1980 Buick Century

General Motors began a massive downsizing of its fleet in 1977 beginning with the full-size B- and C-Body models. Called Project 77, the mission was to reduce the size of GMs bread-and-butter cars – the American full-size family sedan – on average by some 10 inches in length and 800 pounds. Smaller on the outside, bigger on the inside, and far more fuel-efficient was the goal. One year later in 1978, the intermediate A-Body models, including the Chevrolet Malibu, Olds Cutlass, Pontiac LeMans and Buick Century, followed suit. Buick and Olds shared a radical Aeroback sedan with a fastback roofline while Pontiacs and Chevrolets both offered a more conventional sedan. Slow sales prompted Buick and Olds to drop the Aeroback sedan and offer the more conventionally styled car for 1980 like this low-mileage example equipped with a rare three-speed, floor-mounted manual transmission.