The 1971 / 1972 Centurions in January, 2008 "Hemmings Classic Car"

[Centurion]

The latest issue of HCC includes a feature on "Bargain Collectibles", identifying nineteen appealing collector cars available for under $5,000.

Jeff Koch's article is titled: "Dollar-A-Pound Collectibles: Nineteen pieces of rolling proof that the old-car hobby need not be expensive".

The author notes that GM's early 1970's B-bodies are scattered throughout the list, and he reminds us that most collectors favor models built before the emissions control era. "At the same time, many decry that the Seventies were the absolute nadir of American quality, casting the die for the tumult in the ensuing three decades."

It is, of course, true that the cars of the 1970's have been shunned by many collectors, but I have long contended that our Centurions largely escape the failings that characterize the negative 1970's automotive stereotypes.

Our Centurions (as well as Electra 225's and Century/Regals) are among the nineteen models that have been recognized. Specifically, the 1971-72 Centurion two-door hardtop is selected, and the text left me wishing that the author had researched the cars more thoroughly:

For three years, Centurion was the low-line full-size Buick, if such a thing isn't considered an oxymoron. Most at this price [$4,000] will have 350-cu.in. V-8 power and crank windows; a torquey 455-cu.in. V-8 is a bonus if you can find it, but don't count on it at this price level. The sedan variant is even cheaper than what's listed here, but since the coupes can squeak in under our dollar-a-pound cap, we figured we'd toss in the (arguably) more desirable body style. Convertible models are hands-down the most sought-after models of the Centurion line, priced well out of our range, and soft-top restorers frequently consider the tin-top variants little more than parts cars. Pity. Also, common metallic brown paint will do the value no favors.

My immediate response was that someone needed to set the record straight, and my Centurion passions were fired up. I've sent the following message to the editor, in hopes that my comments will be printed in an upcoming issue:

Jeff Koch’s fine piece on bargain collectibles (HCC #40) served as a reminder that excellent, budget-priced collector cars abound. For those who are willing to look beyond those years and models that the marketplace has already recognized as highly desirable, a spectacular variety of fine, unique cars is available.

The pre-downsized, full-size cars of the early 1970’s offer an appealing mix of high style and low price, and I was pleased to see that Jeff identified several of these in his article. With respect to his selection of the 1971 – 1972 Buick Centurion, a few corrections should be noted. As a replacement for the Wildcat, the Centurion was never the “low line” full-size Buick. The least expensive full-size Buick role was filled by the venerable LeSabre series, which shared its “B-Body” shell with the upscale Centurion. All 1971 – 1972 Centurions were equipped with Buick’s 455-cid V8, and the 2-door hardtop models were known as the Formal Coupe, featuring a unique rear window treatment and standard vinyl roof. The interior trim was both more sporty and luxurious than the lower-priced LeSabre’s.

Built before Detroit slathered its full-size models with opera windows, padded landau roofs, coach lamps, stand-up hood ornaments, and pillow-like velour interiors, the Centurion stands out for its clean, graceful lines and styling homage to the Buick Gran Sport and Wildcat cars that preceded it. The combination of good looks, bulletproof power train, and industrial-strength air conditioning make these a perfect choice for touring with your collector car buddies.

Who knows whether the magazine will opt to print my comments, but let's hope that someone's letter to the editor will correct the author's errors.

[Centurion]

Interestingly, I've just received a private message through the AACA discussion forums. An Oldsmobile enthusiast had read the article in HCC, and he was quick to point out the errors to me. I assured him that I had sent a letter to the editor.

Are some of our other Centurion forum members subscribers to HCC?

[centurion 455 ragtop]

Oh well :coffee: Like always the 1973 model is considered the "bastard child" of the bunch:bawl: We're always left out of the loop, so don't feel too bad. I'll bet ya Hemmings doesn't even realize a 1973 Centurion model was made:Dou: Ask them and they will say, " Oh wasn't that the LeSabra :mad:

In fact GM never kept track of the big block and small block breakdown counts for the 1973 Centurion. Just take a look at the other 73 Buick models, the GS for example does not command the same attention as the 70-72 years. And just try and get parts! I guess by '73 GM was already thinking about Vega's and Skyhawks. The 73 year was the last "big car, wastefull energy car". I'll bet ya I can get a years worth of carbon credits from the AL Gore gang for a 73 model car:laugh: :moonu: to you Al Gore!

As far as magazine coverage, I would consider ANY article regarding Buicks a plus, whether their facts are screwy or not. A lot of times their reasons for inaccuracies is that there is little to no input out there, and most writers haven't a clue about Buicks. Ask them about a Chevelle and they can write books about them. True on the fact they (magazine writers) do little and shabby research and with Buicks the information is not that easy to get compared to Chevies, so they wing it and most cases screw it up. I am sure the same happens to the Olds guys too.

