Michele’s Classic Christmas Memory – Grandma’s Car

It was two weeks before the Christmas of 1972 and only nine months had gone by since I passed my driver’s test and obtained my license. I had visions of one day owning my dream car, the new Triumph TR6, but working after school at a sandwich shop limited me to buying my brother’s 1967 Pontiac Catalina for $500 when he enlisted in the Air Force. I loved to drive, and the Catalina was a great car because it could easily fit six friends, albeit uncomfortably, who could then chip in for gas to go cruising or get rides to school.

When my grandmother, who was in her 70’s and poor eyesight had caused to her give up driving, had found out about my new wheels asked if I could come out to see her and take her Christmas shopping. You betcha! I never passed up a chance to get behind to wheel of my car, especially to show off my finely tuned driving skills. But there was one caveat; I had to drive grandma around in her car, a 1965 Buick Skylark, a car that would not be considered cool by my friend’s standards.

Grandma had bought this car new, and it was her pride and joy. It was the first car she had ever bought by herself as she had been married to grandpa for over fifty years before he passed. Grandma had only put 6000 miles on the Skylark before her eyes failed her, and she couldn’t bring herself to sell it so I couldn’t refuse her request to take her shopping in it.

For a four-door sedan this was a pretty sporty looking vehicle, especially with the one most noticeable changes from the prior year - a full width rear taillight bar. It had power windows, power brakes and air-conditioning. The dash board had an art deco/contemporary look, the push-pull knobs were quite ornate and detailed, and the chrome trim accents added class to the vinyl/cloth upholstery.

What I liked most about the car was the way it drove. It had a 300 cubic inch V8 engine, 2 barrel carburetor and a turbo 300 transmission. The muscle car era was just starting to heat up and auto manufacturers were beefing up engines and using weigh saving techniques. The horsepower-to-weight ratio in the 1965 Buick Skylark made this little car get up and go. Lucky for me, grandma liked the speed of the car as much as I did and we had a great time Christmas shopping.

For the next few years I would make many trips out to see grandma and take her on outings in the spunky Buick, and when she passed, she left the car to me. In 1995, it was with mixed emotions that I passed down grandma’s 1965 Buick Skylark to our son on his sixteenth birthday.

Image is of our son's drawing of grandma's 1965 Buick Skylark