It has certainly been a long time since we last saw a Buick Skylark. A very long time. The last Skylark to grace our roads was back in 1998. Since then, Buick’s classic muscle car and compact model has been absent from their lineup.
But what might the Skylark look like if it were to ever reappear? Well, in some interesting renders, HotCars digital artist Timothy Adry Emmanuel has created a modern interpretation of the Skylark, allowing us to dream of a Skylark for the 21st century.
UPDATED JANUARY 2023: Another look into the Buick Skylark storybook, with updated details on the classic car and its value in 2023, as well as the competition it might face up against the big names in the muscle car business today. We see if there will be a new Buick Skylark and why the old one got discontinued.
Redesigning The Buick Skylark As A New Model For 2023
The trick with any modern redesign of a classic is getting the perfect mix and blend of old and new. With this new Skylark, Emmanuel has taken cues from the second generation of the Skylark.
This includes the long crease from the front fenders to the rocker panel, and the rectangular taillights at the back of the car.
Of course, when it comes to the overall styling, the new Skylark has much sleeker and narrower lines than the second generation. But this just adds to the retro feel of the car, and retaining the soul of the original is what it is all about.
The New Buick Skylark Uses Good Old V8 Power As Always
HotCars | Timothy Adry Emmanuel
It might be a surprise to many to hear that Emmanuel has not turned this car into an EV. Far from it, and this is evident by the quad exhaust setup we can see at the back of the car.
Under the hood of this Skylark is probably the 495 hp, 6.2-liter V8 engine that GM currently use in the C8 Chevy Corvette Stingray. There could be scope to put the 695 hp engine from the Cadillac CT5-V, but the Corvette powertrain might prove the safer bet if this were to become reality. There's also the C8 Corvette Z06's 5.5-liter V8 with 670 hp too and that could be the ultimate engine choice.
Will There Be A New Buick Skylark And Why Did It Go Away?
HotCars | Timothy Adry Emmanuel
Emmanuel though has not ruled out the EV era for this car. His head-on angle gives us a great idea of what that might look like. The very clean and fresh grille design has a main grille, but also a lower section that looks made for battery cooling.
The Dodge Charger and Challenger, like Chevy's own Camaro, will not be returning in the same way for the next generation although the nameplates could reappear on electric vehicles down the road.
For Dodge's Charger Daytona, the upcoming EV looks strangely similar to this Skylark render from the front, and perhaps this car could mirror the design of that concept and also come with an EV powerplant.
For now, the Buick brand focuses solely on crossovers and SUVs much like most other automakers today, and there won't be a new Buick Skylark; unless the name gets reused for a different class of car or even a trim level.
The iconic Buick Skylark got discontinued for a few reasons, but its poor image, performance and practicality probably didn't help; it gradually got smaller and less capable over the years and ended up with small engines, relatively-low power and some of its features like the 3-speed automatic transmission were hard to overlook.
In 2023, the average price of a second-gen Buick Skylark is around $23,000, based on Classic.com's 5-year auction results aggregator.