The Wildcat story
From Motorama dream car to the Las Vegas Strip
Buick's Wildcat started life as a concept car built to show the future. In 1965 it became a 220-inch convertible with a V8 named for its torque. Here is how CHARLOT got here.
Quick answer
What is a 1965 Buick Wildcat?
The 1965 Buick Wildcat is a full-size American car from the first year of the Wildcat's second generation. It rode on a 126-inch wheelbase, measured 219.8 inches long, and came standard with a 325 hp, 401 cubic inch Nailhead V8 sold as the Wildcat 445. Buick built 98,737 that year as hardtops, sedans, and convertibles in Wildcat, Deluxe, and Custom trim. The Custom convertible, CHARLOT's exact model, was the rarest of them at 4,398 built.
Production run and rarity
One of 4,398
CHARLOT's VIN plate, riveted to the driver's door hinge pillar, settles exactly what she is: a 1965 Wildcat Custom convertible, assembled in South Gate, California. Buick built 600,148 cars for 1965. Only 4,398 left the line in this configuration, the smallest production run of any 1965 Wildcat body style.
Last digits masked to protect the title. Buick numbered 1965 production from 100001, and surviving VINs from other plants show each plant counting on its own, which puts CHARLOT at roughly the 7,700th Buick of any model built at South Gate that year.
How rare, at true scale
That is about 1 in 136 Buicks built for 1965, and 1 in 22 Wildcats. Convertibles were only 9% of Wildcat production, and Custom was the most expensive trim.
1965 Wildcat production by model
Built in South Gate, California
GM opened South Gate Assembly at 2720 Tweedy Boulevard in 1936 to build Buick, Oldsmobile, and Pontiac cars for the West Coast. CHARLOT is a California car from day one, built about 270 miles from the Las Vegas Strip she cruises today.
The plant closed in 1982. The site is now South East High School.
- Factory engine401 cu in Nailhead V8, 325 hp, 445 lb‑ft (Wildcat 445)
- Factory options425 cu in at 340 hp, or Super Wildcat dual quads at 360 hp
- Custom trimTop of the Wildcat line, above Wildcat and Wildcat Deluxe
Sources: 1965 Buick model production table (Team Buick, Classic Car Database), 1965 VIN and plant codes (Team Buick), plant history (South Gate Assembly).
Timeline
Seventy years of Wildcat
- 1953
Wildcat I, the fiberglass dream car
Under design chief Harley Earl, GM built the first Wildcat as a two-seat show car for its traveling Motorama, which opened at the Waldorf Astoria in New York in January 1953. The body was fiberglass on a shortened Buick chassis with a running V8 and Dynaflow transmission. It was a rolling test of what fiberglass could do for car bodies.
- 1954
Wildcat II
A smaller, sportier two-seat follow-up from the same Motorama program. Like Wildcat I, it still survives today.
- 1955
Wildcat III
The third and final Harley Earl Wildcat concept. The name was now firmly tied to Buick performance.
- 1962
The Wildcat goes on sale
The name moved from the turntable to the showroom as a sport coupe in the Invicta line. It carried a 325 hp, 401 cubic inch V8 and listed at $3,927.
- 1963
Its own series, and a convertible
Buick made the Wildcat a standalone model and added a convertible and a four-door hardtop. Production hit 35,725 for the year, then jumped to 84,245 in 1964.
- 1965
The second generation, and CHARLOT
All new for 1965. The Wildcat moved onto the big 126-inch Electra wheelbase, stretched to 219.8 inches long, and came in Wildcat, Deluxe, and Custom trim. The standard engine was the 401 cubic inch Nailhead, marketed as the Wildcat 445 for its 445 lb-ft of torque. Buick offered 425 cubic inch options at 340 hp, or 360 hp with dual four-barrels. Buick built 98,737 Wildcats that year. Only 4,398 were Custom convertibles, and CHARLOT is one of them.
- 1970
Last call
The final Wildcat came only in Custom trim. For 1971 Buick replaced it with the Centurion.
- 1985
Wildcat, reimagined
A mid-engine, all-wheel-drive concept with a lift-up canopy and a carbon fiber chassis brought the name back to the auto show circuit.
- 2022
The electric Wildcat
Buick revealed the Wildcat EV concept on June 1, 2022, a design study that introduced a new face for the brand. Seventy years on, the name still means the wildest thing Buick builds.
Meet CHARLOT
The details that stop traffic
- Ivory power top. The convertible top folds down for the Strip and goes up for weddings, wind, and summer afternoons.
- Fender hash marks. Chrome spears with black inlays behind the front wheels, a Wildcat signature that ties back to the 1964 model.
- Wildcat head emblems. The snarling cat badge sits in chrome on the interior door panels.
- Sonomatic radio. Buick's original push-button Sonomatic still lives in the dash, with modern audio tucked into the console.
- Red and chrome V8. Red engine paint, chrome valve covers and breathers, and an Edelbrock air cleaner. Pop the hood and the crowd gathers.
- Cragar S/S on Cooper Cobras. Polished Cragar five-spoke wheels on raised white letter Cooper Cobra Radial G/T tires give her a confident stance.
Sources
Where these facts come from
Production figures, engine ratings, and dimensions come from published Buick Wildcat references, including Wikipedia's Buick Wildcat entry, Hagerty's history of the Buick Wildcat concepts, and Old Cars Weekly on GM Motorama.