Which Buick Skyhawk version to buy
If the question is which Skyhawk to specify from this catalogue, the answer is 3.8 MT. Production in the data runs from 1974-01-01 to 1980-12-31. There is 1 generation. That generation has 1 version. The body is Hatchback 3-door. The drivetrain of 3.8 MT is Manual, 4 gears, RWD. The engine of 3.8 MT is Gasoline, 3791 cm³, 6 cylinders, V-shaped, 2 valves per cylinder, boost No, Carburetor.
If the question is which Skyhawk to specify from this catalogue, the answer is 3.8 MT. Production in the data runs from 1974-01-01 to 1980-12-31. There is 1 generation. That generation has 1 version. The body is Hatchback 3-door. The drivetrain of 3.8 MT is Manual, 4 gears, RWD. The engine of 3.8 MT is Gasoline, 3791 cm³, 6 cylinders, V-shaped, 2 valves per cylinder, boost No, Carburetor.
There is no second named version to prefer. There is no automatic, no other displacement, no other cylinder count, no other drive, and no other body type in the data. A comparison between versions cannot invent a second line. Arithmetic on the single line is still useful: it shows what 3.8 MT is strong at, what is not measured, and what a later-year search (1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989) cannot be answered from this table.
Generations: what 1 generation actually changed
1 generation (1974-01-01 to 1980-12-31) is the whole Skyhawk record here. Body: Hatchback 3-door. Versions in this generation: 1 (3.8 MT). Restyling is not listed as a separate generation, so it is not counted as one.
Because there is only 1 generation, generation-to-generation change is zero in this catalogue. Years of overlap with later Skyhawk searches (1984–1989) are outside the stop date 1980-12-31. Those later years are not a second generation in these data; they are absent. A buyer comparing “this generation vs the next” has no next row: start 1974-01-01, stop 1980-12-31, one Hatchback 3-door, one 3.8 MT.
What 1 generation does fix for a buyer:
- Body choice is closed: Hatchback 3-door only. A two-door hatchback search matches this body; a sedan or wagon search does not match any row.
- Years that match the production window in the data are 1974 through 1980 inclusive of the given dates. A 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, or 1980 3.8 MT is still the same named version in this table, with the same 112 hp, 237 Nm, 3791 cm³, Manual, RWD figures. The data do not split those calendar years into different horsepower lines.
- A 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, or 1989 Skyhawk is not a version in this generation’s list. Specs for those years are not measured here.
Engines and specs: the only version, named exactly
| Version | hp | Nm | Displacement (cm³) | Fuel | Cylinders | Layout | Boost | Gearbox | Drive |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.8 MT | 112 | 237 | 3791 | Gasoline | 6 | V-shaped | No | Manual | RWD |
3.8 MT peak power: 112 hp (82 kW) at 4000 rpm. Peak torque: 237 Nm at 2000 rpm. Compression ratio: 8. Bore × stroke: 96.5 × 86.4. Fuel system: Carburetor. Valves per cylinder: 2.
There is no second engine name. “Buick Skyhawk engine” and “Buick Skyhawk horsepower” in this catalogue both resolve to 3.8 MT: 112 hp, 237 Nm, 3791 cm³, Gasoline, 6, V-shaped, boost No.
What the numbers buy: arithmetic on 3.8 MT
Displacement of 3.8 MT is 3791 cm³, which is 3.791 litres. Specific power is 112 / 3.791 ≈ 29.5 hp per litre. Specific torque is 237 / 3.791 ≈ 62.5 Nm per litre.
That pair is the character of the only version. Peak torque of 3.8 MT is at 2000 rpm; peak power is at 4000 rpm. The torque peak sits at 2000 / 4000 = 0.5 of the power-peak speed. In other words, the torque figure arrives at half the rpm of the horsepower figure. For a Manual 4-speed RWD hatchback, that is the measurable reason to take 3.8 MT as a low-rpm torque engine rather than a high-rpm power engine: 237 Nm is listed at 2000 rpm, not at 4000 rpm.
Power in kilowatts for 3.8 MT is 82 kW against 112 hp. The catalogue already gives both; they describe the same version, not two versions.
Boost is No. There is no turbocharged or supercharged alternative to compare. Compression is 8. There is no higher-compression 3.8 MT in the table, so “the extra money for more compression” cannot be calculated: the extra row does not exist.
Cylinders: 6, V-shaped, 2 valves per cylinder. That is 6 × 2 = 12 valves total for 3.8 MT. No 4-cylinder and no 8-cylinder Skyhawk version is listed, so a buyer cannot trade cylinder count inside this model’s data.
