Turbocharged Nailhead ’66 Buick Skylark Is One Cool Project Car

When GM made the decision to kill or sell half of its brands, many were shocked when Buick wasn’t put on the chopping block. This entry-level luxury brand has strayed far from its roots as a once-bold and aggressive car company. Among the many muscle car offerings from Buick was the Skylark, available with the once-legendary Nailhead V8 engines.

While we doubt the Skylark will be coming back anytime soon, we did stumble across a ’66 Skylark with a turbocharged 401 Nailhead V8 on Pro-Touring.com. Hearing that old Buick motor purr brings back some good memories.

It’s not often that you stumble across a classic turbocharged Buick, though back in the day Buick racers were known for adding superchargers to help overcome the smaller valves of the Nailhead engines. This particular car is owned by Paul Estrella, or “66larkgs,” from the Bay State, and he has owned this Buick since age 14 (though just recently got around to restoring it).

Among the many improvements and restorations is a rear-mount T67 turbocharger mounted to the cleaned-up 401 Nailhead. This old engine combined with the modern rear-mount turbo makes for a brutal one-two punch, and it sounds absolutely awesome (as the video above shows.) According to Paul this is a setup Buick experimented with back in the day, but never went through with.

Being that this is Pro-Touring.com though, there is more than just a fancy engine under the hood. QA1 coilovers, C5 Corvette brakes, tubular control arms, swaybars, a QuickPerformance Ford 9” rear end and many other parts all help bring this muscle car’s archaic suspension into the 21st century. While there’s still plenty of work left to do (including a paintjob) we’re glad to see that a new generation of muscle car fans are taking it upon themselves to leave their own mark on an American classic. Want more pictures? Check out Paul’s photo album and drool over this cool project car.

About the author

Chris Demorro

Christopher DeMorro is a freelance writer and journalist from Connecticut with two passions in life; writing and anything with an engine.
Read My Articles

Hot Rods and Muscle Cars in your inbox.

Build your own custom newsletter with the content you love from Street Muscle, directly to your inbox, absolutely FREE!

Free WordPress Themes
Street Muscle NEWSLETTER - SIGN UP FREE!

We will safeguard your e-mail and only send content you request.

Street Muscle - The Ultimate Muscle Car Magazine

streetmusclemag

We'll send you the most interesting Street Muscle articles, news, car features, and videos every week.

Street Muscle - The Ultimate Muscle Car Magazine

Street Muscle NEWSLETTER - SIGN UP FREE!

We will safeguard your e-mail and only send content you request.

Street Muscle - The Ultimate Muscle Car Magazine

streetmusclemag

Thank you for your subscription.

Subscribe to more FREE Online Magazines!

We think you might like...


fordmuscle
Classic Ford Performance
dragzine
Drag Racing
chevyhardcore
Classic Chevy Magazine

Street Muscle - The Ultimate Muscle Car Magazine

Thank you for your subscription.

Subscribe to more FREE Online Magazines!

We think you might like...

  • fordmuscle Classic Ford Performance
  • dragzine Drag Racing
  • chevyhardcore Classic Chevy Magazine

Street Muscle - The Ultimate Muscle Car Magazine

streetmusclemag

Thank you for your subscription.

Thank you for your subscription.

Street Muscle - The Ultimate Muscle Car Magazine

Thank you for your subscription.

Thank you for your subscription.

Loading