Buick Centurion
Encyclopedia
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 Centurion name was inspired by a Buick concept car
, that name coming from the professional officer in the Roman Army. The current car's symbol was not the traditional Buick tri-shield, but a side profile of a centurion
. It was not, as some have suggested, a play on the Buick Century
.
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, Michigan
.
, featuring different badging and grillework, minimal chrome trim, and marked by an absence of the VentiPort usually found on full-size Buicks. Body styles included two-door and four-door hardtop
s, 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 @4400 rpm and 510 ft.lbf 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 recognized 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 March of 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.
Total sales were 29,398, exceeding the Wildcat, by nearly 25%.
1972
The 1972 Centurion featured minor appearance changes including a revised vertical bar grille and taillight lenses along with a 5 mph (8 km/h) 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 an 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.
Sales climbed over 20%, to 36,165 for the model year.
1973
The 1973 Centurion featured a larger 5 mph (8 km/h) 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. GM would not see another Buick convertible until the Buick Riviera
in 1982.
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.
Buick
Buick is a premium brand of General Motors . Buick models are sold in the United States, Canada, Mexico, China, Taiwan, and Israel, with China being its largest market. Buick holds the distinction as the oldest active American make...
division of General Motors
General Motors
General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...
from 1971 through 1973, replacing the Buick Wildcat
Buick Wildcat
In 1966 a one-year-only Wildcat "Gran Sport Performance Group" package could be ordered by selecting the "A8/Y48" option. Two engine choices were available. The single carb 425 CID/340 hp V8 was included in the base package price but a dual-carb set-up was also available at extra cost...
as the sporty rendition of Buick's full-size car. The Centurion name was inspired by a Buick concept car
Concept car
A concept vehicle or show vehicle is a car made to showcase new styling and or new technology. They are often shown at motor shows to gauge customer reaction to new and radical designs which may or may not have a chance of being produced....
, that name coming from the professional officer in the Roman Army. The current car's symbol was not the traditional Buick tri-shield, but a side profile of a centurion
Centurion
A centurion was a professional officer of the Roman army .Centurion may also refer to:-Military:* Centurion tank, British battle tank* HMS Centurion, name of several ships and a shore base of the British Royal Navy...
. It was not, as some have suggested, a play on the Buick Century
Buick Century
Buick Century is the model name used by the Buick division of General Motors for a line of full-size performance vehicles from 1936 to 1942 and 1954 to 1958, and from 1973 to 2005 for a mid-size car....
.
1956 GM Motorama showcar
The Centurion name was first used on a BuickBuick
Buick is a premium brand of General Motors . Buick models are sold in the United States, Canada, Mexico, China, Taiwan, and Israel, with China being its largest market. Buick holds the distinction as the oldest active American make...
concept car
Concept car
A concept vehicle or show vehicle is a car made to showcase new styling and or new technology. They are often shown at motor shows to gauge customer reaction to new and radical designs which may or may not have a chance of being produced....
in the 1956 Motorama
Motorama
The General Motors Motorama was an auto show staged by GM from 1949 to 1961. These automobile extravaganzas were designed to whet public appetite and boost automobile sales with displays of fancy prototypes, concept vehicles and other special or halo models. Motorama grew out of Alfred P. Sloan's...
. It featured a red and white fiberglass
Fiberglass
Glass fiber is a material consisting of numerous extremely fine fibers of glass.Glassmakers throughout history have experimented with glass fibers, but mass manufacture of glass fiber was only made possible with the invention of finer machine tooling...
body, airplane like interior design and a full clear "bubble top" roof. This car currently resides in the Sloan Museum "Buick Gallery" in Flint, Michigan
Flint, Michigan
Flint is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and is located along the Flint River, northwest of Detroit. The U.S. Census Bureau reports the 2010 population to be placed at 102,434, making Flint the seventh largest city in Michigan. It is the county seat of Genesee County which lies in the...
.
1971–1973
First seen on a concept car, the name Centurion was very similar to the name Century. Visually, the Centurion was nearly identical to the contemporaneous Buick LeSabreBuick LeSabre
1959LeSabre and all other 1959 Buicks not only got new names, but all-new styling as well, adopting the new GM B- and C-body used on all of the corporation's full-sized cars...
, featuring different badging and grillework, minimal chrome trim, and marked by an absence of the VentiPort usually found on full-size Buicks. Body styles included two-door and four-door hardtop
Hardtop
A hardtop is a term for a rigid, rather than canvas, automobile roof. It has been used in several contexts: detachable hardtops, retractable hardtop roofs, and the so-called pillarless hardtop body style....
s, and a convertible
Convertible
A convertible is a type of automobile in which the roof can retract and fold away having windows which wind-down inside the doors, converting it from an enclosed to an open-air vehicle...
. 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 @4400 rpm and 510 ft.lbf 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 recognized 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 March of 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.
Total sales were 29,398, exceeding the Wildcat, by nearly 25%.
1972
The 1972 Centurion featured minor appearance changes including a revised vertical bar grille and taillight lenses along with a 5 mph (8 km/h) 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 an 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.
Sales climbed over 20%, to 36,165 for the model year.
1973
The 1973 Centurion featured a larger 5 mph (8 km/h) 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. GM would not see another Buick convertible until the Buick Riviera
Buick Riviera
The Riviera by Buick is an automobile produced by Buick in the United States from the 1963 to 1999 model years, with 1,127,261 produced.A full-size coupé or personal luxury car, the early models of the Riviera in particular have been highly praised by automotive journalists and writers.A common...
in 1982.
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.