1967 Buick Wildcat

The Wildcat began life as a performance option package on the Buick Invicta hardtop coupe in '62, but became its own model line for the 1963 model year.

Bigger than the midsize Special/Skylark models, it was still slightly smaller than the big C-body Electras and the '63 Wildcat's junior status was signaled by having three chrome "Ventiports" in the front fenders rather than the four of the Electra. 

To proclaim its sporting intentions, the porthole-esque Ventiports got replaced in '64 with an arrangement of three vertically-stacked horizontal slots and when the model got upgraded with a whole new generation for 1965, the alternative chrome baubles continued, changing year-to-year so you could signal you had the newest model in classic Detroit fashion.

For 1967 they were a row of raked chrome gill slit thingies low on the fender and blending into the chrome rocker trim, reminiscent of the chromed exhaust of a Thirties classic. This combined with the prominent display of another piece of classic Buick styling, the "Sweepspear" line, recalling the "Airfoil" fenders of the elegant Harley Earl designs of the Forties.

For 1967, the Wildcat received an entirely new engine, too. Buick's previous big V-8, officially originally named Fireball and then Wildcat, was known colloquially as the "Nailhead" for the appearance of its small valves with their long stems. It was felt that future performance increases would be stymied by the small diameter of the valves and so a whole new big-block V-8 was designed.

In the '67 Wildcat it displaced 430 cubic inches and was rated at 360 SAE gross horsepower, with a 4-barrel carburetor, dual exhaust, and 10.25:1 compression, necessitating premium fuel. 

Car Life magazine tested a 1967 hardtop coupe, more or less identical to the Platinum Mist example in these photos, and recorded an 8.4 second 0-60 run and a quarter mile time of 15.8 at 84.5, which is pretty sprightly for a well-optioned luxobarge of a sports coupe riding on a 126" wheelbase and weighing every bit of two and a quarter tons. Base price was $3.603, but by the time they were finished with the option book, the as-tested sticker was $5,280.

The one in the photos was snapped in June of 2021 using a Nikon D3 and 24-85mm f/2.8-4D zoom lens.