by C. A. Pruit

Created on: September 14, 2008

Do you love American Muscle Cars? Do you appreciate the look and feel of cars made from real American Steel? If so, do you remember the Buick Wildcat? If you don't, you're not alone. Often overlooked, the Wildcat never quite took off. Here is the story of a great American secret!

Introduced as a subseries of the Invicta line of Buick cars in 1962 to compete with the popular Oldsmobile Starfire and Pontiac Grand Prix sports models, the Buick Wildcat entered the American Muscle Car era with great anticipation. The Wildcat became popular enough to have its own line from 1962 to 1970, but in 1971 after several model changes and alterations it would be redesigned as the Buick Centurion.

The Buick Wildcat merged two ideas as it combined the full-size two door hard top body with a high-performance 325 horsepower engine. The Wildcat was designed with bucket seats and a center console featuring tachometer and Turbinedrive automatic transmission shifter. The 325-horsepower V8 engine would continue as standard equipment from 1962 to 1966, but in 1964, Buick would also introduce a stronger 425-horsepower V8.

Begun as a concept car in 1953 by Buicks cutting edge designer Harley Earl, who was known as the father of modern automotive design, the Wildcat I, featuring a 188 horsepower V8 engine and was originally intended to compete with Fords popular Thunderbird line. Wildcat II featured a 200 horsepower straight eight engine. The designers continued to improved the suspension and exterior features of the Wildcat to give it a more sporty look and feel.

The Wildcat received a lot of support by Buick and was marketed as the "the next best thing to owning a Riviera". It was given a unique scripting design on the rear fenders and across the front grill. Buick introduced four different models of the Wildcat brand and continued to make adjustments and feature improvements. Although sales continued to rise moderately, it never quite gained the reputation or prestige that Buick wanted.

1970 was the final year for the Buick Wildcat. The last model featured a 455 cid V8 and 510-lb ft of torque. Some great features were added, but to its demise, it looked too much like the Buick LaSabre. Sales began dropping off and finally the line was discontinued. In 1985, Buick attempted to bring back the Wildcat brand, but sales were not what was expected, and the brand was finally retired.

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