You’d think that a “smaller” car launched just before a fuel crisis would be a hit, but not always. The #BuickApollo, new in 1973, was offered for just 28 turbulent months. - It was perpetually caught in the middle of the rapidly changing circumstances around it - but when it was introduced, late for the 1973 model year on April 12, 1973, it was intended as a return to the “compact” market that Buick had gradually abandoned as the A-body Skylark/Special had grown larger in the 1960s. Indeed, some owners of aging 1960s Skylarks did trade them in on Apollos, but the goal was to shore up the bottom end of the Buick line as strong interest in compact domestics returned, like the Ford Maverick/Mercury Comet. Buick had Opels for import fighting, but kept asking for a smaller domestic car. Olds dealers, who didn’t even have Opels, clamored even louder. - The result of these requests was that GM applied the “Ventura” treatment for Buick and Olds. In 1971, it had created a variation of Chevrolet’s popular Nova for Pontiac - the Ventura. Now Buick and Olds got their versions - Apollo and Omega - for a clever acronym - the N-O-V-A cars. As with the Ventura, each was given unique stying elements out front and a unique rear fascia, with the Buick even getting the tradttional “ventiports.” Though all these cars were theoretically aimed at “economy” customers and all came with a base Chevy 250-cid six, all were offered with divisional V8s. At the time, you could get 350s V8 from all four divisions, but each was unique and the rationalization of engines that led to the infamous “Chevymobile” incident had yet to happen. - The Apollo was marketed as a smallish semi-luxury car despite the interior’s clear origins in the much cheaper Nova, and the 2-barrel and 4-barrel 350 was emphasized in the marketing. The latter made the lightweight Apollo coupe a fairly quick car and buyers liked it’s relatively nimble handling, but it’s 14-mpg thirst did nothing for it after OPEC - a 140-day supply stacked up by mid-1974. In 1975, all the Novas were totally restyled and the Skylark name returned, supplanting the Apollo coupes. The Apollo name was dropped from the sedan too for 1976. https://www.instagram.com/p/B7jN0JLlCR6/?igshid=lpers9o8l6bn
