I remember this car being mentioned on the board a few times. Whats up with the car's build date of 12B? Is that correct for a GSX? I know they were built between March and May. Seems like 12B would be way too early for an X. Nice car. Would look very nice in my driveway. Anyone have any details about this one? ChinaMike?? Japanese GSX Im half thinking about getting a buddy pass from my friend at United and checking this one out. My favorite color X
It is not a GSX. I think a Board member can shed some light on this. I believe it was a 10- 10 stage one non GSX if I recall correctly. Ask him to post some pics of the bottom. I may have it confused but I believe some drag strip traction device add ons are still attached. It does have an X steering wheel. I cannot remember what badge is on the dash. I am pretty sure this seller knows this car is NOT a GSX.
I talked to someone about this car 6 months or more ago. It was supposedly a GSX Stage 2 car. From the info I was given, the only thing I could conclude was it was a 70 GS 455 or possibly a Stage 1 car, with GSX components added on, plus the striping. (I never checked any documentation, and don't remember if it had Stage parts or not.) The guy I was talking to wanted an original car, and didn't want to fill in the holes from the spoilers and repaint the car to original specs. I didn't hear from him again, so I figured he passed on the car. At that time I think it was a package deal of 2 cars. Duane
Just another dumb question... From a guy who knows next to nothing about A body cars...what is different about a GSX steering wheel compared to the typical optional rally wheel? o No: Tom Mooney
In 70 GSX cars had a grip with more pad and circumference. Also, the diameter was less than the 69-70 16" diameter sport wheel. The GSX wheel was a little over 15 inches in diameter depending on the reference points from which you take the measurements. Duane As I recall there was some debate about this car being unusual because of the low Fisher number. What is your read on that?
So let's see... the car is in Japan, and shipping is 2000 to 3000 $, and the seller has a feedback rating of 2, and he wants his money before it's shipped. Who in H-E-double hockey sticks would send this kind of money halfway around the world to someone without a reputation and hope what he tells you is true??? :error:
Jim, If it has a very low body number then it would be a SCO car, but that could be for anything, so you would need to see the documentation to figure it out. I only have 1 buildsheet from a 70 SCO car and it was a GS 350 with 15" steel rims, dog dishes, trim rings, and G60-15 Goodyear tires. All the 70 GSX's were regular production cars, not SCO cars. The only possible exception with this may be John C's car with front drums. Duane
I have a 70 convert SCO sheet to send you. I think the basis for the broker and owner's claim in the ad that it was a brass hat or touring show car is the low body number and maybe the numerous options which are quite a few -- cruise control, power seats etc- plus the GSX add ons. Also as I recall it was transferred around a bit before sale. I think this was the car that was finally sold at a Cal dealership.
Hi Jim, Thanks for filling me in on the steering wheel, it did look a little more "padded" than the typical rally wheel. Duane, Could you explain your comment regarding SCO cars? Recently, I came upon a `64 Riv with an SCO trim number which had a very low body number for the date built. Pulled from the assembly line into one of the "shops"?? Tom Mooney
Maybe...just maybe... While it probably isn't the same car in the auction, there was at least 1 white GSX that was built very early. It was a road test car used in the July 1970 Car Craft and also the September 1970 issue of "Road Test". The car apears to have doomed lens on the instruments, has a white top radiator overflow jug, and also the plastic radiator cover on the radiator. So it has all the indications of being a pre-Jan 1st built car, which doesn't add up. Maybe the magazine test car may have started life as a "regular" Stage 1, with 10-10 paint, and 188 trim, and converted into a GSX for the magazines. In which case documenting it by Wayne Roberts (or Sloan since it appears to be pre 1-1-1970) would not show it to be a real GSX. Interesting subject to me...
Thats very interesting. I have that road test in front of me. Its titled "freeway Flyer". Your absolutely right, the GSX in the 9/70 article has pointed lenes, a white top overflow and a plastic radiator top panel. The test car also has power locks and windows. Its also a non A/C car. Very interesting!
They also mention in the article that the test car had power seats! The GSX on Ebay sure has alot of similarities with the road test car
It does NOT have cruise control or A/C, but it does have CA emissions, along with a tilt steering column and AM/FM radio (along with power windows and locks as mentioned above). The car in the ebay ad has the windshield washer jug on the fender as if it might have been a CA emissions car and all the same options except for the cruise which is an easy addition... The magazine test car might still be out there somewhere... but it would be VERY difficult to prove if someone claimed to have the same car. I bought an entire collection of every issue of "Road Test Magazine" from one of the original staffers/test drivers. I asked if he knew if anyone from the old magazine might ave some old photos or records about the test cars, but he couldn't help. He did provide a couple of the license plates that you see on the cars in the tests.
