As has always been the case with Buick Hot Rods, and to a degree, those from Oldsmobile they r seldom given credit for their performance variants for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that they are Oldsmobiles and Buicks, AND to a great degree this is just How GM Wanted it, Hot Rods and Muscle cars were essentually always intended to stay within the realm of Pontiac, their intemediate entry vehicle line and Chevrolet, their entry level vehicle division...The fact of the matter is that Chevrolet, GMC were created out of exiting Buick facilities with existing Buick and Oldsmobile workers, while but for those workers essentually forced over to the Pontiac line from the original Oakland Motorcars, and the fact that a dedicated plant was BUILT for that division for its incorporation The whole of GM is essentually based in BUICK and their dedicated R and D division is and always has been OLDSMOBILE which what is left of u now know as Saturn. This isn't fiction or fantasy, its simply the facts, facts that are taught here in Flint, Michigan; the home and Birthplace of Buick, the parent n founder, as well as Chevrolet/GMC and the UAW; are taught as a matter of course of the city's history begining in Elementary school, indeed as history of the state of Michigan as a whole. Outside of Michigan much of the info taken as fact is for the most part a mix of inuendo, speculation and often outright fabrication by those who actually haven't the 1st clue about how and why the domestic auto industry in Michigan came to be.
Of ALL domestic producers of HOT RODS or factory muscle cars, Buick and Oldsmobile, along with Wisconsin's American Mtrs have to b the most overlooked and under rated. I have an Uncle, from whom i got my 1st car while still growing up in St. Louis where i was born who worked for GM at the then Corvette assembly after it 1st moved from here in Flint where it was 1st opened on Van Slyke Road, which is now part of GMC Truck And Bus Division and the site of the Corvette 50th anniversery celebration which i attended at the time driving my 2cnd corvette, a 2001 Targa Hatch Z51 Performance option car. He was the 1st PERSON of ANY COLOR that i actually KNEW who owned a Brand new Corvette. Additionally as a teen growing up in Milwaukee after relocating there at age 14, my Father worked for 1st International Harvester, THEN American Motors, and later after relocating to Detroit Chrysler from which he retired, add to that the fact that i am a graduate of GMI(General Motors Institute/Kettering University) in January of 1995,completion was at the end of the 94 fall/winter semesters in December of 94. and i have LIVED here in Flint since 1977 when i began to learn to use and construct nitrous oxide systems for use in CARS. All this add to a life long love of Hot Rodding " street cars" and actually doin so since 1963 and u MAY begin to understand how i KNOW the facts of what i say here and in other threads about the domestic auto industry indeed the auto industry world wide.
What i say in based not soley on reading and written research but the actual experience of going to the tracks and racing on the streets with and against the cars most folk only WISH they had ever had access to let alone drove or raced against AT THE TIME THEY WERE BEING PRODUCED, so rather than just what someone SAID they could or would do in whatever configuration they may have appeared, i was actually THERE and saw the diff tween claim and actuallity.
For instance, the guy posting about the Buicks, failed to note that all three of the Buicks i listed were 4spd, not automatics, ALL had the 3.64 Posi rear and the factory 15" magnum 500 Buick wheels, 7" on the rear 6" on the front, also only the Base GS Stage 1 455 Gran Sports were rated at 360bhp/510lbft, and even those actually MADE closer to 425 than 360, ALL GSX cars, which the top 2 were were rated at a minimum of 370bhp/515lbtq for the Stage 1 cars which actually made at LEAST 425 or more, and ALL Stage 2 GSX cars, the Stage 2 option could only b had in a 68-72 GSX, 68 n 69 cars were 400's and rated at 370BHP and made closer to 425 as did the 70-72 455 Stage 1 GSX cars and was RATED at 390bhp/526lbft but actually made an HONEST 500 n thats with exhaust HEADERS that came factory STOCK on these cars built by Kustom Speed equipment also HERE IN Flint, these car were and are yet know as HEMI KILLERS which is exactly what they did as i have witnessed over many a year, put ANY Stock Hemi Variation against ANY Stage 2 GSX and unless the Buick had an atrocious driver and or broke at some point the Hemi car is left suckin wind by several lenths. Once at Green Valley Raceway in 71, NOW the TEXAS MOTORPLEX i WATCHED a HEMI CHALLENGER on Cheater slicks get OUT on a Stage 2 GSX car, an Appollo White car, the rarest of the GSX color Options(most popular was the saturn Yellow) and get ran down and passed by half track on polyglass tires and stock wheels, granted the Buick driver was a better driver of his ride than was the hemi driver but still, he got caught and beat. Why do i remeber this ? Because at the time even tho i was already a Buick V8 Power fanatic i bet 100 bucks on the Hemi car, mainly because it was on slicks, and LOST, in the Military shortly after Viet Nam at the time u may well imagine what a big loss that was with a wife and a young child...THATS why i remeber....
