Terry Ehrich, ed., The Hemmings Book of Oldsmobiles (Bennington, VT: Hemmings Motor News, 2001).

Performance figures for the contemporary Buick Century was based on the road test "How the New Buick Century Performs" from the June 1954 issue of Science and Mechanics, reprinted in R.M. Clarke's Buick Performance Portfolio 1947-1962 (Cobham, Surrey: Brooklands Books Ltd., 2000).

Information on the history of hot-rodding came from "Lowrider History Book Chapter 1" (author and original date unknown, Lowrider Magazine, http://www.lowridermagazine.com/historybook/ -- now changed to http://www.lowridermagazine.com/historybook/ -- accessed 7 November 2008); "The Barris Story" (author unknown, 2004, Barris.com, http://www.barris.com/history.html, accessed 8 December 2008); Sondre Kvipt's article "Harry Westergard" (7 November 2008, Kustomrama, http://www.kustomrama.com/index.php?title=Harry_Westergard, accessed 7 December 2008); and of course "There Goes (Varoom! Varoom!) That Kandy-Kolored (Thphhhhhh!) Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby (Rahghhh!) Around the Bend (Brummmmmmmmmmmmmmm)..." by Tom Wolfe, originally published in Esquire magazine in 1963 and reprinted in Wolfe's The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby (New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1965).

---

Write comment

Your Contact Details:

Name:

Email: do not notifynotify

Website:

Comment:

Title:

UBBCode:         -color-aquablackbluefuchsiagraygreenlimemaroonnavyolivepurpleredsilvertealwhiteyellow -size-tinysmallmediumlargehuge

Message:

Security

Please input the anti-spam code that you can read in the image.