Has anyone ever seen a '70 Skylark Custom (not GS) with the 'High Performance Group' option? It was code A8 and consisted of the GS 350 high compression engine with dual exhaust and (obviously) no Ram-Air. No 4-speed either. 3-speed or TH350 only. I saw a LeSabre at the Hemmings cruise-in one time with that engine, but I wonder how many Skylarks were ordered with that. Must have been right in line performance wise with the 350/300 Chevelle and 350/310 Cutlass.
I can't help, but I am curious to see where the extra 35 HP over the standard 4bbl engine came from. All from the dual exhaust? Or were there other changes too?
There was one that ran at local track years ago. It was a true little old lady car....like 60k on it. A Chevy guy got it and was planning on putting a SBC in it and decided to run it first. Ran low 15s right out of the box. A week later he had headers and a spreadbore Holley on it and better tires and it was going 14.70s. He became a believer. Gears and converter and it ran 13s without ever pulling a valve cover.
This is what I do not understand,guy's expect the cars to run without mods.The new cars have 50 years old mods over our cars,that's why they are fast.In 1993,in Engleshtown,NJ,my street legal 462 Buick Special,with worked Buick steel heads,solid hydraulic cam,weight was 3400 with driver ran 10.22 forget the MPH.All of this is in the Northeast Newsletter.In the 70's and Eighty's I ran with my slightly modded 1970 GS and I ha run all of them,beat all of them,that's where the King nickname came from.By the way,I never used any power additives.Bruno.
The standard 350-4v 285HP had 9.0 compression and single exhaust. 10.25 and duals for the 315HP 350. You would have thought more people would have jumped on this option just to fly under the radar. Perhaps lack of the 4-speed option had something to do with it. Or lack of advertising. I doubt a 350 Chevelle or Olds (W31 excluded) could match low 15’s- high 14’s without mods. ‘69 LeMans 350HO ...maybe. E-Town R.I.P.- although the rumor is Summit Racing is interested in opening it back up
Ihad a '70 Skylark Custom Sport Coupe with the 350/315 hp engine (TH350). It had about 85K miles at the time and was Burgundy Mist with a white vinyl interior and top. It had a 3.23 posi rear and the car was all stock. It was for all practical purposes equipped like the '70 GS (350) without being a GS. Traction was a problem with 14 inch wheels/tires.
Say it aint so..... Saying there's no more Drag Racing at Etown is like saying there's no more baseball at Yankee Stadium.
I grew up near the Etown dragstrip, which started my interest in muscle cars when I was only a kid. It's very sad to hear it's being bulldozed.
Twenty years ago, I looked at a 1970 Buick Skylark Custom convertible advertised locally and it was a true Hipo 315 horse 350 automatic car. Car was Sherwood green,black interior buckets console, black convertible top with deluxe full wheel covers. I was very surprised it was not your typical 350 2bbl car and told the owner it was a very rare car,of course he had no idea.
