Yes, these had very nice digital dashes. I'm surprised he didn't hit the "GAGE" button in the video, as that would cycle between tachometer, oil, voltage, and temperature. There was also a button to give more detailed reading of gas level after there was less than 1/4 tank...if you held the button, it would display the fuel level of that last 1/4 tank across the full width of the gauge.
Buick Somerset, a nearly 40 year old memory of driving a rental Somerset in 1987. Imagine flying into Philly on a rainy evening. Getting a Somerset rental, 5 speed at that! I had a Dodge Daytona at the time, a similar sized car but totally different controls, driving experience, etc. I had to drive it in the night, in a rain storm, through construction, 20 miles on the Schuylkill Expressway. The car had a huge amount of understeer. Probably due to low traction in the rain. I somehow safely made it to the hotel but while checking in, someone let me know it rolled into their car! I hadn’t pulled on the hand brake hard enough. Fortunately no damage… Quite a memory.
In 1987, I ordered and bought a new 87 Buick Somerset coupe much like the one you feature here! But I ordered the 6 cylinder engine on mine! It was intensely pleasurable to drive and loved owning it!!! Had it a few years and then traded it in on a Lincoln Town Car because I always wanted one and 2, my late Mother had suffered a stroke and beeded to use a wheelchair and the Lincoln had the rrunk space for the wheelchair!!! But the Buick was a nice little car and was really well built!!!
What did you think of the 6 cylinder? I always wished my Grandfather's '87 had it, though he was satisfied with the 4 cylinder as he mostly did non-highway driving. I remember also wishing the car had the equalizer and the Concert Sound, but his just had the cassette player with the bass and treble controls and extended range rear speakers, which all sounded pretty good.
@@owlnswan4016 I loved the 3.0 liter 6 that I had in my Buick Somerset! It had plenty of power, had a nice little growl coming out of the exhaust pipe and got fairly decent mileage to boot!
I had an 85 Somerset in High-school. I inherited it from my grand father. It gave me a lot of problems but I learned how to work on the car and I was extremely grateful for the gift he gave me when he passed.
Wow. I had a 1985 Somerset too. My first car. Dad paid $3k in 1995 for it. Low miles. Baby blue. Shook horribly above 65mph. Perfect in every other way. Met an early demise when a fellow student smashed into me going through a yellow light. 😢...women drivers😒
@erocker78 Ouchie! I'm sure you're laughing at the sheer coincidence. Me...I was crying like a little...lol yeah. Insert whatever word you like. Maybe that's why I still don't know shit about cars. Traumatized right when I got started. Buick..make cars again!
@livefreeordie6863 yeah I'm laughing because it's funny that they were both our first cars and we both got wrecked into. 🤣 Of course I was pissed when it happened. The dude hit me pretty hard because he didn't see me coming at all. Totally F-up my passenger door. I ended up getting another car later that was a pos too. 😆
I had an 1986 Skylark, the 4 door version when the car was 10 years old. I remember that car brand new when my aunt bought it. The coolest thing at the time was the digital dash. This car was a tank. Excellent review btw.
My aunt bought one of these in 1985 when it was introduced as the Buick Somerset Regal. It was a beautiful gray car and fully loaded, I believe it came with the 3.0 liter V6. I remember she was deciding between that or the outgoing X-body Skylark sedan. I think she chose well!
That Buick has curb feelers! OMG, what a throwback! When I was a kid back in Philly so many big Buicks (and other makes) had this neat little accessory.
Holy smokes, I had a white limited as my first car. It was an 87 and it was actually a pretty nice car in its time. Super cool to see you review it Zach!
My girlfriend at the time had a brand new one back in the day. She hated it because all her snobbish high school friends had Mercedes and BMW's, and she was given a "Buick". I loved it though. The interior at the time was very modern, and the V6 was surprisingly peppy around town.
My grandma's last car was a '91 Skylark sedan. By '91 it had a more traditional instrument panel and radio. I drove it a few times and actually enjoyed the experience.
Thank for the review. It is interesting to note that this N body car and the 1986-1988 Buick Riviera E Body car were clones of each other. The only think that separated them was 7 inches of the length. This car was 180 inches and Riviera was 187 inches long. This was during the downsized era at GM. When this car was designed the N Bodies were supposed to replace the G Body Buick Regal( Somerset/Skylark), Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme( Calais) and Pontiac Grand Prix( Grand Am). It did not work out that way because fuel prices dropped and the G Bodies kept selling. This is a well maintained car as well. Thank you again.
@@Ivan-xo2td The Buick Riviera and Oldsmobile Toronado and Cadillac Eldorado and Seville were all the E/K platform. The 1986-1989 Toronado looked like the 1985-1991 Oldsmobile Calais and the The Seville looked like the 4 door N Body cars. You are correct. GM went through some rough times during that era. They started upsizing the cars in 1989 and finished by 1992 model year.
I worked at Buick back then the somerset was a nice little car and the limited was very fancy inside .. the Somerset name was also a fancy trim package on the Regal 1980-83 normally beige and dark blue in color
The N Body cars were great and so popular. My mom brought an 1985 Olds Calais Supreme coupe and ordered it fully loaded with every option including the V6. The exterior was a medium grey/silver and the interior was grey. It was a beautiful car and severed her well for 10 years. The weirdest thing was when you pulled up the parking brake, the console's armrest went up with it. Kinds of strange!
