Legacy Metrics

1953 Buick Skylark Convertible

16986767roadUnited States
Engine
322 cu in OHV V8, single four-barrel carburetor, 188 bhp at 4,000 rpm
Colour
Light mouse grey

The 1953 Buick Skylark convertible (chassis 16986767) is among the most collectible postwar American automobiles, built as Buick's 50th anniversary model and displayed at the 1953 GM Motorama. Featuring a lowered beltline, rounded rear wheel cutouts, and chrome wire wheels, only 1,690 were produced. This example was acquired in 1994 by collector John White for his Ramshead Collection, received a comprehensive restoration, and was exhibited at the 2018 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance.

Ownership

  1. 2023-01-27Auction sale
  2. 1994 →Acquisition unknown
    John White
    partial documentation

    Held as part of the Ramshead Collection for over 28 years, during which the car underwent a full restoration and received regular maintenance; history file includes instruction manuals and restoration receipts.

Competition

  1. 2018
    2018 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance

    Car was exhibited by John White at this prestigious concours event.

Maintenance & restoration

  1. Restoration

    Comprehensive restoration carried out to a high standard, bringing all elements — bodywork, brightwork, upholstery, engine bay, undercarriage, and wheels — to a factory-correct appearance.

    Restoration and maintenance receipts are present in the car's history file.

Are you the owner of this car?

This car's public record is built from its auction and competition history. Register your ownership and privately add your own records to make it a verified Legacy Metrics passport — provenance that backs your car's value at sale and gives your insurer evidence to price against. Roy reviews and verifies every registration personally.

Each chassis record is compiled from public auction archives and links to its source material. Ownership, competition and maintenance entries are extracted from those catalogue listings by an LLM, which can make mistakes — please contact us with any corrections. The summary is Legacy Metrics’ own writing; we do not reproduce catalogue text.

“Full” and “partial” documentation labels indicate how well each entry is corroborated in the underlying sources, not an audit of the car’s physical paperwork. Names of recent or living owners are withheld for privacy.