Buick Roadmaster Skylark
Buick celebrated its 50th birthday with a low, glamorous convertible whose hand-fitted shape showed off the company's first modern V8.
1953 Buick Skylark Convertible (14177801867).jpg · Greg Gjerdingen · CC BY 2.0
What did this one sell for?
Make a guess, then reveal one identity-matched completed auction result. It is a comparison point, not a price promise.
Reveal the auction result
Based on a completed sale at Bring a Trailer, an estimated value for this vehicle is $149,053.
Why this sale: Exact 1953 U.S. Buick 50th Anniversary Skylark convertible with the 322-cubic-inch V8 and two-speed Dynaflow automatic; not the redesigned 1954 Series 100 Skylark. 77k miles shown with total mileage unknown. The car was refurbished and repainted under prior ownership, its power top was recently serviced, and it retained power steering, power-assisted drum brakes, wire wheels, power windows and Selectronic radio.
Winning bid; Bring a Trailer's 5% buyer service fee (then capped at $7,500), the selling dealer's $450 document fee, taxes and transport are excluded. One auction result is a reference, not an appraisal; condition, history, options, location and market timing can change value. Accepted as an exact year, model, body, engine, transmission and market match. The refurbishment, unknown total mileage and dealer consignment are material comparison limits. An older 2015 Gooding sale was retained as research context rather than substituted for this later exact sale.
More than a set of wheels.
The 1953 Skylark was Buick's golden-anniversary showpiece brought to the road. It used the premium Roadmaster chassis and drivetrain, but its cut-down body, open rear wheel arches and chrome wire wheels made it look like a custom car. Buick called it Model 76X; that matters because the redesigned 1954 Skylark became a different Series 100 model.
Look a little closer.
Each Skylark wore 40-spoke Kelsey-Hayes chrome wire wheels—sparkly clues that this was no ordinary Roadmaster.
Photos show an example of the model or generation. The pictured vehicle’s year, equipment, or modifications can differ from the specification described here.
A birthday present designed to be noticed
General Motors calls the Skylark the centerpiece of Buick's 50th anniversary. It combined the Roadmaster chassis and Buick's first modern V8 with more standard equipment than any earlier Buick. The numbers tell two different but compatible stories: GM Heritage reports 1,640 sales in 1953, while the Martin Auto Museum reports about 1,690 built. Sales and production are therefore kept as separate measures.
Source: GM Heritage Collection · 1953 Buick Skylark ↗Assembly-line car, custom-car silhouette
The body began with the Roadmaster convertible but needed many hand-fitting operations. The windshield and beltline were lowered, the doors were reshaped, the rear wheel openings were exposed and Buick's familiar fender VentiPorts disappeared. The Martin Auto Museum says only the hood, trunk lid and some convertible-tub sheet metal were shared, helping explain why the Skylark looked factory-made and coachbuilt at the same time.
Source: Martin Auto Museum · 1953 Buick Skylark Convertible ↗The dashboard belongs to the anniversary showpiece
A second GM Heritage Center view widens the existing instrument close-up into the whole open cabin: the engine-turned fascia carries the large driver instruments, central radio and clock across a very low cowl. The source identifies a 1953 Skylark Series 70 but not chassis, drivetrain, market or restoration originality, so those limits remain visible.
Source: Tino Rossini · 1953 Skylark interior, CC BY 2.0 ↗Where these facts come from
- GM Heritage Collection · 1953 Buick Skylark
- Martin Auto Museum · 1953 Buick Skylark Convertible
- Hometown Buick · 1953 Buick Skylark Convertible Model 76X
- Classic Car Database · 1953 Buick Roadmaster Series 70 Skylark specifications
- Wikimedia Commons · GM Heritage Center 1953 Skylark interior
Selected facts checked for this edition. Some source pages link to broader model families. Last reviewed October 1, 2026.