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.
All I can say is thank God that this piece of utter shit is rare!
Buy it,flat black it, turbo 3.8, tremec, slam it with big wheels and brakes. Nice to see something different.
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.
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…
A rare footnote, yes. Cool? No f***ing way. Just plain nasty ugly.
I’m interested in it. where is it at? got any numbers?
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.