LE BARON
Power User
Most people in 1970 did not take Buick seriously as a performance brand. That was their mistake, and this car exists specifically to prove it.
The GSX did not appear in the standard model catalog for 1970. A four-page pamphlet was made available at dealerships, but Buick never ran mainstream advertising for it. Only 678 examples were built in the second half of the model year, from March through May 1970, available in exactly two colors: 491 in Apollo White and 187 in Saturn Yellow, always with a black interior. This white example is one of those 187 cars.
The Stage 1 package upgraded the 455 cubic inch V8 with a hotter cam and improved cylinder heads, raising output to 360 horsepower and 510 pound-feet of torque. Functional hood scoops fed ram air induction. Motor Trend tested one and recorded a 13.38-second quarter mile at 105.5 mph, which prompted the magazine to crown it the quickest American production car they had ever tested.
At 510 pound-feet of torque, the Buick 455 produced the highest torque output of any American production performance car until 2003, when the Dodge Viper finally surpassed it. That record stood for thirty-three years. When Car Review magazine published its fifty fastest muscle cars list in 1984, the GSX Stage 1 ranked third overall, behind only the Shelby Cobra 427 and the 1966 Corvette 427, making it faster down the quarter mile than any other mid-sized or pony car from the entire 1960s and 1970s.
The standard GSX package included a hood-mounted tachometer, Hurst shifter on four-speed cars, Polyglas G60x15 tires on seven-inch wheels, front disc brakes, quick-ratio steering, and heavy-duty anti-sway bars front and rear. Buick called it a brand new brand of Buick. The people who drove one simply called it the fastest thing on the road, and left the argument right there
The GSX did not appear in the standard model catalog for 1970. A four-page pamphlet was made available at dealerships, but Buick never ran mainstream advertising for it. Only 678 examples were built in the second half of the model year, from March through May 1970, available in exactly two colors: 491 in Apollo White and 187 in Saturn Yellow, always with a black interior. This white example is one of those 187 cars.
The Stage 1 package upgraded the 455 cubic inch V8 with a hotter cam and improved cylinder heads, raising output to 360 horsepower and 510 pound-feet of torque. Functional hood scoops fed ram air induction. Motor Trend tested one and recorded a 13.38-second quarter mile at 105.5 mph, which prompted the magazine to crown it the quickest American production car they had ever tested.
At 510 pound-feet of torque, the Buick 455 produced the highest torque output of any American production performance car until 2003, when the Dodge Viper finally surpassed it. That record stood for thirty-three years. When Car Review magazine published its fifty fastest muscle cars list in 1984, the GSX Stage 1 ranked third overall, behind only the Shelby Cobra 427 and the 1966 Corvette 427, making it faster down the quarter mile than any other mid-sized or pony car from the entire 1960s and 1970s.
The standard GSX package included a hood-mounted tachometer, Hurst shifter on four-speed cars, Polyglas G60x15 tires on seven-inch wheels, front disc brakes, quick-ratio steering, and heavy-duty anti-sway bars front and rear. Buick called it a brand new brand of Buick. The people who drove one simply called it the fastest thing on the road, and left the argument right there
