To most observers, those who were there and those who were not, 1970 was the pinnacle of the muscle car era. In that one golden year, a consumer with a few thousand bucks to spend could buy an LS6 Chevelle, any number of hot Mopars, Cobra Jet or Boss Mustangs, 429 Torinos, W30 442s…the list is impressive.
All three automakers carried on for one final year in high compression, leaded gasoline glory; all automakers continued to use insurance angering, inflated gross horsepower numbers. And for that year, a Buick was one of the fastest musclecars from the new car showrooms.
But not this one. While some GS Buicks carried the full-load “Stage 1” 455, with a rated 510 ft./lbs. of torque, this “burnished saddle” ’70 carries the 350 small-block. Buick rated this 350-4V at 315 horsepower, which was only 45 rated horsepower shy of the mighty Stage 1. Of course, gross horsepower ratings of the time had more to do with throwing a dart at a map than any actual mathematics. For example, my 250-horsepower ’65 Skylark ran neck and neck with my dad’s 2004 Escape with the mighty 200-horsepower Duratec V6. Therefore, many of those horses may be fictitious.
That’s not to say that a 350 Buick can’t run. I’ve personally seen a near stock ’72 350 GSX run a 13.7 quarter at nearly 100 miles per hour. In fact, v8buick.com, where I found the above picture, stockpiles many threads from enthusiastic 350 owners.
I’ve always found it fascinating that General Motors offered four 350 engine architectures. The Buick was a long-stroke design based loosely on the old aluminum 215, which had relatively close bore centers. On the other hand, the big-block Buicks were designed with large bore centers, so the 455 used a relatively short stroke for its displacement.
The ’70 GS may be the most collectible Buick on the road; it’s at least in the top five. The above brochure image was quite out of character for Buick; not since the Buick Bug did they foster such a racing image. Those who found the ad copy hokey were forced to take the Stage 1 seriously as soon as magazines found that it could run with Chrysler Hemis with ease. Additionally, the Stage 1 exhibited Buick-like street manners, unlike the finicky Hemi, which was noted to be uncomfortable on anything but a racetrack.
Getting back to our featured GS, the current owners are doing their best to perpetuate the old Buick stereotype by riding on beaded seat covers. There are likely few ’70 GS Buicks with those little add-ons and a litter bag. Nevertheless, this GS is one of my favorite types of vehicles. While I’m not crazy about the ’68-’72 redesign, this Buick had a well-used but well-maintained aura that I aim for with my fleet. Cracked beltline trim, a few rust bubbles, and a little orange peel on an old paint job take nothing away from this car at all. It’s perfect.
Looking at the brochure, it’s obvious that Buick offered a choice of steering wheels for the GS. Our example wears the far more appropriate sport wheel that Buick offered for many years, for good reason. It’s one of the most attractive steering wheels from any manufacturer.
Buick arguably has a handful of cars that define its history: the original Century, the original Skylark, the Riviera, the Grand National, and this. The ’70 GS is the epitome of Buick muscle, and this is a great driver example of why people appreciate this model year and bodystyle. The GS came from a time when GM allowed their divisions to personalize similar architectures, and those divisions responded by creating four muscle cars with their own unique characters.
And while you are unlikely to see a Formula-style race car in the brochure for your new LaCrosse, it’s nice to know there was a time when staid Buick built a car like the ’70 GS.
The GS’s are affordable, unsung heroes, and most owners like it that way. There is a huge contingent of Buick racers to this day, and the Stage 1 has proven itself to be a worthy peer of the 440-6, LS-6 and Hemi. I can attest they are very comfortable drivers with Cadillac level interior appointments. This article caught my atttention on the bore/stroke ratio of the 350, and caused me to go down a rabbit hole of spec comparison. I’m a life long Buick guy and I’ve always thought they were a big bore motor, but they are in fact squarely undersquare ( as is the 3.8). Kind of a brilliant decision understanding how many heavy cars they would wind up in (Sport Wagons, LeSabres) and how they would be compared to the 455 in terms of torque. It’s worth noting that a great many of these cars were delivered with full wheelcovers and whitewalls, and that just reinforces the sleeper image…No surprise , I dig these cars.
