Buick Centurion

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The Buick Centurion was sold by the Buick division of General Motors from 1971 through 1973, replacing the Buick Wildcat as the sporty rendition of Buick's full-size car. The name Centurion was a play on another Buick name, the 1937-1958 Buick Century.

[edit] 1956 GM Motorama showcar

The Centurion name was first used on a Buick concept car in the 1956 Motorama. It featured a red and white fiberglass body, airplane like interior design and a full clear "bubble top" roof. This car currently resides in the Sloan Museum "Buick Gallery" in Flint, Mi.

http://www.sloanmuseum.com/buick_gallery.html

[edit] 1971-1973

Visually the Centurion was nearly identical to the concurrent Buick LeSabre, featuring different badging & grillework, minimal chrome trim, and marked by an absence of the portholes usually found on big Buicks. Body styles included two-door and four-door hardtops, and a convertible. There were no pillared sedans. The two-door hardtop shared the same semi-fastback roofline with the LeSabre and other GM B-body cars, but had a distinctive and smaller rear window for a somewhat more formal look along with a standard vinyl roof.

1971

Replacing the Wildcat as the mid-line full-sized Buick positioned between the lower-priced LeSabre and the larger and more luxurious C-body Electra 225, the Centurion was promoted more as a mid-level luxury car than the Wildcat, which was marketed as a sporty/luxury performance car. The Centurion was offered initially with only the 455 in³ big-block V8 in two power output ranges determined by the presence of either a single or dual exhaust. The '71 Centurion produced 315 hp (235 kW) @4400 rpm and 510 ft·lbf (690 N·m) of torque @2800 rpm with the base 455. The Centurion was also offered in the 455 Stage 1 and a Manual Trans configuration as well during the early portion of the 1971 model year. This was known as the A9 and B6 Option when ordering the car. What also separated the car from the LeSabre was that when the car would be ordered or recognised as a Centurion it would be branded as a 4P as the first two letters of the VIN number.

Interior trim was upgraded from LeSabres with a notchback bench seat including center armrest standard equipment along with more luxurious cloth-and-vinyl or all-vinyl upholstery.

In mid-1971, the three-speed Turbo Hydra-matic transmission became standard on all Centurions as well as the lower-priced LeSabres. Variable-ratio power steering and power front disc brakes were standard equipment during the entire model year.

1972

The 1972 Centurion featured minor appearance changes including a revised vertical bar grille and taillight lenses along with a 5 MPH front bumper a year ahead of federal mandates for such bumpers in 1971.

Under the hood, the standard and only available 455 cubic-inch V8 was rated at 250 net horsepower, which represented an "on-paper" decrease from the 315 gross horsepower rating in 1971. This was due to a industry-wide change in horsepower measurements from the gross method by a dynamometer outside a vehicle with no accessories installed to a SAE net method in which horsepower was measured as installed in a vehicle with accessories and emission controls hooked up. Turbo Hydra-matic transmission, variable ratio power steering and power front disc brakes were again standard equipment.

1973

The 1973 Centurion featured a larger 5 MPH front bumper and new vertical grille shared with LeSabre models along with revised taillights. The two-door hardtop coupe no longer included a standard vinyl roof and the distinctive formal rear window was replaced by a backlight shared with LeSabre coupes.

Under the hood, the standard engine was downgraded to a four-barrel 350 V8 rated at 175 net horsepower. The 250-horsepower 455 four-barrel was now optional.

With the LeSabre convertible temporarily dropped after 1972 and the intermediate-sized Buick lineup (renamed from Skylark to Century for 1973) losing its droptop permanently after the 1972 model year, the Centurion was Buick's only convertible offering in 1973. This would also be the final year for the Centurion series, which was replaced for 1974 by the new LeSabre Luxus, which included the convertible reinstated to that line for another two model years.

Total Centurion production was 110,539 units, including 10,296 convertibles. With only three years of production, the Centurion had one of the shortest model runs in modern Buick history.

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Buick Centurion

• Buick Centurion Registry

v • d • e Buick road car timeline, 1940s–1980s — next »
Type	1940s				1950s										1960s										1970s										1980s
	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
Subcompact																														Skyhawk
Compact																																					Skyhawk
																												Apollo												Somerset
																														Skylark					Skylark						Skylark
Mid-size																Special			Special				Special					Century					Century				Century
																Skylark			Skylark				Skylark					Regal					Regal										Regal
Full-size	Special			Special					Special					LeSabre						LeSabre						LeSabre						LeSabre									LeSabre
									Century					Invicta
	Super			Super					Super									Wildcat								Centurion														Electra
	Roadmaster			Roadmaster					Roadmaster					Electra						Electra						Electra						Electra								Estate Wagon
Personal								Skylark					Limited					Riviera			Riviera					Riviera						Riviera		Riviera							Riviera

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