Buick Factory Photos: 1971, 1972 Centurion Formal Coupes

[Centurion]

As Mr. Earl recently pointed out on the Buy/Sell Forum, Walter Miller (autolit.com) has listed scores of Buick publicity photos on Ebay, covering years from the late 1930's through the early 1970's. There are far too many to list or show here, but I was pleased to see a couple of shots that are near and dear to my heart. The Centurion Formal Coupe was offered only during 1971 and 1972, and these cars differed from the LeSabres of the same year by virtue of their unique rear window treatment and standard vinyl roof covering -- not to mention the standard 455 and fancy interior. Buick did not aggressively market these cars, and appeared to rely on former Wildcat owners (like my parents) to generate sales. Production volumes were low, and there are only a tiny handful of these cars in the BCA today. Apart from my car, I am aware of only one or two other Formal Coupes that have ever been shown at a BCA National.

Here's the '71 publicity photo. Note the Jane Fonda look-a-like model -- definitely a switch from the glamorous models used in the 1950's era publicity photos:

I especially like the '72 publicity photo, because the car's equipment is much like my own car -- chrome road wheels and the exclusive Centurion paint stripe:

It's noteworthy that neither of the photo cars have the optional protective bodyside molding, which my car also lacks. We've commented before on this forum that the vast majority of the full-size Buicks of the era have the option, but the photos in the brochures and advertisements did not show this item.

Carl Spears, who posts on this forum from time-to-time, has recently completed a stunning restoration of his '72 Formal Coupe. Carl, we would enjoy hearing your story and seeing your photos.

[brad54]

Okay, my first car was my Grandma's '72 Centurion.

455, chrome road wheels, no body molding. Tan with a black vinyl roof and interior.

What makes it the "Formal Coupe."

I was dumb and got rid of it, but if I'd have kept it it'd be rusted and neglected into oblivion by now anyway. But I still wish I had it.

It was in the Toledo, Ohio area; if anyone ever sees it call me!

-Brad

okay, reading your post again, it says they differed from the LeSaber etc. etc.

So if it was a Centurion, it was a "Formal Coupe," or was the Formal Coupe a designation within the Centurion line? You also said '71-'72; What was the difference between them and the '73?

Also, you forgot to mention my favorite difference between the Centurion and the other Buick models; no hood vents! (a strip of squared off port holes, in this case)

[Centurion]

Brad, all 1971 and 1972 Centurion 2-door hardtops were called "Formal Coupes" and carried a "47" numerical body style designation as part of their model number, rather than the usual "37" style designation for a 2-door hardtop. In 1973, the unique rear window treatment and standard vinyl roof covering were gone, and the roofline and rear glass became identical to that of the LeSabre series cars. For '73, the 455 became optional, and the Centurion also shared its grille treatment with the LeSabre. Centurion did boast the only convertible in the entire '73 Buick line-up. Given the series' loss of exclusivity for '73, it was no surprise that the Centurion did not re-appear in 1974.

[65_wcat]

Glad to see someonelse inherited one of these great cars.

I've always loved full size Buicks. My first car was also a 72 Centurion Formal Coupe - Royal blue with black vinyl top and interior. It was was my grandmother's. She bought it new and had it for 12 years. After my grandfather died, she gave it to my father as she needed a new car but could not part with the last car my grandmother/grandfather bought together.

The car was fully loaded, a/c, cruise (which worked!), p/w, p/locks, p/seat, rr defog, trip set, speed alert, am/fm 8track, rallye rims, pinstriping, front fender light monitors, cornering lights and map light. It too had the protective side moldings.

Of course it had the 455 and at 18 years of age, you can imagine how much fun I had with. Many of my friends were surpirsed just how fast "a boat" could be. In fact, they came to nickname it "The Beast"

I drove it for two years. However, things started to go and as I was in college, I had to get rid of it (couldn't afford to fix it and had no place to keep it!).

I currently own a '65 Wildcat convertible (my dream car, my parents had one when I was kid - it too was passed down from my grandmother to my dad). As much as I love that car, I still miss my '72 Centurion.

I'm glad to see there is some interest in them. Somehow they seem to have been forgotten. I particualrly like SMARTINS '71 convertible.

Just thought I'd share.

Greg

[Centurion]

Greg and Brad, thanks for your Centurion coupe stories! I guess that makes three of us who inherited these cars from other family members. Greg, I have often wished that I also had the '65 Wildcat coupe that my family owned.