This car was the smart money in the mid-80s, looked so much like the flagship Riviera that the average person wouldn't be able to tell the difference if the badges were switched, it had the new smooth but formal styling that GM was rolling out and you could get one fully loaded for about a third of the price of a riviera. None of these cars were fast so performance really wasn't an issue if anything the lighter weight helped it, tint the windows, put on your fake cell phone antenna from Western Auto and get some Riviera badges from the junkyard and you've just scored like a bandit. It wasn't much smaller, was tuned with the same smooth suspension and soft seats, the only thing someone really in the know might have been curious about is where is the touch screen LOL but you could still get the digital dash of course that would keep your secret that this really is closer to the least expensive Buick than the most expensive Buick it resembled greatly.
buicks used to mean some something . like a sleek casio the best engine offered was the 3.3 a little brother to the 3.8. just with a smaller bore and stroke of 3.7 in × 3.16 in (94.0 mm × 80.3 mm) for 3,340 cc (3.3 L; 203.8 cu in). love these cars they were way nice and i sat in a few at the wrecking yard. buicks on the 80s and 90s were beautiful cars they really put money in these cars it shows.
Back in 1986 I test droved a brand new somerset buick and I thought it was an awesome riding car with the 4 cil my credit wasn't good 😢soo my payments were too high iwas ready to buy it .loved the instrument cluster .
I always loved these, but more-so the same car when it was called the Skylark. I would love to find one in sedan with that luxury package (1989 or 1990 and 1991). This trim gave it the more closed in rear window with the limo like top. Extra chrome and the fancier interior.
My friend had one of these in highschool, had Subs in the trunk thumped good, stand on the Iron duke all day! I love the sentiment at the end me heart goes out to all
My neighbor had one of those 🍋 s that he was trying to fix up. He literally used 5 gallons of bondo to replace rust on the bottom. He also would get super drunk in it listening to the backstreet boys and have diarrhea blowouts in his 👖. Even aftter cleaning, the smell would never leave. Sold it to a crackhead for 250
Medium Sage Green, remember it well. My mom drove an 86 Century custom with the Iron duke in this color through most of my youth. So glad to see this one in such nice shape!
I can say I've never heard of a Buick Somerset. Looks like a nice car even if it's unmistakably an 80s Buick. This car is in fantastic condition, especially for having almost 100k miles. That VFD display (not LCD or LED) looks great. GM in the 80s liked to do freestanding radios for some reason. I like the pale green metallic color and the S ornaments. The Iron Duke may not have been the most refined or powerful engine but it was solid and dependable.
During the mid-1908s, cars like these J and N body variants were an alternative to the Camaros and Firebirds of the era, as it related to insurance and for those of us who were junior enlisted. One of Navy friends went from a either a 1983-84 Buick Skyhawk T-Type in that awesome gray, silver and black color, to a 1986 blue Someret in if memory serves the Limited trim. He was just in awe of the Somerset but due to some unforeseen financial issues, he surrendered the car in early 1988. It was a nice vehicle, optioned not to heavily and the star of the show was the digital dashboard. The color was a wonderful shade of blue metallic. Indeed these are a rare due to the limited production run. Also, if memory serves. The Somerset name was an option package on the earlier G-body Regals, with some interesting colorways and I think Buick even included an umbrella that matched the cars color. Nice example from an interesting era almost 39 years ago. Awesome video BTW!
When I saw the color and New Jersey plates, I could swear I saw that car on the road maybe a year or two ago...I don't recall exactly. It's very pretty in that color. Glad the owner shared it here with you and us. These were nice little cars, particularly the Limited variant, and were fancier and more luxurious than most compact cars of the era. My Grandfather (Mom's side) bought an '87 Limited in Rosewood (forgetting if Medium or Light...I don't have reference to a brochure at the moment) in and out, when the car was new, I think in April of that year, from Bellavia in East Rutherford. I remember sitting in the car after we found it on the lot. Even on the upgraded Limited trim level, these cars needed a lot of options. His car probably had about half of them. DNR is not Dolby. It was a competing system which stood for Dynamic Noise Reduction. It also worked on the radio tuner itself and not just the cassette player. For whatever reason, GM reserved Dolby B noise reduction for their cassette players for a long time on just their Bose systems, while Ford put it across many of their systems, beginning use of it on their best system in 1980, and by around 1985 even put it on their cheaper non-premium systems. I'm not sure about the 1985-86, but on his '87, it was easier to get in the back seat from the passenger side because once you put the seatback forward, you could slide the seat all the way forward, giving you maximum room to enter the back, if the passenger seat wasn't already up that far. My empathy for the car's owner with his Mom's passing. She will always be with him. It's wonderful she was put in the video. 😇
When the car first came out in 1985, it was called the Somerset Regal. The Regal part of the name was dropped by 1986. By the way, a very nice tribute to the owner's mother who had passed away. Very nice tribute.
I had one that started with my mother, then to my father when he stopped getting a company car, then it trained the three of us kids how to drive. Ours was white over blood red and I always loved the looks and space. It survived until being totaled sitting in front of our house by a drunk driver in 2001. I'll always have fond memories of our Somerset with manual doors and windows, but no car left me stranded more than this one.
