Spawned by the sales success of the Chevrolet Nova in the late ‘60s/early ‘70s, Chevy’s siblings must have clamored for one of their own – and got them. First, Pontiac got the Ventura (later Phoenix), then Oldsmobile got the Omega and Buick got the Apollo, which saw the shortest run of the three. On the negative side, this 1973 Apollo looks to have spent a lot of time out in the desert sun, which is likely since it can be found in Henderson, Nevada. On the plus side, its current habitat doesn’t lend itself to rust. The car is available here on eBay where the seller is waiting for the first bidder to type in $1,900.

Buick built about 113,000 Apollo coupes, hatchbacks, and sedans between 1973 and 1975. In its final year of production, the Apollo name was dropped for the two-door models, which became Skylarks. Buyers had their choice between a Chevy inline six or two Buick 350 V-8, depending on carburetion. The seller’s car came with the thriftier of the two V-8s, which was a good idea given the OPEC oil embargo that happened in ‘73. Because it was a Buick, it’s list of standard equipment was a little richer than that of the Chevy or Pontiac.

The description of the car in the ad is a little confusing. In one place, it’s listed as drivable and has been mainly used on weekends. Elsewhere, we’re told it’s been sitting for a few years and could probably do with some going through. Given the missing air cleaner in one of the photos, let’s split the difference and say that it has run fairly recently, but is going to need work. The odometer reflects close to 37,000 miles, but I’d be surprised if it’s not 137,000.

This car was likely red when it started out and has probably been subject to baking the past 47 years. Rust doesn’t look to be a big player with this car, although the seller says there is some minor rust on the trunk floor. A new paint job would do wonders for the looks of the car. What would also be an improvement would be to lower the rear suspension to factory specs as someone has jacked up the rear at some point. I did the same thing with my ’70 Nova and didn’t like the ride.

An upholsterer is going to make some money off this one, recovering the front seat, replacing the back seat, and fixing the dash pad. He’ll probably put in new carpeting, too. And the door handle looks broken. The seller confirms the back seat is missing, but how do you lose a back seat? The seller is said to have owned the car about two years.

If the mileage is not accurate, then the engine is probably going to need some help. The seller uses the word “aluminum” in the ad sub-heading, so is he maybe referring to the radiator, which looks to have been replaced? We’re told the gas tank is fairly clean, but I’m betting the whole fuel system is going to need attention depending on how long the car has been relatively inactive. The A/C looks to have been disconnected, so that may not work, either.

Apollo’s don’t command the same resale prices as Nova’s, largely because they were never intended to be performance cars. So used car pricing seems to be how to judge these and NADA says it would be a stretch to go past $5,000, although a little Googling found a few higher than that. If $5-10,000 is all you could get for the car after getting it running good, painted and made more livable inside, you’d likely be upside down. Fix the car and keep it for weekend shows and outings.