When most people mention Buick these days, many will conjure up memories of them riding in the back seat of their grandmother’s Buick Park Avenue. Once upon a time, though, Buick was a bonafide performance brand, featuring prominently in various motorsports disciplines and offering a smattering of performance-focused products like the iconic Buick GS and GNX.
This 1970 Buick GS Convertible is a shining example of Buick’s performance-focused past. This is a true “Stage 1” factory performance package-equipped GS Convertible which, according to Mecum Auctions, is fairly hard to come by these days. The Stage 1 package added a hot cam, larger valve heads and a unique four-barrel carburetor to the already potent 455 cubic-inch V8 engine, making it one of the hottest road-going Buicks ever offered.
Only 232 Buick GS Convertibles left the factory equipped with the Stage 1 package, 164 of which came with the optional Turbo-Hydramatic 400 four-speed automatic transmission. This car was sold new by Joe Torres Buick in Rome, New York and comes with the original dealer financing agreement and complete GM documentation. Finished in its original colors of Fire Red with a Pearl White interior, this car underwent a full restoration in 2007 and also recently received a new white convertible top.
This rare piece of Buick GS performance history will cross the auction block at Mecum’s Indianapolis sale in June – assuming the event is able to go forth despite the current pandemic situation. That seems like a rather fitting place to sell the car, seeing as heavily boosted Buick-powered machines once dominated the Brickyard in the 1980s and 1990s.
Check out the Mecum listing at this link for some additional information on this rare Buick GS, as well as some more photos.
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Comments
The 1970’s Turbo Hydro 400 was a 3 speed non overdrive transmission, and one of the finest most durable transmissions ever made by GM. The Buick GS Stage 1 is arguably the fastest GM car made in 1970. Many think the LS-6 454 in a Chevelle is faster. When a GS in standard trim raced the LS-6 Chevelle, the LS-6 easily won. However, the Stage 1 upgrade was a game changer. Typically the Stage 1 Buicks would beat the LS-6 454 by 3 to 5 car lengths in a quarter mile race if the cars had the same transmission and rear gear ratios. In other words a true and valid apples to apples comparison. There was even an even more rare Stage 2 package that involved dealer installation, and that version was meant for track use only. I witnessed well prepped Stage 1 GS Buicks with headers, 4.33 posi, and 10 inch slicks run consistent 10.30’s. Similar Chevelles with LS-6 and 4.33 gears ran consistent 10.50’s. This was in 1970/1971 when high octane leaded premium was still available (Sunoco 260) at the tracks.
The Buick 455 stage1 was a great performance car back then. Chevy,Ford and Mopars were everywhere, but the Buicks were rare and really stood out from the crowd. A 13.3 quater mile at 105 mph was quicker than any other muscle car in 1970.