Owned a 1987 Somerset. The amount of rust and actual rust holes on it in 7 years was incredible (Northeast Ohio) I noticed the rear seat had some staining on it, upon further inspection, the floor under it was rotted out. Same with the rear inner wells. Rotted so badly that they would flex when pushing down on the bumper, as the shocks were mounted to the top of them. It wasn't necessarily a good car either. The list of repairs was long. Under 100k, rack and pinion, radiator, cooling fans, torque converter lock up solenoid, alternators, struts, etc. 2.5 was very harsh, and when idling at a light, it would visibly vibrate the steering wheel. The salesmen at the Buick dealer called these "Baby RIveria's" Neat video
I LOVE the little Buick TriShield in the trip odometer, what a neat little touch. Things like this make me miss older cars, they had so many neat little touches that you simply dint find in new cars. The little pod radio is so cool too. GM was doing a lot of interssting things with tadio placement and design in the 80s, including the vertical radio in the X cars and this little pod radio in the N cars.
These N Bodies used to be everywhere when I was growing up. Calais, Grand Ams, Skylarks. Celebrity Euro Sports, Delta 88’s, LeSabres and 6000’s were everywhere too.
We had the California Special trim in a beautiful red when I was a kid. It had the V6, special rims, and the Grand National steering wheel but otherwise it was exactly like this. That pod stereo was a pain when the cassette deck belts wore out. By the time the mid 90s rolled around, no stereo shops wanted to work on it and Buick wanted a fortune to fix it. It's shocking to see one in such good condition and still running no less! Our had a myriad of engine issues and when reverse went in the transmission, we traded it in for a brand new 1996 Toyota Camry. Not nearly as head turning, but far more reliable! I miss the Somerset though. My first ever driving lessons were in that car and I had some great memories in it.
I bought a new 1986 Buick Somerset Regal Limited. It was a cute car and quite an attention getter on the highway. One year and barely 12k on the digital odometer, the engine crank sensor broke off and left me without a vehicle for over a week.
I have an 86 Calais. The N body is beautifully trimmed and all three were marketed to what GM called "New Values" customers. Yuppies. So they were trimmed better and targeted to upscale small car buyers. GM even hinted their target demographic included BMW intenders. See some of the auto rags when these were introduced. That BMW reference came from GMs own marketing chief in charge of selling the N Bodies. The passenger seat slides forward to give the rider better access to the rear seat. The Tech 4 is a scream and way out of character in cars trimmed like Electras, Ninety Eights and other luxe GM cars. Schizophrenic in a car so full of luxury pretense. I love my Calais. It's grey. But the one I first saw back in the early 90s at the Oldsmobile lot in Van Nuys CA, was the same color as this Somerset. Beautiful shade of green. Thanks for this feature on a car you don't see much of any more.
My mom had an 87 Skylark. Great engine. GM was never known for great paint. When it was no longer garaged the paint come off in sheets around 2000. Also, the digital dash went out and was expensive to repair.
That sage green exterior and green interior is beautiful. More unique and interesting than the burgundy-ish red on most press cars issued to magazine road tests in-period.
Great example, though I have to say I never was very fond of these Chisel Cut Cars from GM with the exception of the large cars and the Seville.. Blessings to the owner. Sorry for the loss of his dear mom..
I bought one in 1985 the first year it came out. It was a burgundy 2 door coupe and I thought the digital gauges were cool and the ride was pretty good and loved the styling. I traded it for an 1986 Ford Taurus.
Buick also used the Somerset name in 1980 as a trim level on the Buick Regal coupe. I always like these N body Somerset's. The full width tail light was something very unique. Very typical of the day when Buicks were stylish and distinctive .
I drove one of these as a rental back in 85 or 86. The only thing I remembered we how cheap the center stack felt and how it wobbled when I pushed the buttons.
That is a nice Someset. Haven't seen one since my freshman year of high school. Best friends neighbor had one. I had an 88 Pontiac Grand Am. Same engine and transmission. Basically same car. Those iron dukes maybe laughable, but man I enjoyed mine. Until tje oil pump failed and threw a rod. Left me stranded on the highway during rush hour in a rainstorm. Missed school that day. 😊
My great aunt and uncle had one. It was either an '86 or an '87, and theirs's had the 3.0 V6. It was pretty nice. I visit their daughters who now owns their home and she still has the personalized badges with their initials And my 1st car was a 1980 Chevy Citation with pretty much that same engine only with a dual barrel carb instead of fuel injection
I would assume like all other GM 2 door coupes from the 80's - 00's had the easy entry front passenger seat that would move a lot more forward making getting into the back seat much easier than the way you did it on the drivers side. I also, complete agree with you about GM seats/interiors in the 80's & 90's being both comfortable and nicely finished.
Also bothered me back then and still now that everyone refered to it as a little car. It's not a Volkswagen Beatle for Christ sake. And I always thought it seemed like a big car or at least mid size when I had one- Pontiac version mind you.
