Hey Guys, I saw the thread started about the fastest muscle car. Good topic, but I think the answer isn't too far away. Looks like the guys at Dream Car Garage created a Muscle Car Shootout that is airing on SPEED and they included a Buick GS 455 Stage 1. Check it out at www.dreamcargarage.com. Click on the hotspot on the homepage for more info! Do you guys think anything was left out? Here is where you can find all the info on this test
This test will be absolutely bogus. Too many variables to get a true reading on "as built" cars. As I remember it, the GS edged out the LS6 Chevelle in both 0-60 and 1/4 in the tests of that day. The Boss 429 Mustang wouldn't even crack the 6 second range in 0-60 times because of loadup and tire spin. I can't even imagine these guys torturing Museum quality cars on bias ply tires. These will be hy-brids with todays tires on them. While the days of Big Motored American iron had a great impact on my generation, many of the vehicles availble today would outperform these cars in most, if not all, categories. Buick was the fastest. I'm glad. No further tests required.
Motor Trend called the 70 Stage 1 GS "the fastest stock production car we have ever tested" (could be slight paraphrase, but I don't think so). This statement was made when they tested either the 71 or the 72 GS. That statement is what got me looking for one of these cars in the early 1970's. To be fair, some cars, like the 69 L88 Corvette, were tested with dumb equipment, like a 3:36 rear end. The automatic didn't even shift into third gear in the quarter. But I've always assumed Vettes and AC Cobra were in a different class, not muscle car. Dan
If anybody here with a brain thinks these clowns from that one sided bugus TV show will give any credit to a Buick , then you need to get your head examined. :af:
Turning 16 in 1975 I remember some of the muscle cars from the GS 455 Stage 1 era as they made their passes at Raceway Park in NJ. Back when the only import was the cheap underwear on some driver who bought their wares at Korvettes or the transistor radio in stands made in Japan. There were some pretty friggin fast Camaros, Chevelles, Chevy II's, Biscaynes and Corvairs from a local guy, Joel Rosen, in Baldwin, NY on Long Island that could run off the "showroom" floor with warranty with most of the stockers and build ups of the day. 9" Goodyear slicks was the tire of choice back then if memory serves me right. The Buick was fast but there might have been cars faster which didn't get the print media attention.
Funny thing is they could have made better choices with the cars in many departments. 340-6 Challengers were as fast if not faster in the 1/4 as the hemis and better handling. The Boss 429 was never the fastest in anything compared to other Mustangs, and the GM A-body cars aren't great in corners. I'm surprised they didn't choose smaller platforms like a Camaro or Firebird. I'd be willing to bet the AMC would be at the top of a lot of categories because it's a small 2-seater, almost unfair to the rest of the cars. Should have been a Javelin. This'll just be something for the show-car guys to bicker about. It's not going to settle anything to the rest of those who race!
I have read in several mag's over the years that the 1970 GS455 Stage1 turned the best 1\4 times over any other off the showroom stock car to that point. I am wanting to say it was low 13's that it ran. Brian
I thought Dream Car has been fair to Buick. Peter picked the Stage 1 as the car he'd buy if he had $25K two months ago in Musclecar Enthusiast.o No:
13.38 at 105.5 mph. Pretty fast. However, Mopar made some Street Wedge cars in the early '60s that would run that time , or beat it, and if you optioned a Polara correctly in 1962, you had a car that would easily beat the Stage 1, from the showroom floor. Ugly, ugly cars though.
I would say that statement to be very true. Not because I own one,but the GS Stage 1 is definately a tough car to beat-just ask anyone who's raced against one.
Jim, Was that Baldwin Motion from Long Island ? I have an original Baldwin Motion emblem I found on a Camaro in a scrap yard in CA., back in 1994. You reckon these are rare?
That show was OK, but certainly not a true comparison of the era's muscle cars. To start with, the GS was a convertible...and still had the best slalom speed.!? I had a problem with several aspects of the "comparison", But strangely, the thing that chapped me the most was in the final "event" which was the burnout contest. It may have only been the editing but he clearly "power braked" the Chevelle and did not do so for the other cars. That really bothered me.:spank:
i disagree with john on a few points. first off, i dont think that camaros or firebirds are true muscle cars, neither is a mustang for that matter. i agree that the hemi was a poor choice, with those heavy pistons the 440's are a much better drag car. But i always thought the a-bodies were meant to be GM's handlers. they had a much more sophisticated suspension setup in both front and rear.
If it,s not the Fastest its real close.BUT !!!!! the STG 1 will come to life with little investment like no other. Wayne E. 70 STG 1 Conv 12.50s,78 Skyhawk 7.70-8.00?
