Latest built '70 GS?

Discussion in 'The "Paper Trail"' started by GSX10/10, Jul 12, 2013.

  1. Hawken

    Hawken Hawken

    Quote Originally Posted by Ryans-GSX View Post

    I'm not 100% on all details of the 1970 GSXs but I would question a 06D build being a 1970 GSX but again I'm not sure when the last one came off the line for 1970. Many other members could give facts. Duane H , Jim Lore , Rich Johns all are far more knowlegable than I am and would have dates and facts.


    I know there is some reference materials out there that state GSX production ended in May '70, but there have been at least one or two documented June builds for a '70 GSX ... and one of them I thought was a 2nd week of June date ... possibly the last one. I have seen documents on a 2nd week of July '70 Skylark several years ago.

    Remember, there was a big strike at GM for the '71 model year, but I am not certain that the strike extended '70 production any.
     
  2. Rich Johns

    Rich Johns Platinum Level Contributor

    1970 Buick GSX production started in late February 1970 and ran thru mid to late May.

    Obviously a few were built after that if Mark you have a 06B car in registry but there would not have been many that late.
    .
    The GSX was created by Buick to drive showroom sales traffic into Buick dealerships for the spring of 1970.
    Buick planned to build 800 GSX units but ended up building only 678.

    The big month for production was April 1970 with production around 200 by April first and closing April with well over 600 GSX cars built.
    Buick was cranking out GSX's out in April so they would be on Buick Sales floors for May 1970.

    Later GSX cars were probably the few customer orders that came in during the 3 month window that a customer could actually order a GSX.

    1971 and 72 GSX cars unlike 1970 GSX's were all SCO (Special Car Orders) and built randomly through out the entire models years in 71 and 72 when orders for GSX's were received by Buick.
     
  3. BadBrad

    BadBrad Got 4-speed?

    What constituted a Special Car Order?
     
  4. Redmanf1

    Redmanf1 Gold Level Contributor

    Others can answer better than I can. Depending on year for 70 it could be as simple as special order color, 71-72 same and bucket seats on a convertible.


    Nelson





     
  5. Rich Johns

    Rich Johns Platinum Level Contributor

    SCO (Special car Orders) were all built at head assembly plant in Flint Michigan and were as follows:

    WA5, GSX Ornamentation Package.

    WA6, Rear spoiler

    WA7, Front spoiler

    UB5, Hood Tach

    Also SCO to get bucket seats into a Skylark or GS convertible in 1971 or 72.
     
    Last edited: Dec 23, 2015
  6. Hawken

    Hawken Hawken

    '70 GS 455 Conv PILOT car

    Here is another piece to the puzzle of when production from one year ended and the next year's production began. On Craigslist, there is a '70 GS 455 Conv advertised as a PILOT car. It is represented as a Fremont built car with a '08D' build date on the cowl tag (see pics below). Of course, this would be a GMAD plant and not apply to Flint. The ad may not be available forever, but I wanted to post the info here so it is preserved for this conversation on this board: http://tampa.craigslist.org/pnl/cto/5369495054.html.

    Ad text: Up for auction is a 1970 Buick Grand Sport 455 convertible "PILOT" car. Own an important piece of American drop top history. This car carries body number BF 00001 PILOT. It was built for corporate display at 001 San Francisco headquarters in August of 1969. This car was featured in April 2015 in old car weekly magazine. This is a number matching car in daily driver condition. It has typical A body rust around quarters , lips, and lower doors. Floors and cowl are in good condition. I have had this car in storage for many years. It is time for me to let it go to a good home to someone who is a Buick purest to restore it and put on display in it's former glory. The GS is a Freemont California built car. Always in California and Florida, this is ONE OF ONE rare car. This car has never been offered for sale ever to the public. So please bid accordingly . For any questions from a serious buyer, you may contact me directly at 727-505-2194. Inspections welcomed. I have all documentation and a magazine article in folders that I can send on request. DO NOT TEXT! WILL NOT RESPOND! WILL RESPOND TO PHONE CALLS OR EMAIL ONLY.

    70 GS 455 Conv PILOT.jpg 70 GS 455 Conv PILOT 2.jpg 70 GS 455 Conv PILOT 3.jpg 70 GS 455 Conv PILOT 4.jpg 70 GS 455 Conv PILOT 5.jpg 70 GS 455 Conv PILOT 6.jpg 70 GS 455 Conv PILOT 7.jpg
    ==================================

    Here are a couple of replies from Duane about this car from a different thread:
    "........never ever saw PILOT on the tag"

    In the Buick world, putting "Pilot" on the tag is a GMAD Fremont thing. I don't believe the other plants did this.