My buddy had one after HS in the 90s. Everyone called him homer and that was the Homerset. Didn't have it for long, he traded it for a prelude with 4wh steering
The prelude was a fun, decent car. I had an 86 that I beat really bad, smoked the clutch. Abandoned it in a drug dealers' yard because he was a scumbag. Couldn't trace me to the car because I never registered it
Didn't realize these were only made for 3 years....I do remember my dad having a red 1987 one when I was very young.....it was the first time I had ever seen a digital dash (Granted I was like 7 years old when my dad bought the car....) and I remember my dad switching it over to Km/h to make it look like he was doing 100MPH when he was really only doing like 60 LOL
Omg I had a 1985 model it looks like a Buick Skylark also I had a digital gauge it was a unique car. Speed odometer goes up to 85 mph. But still faster but still says 85. I really miss the Buick Somerset because it's timeless..
the Somerset was a twin to the Skylark for the last two generations 1986-1998 available in 2 door coupe and 4 door sedan my late maternal grandmother had a used 1984 Skylark Limited 4 door sedan from 1988 to 1990 which had LE2 2.8 L or 171 Cubic in V6 engine under hood then she traded that for her first Toyota Camry which had a 2.0 l or 122 cubic in 4 cylinder engine under hood her 2nd Camry a 2005 LE model has a 153 cubic in or 2.5 L 4 Cylinder engine under hood
I had a 1985. The dash was problematic. The engine had a nylon timing gear and a steel timing chain. I had to replace that at 75,000. At about 150,000, the throttle body fuel injection developed an intermittent problem, and the car wouldn't start. Try later, and it would. I ended up selling it to a kid in a college auto mechanics class. Mine was the sage green.
My mother had one of these. Hers must have been the last year because she had a “normal” GM radio and not the one as seen in this car, but hers was gray..
Yes, the '87 had a one piece radio, even when equipped with a cassette player. An AM only radio was standard in '87, with a stereo radio with no tape player one notch up, followed by AM/FM stereo with cassette player, followed by AM/FM stereo with cassette and 5 band graphic equalizer. There were options for upgraded extended range speakers in the rear, along with the further upgraded Concert Sound. Lastly, they actually offered a Bose system in these cars, though I get the sense not too many people ordered it. The GM Bose systems were hit and miss from what I recall, and the Concert Sound optional systems in Buicks were usually quite good.
Youre actually not wrong mentioning the Regal name on this. For the 1985 model year, this was actually badged as the "Somerset Regal." The Regal name was dropped for the 1986 model year.
Those look like the original Firestone tires that came new with the car. I had an 85 grand am and it had Firestone tires from the factory. Also in 85-86 most GM cars came with Firestone or Bridgestone tires.
Ah yes the 1986 Buick Somerset a car that only a Blanche Deveraux would love being that this was the car that was used in the opening sequence of the golden girls.😂😂😂
this thing is in better shape than 99% of vehicles on the road today, amazing.
When I started this video I instinctively wanted to find ways to discredit this comment. I couldn't. My bad.
Looks like a 2dr Celebrity
@@MondayNightRAWsRKO2024-xk9ew not even remotely close
I owned one it was not better.
2:43 since this is a vacuum florescent display (VFD) those arent pixels, its a phosphor coating. They can be incredibly sharp!
Yes, these had very nice digital dashes. I'm surprised he didn't hit the "GAGE" button in the video, as that would cycle between tachometer, oil, voltage, and temperature. There was also a button to give more detailed reading of gas level after there was less than 1/4 tank...if you held the button, it would display the fuel level of that last 1/4 tank across the full width of the gauge.
Great display. Easy to read and easy on the eye strain at night.
Buick Somerset, a nearly 40 year old memory of driving a rental Somerset in 1987. Imagine flying into Philly on a rainy evening. Getting a Somerset rental, 5 speed at that! I had a Dodge Daytona at the time, a similar sized car but totally different controls, driving experience, etc. I had to drive it in the night, in a rain storm, through construction, 20 miles on the Schuylkill Expressway. The car had a huge amount of understeer. Probably due to low traction in the rain. I somehow safely made it to the hotel but while checking in, someone let me know it rolled into their car! I hadn’t pulled on the hand brake hard enough. Fortunately no damage… Quite a memory.
Great news, the Shuykill Expressway and Philly in general is still just as nasty to drive in.
Fortunately no damage, because I’ll bet you didn’t get the insurance! 😂
In 1987, I ordered and bought a new 87 Buick Somerset coupe much like the one you feature here! But I ordered the 6 cylinder engine on mine! It was intensely pleasurable to drive and loved owning it!!! Had it a few years and then traded it in on a Lincoln Town Car because I always wanted one and 2, my late Mother had suffered a stroke and beeded to use a wheelchair and the Lincoln had the rrunk space for the wheelchair!!! But the Buick was a nice little car and was really well built!!!
What did you think of the 6 cylinder? I always wished my Grandfather's '87 had it, though he was satisfied with the 4 cylinder as he mostly did non-highway driving. I remember also wishing the car had the equalizer and the Concert Sound, but his just had the cassette player with the bass and treble controls and extended range rear speakers, which all sounded pretty good.
@@owlnswan4016 I loved the 3.0 liter 6 that I had in my Buick Somerset! It had plenty of power, had a nice little growl coming out of the exhaust pipe and got fairly decent mileage to boot!
