became popular with Pontiac’ s GTO in 1964, soon Buick, same as Pontiac, fitted their own mid-sized Skylark with high output big blocks. Oldsmobile had their 4-4-2, Pontiac had their GTO, Chevrolet had their SS, while Buick had their GS, short for Grand Sport. The ultimate Buick came at the end of the decade with the 1970 GSX Stage 1 455.
Today, muscle car enthusiasts worldwide recognize how fast those Buick GSX muscle cars were and remain today. The main trouble is, production for 1970 totaled a miniscule 678 units, divided between 491 in Saturn Yellow and 187 in Apollo White.
Ray Witt of Dumas, Texas has owned three of the GSX super cars. Although he appreciates all muscle cars, Buicks are his favorites. He has done 16 muscle car restorations, including a 1970 Pontiac Trans Am, a 1969 Opal GT, a 1953 Buick Roadmaster“ woodie” station wagon, three GSX Stage 1s, and the rest Buick GS models.
A used car dealer today, Ray sold out his Chevrolet, Pontiac, and Buick dealership 13 years ago. He claims to have been“ raised on Buicks.” Like most Buick owners I have met, Ray is very opinionated on the GS and GSX models. When I mentioned that Buick made the GSX in 1971 and 1972, Ray made sure I realized the 1970 was the“ only true, full package.”
Each GSX came with“ billboard” tires measuring G60 x 15 – at the time, the largest on any American muscle car. The chromed Rallye wheels measured 15 x 7 and were a special“ WG” code. The center cap is a red, white and blue Buick crest.
The 1970 GSX is one of those special cars that come along once in a long, long time. The second year saw dilution. Ray says,“ In 1971 or 1972 you could order any piece of the package you wanted, such as stripes.”
Basically, the 1971 and 1972 GSX suffered from decreased horsepower and torque figures and, overall, the GSX was a trim package.
For 1970, the GSX was the full meal deal. The one caveat to single-mindedness was the choice to two different engines. The base engine was the standard 455. There just wasn’ t anything very standard about a big block with 510 lb-ft of torque. Interestingly, the base 455 matched the 455 Stage 1 in torque. Horsepower differed by a slim margin of 10 – 350 versus 360. Aficionados of the GSX are quick to point out the true horsepower easily topped 400 for both the base 455 and the Stage 1.
What did the Stage 1 bring to the table? First was the name itself. Stage 1 was an obvious reference to drag racing, where diggers denoted an increase in power in“ stages.” Buick wisely applied the name to their GSX. No doubt the 455 was right at home on the strip.
Ray explains,“ The compression was the same and the block and heads were identical except they cut the valves larger. The Stage 1 has a different curved distributor, a different camshaft and different jets in the Rochester carburetor.”
According to Ray, the jetting in the four-barrel carburetor was the same from the standard 455 to the Stage 1 455 when backed by a 4-speed manual transmission.
The eight grand hood-mounted tach redlined at 5,000 rpm. The idea was to put the tachometer in line of sight for the driver.
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