my 68 Skylark turned 100,000

I bought my 68 Skylark convertible on June 22, 1979 and it had approx 65,500 miles on it. So after 26 years of ownership I finally ran the odometer up to the 100,000 mile mark. I had mixed emotions. I hate to see THAT many miles on it, but it was cool to see the odometer at 99,999.9 and 00000.0. Naturally like any good car fanatic I took pictures. Some lady walking her dog in the housing plan where I drove the "final 2 miles" looked at me with a weary eye and turned the other direction!!! She didn't know I was a harmless guy pampering his car much the way she probably pampers her dog.

I bought it when it was 11 years old and it is now 37 years old. It is odd to know that I have owned the car for 26 years, more that twice as long as the previous owners, and someone else put more miles on the car than I have. It still runs line a champ, but it is starting to experience some blow-by past the valves into the valve covers and slugging the oil. I'm planning on having the engine rebuilt soon. Not sure whether to do the entire engine or just the heads. Any thoughts or suggestions??

My guess is that there are a lot of guys like us that will pull over to the side of the road and take a picture when the odometer rolls over. I've done it.

I'm wondering how many will reply to this post and admit they've done it too.

I hate to admit it, but I even slow dow when it rolls over the 10,000's and all the wheels roll. Pity the guys who have digital odometers!

Cheers.

Congrats on the "milestone"! Funny, I did the same thing to my '73 GrandVille Convertible. Got a picture at 99999.9 and another at 00000.0. Luckily, I was in front of my then-girlfriend's house when it rolled over.

Got a pic. of your whole car? The '68 has always been my favorite Skylark.

I wasn't smart enough to take a picture of the speedo in my 40. I bought the car in 1972 with 21k showing, and am not sure how many times it had been around. I turned it to all zeros a few years ago, and it now shows 23k, so I have driven it over 100K

Hey Tom,

This happened on my way to Batavia.

Notice the car is in Drive.

Mike

Sorry, I had to put it in Supersize but you can't see it otherwise.

Joel,

sorry it took me so long to get back to your question if I had a pic of the entire car. I was extremely busy at work through Oct and Nov and I frankly forgot that I made this post! So here is a pic of the outside of the car I took when I pulled over to take the pic of the odometer.

I've done this same thing with a number of my cars. It started with my first car - 1966 Pontiac Catalina 2 door fastback. Ran that car up to the high 120,000 mile mark until I skidded off I-79 in a snow storm and came to rest against a tree just above the passenger side rear wheel. Then I took photos of the 99,999 odometer on my next car which was a 1972 Skylark 2-door thin pillar coupe. Wish I still had that car -it was a real runner! Ran that odometer up to 135,000 and traded it in on a 1986 Sommerset. I took pics of the Sommerset turning over with my girlfriend (now wife - she understands us old car guys)in the car with me. Again another car I wish I still had. It was a great little car with the 2.5 Iron Duke inline 4 cylinder coupled to a 5 speed manual transmission. Not many manuals were installed in Buicks in the 80's. That car got 30 MPG in the city and 36 MPG on the highway. Why can't we got that kind of mileage now? Ran it's odometer up to 140,000 and traded in on a 95 Chevy S-10 Pickup. This was the first vehicle I had with the 7 digit odometer and I did not take photos when it ticked over the 100,000 mile mark - it just wasn't the same as seeing all 0's again.

Thanks for the picture. That car is absolutely beautiful in red. One of the best colors for this model, IMO.

It's interesting to figure average annual mileage on a vintage car--you get perspective on how little these cars have been driven compared to today's average grocery-getter commuter car. For instance, 100,000 miles in 17 years for your Skylark is just under 6000 miles annually on average! Even my 130,000-mile '89 Camaro, which sounds like a "high-mileage" car, has been driven just over 8000 miles per year--about half of "average." So, getting a 60,000-mile 40-year-old car is pretty phenomenal--1500 miles per year! Even if it's been stored for quite a while, compare it to most cars today which get that kind of mileage in just 4 or 5 years--often less than that.

Guy,

Thanks for the compliment on the color of my 68 Skylark. I humbly agree with you that red is THE color for that car and coupled with the white top and interior is the icing on the cake.