I had an 85 Somerset in High-school. I inherited it from my grand father. It gave me a lot of problems but I learned how to work on the car and I was extremely grateful for the gift he gave me when he passed.
Wow. I had a 1985 Somerset too. My first car. Dad paid $3k in 1995 for it. Low miles. Baby blue. Shook horribly above 65mph. Perfect in every other way. Met an early demise when a fellow student smashed into me going through a yellow light. 😢...women drivers😒
@livefreeordie6863 someone wrecked into mine too. Someone pulled out of a Burger King and hit me in the passenger side door. 😆
@erocker78 Ouchie! I'm sure you're laughing at the sheer coincidence. Me...I was crying like a little...lol yeah. Insert whatever word you like. Maybe that's why I still don't know shit about cars. Traumatized right when I got started. Buick..make cars again!
@livefreeordie6863 yeah I'm laughing because it's funny that they were both our first cars and we both got wrecked into. 🤣 Of course I was pissed when it happened. The dude hit me pretty hard because he didn't see me coming at all. Totally F-up my passenger door. I ended up getting another car later that was a pos too. 😆
I love every aspect of this car. I'm glad to see someone take such good care of it throughout the decades.
I had an 1986 Skylark, the 4 door version when the car was 10 years old. I remember that car brand new when my aunt bought it. The coolest thing at the time was the digital dash. This car was a tank. Excellent review btw.
Cool little car. I really admire and respect your compassion for Paul's mother's passing. Classy tribute, Zack.
My aunt bought one of these in 1985 when it was introduced as the Buick Somerset Regal. It was a beautiful gray car and fully loaded, I believe it came with the 3.0 liter V6. I remember she was deciding between that or the outgoing X-body Skylark sedan. I think she chose well!
SS Regal is correct. Had the same one, in blue. Great car always started in the harshest of winters.
That Buick has curb feelers! OMG, what a throwback! When I was a kid back in Philly so many big Buicks (and other makes) had this neat little accessory.
I don't think I've seen curb feelers on the rear before though,or on a compact car!
That interior... That radio! Epic stuff!
Paul, those curb finders are icing on the cake! Rest in peace to your Moms & my condolences.
Holy smokes, I had a white limited as my first car. It was an 87 and it was actually a pretty nice car in its time. Super cool to see you review it Zach!
My girlfriend at the time had a brand new one back in the day. She hated it because all her snobbish high school friends had Mercedes and BMW's, and she was given a "Buick". I loved it though. The interior at the time was very modern, and the V6 was surprisingly peppy around town.
My grandma's last car was a '91 Skylark sedan. By '91 it had a more traditional instrument panel and radio. I drove it a few times and actually enjoyed the experience.
Thank for the review. It is interesting to note that this N body car and the 1986-1988 Buick Riviera E Body car were clones of each other. The only think that separated them was 7 inches of the length. This car was 180 inches and Riviera was 187 inches long. This was during the downsized era at GM. When this car was designed the N Bodies were supposed to replace the G Body Buick Regal( Somerset/Skylark), Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme( Calais) and Pontiac Grand Prix( Grand Am). It did not work out that way because fuel prices dropped and the G Bodies kept selling. This is a well maintained car as well. Thank you again.
Does it share a platform with Oldsmobile Toronado of the era as well? The proportions look very similar.
@@Ivan-xo2td The Buick Riviera and Oldsmobile Toronado and Cadillac Eldorado and Seville were all the E/K platform. The 1986-1989 Toronado looked like the 1985-1991 Oldsmobile Calais and the The Seville looked like the 4 door N Body cars. You are correct. GM went through some rough times during that era. They started upsizing the cars in 1989 and finished by 1992 model year.
I worked at Buick back then the somerset was a nice little car and the limited was very fancy inside .. the Somerset name was also a fancy trim package on the Regal 1980-83 normally beige and dark blue in color
The N Body cars were great and so popular. My mom brought an 1985 Olds Calais Supreme coupe and ordered it fully loaded with every option including the V6. The exterior was a medium grey/silver and the interior was grey. It was a beautiful car and severed her well for 10 years. The weirdest thing was when you pulled up the parking brake, the console's armrest went up with it. Kinds of strange!
This car was the smart money in the mid-80s, looked so much like the flagship Riviera that the average person wouldn't be able to tell the difference if the badges were switched, it had the new smooth but formal styling that GM was rolling out and you could get one fully loaded for about a third of the price of a riviera.
None of these cars were fast so performance really wasn't an issue if anything the lighter weight helped it, tint the windows, put on your fake cell phone antenna from Western Auto and get some Riviera badges from the junkyard and you've just scored like a bandit.
It wasn't much smaller, was tuned with the same smooth suspension and soft seats, the only thing someone really in the know might have been curious about is where is the touch screen LOL but you could still get the digital dash of course that would keep your secret that this really is closer to the least expensive Buick than the most expensive Buick it resembled greatly.
buicks used to mean some something . like a sleek casio
the best engine offered was the 3.3 a little brother to the 3.8. just with a smaller bore and stroke of 3.7 in × 3.16 in (94.0 mm × 80.3 mm) for 3,340 cc (3.3 L; 203.8 cu in).
love these cars they were way nice and i sat in a few at the wrecking yard. buicks on the 80s and 90s were beautiful cars they really put money in these cars it shows.