Automatic GS cars, like automatic stangs of the present day were in general an average of 1/2 sec slower than were the 4 gear cars and were stock with a 3.36 posi, even among the GSX Varients.
SO at the risk of t'n off a whole lotta folk, i again reinterate that at the breakwater of factory muscle car production which is universally acdepted as 1970 the TOP 3 QUICKEST factory STOCK offerings from anyone were 4gear Grans Sport 455 Stage 2 and Stage 1 cars, the fact that they are also among the very rarest of Hot Rods and so overlooked accounts for the misleading info out there about these cars. The fact of their actually performance accounts for why i yet am a fanatic for hot rod motivation with a BIG BLOCK Buick 2cnd generation V8 and why THAT is what power my BMW 3 series. 9.73@138.71 on a 26 x 10.5 x 15 MT ET STREET with a Production based 70 STAGE 1 455 w/ a 3.50 gear a 3500 converter, TH400 w/o brake with a flat tappet Hydraulic camshaft and a 6000rpm max shift point in a 3700 race weight ride with a full 3" exhaust including tail pipes is kinda hard to argue with i say, even when u account for 300bhp of spray. BTW, the record for a Stage 2 Base 455 on gasoline with 1 single carb on a hgh rise intake, JUST LIKE THE ONE I RUN ON MY Bmer, 7.64@176.22mph all motor @ 3270lbs, 86 Somerset Regal customer out of TA Performance, the owner of which has a single carbed gasoline all metal 69 Buick Sylark wagon with a Stage 1 based mtr and runs 8.8's like clock work also ALL MTR, not to mention a fully loaded, fully dressed including tail pipes, 2.25" that regularly runs low 11's hgh 10's, also ALL MTR. Remeber, before the 1st ZR1 vettes in the early 90's, the fastest thing out of GM was an 89 Pontiac Trans Am GTA, powered by a 3.8 litre V6 Turbo charged Buick. If u have an open mind and are willing to learn, check the web site for the annual Buick Nationals event at Beach Bend Raceway outside Bowling Green Kentucky every year. and NOW that there are aftermarket heads and Blocks for Big Block Buick V8's in both iron and aluminum jus like the other more popular brands they effectively have the same limitations as other hot rod brands, ur wallet...I BUILT a 573 cube all aftermarket Stage 2 based 455, carb to pan fan to flywheel for under 14k and bought ALL parts new, 764bhp@5740 685lbft TQ@4240 on 92 octane sunnoco n less than .650 of lift. As i say, if ya wanna argue actually real world numbers, those of Buick are kinda hard to argue with. Doesn't mean they are the baddest or the best, certainly not for everyone, does mean they are a whole lot better and badder than they are given credit for, except after i wax someone n lift off the Bmers hood to expose a 464 cube single carb production block n head V8 Stage 1 Buick V8.
Lest anyone think i am bragging or trying to belittle anyones pref in make or model, im not
I consider my success over the years with B O P a function of a whole lot of work, a whole lot of mistakes and a whole lot of money spent, multiplied by immesurable blessings and even a lil luck, and tho im a died in the wool B O P Fanatic I LOVE ANYTHING THAT ANYONE DECIDES TO HOT ROD and race, nor do i play any one of em cheap, i jus try to get them to play ME cheap. Cheating? No need, i was taught by those who started me hot rodding, that u never have to cheat to win, jus know enuff to insure they can't cheat YOU...enforces the old addage, winners never cheat and cheaters never win.