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Update the Look of Your Older Car

Turning a beater into a beauty

Just because this Buick is a Century doesn't mean it has to look a hundred years old. At least that was our goal as wanted to illustrate how you can freshen the looks of any older car. Before we get to that, though, we should reveal a bit of background on this particular car.

The '95 Buick shown here was a "retirement home special"—you know, driven by that proverbial "littleold lady from Pasadena" only on Sundays. And that wasn't some sugar-coated pitch from a sleazy, used-car salesman either, because the mileage on the odometer read—get this—only 6,200 miles. That's less than a 1,000 miles per year. Heck, we do that in a weekend just to catch a concert or some fresh powder in the mountains.

Substance Over Style

So we snapped up the car for a screamin' deal, even if the wire hubcaps and plain-white paint had all the excitement of "The Lawrence Welk Show." We could always fix that (the car, not Lawrence). In so doing, we want to share some tips along the way on transforming a beater into a beauty. What's surprising is how much a car ages even when it's sitting still. A visit to our mechanic for a routine safety check revealed a muffler corroded on the inside, full of loose, rusty particles clogging up the exhaust flow. We fitted a freer-flowing unit that gave the 3.1-liter V-6 a bit more pep and an authoritative rumble. We also checked the hoses, belts and thermostat, replacing the latter just for good measure. The good news was that the smog guy, and just about every other service person who checked out the car, was surprised by how tight the engine sounded and how low the mileage was.

Tread-Mill

Feeling emboldened by the long-term potential of this vehicular time capsule, we decided to bring the looks up to date. First stop: the tire store to replace the old 14-inch rims and aging rubber with the diminutive dimensions (P185/75R14). What caught our attention was a new set of Michelins Pilots with the same size rating (P215/60R15) as a comparable tire, but noticeably wider. That clinched the deal because we wanted to fill up those wheelwells with as much rubber as possible, not just for a bigger contact patch, but to give the car some moxie. So it pays to actually compare tires side-by-side, and not just assume they're the same size because the numbers are the same.

Plus One

While we were at it, the 14-inch steel rims had to go as well (along with the "granny-gear" wire hubcaps), so we purchased a set of Panther 15-inchers. These gleaming five-spoke aluminum rims took more years off the lines of this Century than Botox injections. The handling improved, too. Turns out the tires were original equipment, and not only were they on the small side (note the side-by-side comparison shots of the old and new tires), they had almost turned to stone. Even though the tire store gave us a trade-in value of $20 apiece, the manager admitted that he couldn't resell them because of their age, despite showing little or no wear and still wearing those little rubber whiskers from the factory molds.

On a Roll

So how did our Buick feel with fresh booties? Like a brand-new baby. It rode softer (tires harden over time), yet grabbed like glue around the curves. Even our mechanic commented that the car had felt "under-tired" and was glad to see us put on some new ones.

So what's next from here? Maybe some window tinting, subtle graphics, and a few other upgrades. We know that this model of Buick should only be mildly customized, so don't look for a shaker hood scoop or a wild flamed paint job. But we were so happy with the results of the new wheels and tires, we plan to try a few more touches to give this Century a new lease on life. More makeover results coming soon!