The 3.3L never made it into the Somerset - it debuted in 1989 when they changed the name to Skylark
Back in 1986 I test droved a brand new somerset buick and I thought it was an awesome riding car with the 4 cil my credit wasn't good 😢soo my payments were too high iwas ready to buy it .loved the instrument cluster .
Beautiful old Buick, the owner of this vehicle, did a wonderful job keeping it in excellent condition.
I always loved these, but more-so the same car when it was called the Skylark. I would love to find one in sedan with that luxury package (1989 or 1990 and 1991). This trim gave it the more closed in rear window with the limo like top. Extra chrome and the fancier interior.
My friend had one of these in highschool, had Subs in the trunk thumped good, stand on the Iron duke all day! I love the sentiment at the end me heart goes out to all
How do people keep cars so nice for so long!? It's a beautiful thing.
Extremely classy car at the time..
My neighbor had one of those 🍋 s that he was trying to fix up. He literally used 5 gallons of bondo to replace rust on the bottom. He also would get super drunk in it listening to the backstreet boys and have diarrhea blowouts in his 👖. Even aftter cleaning, the smell would never leave. Sold it to a crackhead for 250
The feel good story of the newer millennium!
Medium Sage Green, remember it well. My mom drove an 86 Century custom with the Iron duke in this color through most of my youth. So glad to see this one in such nice shape!
Lost it when I saw the individually wrapped peppermints completely burying the ash tray because of course it is 🤣
I can say I've never heard of a Buick Somerset. Looks like a nice car even if it's unmistakably an 80s Buick. This car is in fantastic condition, especially for having almost 100k miles. That VFD display (not LCD or LED) looks great. GM in the 80s liked to do freestanding radios for some reason. I like the pale green metallic color and the S ornaments. The Iron Duke may not have been the most refined or powerful engine but it was solid and dependable.
During the mid-1908s, cars like these J and N body variants were an alternative to the Camaros and Firebirds of the era, as it related to insurance and for those of us who were junior enlisted. One of Navy friends went from a either a 1983-84 Buick Skyhawk T-Type in that awesome gray, silver and black color, to a 1986 blue Someret in if memory serves the Limited trim. He was just in awe of the Somerset but due to some unforeseen financial issues, he surrendered the car in early 1988. It was a nice vehicle, optioned not to heavily and the star of the show was the digital dashboard. The color was a wonderful shade of blue metallic. Indeed these are a rare due to the limited production run. Also, if memory serves. The Somerset name was an option package on the earlier G-body Regals, with some interesting colorways and I think Buick even included an umbrella that matched the cars color. Nice example from an interesting era almost 39 years ago. Awesome video BTW!
When I saw the color and New Jersey plates, I could swear I saw that car on the road maybe a year or two ago...I don't recall exactly. It's very pretty in that color. Glad the owner shared it here with you and us.
These were nice little cars, particularly the Limited variant, and were fancier and more luxurious than most compact cars of the era. My Grandfather (Mom's side) bought an '87 Limited in Rosewood (forgetting if Medium or Light...I don't have reference to a brochure at the moment) in and out, when the car was new, I think in April of that year, from Bellavia in East Rutherford. I remember sitting in the car after we found it on the lot.
Even on the upgraded Limited trim level, these cars needed a lot of options. His car probably had about half of them.
DNR is not Dolby. It was a competing system which stood for Dynamic Noise Reduction. It also worked on the radio tuner itself and not just the cassette player. For whatever reason, GM reserved Dolby B noise reduction for their cassette players for a long time on just their Bose systems, while Ford put it across many of their systems, beginning use of it on their best system in 1980, and by around 1985 even put it on their cheaper non-premium systems.
I'm not sure about the 1985-86, but on his '87, it was easier to get in the back seat from the passenger side because once you put the seatback forward, you could slide the seat all the way forward, giving you maximum room to enter the back, if the passenger seat wasn't already up that far.
My empathy for the car's owner with his Mom's passing. She will always be with him. It's wonderful she was put in the video. 😇
When the car first came out in 1985, it was called the Somerset Regal. The Regal part of the name was dropped by 1986. By the way, a very nice tribute to the owner's mother who had passed away. Very nice tribute.
Wow! This is immaculate. And so rare to see today. Love the green on green too.
DNR is dynamic noise reduction. Not Dolby.
Yep. They saved money not having to pay Dolby licensing fees. I hated both- cut down the "hiss" at the expense of high frequencies.
Somerset is a County here in UK... Glastonbury Festival is in Somerset
Its also a County here in NJ
@jakeballard7999 I didn't know that 🙌
It's also the name of a town and country in western Pennsylvania.
I had one that started with my mother, then to my father when he stopped getting a company car, then it trained the three of us kids how to drive. Ours was white over blood red and I always loved the looks and space. It survived until being totaled sitting in front of our house by a drunk driver in 2001. I'll always have fond memories of our Somerset with manual doors and windows, but no car left me stranded more than this one.
