1965 Buick Skylark Gran SportThe Buick GS series isn't as famous as the Pontiac GTO or Olds 4-4-2, but it's still a well-known and well-respected member of the A-body muscle car family. However, the GS started out as the 1965 Skylark Gran Sport, a model often overlooked by collectors today. The Skylark name had graced other models in the 1950s and early 1960s. In 1964, it became Buick's variant of the A-body platform, an up-market alternative to its Chevy Chevelle and Pontiac Tempest cousins. Its styling was stately and attractive, but in its initial model year, it didn't have a muscle car variant.That changed in 1965 with the introduction of the Skylark Gran Sport, Buick's attempt to capture some of the performance cachet of the Pontiac GTO. Buick dropped its 400-cubic-inch V8 into the Skylark's engine bay, giving it 325 horsepower and a tire-smoking 445 lb-ft of torque. The engine actually displaced 401 cubic inches, but Buick labeled it 400 to get around GM's prohibition on engines larger than 400 cubic inches. This powerplant featured four-barrel carburetors, hydraulic lifters, and a 10.25:1 compression ratio. It had previously appeared in the Electra 225 and Wildcat models. Two manual transmissions and the Super Turbine 300 automatic were offered.Road tests at the time produced 0 to 60 mph times under eight seconds and a quarter-mile time of about 16.6 seconds. This wasn't blistering performance compared to later muscle cars, including the Gran Sport's GS and GSX descendants, but this car came out very early in the muscle car era. This makes it an excellent value for collectors seeking stately looks and decent performance at a relative bargain.