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You Want Rare? How About A 1978 Buick Century Sport Coupe With A 4-Speed!!!


You Want Rare? How About A 1978 Buick Century Sport Coupe With A 4-Speed!!!

As we all know, the late 1970’s were some pretty dark days for factory performance cars. Aside from a few standouts like Pontiac’s W72-package Trans Am and Dodge’s Lil’ Red Express pickups, most “performance” packages were not much more than some cool stickers and paint, with the occasional suspension upgrades thrown in the mix. But as we look back, some of those sticker and stripe faux muscle cars were pretty cool, and with today’s technology and vast aftermarket offerings, they can be great platforms on which to build a sweet ride that would make anyone proud. Today’s offering for project fodder is a very rare one: a 1978 Buick Century Sport Coupe. And this one, unlike many others, has a Buick 3.8L V6 backed by a factory-installed 4-speed manual transmission. I think you know where we are going with this. Let’s take a closer look!

First, a little model history: The Buick Century Sport Coupe was based on the GM A/G Body chassis that debuted in 1978. These cars replaced the “Colonnade” 1973-77 A-Body cars at a time when GM was downsizing their fleet. The fastback styling was controversial then with consumers, and still is today with enthusiasts. The slanted rear trunk, which was shared with the Oldsmobile Cutlass Salon and 442, was only around from 1978-1980, and proved unpopular. Today, they are a cool footnote in A/G-Body history, and are very rare.

Still evident on the fender is a faded Buick Hawk logo. Sometime in the mid-70’s, Buick ditched their historic “Tri-Shield” logo for a screeching hawk, and started naming cars other than the Skylark after birds, like the Skyhawk. We’re not sure what the avian infatuation was all about, but the sticker packages they offered back then were pretty cool. The Century Sport Coupe exhibited a toned-down graphics package compared to the Free Spirit Buicks from years prior, but less is more here.

Here’s a look at the passenger side of the car. There is some damage up front; the corner turn signal lamp and headlight appear to be missing. Chances are that these are similar enough to the 4-door counterparts, so while sourcing replacement parts might be difficult, it’s probably not impossible.

Shockingly, other than the missing headlight parts, the car is in remarkable shape, albeit a bit worn. It doesn’t appear to be rusty, and that’s amazing since it resides in Wisconsin. The wheels are also rare factory pieces, only offered on the Sport Coupes and 1979-80 Turbo Sport Coupes.

 

There are only two pictures of the interior in the ad, and they don’t show too much of the important stuff. You can barely make out a shifter boot on the front floor, but it is there. The car’s interior could be a lot worse and seems mostly intact, but that driver’s side of the bench needs some attention.

 

Here’s the other picture of the interior. Note the faded carpet and the chalky interior plastics in the door jamb. You better be careful removing that for a re-dye, because they are made of 100% pure unobtanium at this point!

And last but not least, we have the engine bay. I know that a 3.8L naturally aspirated V6 is not much to get excited over, but consider it to be a placeholder. There is only one option here: a Turbo 3.8L EFI engine from a Grand National or T-Type. Nothing else would be appropriate. It should be a relatively easy swap, and banging gears with a manual transmission behind it would be amazing! Speaking of the transmission… I’m guessing it’s one of the Saginaw ones GM used in their low-output cars, so expect to have to swap it for something better down the road. Drive it until parts scatter!

And there you have it: one of the rarest of the rare is up for sale, and it could be yours. Yes, it’s an acquired taste, but it’s a very cool car that is sure to turn heads. The asking price is a very reasonable $1600, and the seller says he’s open to offers. Someone buy this rare beast!!!

You can view the original ad HERE.

An unusual car with a 3.8L V-6, and a 4-Speed manual transmission. It shows age and usage. The engine has a noise, but is still surprisingly strong. Offers will be considered.

 

So who’s going to get it? Raise your hand below in the comments section!!!

 

 


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7 thoughts on “You Want Rare? How About A 1978 Buick Century Sport Coupe With A 4-Speed!!!

  1. Chevy Hatin' Mad Geordie

    All I can say is thank God that this piece of utter shit is rare!

  2. familyguy81

    Buy it,flat black it, turbo 3.8, tremec, slam it with big wheels and brakes. Nice to see something different.

  3. jerry z

    Someone jumped on that quick since the poster already deleted the ad.

    I was in high school when these cars were introduced. Liked these better than the Cutlass and when Hot Rod featured that rear engined 455 powered 442, I wanted to build a copy. Just a dream.

  4. Gary Perkinson

    Did an entire generation of automotive engineers just completely skip their geometry and drawing courses? WTF? Did no one look at a profile shot of these kinds of cars and say, “Hey, guys–that transition from the roof to the fastback is kind of fucked up”? I don’t get it…

  5. C.M. Bendig

    4 speed M-15 used 76-80.

    Building the engine to Turbo specs and a turbo. EFI GN type set up. put a T-10 in it. find a T-type for parts like buckets seats, console. you will have to have a boot made for the console. use T-type gauge cluster. You could have a 11 second street car with air conditioning.

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