Gearbox of 3.8 MT is Manual, 4 gears. Drive is RWD. There is no Automatic counterpart and no FWD or AWD counterpart. The “what the extra money buys” question between gearboxes is empty: 4 gears Manual RWD is the only drivetrain.
Front suspension of 3.8 MT: Independent, spring. Rear suspension: not measured. Front brakes: Disc. Rear brakes: Drum. Chassis choice is therefore also single-path: independent spring front, disc/drum, rear layout not measured.
Performance and economy (mpg, 0–100, top speed)
For 3.8 MT:
- Acceleration 0–100: not measured
- Top speed: not measured
- Fuel consumption city: not measured
- Fuel consumption highway: not measured
- Combined fuel consumption: not measured
- CO2: not measured
- Eco class: not measured
A buyer ranking Skyhawks by 0–100, top speed, or mpg cannot rank 3.8 MT against another Skyhawk version because those figures are not measured and because no second version exists. Claiming a fuel-economy win or a sprint win would add numbers that are not in the data.
What is measured on the economy side is tank volume: 70 litres for 3.8 MT. Range in kilometres is not measured, because consumption is not measured. 70 litres is a tank size, not an mpg figure.
Dimensions and weight
For 3.8 MT:
- Kerb weight: not measured
- Gross weight: not measured
- Ground clearance: not measured
- Wheel sizes: not measured
- Fuel tank: 70 litres
Weight per horsepower cannot be computed: kerb weight is not measured, so kg per hp is not measured. A “Buick Skyhawk weight” search does not get a kerb or gross number from this table. Ground clearance is not measured. Wheel sizes are not measured.
The only dimension-like figure that is present for choosing 3.8 MT is the 70-litre tank. Relative to the 112 hp engine, that is 70 / 112 ≈ 0.625 litres of tank volume per horsepower. That ratio is arithmetic on given numbers; it is not a consumption figure.
Which version to choose when there is only 3.8 MT
Choose 3.8 MT if the requirement is a Buick Skyhawk Hatchback 3-door, Gasoline 6-cylinder V-shaped 3791 cm³, 112 hp at 4000 rpm, 237 Nm at 2000 rpm, Manual 4, RWD, boost No, Carburetor, compression 8, tank 70 litres, years 1974-01-01 to 1980-12-31.
Do not treat another Skyhawk name as a version in this catalogue. There is no second 3.8 MT with a different horsepower that would need a power suffix. There is no “3.8 AT”. There is no other displacement label.
Calendar year is not a spec split here. A 1975 3.8 MT, a 1976 3.8 MT, a 1977 3.8 MT, a 1978 3.8 MT, a 1979 3.8 MT, and a 1980 3.8 MT share the same named version and the same 112 hp / 237 Nm / 3791 cm³ / Manual / RWD line. The data do not assign a different horsepower to 1976 versus 1979. Orange paint, sale listings, and owner-sale listings are not in the data; they are not selection criteria this table can score.
Later-year searches are a different question. Specs requests for 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, and 1989 Skyhawk engines are not answered by 3.8 MT’s 112 hp row, because those years sit after stop 1980-12-31. If the car under consideration is a 1984–1989 Skyhawk, this catalogue generation is the wrong generation: 1 generation ends 1980-12-31.
Buick Skyhawk vs Skylark cannot be decided with these numbers. Skylark is not in this dataset. No horsepower, torque, weight, or gearbox comparison to Skylark is measured here.
Reliability and problems are not measured in the data. They are not used as a version-ranking factor.
Practical filter for a buyer
1. Need Hatchback 3-door, 1974–1980 window, Manual, RWD, Gasoline 6 V-shaped, 112 hp, 237 Nm → 3.8 MT is the match; it is also the only match. 2. Need a measured 0–100, top speed, mpg, kerb weight, or clearance to pick among Skyhawks → those fields are not measured for 3.8 MT; ranking by them is not possible. 3. Need an automatic, another displacement, another generation, or a 1984–1989 spec sheet → no such version exists in this model’s data.
The extra money, in this catalogue, does not buy a second Skyhawk version. It cannot buy more litres, more gears, or more driven wheels, because 3.8 MT is the sole line: 112 hp, 237 Nm, 3791 cm³, Gasoline, 6, V-shaped, boost No, Manual, RWD, tank 70 litres, Hatchback 3-door, 1 generation, 1974-01-01 to 1980-12-31.