Hey guys,

I just browsed on webshots and found someone who is actually converting a 1954 Buick Special Riviera or Convertible (Lamar, what was it?) into a Skylark model. I still don't know what to think of it. On one hand it's a great car, a great job, hard work and it's nice to have a car restored and so on... but... on the other hand... it's a fake, it's not what it's should be! I wonder what the owner would say about it. Is it a Skylark or not? He will probably have problems with the VIN and the body tag. Everyone who is into this stuff would recognize as it beeing tags from a Special model.

Enough talk, here are the pictures:







The whole album can be seen here:
http://rides.webshots.com/album/554562511LEJWQd
There is another album from him, created one month later with a 54 Buick Skylark, too. Don't know if that is THIS 'Skylark' or not.
http://rides.webshots.com/album/555327332tnXkrm

Wow this should be a good thread. On one end if it were my car and I had done as much work as I see here, I would feel that I could call it what I d*** well please. On the other hand it appears the majority of the car is indeed a Special Riviera and that I would be misrepresenting the car if I called it a Skylark. Some restorers have to resort to extremes to restore a rare car such as this by swapping major body panels etc.. Think is, is the car being restored or cloned. I guess the question is "where does the original car start and end"? Is it the cowl area because that happens to be where the data plate is tacked on or is it the engine and running gear or what percentage of the orignal car has to remain or .... Data plate and VIN tag sets can be bought for rare specimens as these and possibly over time they end up in the registry as a true Skylark,but is that right. The cloning of muscle cars has been goin on for years. Perhaps there are some answers there. I recently contemplated turning Mary Jane into a Century convertible as some one had discovered a complete convertible rotting away in a junkyard and I had a chance to buy it. But I'm the type of guy that if someone were to say "Nice Century convertible" I would always be replying, "thanks but it's really just a clone"...

Lamar, thats exactly what I thought! Poor little Special! It was in nice original condition and had the same color as my Gracie. Another possible twin! But the end has been cut off... Practically this is a good base for a rear-end-couch, but I like originals and cars with a true history.

The first picture is this one:


So I think it has been corrected...no portholes any more, correct front fenders, correct hood emblem, etc.; you wouldn't recognize the conversion any more. The one who made it is called "Bojon Custom Car Works", which could indicate that this is made to sell. The album is called "54 skylark"... to sell it as a conversion is ok, but to sell it as a true Skylark would be wrong - in my opinion.

Well, there is a Skylark on Ebay. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Buick-Sky...sspagenameZWDVW

I looked at the pictures and saw this one:


Where is the VIN plate? The car looks original, colors are matching... but why is the VIN plate missing? Did it just fall off? This is a high-priced car and I think it should be there! In Germany you can't register a car without a VIN- and a body-plate - you can't even get a title for it.

Looks like the plate is there, but is painted over.

I guess this owner has the answer. 1954 Special Skylark or was it Skylark Special.
I think this car is tastefully done.

Wow!, Just look at the bids on that car. It's easy to see why people would convert Specials into Skylarks, if they can pull it off. And even though that Special is very nice, I think it is sad that a Skylark somewhere is missing it's ass end so someone else can make a ungodly buck with a car that screams fake fake fake all day long. At least, as Mr. Earl said, the seller acknowledged the conversion. And I can hear that future owner now at a meet somewhere complaining that the car did not win an award when represented as an original car.

Unfortunately this is another instance of doing ALMOST a great job. The body work looks really good (as if it could have come from the factory like that) , but then the dash looks completely cobbled. If you're going to do this do it all the way.
The cool thing about this idea is that you would be able to drive it/ enjoy it, plus it would be air conditioned.

Mike

I am really confused as what this guy is doing. Is he doing two 54 Skylarks? Is he pieceing one together out of a Special?
What do you guys think he is doing?

Hopefully he is a good welder or else this car may come apart on the road.

He sure didn't spend a lot of time getting the driver's door to fit...

JMC

The big question is where he got the rear end. Looks like a rear end so to say. Hence why didn't he get the rest. Was it so badly hit (I mean the rear end doesn't look rusty). So what happend... Why not restore fix the front of the real thing..

Cheers Dyna

I am the owner, Bojon is the shop I have doing the bodywork. The back end and the cowl was the only usable part of the original car, the special a mint coupe. This is a long, long story. It will be titled as a SKYLARK but updated, electric windows, ac etc. Fake is debatable, every part is 1954 buick and the cowl and tail will be original. I don't plan to sell it, This will be a "resto-mod" that is intended to be the absolute best driver 1950's chrome car in the world, but will not be a trailer queen, nor will it be represented as an original Skylark. All mods will be subtle and tasteful, but the car is not intended to fool any buick fans. Sorry about chopping up a special, but that should help raise thier value!

Firstly, let me say WELCOME ABOARD 54Skylark!!!
Secondly, let us see this Buick. Sounds like a dream car to me. I am sure there is much more than meets the eye here and would love to hear the "long, long, story". Personally I've always wanted to do much the same thing as you are doing. I always thought 56 portholes would be the crowning touch to a front Skylark fender. (Bet that just made some Skylark owners cringe)So bring us up to date on what's going on with the car today. Also please stop in over at 1954Buick.com we'd love to have you and talk about your "Special Skylark"

OH and you may have a good point there about raising the values of 54 Specials. Looks like something has surely acted to increase their value.Check this out www.1954buick.com/prices.xls It's a 54 Buick Price Guide that El Diablo created that covers like the last 2-3 years. Very interesting.

Since my wife and kids don't want to hear the story, perhaps this is an appropriate audience. Since this thread is about building a fake Skylark, I will get more into the Skylark details over at 1954buick.com. I started cheap, buying a 54 Skylark basket. I then came across a deal on a complete original Skylark for 50K. I'm turning it into a #1, to sell. Not that I wanted to, had I just bought it and made it my driver I would be light years ahead. But then along came the blue coupe. 60K original miles, 7K- they are cheap and darn near as cool as a tri-five. This was never undercoated, the underneath is mint. just a light surface rust where the sun burned the paint off. Must have never touched salt, absolute perfect pans and rockers.

so, with a complete "model", a good Skylark back end and cowl and a mint chasis, I could build my driver. 25K for the Skylark stuff, 7K for the donor I can probably complete this around 60K. It will have AC, electric windows. The Dyna-slush may later get upgraded, as I want to cruise in it. I may modernize the seats. Now for those building a Skylark, I have 3 years of research. My Bodyman will make correct front clips, well inserts and tech info for a price. It was too much brain damage and cost to share this info for free. Also, I don't want to help get more Skylark clones out there, as I want to keep them unique. I do like the nailhead, but they get oiling issues on the valves which we are going to try and improve. Also, the 54 cam and lifters have to be matched correctly. The nailhead lacks the airflow for a performance engine, but makes up for it by being unique. I may get an offy 3 duece or dual quad manifold. Also, the newer 425 can be dropped in. However, I want to stick with the 322, I prefer drivability to performance. Overall, the 54 Skylark is my favorite 50's chrome car. Every car show has lots of tri-fives and Caddies- they are nice, but the 54 Skylark is a show stopper. The 53 larks have been hot, but the wheel cuttouts and the back end of a 54 lark is simply unparralleled.

I do want to discourage people from building 54 Skylarks. The chromework costs a fortune (10K or more) to do right. The unique parts are not reproduced, this is not something for a garage mechanic. I almost bit off too much, I would not have done this knowing what I know now. The white one at Barrett that was in magazines went for 110K- a bargain, I wish I bought that one and never started this!