Gone are the days
 

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To celebrate its Golden Anniversary, in 1953 Buick introduced the Skylark. It was GM's most luxurious and expensive convertible at the time with a retail price of around $5,000. (Think about it, in the early fifties families were moving to the suburbs and buying homes for $7,000.) It had the newly introduced 322ci V8 that put out 180-190 hp. It carried almost every option you could think of back in '53 and tipped the scales at about 4,300 lbs. A limited production car, only 1,690 were built. And, if you were one of the lucky few to have purchased a brand new Skylark, as a personal touch Buick would engrave your name into the hub of the steering wheel...forever making it your car.

Better days...