    I have talked to others about this car, and like others here have said, appears to be the first of it's kind at that plant.

    I have no idea if Flint started first on not, but you are dealing with different jurisdictions here, Flint was run by Buick. All the other plants were run by GMAD.
    Duane


    When people refer to "Chevy Plants" they are basically talking about GMAD plants. They refer to them that way because they built the most cars, and GMAD had control of how the cars were built, what parts/nuts/bolts were used, and the procedures used to make them. At the time there was a lot of quarrelling going on between the various divisions regarding all of this.

    There were still a few hold-outs where the separate divisions were still in control of specific plants, but the writing was on the wall and they were getting gobbled up or closed.

    Two examples that come to mind were Flint, which was controlled by Buick, and Lansing which was controlled by Oldsmobile. Those two plants basically gave GMAD "the finger" and used the parts/nuts/bolts they wanted, as well as the suppliers they wanted.

    This is why if you want to build a Flint or Lansing car correctly, you need parts off vehicles from those specific plants. Very often the GMAD cars used completely different parts. If you want examples the bumpers on 70-72 "Flint" cars were bolted to the frame with carriage bolts, while GMAD cars used regular nuts & bolts. Another example is the rear emergency brake cables, 70-72 Flint cars came with the housings made from a wrapped steel band, while the same part on the GMAD cars came with braided steel wire wrapped housings.

    Now back to this story, I don't know about the LS-6 car, but Fremont also did a "Pilot" program in 1966 with the hi-po 401 Nail head Gran Sports. I don't know if they said "Pilot" on the cowl tag, but it sure is spelled out in big letters on the build sheet.

    Another thing to consider is this, yes this is probably the first GS convert (44667) to be built at the Fremont plant, but that also means there was a "1st" one built at the Flint plant as well.
    Duane
    http://www.v8buick.com/showthread.php?298173-anybody-know-anything-about-the-1970-GS-Convertible-PILOT-car-Cowl-Tag-pic-inside&highlight=Pilot+1970+GS+455
     
  7. oldsmobiledave

    oldsmobiledave Well-Known Member

    Re: '70 GS 455 Conv PILOT car

    The 08D build date of this Freemont built Pilot car with body # 00001 is later than the 08C build date for the Freemont built 1970 GS with body number 00009 that I posted earlier in this thread.

    Why does a Pilot car go down the assembly line in Freemont after another GS 455 is already built?
     
  8. Brad Conley

    Brad Conley RIP Staff Member

    Gentlemen, don't confuse Fisher Body (even within GMAD) with final production. Serial number 2 did not necessarily follow serial number 1.
     
  9. staged70

    staged70 RIP

    I was wondering if since its a pilot car maybe they wanted a Convertible for that and they ran a few hardtops through the line first? The convertible looks to be legit but as with most everything I can be wrong just ask the wife :cool:
    I also remember John Chamberlain having the last 1970 GSX 4 spd made in June
     
  10. buford27

    buford27 '57 Special

    For the Fremont plant, the body number was by the Fisher body style number. So there was a 44637 body 00001, a 44667 body 00001, etc According to the data in posts #40 and #47, Fremont was on body 00033 for 44637 but only body 00001 for 44667 by 08D.
     
  11. Marco

    Marco Well-Known Member

    Hi Todd - For Flint, I have two '08B' stage1s registered, so at least 2 early cars received a 455 motor

    +1 - Spot on Sean!

    Additionally, SCOs could also be a 'non-Buick' paint color.
     
  12. TorqueMonster1

    TorqueMonster1 Making My GS Great Again!

    For whats it's worth, I actually spoke to the lady at the Sloan Museum that did my cars research (today is May 12th 2017). I had some questions about the info they were able to pull on my 70 GS 455. She is now in a different department but said that Buick production ran from July to June. I took that to mean that 70 GS's were built starting in July of 69 through June of 70. As always, I'm sure there are exceptions to the rule. Hope I didn't muddy the water. Mark
     
  13. -JJH-

    -JJH- "Works like a Buick" - a Finnish proverb

    I have a Leeds plant built '70 GS, VIN #434370K1449XX, it has 06E on the body tag ie. 5th Week of June, 1970. If I am reading calendar correctly, 5th week would be the one running from 28th June to 4th July.

