Chassis number: 446370H273985
This particular Buick GSX has been the recipient of a meticulous, concours-grade, nut-and-bolt restoration and is one of the finest examples available. It has been nationally judged twice and was the recipient of the Concours/Restored Gold award at the Buick GS Nationals. It has spent its recent restored life in a museum and private collection.
It has its original matching-numbers engine, transmission and rear differential, and is finished in the stunning original Code Q-Q color of Saturn Yellow that was available only on the GSX model. It is powered by the 455-ci high-performance V8 with a 3-speed HD Turbo-Hydramatic 400 M40 transmission and 3.42 Positraction rear end.
Besides the GSX option, this hard top is complemented with an impressive list of factory options — and some added options that include air conditioning, bucket seats with floor console shifter, power and tilt steering, front disc brakes, Goodyear raised white letter tires on chrome Rally wheels, instrument gauge package with hood tach, AM/FM stereo and much more.
Impeccable iron-clad provenance includes the original owner’s manual, warranty papers, customer vehicle delivery package, California emission decals, owner history registration cards back to 1975, and the original build sheet. A rotisserie pictorial as well as a breakdown and decoding of the vehicle’s major components and numbers comes with it. Also included are GSX documentation, statistics and literature.
It is also a registered entrant of the GSX Historical Society. Very few of these cars survived, and only a handful of authentic documented real-deal GSX cars remain today. Also, very few were originally special ordered in this stunning Saturn Yellow and black configuration. ACC Analysis
SCM Analysis
Detailing
| Vehicle: | 1970 Buick GSX |
| Years Produced: | 1970 |
| Number Produced: | 678 |
| Original List Price: | $5,000 |
| SCM Valuation: | $60,000–$126,000 |
| Tune Up Cost: | $150 |
| Distributor Caps: | $12.88 |
| Chassis Number Location: | VIN plate on top of instrument panel at base of windshield |
| Engine Number Location: | Pad between |
This car, Lot 1254.2, sold for $88,000, including buyer’s premium, at the Barrett-Jackson Auction in Scottsdale, AZ, on Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012.
It’s tempting to lump the term “Buick Muscle Car” in with oxymora such as “ jumbo shrimp” and “government ethics.” Buicks have hardly been the pinnacle of automotive performance over the years.
Then there’s the 1970 Buick GSX. When Road Test magazine drove one for their September 1970 issue, they wrote: “Basically, Buick has taken their hottest car and made it hotter…. Even though the GSX is first a high performance vehicle, it has encompassed the full line of luxury items and roadability of the bigger cars. The GSX is capable of holding its own at any drag strip, and in most cases, it will make the competitors go home crying.”
Crying? A Buick? Really?
Really. The numbers Motor Trend got out of a GSX were shocking — 0–60 mph in 5.8 seconds, and a quarter mile in 13.38 seconds at 105.5 mph. They declared the GSX nothing less than “the quickest Courtesy of Barrett-Jackson ACC Digital Bonus March-April 2012 57 American production car we had ever tested.” Road tests of performance cars back then were hardly Real World, and it’s known that manufacturers sometimes enhanced the performance of their press cars, but if even remotely accurate, the GSX’s numbers put it right up there with the market’s trinity of muscle: the 1970 Chevelle LS6, the GTO Judge, and anything with a Hemi.
On par with the greats
My late good friend and former editor of Musclecar Review magazine, Paul Zazarine, actually featured a shootout of a ’70 Hemi GTX and a GS 455 Stage 1 in the March 1985 issue, with the Buick taking home the bragging rights. A few years later, a rematch with two similar cars had the Hemi victorious. In the end, nothing was really proven except that the GSX was truly the performance peer of the top muscle cars of the era.
Buick’s secret was torque. Massive amounts of it.
To create the 455 engine, Buick simply bored their existing 400 engine. That left the 455 design very “oversquare,” which can produce more torque at lower revs than longer-stroke counterparts. In 1970, the 455 GS engine delivered an advertised 350 horsepower at 4,600 rpm, while the optional Stage 1 package added 10 more horses. In both engines, the torque rating was 510 lb-ft at just 2,800 rpm. No American engine surpassed that torque number until the 2003 Dodge Viper. And torque is what got the nearly two-ton GSX off the line quickly.
Look at me!
While both 455 engines were available in the midsized Buick 455 GS, it’s an automotive wallflower, blending into the shadows of the neighborhood drivein. The spinoff of the 455 GS, the GSX is the Buick that has both the performance and The Look, shouting “game on” everywhere it goes.
At a cost of $1,196 over the GS, the GSX was built from February 1970 through July of that year, and only 678 were made. That makes the GSX one of the rarest muscle cars — at least of those that were not developed with racing in mind. Of the two colors offered, 491 (72%) were painted shocking Saturn Yellow to just 187 in Apollo White, and only black trim and interior were available with both colors.
Most buyers (400) chose the $115 Stage 1 option, and most (499) preferred the automatic transmission. The GSX included stiffer shocks and suspension, heavy-duty cooling, power front disc brakes, and G60x15 tires. The hood-mounted tach (borrowed from Pontiac’s parts bin) and the rear wing were unique to the GSX, as were the black trim and graphics. Both 455 engines returned in 1971 and 1972, as did the GSX, but the GSX was now just a trim package rather than a unique model, and though only a few were built (124 in ’71, 44 in ’72), it’s the ’70 GSX that collectors care about.
A bargain buy
Only a few 1970 GSXs are auctioned each year, so any time one is available, interest is high. This example lacked the Stage 1 option, which can drive up value by as much as 50%, and the 4-speed manual, which can add another 20%. But this is a California emissions car, of which only 16 were built (14 in Saturn Yellow). We’ve seen top-quality Stage 1 cars sell for as much as $128,700 in 2010 and $124,550 in 2011. That’s 30% to 50% less than a comparable LS6, Judge or Hemi. This GSX makes up for its lack of Stage 1 pop with excellent condition and documentation. At $88,000, it was right on the money, and compared with the legends it can run toe-to-toe with, this Buick was a real bargain