common engine start making cars on compact J . Platform in 1981, and J-based machinery was still produced throughout the process Chevrolet Cavalier 2005 and Pontiac sun protection. The most famous J-car in North America is always Cavalrybut of the General Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Buick and even Cadillacs each department sold their own Js here. Buick version is Skyhawkbuilt for model years 1982 to 1989. This is the sporty Skyhawk ’85 coupe, found in a Northern California Boneyard recently.
The Custom trim level was the cheapest version of the Skyhawk in 1985, and the two-door was the most affordable configuration (midsize Skyhawks were Limiteds, and the T-Type topped the Skyhawk pyramid that year). This car’s MSRP starts at $7,512 (about $21,220 at inflation-adjusted 2022 dollar exchange rates), making it the cheapest new Buick for sale in the United States in 1985. .
The name Skyhawk was used on Buick’s version of the chevrolet moza in the 1970s.
This car’s Chevrolet-branded sibling is much cheaper, with the base Cavalier ’85 coupe’s list price of $6,872 (about $19,410 today). Over there to be new cheaper chevrolet car that year of course; a new Chevette cost only $5,470, while Spectroscopy made by Isuzu is $6,295 and Sprint made by Suzuki $5,151 dollars.
The base engine in the Custom and Limited is this 2.0-liter SOHC inline four-cylinder rated at eighty six horse power. One 1.8 liter turbocharged version with 150 horses available for an extra $800 ($2,260 now).
One four-stage manual transmission was standard equipment on the Skyhawk in 1985, but buyers of most of these cars insisted on an automatic transmission. The price for this one was $425 ($1,200 today). The five-speed manual transmission costs just $75 ($210).
Velour-ish upholstery fabric in Bordello red (Buick didn’t use that name) was a rage throughout the 1980s and 1990s. The interior of this car looks pretty good, considering where it’s parked.
The Buick GMC Community in Iowa still in business today.
The five-digit odometer means we can’t tell how many miles this car has ended up going.
I carry a 1950’s Chicago Pho-Tak Foldex 30 . Camcorder I went to the scrap yard with me that day, as one does, and I photographed the Skyhawk on Kodak Portra 160 film.
The annoyingly cheerful Skyhawk owners in this TV commercial appear to be about a third the age of typical mid-1980s Buick shoppers.