And I agree with you about Smartin's Centurion convertible. It's no surprise that the Centurion convertibles -- although produced in small volumes -- receive most of the collector attention toward Centurions today.

[brad54]

I will have another one at some point--and it'll be a convert.

At 16 years old, I put that 455 through its paces. I can tell you that it would do donuts on bone dry pavement, and beat far more cars at the red lights than it should have (Including a mid-70s Corvette!).

Mine had to go in college, too: the repairs weren't too terribly bad, but the $45 a week in gas was killing me! Insurance wasn't real friendly either. I bought a brand new '93 Dakota pickup, and my payment was what I spent in gas on the Buick. After the insurance adjustments (Anti-lock brakes, air bags and a V6), I was saving money every month.

I'd love nothing better than to drive one of those land yachts every day again.

-Brad

[Smartin]

I saw those photos on ebay when they went up..

A 71 Centurion formal coupe is on ebay right now that could use a home....but is a little rusty, and has been monkeyed with some.

Thanks for the compliments on my car, guys! I'm not worthy

A shot from my recent ebay flop..

[Centurion]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I particualrly like SMARTINS '71 convertible.

</div></div>

Yeah, and, more importantly, Smartin's actually one of our favorite Buick guys!

Adam, thanks for the photo from the Ebay experience. I would have been really sad if you had succeeded in selling it. Whenever you list it again, please make certain that you select an unreasonably high reserve amount!

Thanks, Adam, for the heads up on that '71 Formal Coupe on Ebay. I had not seen this one. Lots of problems with this one, including missing wheel opening moldings and rocker moldings in the rust areas. Seats have been re-done in completely incorrect material. Nonetheless, it's always fun to see one of these.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=2494392166&category=6144

[BqUICK]

Nice photos! Centurions are really neat cars. Oldsmobile made a similar car in its class, the Delta 88, but with nowhere near the CLASS!

[72Buickguy]

Hi Brian, I had posted a few pics of my Centurion on the v8 Buick board, but they must have disappeared when they got hacked. In these pics, I haven't installed the wide lower rocker panel moldings. I bought the car off ebay on a chance that I could use the parts to restore another 72 Centurion coupe I had already purchased. This one looked rough, but complete. After I got it up here to Minnesota, it became obvios that this parts car was actually in great shape. it has 58K miles, almost perfect saddle interior. It has some unusual options like rear body moldings, cornering lights, electric locks without power windows, chrome wheels, dual exhaust and electric trunk release. All I did was fix the leaking exhaust manifold and set the timing correctly. This car turned out to have lots of power.

I had it painted in an extra cost Riviera color, Vintage Red, and changed the top from tan to white. I get lots of honks and waves when I take it for a cruise. I'm attaching a few pics.

[72Buickguy]

Here's one more pic

[72Buickguy]

Here's another pic

[Smartin]

Nice! Did you add the sport mirrors yourself? I will be doing that whenever I build up the gumption to drill holes in my doors.

[Centurion]

Carl, thanks for adding the photos of your beautiful Centurion. I look forward to seeing some additional photos when you've added the wide rocker panel moldings to the car. For those who cannot visualize this item, it became available as a mid-year option (about February, 1972) on full-size 1972 Buicks and the Riviera. Since it was not depicted in any of the brochures for '72, few people ordered it. The wide rocker moldings were continued in '73 and later years, where they are much more commonly seen.

The Vintage Red color looks fantastic on this car. During the '71 and '72 timeframe, certain Buick colors were standard colors available on all series. Other colors were exclusive to the Skylark/GS, full-size Buicks, or Rivieras. It was possible, however, to order an "exclusive" Riviera color on a Centurion, and we've also documented some full-size cars that were ordered in some of the "exclusive" Skylark/GS colors. As Carl noted, this was possible at "extra cost". I'm going from memory here, Carl, so please correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that the documentation you obtained from the Sloan Museum showed that about 23 '72 Centurion Formal Coupes had been delivered from the factory in the Riviera Vintage Red color.

Apart from the availability of extra cost colors, it was also possible to order non-standard Buick colors. I've heard, for example, of a '73 Centurion convertible ordered in a Corvette green color. Recently, we had a topic here about a '71 Centurion convertible that had been built in a non-standard light blue color.

[72Buickguy]

I just double checked the numbers, and 28 Centurion coupes came in Vintage Red. The total for all 72 Centurions in that color was 69.