In the 1980s, Langley, B.C.’s Monte Oates owned everything from a 1966 Mustang to a 1969 Camaro and 1970 SS El Camino. He eventually graduated to a beautiful 1961 Oldsmobile bubbletop but he was never comfortable with the size of the car. In June 2003 he started thinking about what he wanted to replace it with.
     “I wanted something different, something nobody had tried yet,” says Oates. “I always liked the lines of the ’62 Buick Skylarks, especially the bullet front fenders.”
     Finding one could have been a challenge, but it turned out to be almost the easiest part of this restomod. In 1962, Skylarks were only available in Canada through special order. Oates hadn’t really even started looking when one day, while visiting Merv at False Creek Auto, he mentioned he would like to find one. His friend said he thought he could help.  “He talked to the guy who had a car (in Coquitlam) and we struck a deal in 10 minutes. I picked it up that night and just drove it away,” says Oates. The owner, Loren Cocking, ended up helping Oates with the project. The best part of the purchase story is that the Buick was actually sold at a dealership Oates’ grandfather, Lawson Oates, owned in the 1960s.
     The dealership was Lawson Oates Pontiac, which grandpa Oates founded in 1951. He would later become better known for a Chrysler dealership he owned on West Broadway in Vancouver.
    The restoration began in September of 2004 and Oates knew he wanted to retain the Buick’s rare aluminum 215 V8 (rated at 190 HP), but he had to go all the way to Michigan and D&D Fabrication to get it rebuilt and hot rodded with some aftermarket goodies, including an Edelbrock Performer manifold, Carter 500 CFM carb and 11:1 pistons.
     “I knew a lot of people would raise their eyebrows when I opened the hood,” says Oates, who did replace the stock 2-speed auto with a 4-speed ZF auto. This mating was facilitated by a British Leyland Land Rover bellhousing and some adjustment to the floor’s tranny tunnel. The car maintains the stock manifolds (“very free flowing,” says Oates) with 2 1/2 inch exhaust and Flowmaster mufflers.
     While the Buick retained its from-the-factory-powerplant, the same can’t be said for the chassis, which now features a full Air Ride Technologies Cool Ride air bag system. The car came with power drum brakes, but the front spindles were machined to accept C4 Corvette disc brake calipers with 12-inch cross-drilled rotors. Roger at Stoked Out Specialties in Rockwell, Texas gets credit for constructing custom tubular A-arms to fit the Skylark. “There’s no way I could have put this car on Air Ride without Roger,” says Oates. “It was a huge stroke of luck finding him. Longtime friend Laurie Peterson (‘37 Ford Canada Customs pickup, CHC Volume 2, Issue 2) was also a big help throught the project.
     Soon after he bought the car, Oates realized it wasn’t going to be easy to find parts - original or aftermarket - for such a rare bird. When he stripped the car down to the bare shell and began to have body work done he discoverd the unibody car had been “diamonded” in a collision. The driver’s side frame was twisted which meant none of the body panels would line up. “We thought we had fixed it before, but one side of the car was about 1/8 of an inch behind the other. That was frustrating because we didn’t find out until the car was put together, so the engine had to be taken out again and all the glass - twice.”
     When the car was ready for paint, Oates chose 1967 Mustang Brittany Blue to coat the exterior and Dino’s Dementia Customs in Langley took care of the body and paint work. The interior is almost entirely stock, though it has been reupholstered using NOS original vinyl and cloth by the Seat Cover Centre in Vancouver. The gauges and AM radio are original, though an Ididit brushed aluminum column with a Billet Specialties steering wheel replaced the stock unit. Billet Specialties Vintec wheels (18x8 all around) wrapped in Bridgestone Potenza tires (front 225/40, rear 245/40) are just the right final touch and make sure the Buick handles as good as it looks.
     At about the same time as he purchased his Buick, Oates saw the Bu’wicked ’62 Buick Special at Goodguys Puyallup and he says the Street Machine of the Year runnerup really inspired him to continue with his Buick despite some of the setbacks and challenges.
     “I was in love with this car,” says Oates of his Buick. “I think you have to be hormonally driven - nothing is going to stop you.”  Certainly, this is one Buick that just upon the viewing will stir up even the most cynical gearhead’s emotions.                                                                            CHC