On the topic of car milage - it is interesting to note that my oldest car has the least amount of miles on it. My 48 Roadmaster only has 54,500 miles on it while my newest car (2003 Rendezvous) has 77,400 miles in only 3 years. That Rendezvous hardly ever stops moving - always on the road. I drive 80 miles round trip to work everyday and then weekends it is the car to drive since it is the nicest in the household. My wifes 99 Olds Cutlas only clocked 7500 miles in the past year. I went to change the air filter figuring it needed a new one after 1 year but when I checked the milage and date I wrote on the paper filter part with a sharpie marker it only showed the 7,500 miles. Yes I am crazy like that to write the date and mileage down on all parts I put on my cars with a sharpie marker.

Not crazy at all. Good records are very helpful, and can also be fun--not to mention valuable when you sell.

But, "That Rendezvous. . . is the car to drive since it is the nicest in the household."?? Maybe the most appropriate for commuting, but I doubt you really mean "nicest"!!!

Nice car Tom. I have a 69 GS 400 convertible in the same red with a black top and interior. I do love these year Skylarks although I wonder what they would look like if they had full open rear wheel welts?

JD

Packard guy - I understand what you are saying - my "nicest" is probably my 68 Skylark. My prettiest is the 48 Roadmaster, and the most comfortable and most practical is my 03 Rendezvous. You can't beet those heated seets and dual zone automatic HVAC system this time of year. I also love having the heads up speedometer projected up on the windshield. The XM radio is great on my hour each way commute to work. My Rendezvous was a dealer demo so it came with all the goodies on it.

Oh, now you're getting me envious! It gets cold around here.

Seriously, you know what I want in a vehicle now? Something that hauls stuff other than people in the back. I'm spoiled on a 6-foot truck bed with topper. The only car or SUV I've seen out there that has 6' behind the front seats (actually, my Dakota has 6' behind the REAR seats) is a Dodge Magnum, and that isn't a flat floor. Plus, I think they're overpriced--way out of what I would call the "Dodge range." And the AWD I'm interested in is really pricy--to me anyway. Maybe there is a long cargo-area compact SUV out there that I'm missing.

Why a 6' cargo area? Sometimes it's for me! I sleep back there on road trips and if I get rained out in the tent whilst car-camping. Might sound crazy, but there it is.

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Cold? Down south like you are?

I've got the same sort of setup in my '05 Sierra...I had a cap on my 2000, but haven't decided if Max will be getting the same treatment. I had to go to the crew cab to give the kids more room...decided to go for the luxury as well.

The Montana will be going soon...we are trying to decide now between Rendezvous, Envoy, or Rainier to replace it...the wife is demanding the heated seats and AWD/4WD as well now.

Hey, I'm north of Toronto! Not Winnipeg though. Seriously (ha) we have some absolutely embarrassing lows here in the winter. In general, the Minnesota temperature extremes are outrageous--

-60 Feb. 2, 1996 Tower, MN

+114 July 6, 1936 Moorhead, MN

No wonder we're all cracked!

Hey PackardGuy, The Rendezvous has a cavernous back end. I can fit a 4 foot wide piece of plywood in it and the piece was 55 inches long with room to spare so I'm guessing it is 6 feet. Just fold the 2nd row of seat down. If you need even more room the seat come out all together. I've never done it but I'm sure I could sleep back there and I'm 6 ft tall as well. I've used my Rendezvous as a true truck many times. I had 8 chimney tiles that are 2 feet square and 3 feet long stacked in the back end. Then other times with the 3rd row seat folded up, I've packed in 7 adults. It is really the most versatile car I've ever owned. I even tow my 13 foot camper with it. It beats my 95 Chevy S-10 extended cab pickup that I had and I loved that truck.

Ditto!!!!! on versatility!!!!!!!!! I often relay the story of the complete antique bedroom set(large head & foot board, siderails, vanity, mirror & stool, dressor & mirror, chest, plus a rocking chair, plus other odds and ends I hauled in one trip in the Rendezvous. My neighbors commented about it looking like a commercial where stuff "never" quit coming out of it.

My Wife,s Park Ave

Hey Guy, Just wanted to let you know that a 6 foot tall guy can sleep in the back of a Rendezvous. My wife and I did it (sleep that is!) in the back of our Rendezvous in the parking lot of Wall Mart in Punxytauny PA. You see my birthday is Feb 2 -Groundhog's day. We left the house at 10 PM and drove the 2 1/2 hours to Punxy then crawled into the back end to get about 3 hours of sleep before the party got started. I blew up a full size air matress and had a couple sleeping bags and pillows. Worked like a charm! You do need the air matress because the seats do not fold flat. The air matress levels things out.

Thanks for the tip. I've heard Walmart is a pretty good camping spot, since they have security. Oh, but of course that means you have to keep quiet!