Owned a 1987 Somerset. The amount of rust and actual rust holes on it in 7 years was incredible (Northeast Ohio) I noticed the rear seat had some staining on it, upon further inspection, the floor under it was rotted out. Same with the rear inner wells. Rotted so badly that they would flex when pushing down on the bumper, as the shocks were mounted to the top of them. It wasn't necessarily a good car either. The list of repairs was long. Under 100k, rack and pinion, radiator, cooling fans, torque converter lock up solenoid, alternators, struts, etc. 2.5 was very harsh, and when idling at a light, it would visibly vibrate the steering wheel. The salesmen at the Buick dealer called these "Baby RIveria's" Neat video
I LOVE the little Buick TriShield in the trip odometer, what a neat little touch. Things like this make me miss older cars, they had so many neat little touches that you simply dint find in new cars.
The little pod radio is so cool too. GM was doing a lot of interssting things with tadio placement and design in the 80s, including the vertical radio in the X cars and this little pod radio in the N cars.
My Dad had a 1986 Skylark… basically the 4 door version of this with a digital dash… was really cool at the time!
Man, that color is beautiful and rare I believe. I had an 86 in red with the upgraded velvet seats. Loved that car.
Paul is a good friend, we both love Somersets - this is an excellent Video
My first car was a 1991 Buick Skylark 2.5. Iron Duke bought it with 63k miles and bought for $800.
These N Bodies used to be everywhere when I was growing up. Calais, Grand Ams, Skylarks. Celebrity Euro Sports, Delta 88’s, LeSabres and 6000’s were everywhere too.
We had the California Special trim in a beautiful red when I was a kid. It had the V6, special rims, and the Grand National steering wheel but otherwise it was exactly like this. That pod stereo was a pain when the cassette deck belts wore out. By the time the mid 90s rolled around, no stereo shops wanted to work on it and Buick wanted a fortune to fix it. It's shocking to see one in such good condition and still running no less! Our had a myriad of engine issues and when reverse went in the transmission, we traded it in for a brand new 1996 Toyota Camry. Not nearly as head turning, but far more reliable! I miss the Somerset though. My first ever driving lessons were in that car and I had some great memories in it.
I bought a new 1986 Buick Somerset Regal Limited. It was a cute car and quite an attention getter on the highway. One year and barely 12k on the digital odometer, the engine crank sensor broke off and left me without a vehicle for over a week.
I have an 86 Calais. The N body is beautifully trimmed and all three were marketed to what GM called "New Values" customers. Yuppies. So they were trimmed better and targeted to upscale small car buyers.
GM even hinted their target demographic included BMW intenders. See some of the auto rags when these were introduced. That BMW reference came from GMs own marketing chief in charge of selling the N Bodies.
The passenger seat slides forward to give the rider better access to the rear seat.
The Tech 4 is a scream and way out of character in cars trimmed like Electras, Ninety Eights and other luxe GM cars.
Schizophrenic in a car so full of luxury pretense.
I love my Calais. It's grey. But the one I first saw back in the early 90s at the Oldsmobile lot in Van Nuys CA, was the same color as this Somerset. Beautiful shade of green.
Thanks for this feature on a car you don't see much of any more.
My mom had an 87 Skylark. Great engine. GM was never known for great paint. When it was no longer garaged the paint come off in sheets around 2000. Also, the digital dash went out and was expensive to repair.
That sage green exterior and green interior is beautiful. More unique and interesting than the burgundy-ish red on most press cars issued to magazine road tests in-period.
Great example, though I have to say I never was very fond of these Chisel Cut Cars from GM with the exception of the large cars and the Seville.. Blessings to the owner. Sorry for the loss of his dear mom..
The curb feelers on the right corners 😂
I bought one in 1985 the first year it came out. It was a burgundy 2 door coupe and I thought the digital gauges were cool and the ride was pretty good and loved the styling. I traded it for an 1986 Ford Taurus.
This car looks phenomenal! Some newer vehicles are in worse condition than this Buick. Huge respect to the owner for taking such good care of it!
Wow, all this time I thought these were Skylarks!! I've always remembered my uncle having a Skylark, but now I understand it was a Somerset instead!
My mom had one when I was growing up. Rattles. I remember everything rattled at idle.
I remember a few Somersets running around my area in the mid 90’s. The Skylarks of this era ran around until the 2000’s.
I had a blue one. Really a decent little car. The digital dash started dieing and repair costs were more than the car was worth
Buick also used the Somerset name in 1980 as a trim level on the Buick Regal coupe. I always like these N body Somerset's. The full width tail light was something very unique. Very typical of the day when Buicks were stylish and distinctive .
What a concours condition example of meticulous ownership! Beautiful car!
I drove one of these as a rental back in 85 or 86. The only thing I remembered we how cheap the center stack felt and how it wobbled when I pushed the buttons.
That is a nice Someset. Haven't seen one since my freshman year of high school. Best friends neighbor had one. I had an 88 Pontiac Grand Am. Same engine and transmission. Basically same car. Those iron dukes maybe laughable, but man I enjoyed mine. Until tje oil pump failed and threw a rod. Left me stranded on the highway during rush hour in a rainstorm. Missed school that day. 😊
God Bless you Ms Levin.
97, quite a lady.
I had that same car in light blue! Loved it!