The first Buick small blocks, the 215″, were way over square at 3.5″ bore x 2.8″ stroke…
Jaguar also used those same unusual dimensions for their first V12 5.3L… apparently expanding the Buick/Rover V8 by 4 more cylinders… Britain taxed by bore size so up until then engines were under square with small bores and long strokes… Somehow the Buick/Rover V8 and Jaguar V12 were allowed to exist… and get even bigger…
The British horsepower tax based on engine bore dimensions ended in the late 1940s, replaced by a flat rate tax. The influence of the old rules was still felt in engines designed before, like the Jaguar XK six, but by the era of the Rover V-8 and Jaguar V-12, there were no special penalties for having a big-bore engine.
There is a clip of FBI director Colby leaving his job the last day.
A light colored 2 door post one of these.
Out the driveway at a sedate speed
He turns the corner and a bottle rocket was slower.
William Colby was Director of Central Intelligence before GHWBush.
Buick is great example of a GM division knowing their market very well. From the old Fireball straight 8 through the nailhead, their engines were taylored to be smooth and effortless, mostly at lower speeds, and Buicks accomplished that with ease. It’s no surprise that Buick listed the torque of their engines instead of engine size on the air cleaner pie plates.
Which makes the transition to the musclecar era all the more fascinating. The GS had monster torque that lept off the line. I’m still a little dubious of those period quarter mile times that matched the Street-Hemi (an engine which could be said ran completely counter to the Buick Stage 1), but that’s another debate.
rudiger – you are right on the money. The Stage1 was designed to be the fastest car on the street, light to light. Everything else was had a power band that required some revs. ET’s wind up very similar but for entirely different reasons. A 440-6, LS-6, Hemi, SCJ, RA Pontiac are all more powerful engines, question is always can they bring it into play before the Buick is already crossing the stripe? This situation is played out year after year, against anything you can think of at the annual Pure Stock Drags in Stanton, MI.
I would imagine a Stage 1 beating a stock Street-Hemi would have been similar to the 1969 SS396 L78 375hp.
The trick was pretty simple: get the guy driving the Hemi to agree to a race from a standing start. An L78 or Stage 1 would get their torque (and lead) at the low end while a Hemi took a bit longer to get into the upper part of the rpm band. By the time the Hemi was catching up, the race would be over.
From a rolling start, however, the outcome would be closer.
Um, in 1970 there were at least 4 US automakers building muscle cars! AMC produced the Rebel Machine, a pretty hot AMX with 390 and ram air, and some very nice Javelins, including a Mark Donohue edition, and 100 Trans Am Replicas.
I love the Buick GS 455 (and Stage 1). Those were indeed impressive. Thanks for the article!
In my view, the 1970 Buick GS is a beautiful car with its smooth body looks, that was very popular shape back then, and looks are missing in today’s vehicles, it doesn’t matter how pretentious and expensive or comm and inexpensive they are, They all go for the same looks, aerodynamic with full of plastic castings. As we all imagined how powerful this Buick is, it is more nostalgic than reality. In today’s market a lot of internal combustion engines with over 200 hp . But I have to say its torque number is incredible high, over 600 lb/ft. But these two numbers don’t matter in comparison with today’s EV outputs.
Ironically the last super Buick sedan also carried a GS badge, it was German-made Regal GS with a powerful V6 but much less torque mate with 9-speed transmission. In terms of driving, I believe it can easily out match that 1970 GS, on daily driving, on over highway, on track and curve country roads. It is a cheaper version of Audi. Too bad American market did not accept it, so it got terminated few years ago.
The paint job on the fender is atrocious and I believe it to be from the factory, and not a cheap respray.
The Buick 350 and 455 V8s, unlike Olds versions of the same displacement, had designed-in oiling and other problems from the get-go… I’ll take a 4-4-2 with their brilliant Gil Burrell designed V8s. I’ve maintained for 50 years that Olds V8s (even the 330/350 was essentially short deck big-block not a “small block”) were GMs best overall in the 1949 to 1980 era of V8 dominance.
Learned to drive and I took my drivers test on a 1969 Buick G S. Loved that car even though it was the 350 version, great time to be a gearhead because after 1971 everything went down hill with the low compression engines being produced