I vaguely remember hearing about a White factory 70 GSX test car that one of the techs drove thru a garage door. I know it was fixed very quickly, as it was scheduled to be used as a test car for some magazines. I also heard it continued to be used as a test/run around car by the engineers and was eventually scrapped. I think Dennis Manner was talking about it, I will have to ask him about the car. Duane
The story I got... I first saw this car on the Hemmings website in April. I had been looking for a GSX for sometime and this was being offered for $38,500 by a Michael Johnson, CEO of Classis Car Guy in San Luis Obispo. The car was described in the ad as a GS455 Stage 1 that had been ordered as white/black and had 27,000 original miles. Let me repeat that. It was originally a GS that was cloned to a GSX. The pictures were very convincing, fat GSX wheel, GSX emblems on dash, etc, and it looks like an excellent conversion. I called his number and emailed him about going out to California to see the car repeatedly with no answer. Two weeks later I received an email from him, explaining again that it was originally a GS Stage 1 that had been upgraded to Stage 2 tune with new heads, intake, carb, and headers, with the original parts "long gone" and repainted as a GSX. He did want to make it clear that this WAS NOT a real GSX, as it would command a price closer to $75,000 instead of $38,000 if it were. I thought he was high but it appeared to be a highly optioned, low mileage car that might justify the price if the claims could be proven. After pressing him further and asking if the car was on his lot or even existed, he went on to explain that the car was either in Japan or on its way and that he would contact me upon its arrival. In total, I received 3 emails from him from May 30 thru June 13 and, after checking, I still have them on file. I did not hear anything from him until last week, curiously, when I received a group email about his place of business. I responded that I had contacted him about this car 6 months ago and had heard nothing and that the car was still on the Hemmings website. I also pointed out to him that, in most circles, advertising something for sale that you do not have is usually considered misrepresentation at the least and fraud at the most. He replied that he did remember my inquiry, that he did not have the car, and did not know that it was still on the Hemmings site. It was removed from the Hemmings site this past Monday or Tuesday. I find it interesting that his description of the car and the one on the auction differ to such a degree. That is not to say I find it surprising, just interesting. It makes you wonder how the next description is going to read. To go from one seller as a GS to another as a genuine GSX is probably not that uncommon, but being in Japan certainly makes it difficult to verify until it's too late, especially with the caveat in the description of "no warranties, no guarentees". I might add that I have seen this car for sale on no less than three other websites, most having the pictures shown on ebay as well as others. One of the pictures even includes a note written in English and Japanese both, describing the car! Interestingly, the pictures on the other websites are of a higher resolution and can be zoomed in on. The photo of the interior pictured from the right open door shows what looks to be a factory fresh interior. However, if you zoom in on the drivers door hinges, which look uncharacteristically dirty for such a clean, detailed car, that dirt begins to look a lot more like rust than dirt. I may be off base about this but it looked suspicious to me. Further, this car and its trim tag were the reason for my first contact with a member of this site. I contacted Marco about the codes on this car and he was at a loss on some of the codes. Finally, I described this car to a friend of mine that deals with classic and muscle cars and he was very interested until he heard that the car was in Japan. His comment was that cars that have spent time in Japan, especially '60s and '70s vintage cars, usually came back as rust buckets due to the lack of rustproofing from the factory. It just wasn't done then like it is now. This rang a chord with me as I had not told him my suspicions about the hinges. Truthfully, I'm surprised that this car has not appeared on this site before. A car like this surely would have caused a huge stir in this community. But if there was ever a case where something was too good to be true, here it is. The sad thing about this is that it all taints the car to a point that it might never really be known exactly waht this car was or is. I will follow the auction with a great deal of interest, not just to see what it brings and if it approaches the $611,000 yellow Motion car that did not meet the reserve , but to see what kind of crazy money is out there. Ebay rules do not allow me to warn off bidders on the auction site, but if any member of this group is considering this car, BE VERY AWARE. If anyone needs verification of what I've stated here, I would be happy to forward the emails I have on file, along with the pictures posted on hemmings and the described note.