As we all know we get bombarded with; "Chevy this Chevy that", and "Ford built this and that", and "how about those mopars.....":tonge2: type articles. Just go to a car show, I have been asked countless times "What is it" and when I tell them a Centurion, they really look confused usually remarking, "Never heard of them". And followed up with stories about a friend’s Delta 88. :tonge2: :rant:

As Rodney Dangerfield said, " I get no respect" :rolleyes:

[Centurion]

You know, Rick, it really doesn't make sense that the '73 Centurion was omitted from the list, and I probably should have addressed that issue with HCC as well. They included all Electra 225's from the '71 - '76 era, so all Centurions should certainly have been included. Since, for whatever reason, they focused on just the '71/'72 Centurions, I responded only to those comments.

You are correct that the Centurion series is typically "under the radar" among most car collectors. Perhaps that's part of the fun in owning one, and it's positive that HCC has avoided the "Chevy only" orientation of so many publications. When I say "Centurion", most people assume that I really meant to say that my car is a "Century". It's funny, too, that local Buick Club guys -- who have known me and my car for years -- always refer to my car as the '72 Centurion, almost as if the '71 models never existed.

[Robroy]

Hey guys, look at it this way, not all are blessed with such good taste as we are!! :laugh: :D

I’m with you Rick, the 73 is often the black sheep in the Centurion family…:rolleyes:

[Robroy]

When I say "Centurion", most people assume that I really meant to say that my car is a "Century".
Happens to me too, all the time…:rooleyes2:

[Centurion]

There are no "black sheep" or "bastard children" here, and my purpose in sharing the article was not to suggest or promote any kind of model year or body style hierarchy among our Centurion fans.

Part of what has been great about this site is that all Centurion enthusiasts are equally welcome, and we embrace all three years and all of the body styles. Let's not forget that all of our Centurions are substantially the same, regardless of the minor year-to-year changes.

[Robroy]

Brian,
I wasn’t referring to the Centurion board when I said “Black sheep” and I fully agree with you that there is no such thing as a hierarchy between the 71-72 owners and the 73 gang, the number of 73’s in the Calendar if anything is a proof of that.
My point was that if the Centurion model has got very little attention in general whenever it’s mentioned in magazine’s etc, the 73 is the most anonymous of them all

[centurion 455 ragtop]

Brian

It's not any problem with me at all or I have with any of you guys on the Board. I will always consider you all friends. Hope you didn't get the wrong impression. I find it always the hard part of typing on the internet rather than talking in person. You lose the feelings behind words which actually make your point in a conversation.

Regarding the Black sheep type comment, it's just a general feeling I get with owning Buicks in a Chevy/Ford/Mopar world. We're all like the underdogs, that is why when ever a Buick wins at a big show or race we all band together in celebration, something not often seen with the Chevy or Ford guys.

Before I owned my Centurion I owned a '73 Riviera GS. Loved that car, ran like your typical stump pulling full size Buick. She tipped the scales at 5,025 pounds and ran the 1/4 mile in 15.65 seconds...bone stock! Also towed with it and it towed great too. Funny thing though, like the 73 Centurion, and '73 GS the 73 Riv also was considered the begining of the end car. Even though it was a boat-tail, magazines did not consider it a "true" boat tail. As GM softened the boat tail look in '73.

It was just a matter of chance regarding what year Centurion I got, as I liked them all. I always wanted a convertible and living with limited car space at the time and married with two small kids, I had to settle on selling my Riv and search for a full size boxed frame (needed for towing) convertible Buick. It had to be 1971 and up. I knew about the Centurion and like all the years. Just that mine sort of fell into my lap. Sold the Riv and rolled the money over into my Centurion.

As with Hemmings, that is a good thing to complain to them. You never know they may do another article on the cars and may end up contacting a few of us for photos and additional "correct" information. :xyxthumbs:

[Bob Alberini]

ALL OF YOU GUYS have made for a very interesting thread and discussion and I've certainly enjoyed your many QUALITY comments.

I fell in love with the 72 Centurions the day I found the first one buried amidst the last of the new 71s at the local dealership. They literally just stuck it in the middle of them but when I saw the taillamp treatment and then got out to see what the front looked like, that did it. (Those were the days when the new cars were stored unfenced behind the dealership and it was a thrill to drive through the rows of new cars and see what came in.)

I was a senior in college when the 72s came out and I could have ordered one about as easily as funding the space program. But by 1973 and gainfully employed, I actually considered ordering a new one and had my option list and color choice picked out (it would have been a 455 Burgundy 4 door hardtop) but my heart held out for the 72 that remained my preference. Then gray surfaced and the rest has been history for the last 34 years.

