'70 Buick GSX

[MR.hp]

I have never even seen an ad for one of these cars and they were cool.

[Z28SSMAN]

Cool ad. I remember seeing only one or two of the actual cars in person.

When Rosenbloom said he had a GSX, I was excited because I thought it was one of these.

[Mudtrux]

I run across one on my way home every now and then, going up 81.
I asked him if it was real and he said yea. Would you lie if you tributed one?

[RX-V8]

A guy I went to high school with ten years ago told me about his uncle that ordered one of those Stage 1 or 2 cars before he went to Vietnam. He had ordered a yellow one thinking it was the oddest color...

I thought it was all bullshit... then I got to see the car in person. In a big shed, layers of dust, original 455 engine next to it, the guy had swapped a 355 rocket into it during the gas crunch of the seventies... so sad to see it sit there. I bet its still there too. Original owner... probably has all the paperwork too.... :(

I believe the 455 in those had 500ft lbs of torque!

[Fast One]

'70 GSXs are very rare cars. Only 678 were produced that year. There were just two color options - Saturn Yellow or Apollo White. There was a Saturn Yellow GSX Stage 1 up in my hometown back in the day. I've only seen a few real ones since then.

The flamboyant GSX appearance package was Buick's answer to Pontiac's Judge. The standard engine was the base 455, with optional Stage 1 & Stage 2 performance packages.

The Stage 1 engine had factory ported heads with larger valves, an aggressive cam, a larger oil pickup tube, a special Quadrajet, aggressive ignition timing, and the compression was upped from 10:1 to 10.5:1. It was very conservatively rated at a laughably-low 360 HP @ 4600 RPM & 510 pounds of torque @ 2600 RPM. For comparison - the family car version of the 455 cranked out 510 pounds of torque @ 2800 RPM, and was rated at a reasonably honest 370 HP @ 4600 RPM. The Stage 1 engine's true output was 400+ HP @ 5000 RPM. The GS/GSX 455 Stage 1 was known as the 'Hemi killer'. MT reported an astonishing 13.38 sec @ 105.5 MPH in the quarter with a stock 3810 lb '70 GS 455 Stage 1. They reported 13.78 sec in the quarter for the '70 Hemi Cuda. At the time, MT said that the Stage 1 was the quickest musclecar they had ever tested. In the 80s, the Stage 1 was listed as being quicker than any of the Hemi cars on the original '50 fastest muscle cars' list. That made quite a stir in the musclecar community that continues to this day.

The Stage 2 performance package was a dealer-installed option. The big-valve, free-flowing, D-port Stage 2 heads, radical cam, high-comp forged pistons, Edelbrock aluminum intake, headers, Holley carb, and the rest of the racing parts came in the trunk. The Stage 2 reportedly put out around 485 HP at the crank @ 5500 RPM with all of the goodies installed & properly tuned. At the time, the 1970 GS 455 Stage 2 was considered to be the quickest production car ever made.

For those who may be unfamiliar with the engine - the Buick 455 is the lightest of the production cast-iron big-blocks. It also won Car Craft's legendary big-block shootout. At just 600 lbs, the Buick 455 is 70-80 lbs lighter than a BB Chev or Ford, a whopping 150 lbs lighter than a production 426 Hemi, and it is only 25 lbs heavier than a 283 Chev! With a 4.3125" bore & 3.9" stroke, it's one of the shorter-stroked big-blocks. It's also a very compact. It will fit nearly anywhere a SB Chev will fit - and you don't even have to be a contortionist to reach the plugs. :)

Joel

[Alleyoop2]

A buddy of mine had one when we where about 18 or so. It was the real deal too! Pretty cool car!

[Eric N.]

I saw one on the showroom floor at Berkley Buick back in 1970. Yellow,not a Stage1. Cool cars.

[Z28SSMAN]

Yeah, they were beautiful cars. The GS/GSX and its GM 'cousins' are some of my favorite models of classic cars. Nice write up, Joel.

[HOTCIVIC]

I always liked those cars.