Most gearheads would be happy having owned one rare musclecar, Taunton, MA resident Brett Slater, has owned 3! Brett’s introduction to Buick muscle came in 1988 when he purchased a 1972 Buick Gran Sport 350. While this car doesn’t fall into the “rare” category, it was a nice high school driver. The car was equipped with bucket seats and a console. He did a lot of body refurbishment including replacing the front fenders and the rear quarter panels with new OEM steel. The hardtop was painted a bright shade of yellow. Yearning for more power, Brett eventually replaced the 350 smallblock with a 455 cubic inch mill. Shortly after that, things went south, and I don’t mean to Florida! 

Brett had put the larger engine in and was still mocking up miscellaneous parts for radiator mounts, throttle cables etc. His Dad had picked up a new radiator for him and wanting to surprise him, installed the radiator and started down the road to deliver the car to his Son. Unfortunately, the throttle stuck and Brett’s Dad hit a telephone pole, seriously damaging the front end. The cable that secured the pole to the ground did it’s destruction to both new rear quarter panels! Luckily, the only damage was to the car. Brett’s Dad emerged from the now totaled Buford with only a broken heart. Not a scratch on his body, but we can all imagine how he felt inside.

While this GS wasn't as rare as the next three, (1 of 5896 made)

the pictures make any car enthusiast cringe!

Now we’ll look at the “rare” cars. Brett was always a fan of the Stage 1 Buicks and longed for a 72 GS appropriately equipped. Searching through the Gran Sport Club of America’s house publication, the GS Extra in 1990, Brett found the car of his dreams, a 1 of 728 1972 GS Stage 1. After a month of negotiation with the owner, a deal was struck and the car was shipped from its Valdosta, GA home north on I-95!

Some of the desirable options on this car were the N-25 rear bumper, A/C, tilt wheel, factory tachometer and gauges, power door locks, power steering & power windows. 

While this car wasn’t equipped with the original motor, it did have a 1970 vintage 455 Stage 1 under the twin scooped hood. The big mill was equipped with 10 to 1 forged pistons, and some mild port work to the Stage 1 heads. Valves were controlled by a Lunati SP2 camshaft, a Holley 750 double pumper metered fuel requirements. Gear changes were controlled by a Turbo 400 transmission with a 10” 3000 rpm stall converter. The Buicks massive torque was put to the ground through a 12-bolt Chevy rear turning 3.73 gears.

Living close to New England Dragway was too much to resist and the car was run constantly, earning time slips in the low 12 second range while still being very streetable.   

Brett eventually sold this car in 1999.

Back in 1991, Brett and his friends were picking up some decent side cash buying and selling used musclecars and parts. One day they spotted an ad for a 1970 Buick GS for only $1500. The owner told them by phone, the car had been sitting a while and needed work but that the motor did run. Ok, but it still seemed like something worth checking out.        

It turns out that “needing work” might have been stretching the condition a bit! The car had not moved under it's own power in 12 years and was sitting in a foot of mud. The last State inspection sticker was dated 1978!  The owner told them that, “Even in this less than perfect condition, he knew it was worth something”.  That was an understatement, this was a Stage 1 car equipped with a 4-speed! The majority of Buicks left the Flint, MI plant with a Turbo 400 automatic.

Because this car was purchased by a group of friends with the intention to resell it for profit, it was put up for sale a short time later. Needless to say, the car was sold in no time flat. Brett did keep a few mementos from this car. He found a hand full of time slips from New England Dragway circa 1970! The best ET was a 13.367 seconds! Check out a couple of the ET slips Brett could scan.

OK, it needed some work, but this GS is one of 79 made in 1970!

Brett wasn't sure if this was the exact GS he sold, but if the new owner restored it, this is what it should have ended up looking like!

1996, Brett was leaving work and noticed a yellow 72 GS sitting on a lot. A few weeks later he saw that there was a “For Sale” sign on the windshield. Further investigation revealed that the car was an original Stage 1 car with the factory motor, and yes, another 4-speed car! This car turns out to be 1 of 101 cars that was produced that year.     

And so another Buick was purchased. The car is in need of attention, but well worth the money that will be required to restore it back to it’s once beautiful self. After looking at the door jambs and decoding the paint code, Brett ascertained that the original color was a Burnished Copper.

As time and money permit, the car will be restored. Hopefully Brett will keep us up to date on the cars progress. And Brett, don’t sell this one!

Yeah, another rough one! But again, when it's 1 of 101 made, it's worth buying!