My great aunt and uncle had one. It was either an '86 or an '87, and theirs's had the 3.0 V6. It was pretty nice. I visit their daughters who now owns their home and she still has the personalized badges with their initials
And my 1st car was a 1980 Chevy Citation with pretty much that same engine only with a dual barrel carb instead of fuel injection
That one is really nice! I had a red Somerset got it for free and it stalled every time you came to a stop
You can always find a well-loved survivor of any car!
I love this old crappie car. I don't care if it's missing a lot. I just love the character of it, especially the digital dash
had the olds version 87 cutlass calais..loved it..wish i still had it..
The cupholders are in the glove compartment.
what a beautiful and well taken care of machine. thank you
Pretty cool car. Like the digital dash.
Looks like a car one of the Golden Girls would have driven.
I would assume like all other GM 2 door coupes from the 80's - 00's had the easy entry front passenger seat that would move a lot more forward making getting into the back seat much easier than the way you did it on the drivers side. I also, complete agree with you about GM seats/interiors in the 80's & 90's being both comfortable and nicely finished.
Also bothered me back then and still now that everyone refered to it as a little car. It's not a Volkswagen Beatle for Christ sake. And I always thought it seemed like a big car or at least mid size when I had one- Pontiac version mind you.
Yep, it's only slightly smaller than the Buick Century/Olds Cutlass Ciera.
I remember my 4th grade teacher Mr. S. Gonzalez had maybe of these Buicks back in the late 80's. Distinguishable by the rear lights.
Insanely clean for its age. Wow
I was pretty into those when I was hunting for my first car!
I grew up riding in that car 1987 blue digital dash power antenna the radio worked very well 😂
What a sweet send-off for a lovely little car and lovely little lady.
IT'S GOT THE DUKE! Hell yes!
Funny seeing a tractor motor in a buick.
I bought a brand new Somerset. It was a sharp car, but mine was also a lemon and after a lot of back and forth, Buick bought it back.
My buddy had one after HS in the 90s. Everyone called him homer and that was the Homerset. Didn't have it for long, he traded it for a prelude with 4wh steering
The prelude was a fun, decent car. I had an 86 that I beat really bad, smoked the clutch. Abandoned it in a drug dealers' yard because he was a scumbag. Couldn't trace me to the car because I never registered it
No Twilight Sentinel? That's strange. Loved the GM temp controls of the 80's and 90's - so easy to use and understand.
Didn't realize these were only made for 3 years....I do remember my dad having a red 1987 one when I was very young.....it was the first time I had ever seen a digital dash (Granted I was like 7 years old when my dad bought the car....) and I remember my dad switching it over to Km/h to make it look like he was doing 100MPH when he was really only doing like 60 LOL
In 97 i paid $700 for one.
Blue
Rusty
Ran and drove fine.
Took my Drivers Education road trips in one exactly like this in 1987
one of my favorite buicks
Omg I had a 1985 model it looks like a Buick Skylark also I had a digital gauge it was a unique car. Speed odometer goes up to 85 mph. But still faster but still says 85. I really miss the Buick Somerset because it's timeless..
Nice, My friend Patrick had a 1987 Pink one. 😀
That's such a sweet dedication.
My Mom bought a Somerset with the V6. It was quick for what it was.
the Somerset was a twin to the Skylark for the last two generations 1986-1998 available in 2 door coupe and 4 door sedan my late maternal grandmother had a used 1984 Skylark Limited 4 door sedan from 1988 to 1990 which had LE2 2.8 L or 171 Cubic in V6 engine under hood then she traded that for her first Toyota Camry which had a 2.0 l or 122 cubic in 4 cylinder engine under hood her 2nd Camry a 2005 LE model has a 153 cubic in or 2.5 L 4 Cylinder engine under hood
I had a 1985. The dash was problematic. The engine had a nylon timing gear and a steel timing chain. I had to replace that at 75,000. At about 150,000, the throttle body fuel injection developed an intermittent problem, and the car wouldn't start. Try later, and it would. I ended up selling it to a kid in a college auto mechanics class. Mine was the sage green.
My mother had one of these. Hers must have been the last year because she had a “normal” GM radio and not the one as seen in this car, but hers was gray..
Yes, the '87 had a one piece radio, even when equipped with a cassette player. An AM only radio was standard in '87, with a stereo radio with no tape player one notch up, followed by AM/FM stereo with cassette player, followed by AM/FM stereo with cassette and 5 band graphic equalizer. There were options for upgraded extended range speakers in the rear, along with the further upgraded Concert Sound. Lastly, they actually offered a Bose system in these cars, though I get the sense not too many people ordered it. The GM Bose systems were hit and miss from what I recall, and the Concert Sound optional systems in Buicks were usually quite good.
There have been a few luxury couples that lasted only 3 years if they even made it that long😃
Watching live from Malawi 🇲🇼
That radio looks like the one from the Camaro Berlinetta.
Youre actually not wrong mentioning the Regal name on this. For the 1985 model year, this was actually badged as the "Somerset Regal." The Regal name was dropped for the 1986 model year.
Those look like the original Firestone tires that came new with the car. I had an 85 grand am and it had Firestone tires from the factory. Also in 85-86 most GM cars came with Firestone or Bridgestone tires.
Ah yes the 1986 Buick Somerset a car that only a Blanche Deveraux would love being that this was the car that was used in the opening sequence of the golden girls.😂😂😂
That car was a Olds Calais
lovely car