All of your comments reminded me of my thoughts back then though. When opening the 73 sales catalog, some of the identical seat patterns were available on both the LeSabre Custom and the Centurion and the 455 was now an extra cost option on the Centurion and the formal coupe was gone. My thought, at the time, was that the Centurion was on the way out because there was no reason to build two nearly identical models. Sure enough, when the 74s were introduced, the Centurions were history. But they are not history to us and we to do our best to keep it that way!

[Smartin]

Thanks for bringing this up, Brian. Good reading, and excellent thread, guys!:beers:

[RFortuna]

I just read the article, and I was stunned by the number of errors regarding all of the makes. I would think Hemmings more than anyone would have access to better data than that. Some of the values were a little unrealistic too. All they would have to do was look in Hemmings Motor News to see what people are asking for these cars. I'm interested in nearly all makes of old cars, but I'm far from an expert on any of them. If someone like me can read an article and pick out at least 20 errors by an actual automotive journalist, from a publication like Hemmings no less, something is wrong. I would think the journalists, editor, and proof readers at a publication like Hemmings would be enthusiasts. I guess maybe they're not. Maybe they should apply for jobs at News Week, or Cosmo.

Randy

[Centurion]

You are spot on, Randy. Hemmings Classic Car has many good things going for it, but the quality of the publication is regularly marred by technical information that is just plain wrong.

Hmmm . . . perhaps the magazine needs to hire us to get the details right! We'd be sure to arrange for plenty of Centurion articles.:)

[73 Centurion]

Well with such a scarcity of sources for automotive information you can't expect a writer to be accurate. It's not like there's some massive electronic reservoir of information that any enterprising 10 yearl old could use to dig up arcane facts.

How do you expect a writer to learn about all the fiddly details about cars. They'd have to spend time reading about cars, going to shows, talking to experts and perhaps even doing some work on a car or two themselves. Who among us could put up with that kind of life?

Besides we all know that everyone has a healthy skepticism about anything in print. It's not like people beleive what they read, so why worry about the facts.

A writer only needs 4 universally accepted facts:

1) Any car can go from a rusted hulk to show car in 7 days. It happens all the time on TV.
2) All custom cars are made by Boyd Coddington who's knowledge, skill and artistic talents are only matched by his business management abilities.
3) Ford and Chevy made all of the cars except for a few other "specialty" brands that aren't that important.
4) Everything excluding a few Fords came with a Chevy small block.

John

[MichelHaak]

Maybe the Centurion will get a little more known if you can google it right. If you now search for Centurion, you will only find this site and Centurions for sale. pictures: just the same story. Maybe we should make this site bigger with alot of good stories (you guys are the best with that!) and alot of high res pictures. If people will start to look for big Buicks and they will find such a nice site with alot of info they will be very enthousiatic I think! :Brow:

By the way, I'm not very pleased with that comment of the author about the brown metallic color. That's just so seventies, I think it's not negative at all. By the way, I can't find any Centurion with that antique gold color just like mine car... If nobody likes it and repaint his brown car, the get rare too.

[Centurion]

Michel, I wondered whether you would pick up on the author's comment regarding the metallic brown colors.

Personally, I think that the metallic browns were among the most attractive Centurion colors. Both Antique Gold and Nutmeg were very popular on the '72's, for example, so they were well-accepted at the time. I still think they look great.

[RFortuna]

I agree! 70's colors look right on 70's cars. Would metallic gold, brown or green look right on a 57 Chevy? No, but they look just right on the cars from the late 60's and early 70's. Hopefully they won't all end up red.

Randy

[Robroy]

Hmmm . . . perhaps the magazine needs to hire us to get the details right! We'd be sure to arrange for plenty of Centurion articles.:)
What if we checked the interest with a few suitable car magazines for a full story about the Centurion?
We have; the knowledge, great pictures, fact and figures and we also have some very talented writers in this forum.
Maybe I’m being naive but perhaps we could make buck on it as well as promoting our model. If so the money could be set as a fund for keeping this board running or similar.
It would be a car journalist freelance job done by ourselves. Depending on what file format the magazine would like I could possible help with that.

Just a wild idea I got when reading Brian’s post (the quote above), maybe a bit optimistic??

[Robroy]

Speaking of Centurion articles, here’s another one...
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/1973-buick-centurion.htm

[centurion 455 ragtop]

Speaking of Centurion articles, here’s another one...
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/1973-buick-centurion.htm

Cool:xyxthumbs:

[Boscoe]

Are some of our other Centurion forum members subscribers to HCC?


Yep. I've subscribed for a couple of years, now. I noticed the same error regarding the Centurion but did not bother to write.