The Buick Centurion History
The Buick Centurion was made, manufactured and sold by the Buick division of General Motors at the beginning of 1971 through the year 1973. This car was said to be the spin-off of some other vehicle named the Buick Century which was distributed around the public during the year 1937 to 1958. This Buick Centurion replaced the position of the Buick Wildcat as the sporty line of their full-size cars on the market. This car has been around since 1956 at the Motorama as a concept car which featured a white and red fiberglass body having a bubble top roof that was modeled after an airplane design. It can now be seen in the Sloan Museum in Flint, Michigan underneath the Buick gallery.
During the early 70′s the Buick street rod model introduced a convertible concept car named Centurion which is basically similar with the older version from the Buick Century. It were built with a two door or four door option with a hard top or convertible for choices.
It’s similar in design using the Buick LeSabre, however different in badging, grill work, trim and front end looks. It features a smaller rear window which supplies for a more formal look having a more standard vinyl roof. In 1971, the Centurion replaced the Wildcat Buick like a full-sized but a mid-line car that was both lower in price however with a bigger and luxurious body style that may be marked as both luxury along with a sport car in a single.
The inside of the car is much more of an upgraded version then the old LeSabres with its notch back bench seat and center armrest equipment coupled with luxurious upholstery. This car is equipped with a variable-power steering and powerful disc brake that was made as the standard design for the whole model. However, in 1972 these street rods designed a minor appearance change to make its design and concept more desirable to the masses.
Simultaneously, they also changed the hp from the car which made it possess a more powerful driving experience and also at the same time they installed a turbo hydra-matic transmission, power steering and power brakes to make the driving safer and smoother for its clients.
In 1973, the Centurion street rod made more additions and changes towards the growing number of its patronage to be able to engage these phones purchase the new line. The changes featured a larger front bumper in addition to a new vertical grille that the LeSabre model was formerly noted for.
The standard vinyl roof wasn’t any longer used on their two-door hardtop coupe, instead a more formal rear window was substituted for a back light which the LeSabre coupe is also noted for. The engine was down graded right into a four-barrel 350 V8 with a minimum of 175 horsepower. Nonetheless they also offer a 250-horsepower 455 four-barrel as an optional consideration.
Using the Buick LeSabre street rods being dropped during 1972, the only convertible Buick being offered was the Centurion which lasted only until 1973 because it was replaced by a LeSabre Luxus in 1974. This car reinstated the convertible series until a different one was introduced in 1982 that was the Buick Riviera. The evolution of the convertible through the years managed to get more popular and in demand to many people.