    I do have some original documents, including a order sheet for replacement protect-o-plate from Lindsey Hopkins Buick, dated 1971. On the order sheet, the build month is stated to be '7', so I've narrowed down the build date of my Buick to be somewhere around 1st July - 4th July. Then I did contact Sloan Museum, too, and on the microfilm the dealer invoice date found was July 2nd, after which, I was told, the plant actually slapped on the selected options.

    If it's true, what Sloan Museum lady was telling you about Buick production runs and provided that would also apply to Leeds plant, my GS could be among the last MY70 GS Buicks built there.

    -JJ-


    PS. I've shared the story of my car in the 'Paper Trail' -section earlier. But to mention, my car was also invoiced twice, which might indicate a change in options. For example on the body tag the trim code is 185 'pearl white buckets' but in reality I have black buckets and looking at the interior, the black buckets and door panels have been there since early 70's. Also to mention, acc. to Sloan the car was originally ordered with Sonomatic radio, but acc. to 1971 order sheet for replacement protect-o-plate, the car was equipped with AM/FM radio.

    I did have an e-mail discussion with Sloan Museum and they mentioned, that if the car was invoiced twice, it could indicate that options were changed, but there is no way of verifying this.
     
  14. -JJH-

    -JJH- "Works like a Buick" - a Finnish proverb

    Were these options something you had to know about and specifically ask from the dealer? I mean on the regular options sheet, provided by for example Sloan museum, there are no such options listed.

    -JJ-
     
  15. Hawken

    Hawken Hawken

    JJ,

    The list of reasons for an SCO ("Special Car Order") in the previous post are grouped together from different model years to explain how buick used the SCO process to accomodate some unusual options and models. For instance, the SCO for a special paint color (exclusive Riviera color, non-Buick color, etc.) could have been any of the years discussed during the GSX production ('70, '71 and '72). I know of a Board member who had a '70 Stage 1 SCO car with Fireglow Orange paint which was only offered RPO (regular production order) in the spring of '69 on only GSs (paint code (single) Q).

    Other SCOs described in the previous post like for the rear spoiler, hood tach and/or front spoiler were only available as RPO options in '71 and '72 on GSs and on GSXs as individual optional equipment, but in '70, all three of these were part of the GSX package but not available individually on GSs (non-GSXs) unlike '71 & '72.

    Buick removed the optional bucket seats from the RPO list in the '71 & '72 Skylark converts and GS converts, but a Dealer could still special order the buckets for a customer under the SCO process. Like the fact that model year '70 Stage 1's were all built in the home Flint assembly plant, I believe all Buick SCO cars were also built in Flint during these years.
     
  16. Gunnygs

    Gunnygs Well-Known Member

    I

    Here's a pix of my GS350 built 06B DSC09762.JPG DSC09540.JPG DSC09547.JPG
     
  17. -JJH-

    -JJH- "Works like a Buick" - a Finnish proverb

    Continuing a old thread - but I am still intrigued if my '70 GS is really among one of the last MY70 Gran Sports built in Leeds plant. With date code 06E my car is a really late production vehicle, but just how late...

    Would someone have the VIN serial number ranges from Leeds built GS's available. I'd assume they would run from 100001 to 14XXXX, but what would be the highest number.

    Anyone?

    -JJ-
     
  18. 442w30

    442w30 Well-Known Member

    I would think June wouldn't be anywhere near the last as there's still a full month's worth of production left?
     
  19. -JJH-

    -JJH- "Works like a Buick" - a Finnish proverb

    Apparently yes, as I received information via PM that at Leeds the VIN range for V8 cars would've run to over 148000.

    I was just curious as in a previous post, in this thread, it was mentioned that the production run would have been from July until June.

    -JJ-
     
  20. Hawken

    Hawken Hawken

    JJ,

    If I recall correctly, VIN sequence "blocks" (of numbers) were assigned to the various Assembly Plants by Buick, so in referencing the low or high number of a particular VIN may need to account for the various "blocks" of VIN numbers assigned to the different plants. Again, I am recalling a discussion some time ago on this point, but I believe it is possible to have a higher VIN from Plant 'A' which was actually built before another car from a different Plant 'B' with a lower VIN, but which was built later ... if that makes sense? So, comparing VINs to other Buicks built at the same Plant yours was (Leeds - Kansas) will be one more specific comparison for build dates, but when you bring in VINs (from cars) from other Plants, it can get a little fuzzy, so you may need to also rely on the build date from the data plate.

    I have also read that it wasn't unusual for the very late build cars to wind up being assembled with extra options that weren't ordered and that this was attributed to using up inventory of extra parts at the end of the model year production run. Curious.
     

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