Why was A1/L-75 Stage 1 not part of the GSX package?

The fact that there were 678 manufactured.

 

That it was one of 678.

 

This could well be the GSX advertised in the middle...again same area, July 1972

 

DAMMIT
i've called the number but its been sold
lol
[/QUOTE]

 

Call about the ‘66 Sportwagon!!
Patrick

 

Plenty of rare cars produced back in the day--plenty that were rarer than the GSX. Guy says it's special already, so forgive me in thinking he already knew what he had.

 

This is sort of a generic statement, mostly for the younger people that maybe reading threads like this one. I'm 57. I grew up reading Popular Hot Rodding, Hot Rod, & Car Craft during the 70's when they were 50 cents at the newsstand. Also, during this time, I built models. Lots of car models. I car spotted religiously, and read the classifieds all the time. I wanted a '70 Camaro split bumper. If I could have had any car, it would have been the guy two streets over ride - an orange 1970 Super Bee 440+6.

Sure, I knew of the GTO (and the Judge), 442, Roadrunner, the 428CJ and other names we associate with the musclecar era, but still the GS seemed to have alluded me. That was, until 3 of them happened into my hometown and I became familiar through word of mouth. Now's it's circa 1980 and I finally realize that the GS is the real deal and bought my first one in 81. From that point until my first GS Nationals in 1982, I only saw 2 GSX cars in the wild and they were both yellow. One of those, a fellow at college told me about and I did a drive by on. It's entirely possible the car I did the drive-by on was the same one I had seen previously. That's how rare cars like the GSX were.

678? Didn't know that. Didn't know how many 1970 Stage 1 convertibles were made when I passed on one for $1,500 either. We didn't have a club or an information super highway like today.

If you look at the newsprint classified ads back then, they didn't have pictures. It wasn't until the Auto Trader came around that you started to get that sort of visual recognition of individual cars, unless you counted the big buck national ads of Hemmings, which back then seemed to be more the Packard crowd. The GS was so infrequently noticed you simply had to consider it a sleeper. To see one with N-50's on the back and riding high on Gabriel HiJackers through the park on Sunday was something that just didn't happen. A trip to the strip? You might see one. You might not. It really wasn't any different than today. You could go to a car show and one might be there, and one might not (the one there today is often a clone or on the way to being a clone).

Wikipedia on 1969 production numbers: The GTO was surpassed in sales both by the Chevrolet Chevelle SS396 and the Plymouth Road Runner, but 72,287 were sold during the 1969 model year, with 6,833 of them having the Judge package. Compare that to the big block 1969 GS400 which, like most years, hovered around 10,000 units.

They weren't on my radar. They weren't on most peoples radar. It started with the marketing failure on Buicks part and didn't get any better for a long time. There was no car model of them to speak of. No Hot Wheel. They rarely, if ever, got the cover or big spread in the magazines. With the exception of the "X", they didn't look that much different than a Skylark. They were often driven by Doctors, teachers, and family men who seemed, more often than not, affiliated with GM, a dealership, or knew someone at GM or a dealership. Sometimes they were just from "Buick" families. For the most part, they weren't driven by a the kid cruising the hot dog stand with side-pipes and stickers.

Richard Lassiter and others inside and out of the GS Club of America worked diligently to add the GS to the conversation. It took years, but most feel the GS eventually got the attention and respect it deserved. For guys older than me that carried the Buick banner from day one or two, you may have a slightly different look in the rearview mirror. Some of you were out there making a name for the GS long before the GSCA and as such have Great Stories to share.

 

Duane, $12? You mean $102, don't you?

 

I was well into my love of Buicks with a 66 GS around 1979 and sure knew about the Stage 1's.
I bought some old Hot Rod mags around 1983 and saw my first ever GSX in a ad, the one showing a yellow one from behind. I never ever knew about this GSX package. I was amazed and shocked to say the least and remember thinking right of the bat oh man does that spoiler look good, not some tacky add on.
Like many articles have said, that spoiler looks like the car was designed around it.

My 2 biggest car friends were 1 was into Fords and another into GTO's and BBC's
I bragged alot about Buicks to the point like a spoiled kid to were I pissed them off but this new find had me running to them all over again.

Yup I edit this post and added some more thoughts

 

Ray,
No according to Lassiter the difference between a painted roof and a vinyl roof was $12.00 and with everything else he ordered with the car, he could not afford that extra 12 bucks.

At least that was the price difference his dealership wanted at the time.
Duane

 

I'm a few years younger and thought I knew cars pretty decently in the 70's/early 80's & knew what a Skylark was but until I saw a book my friend had in the early 80's (I assume the 1st book about GS's - I think I have a copy here somewhere) I'd never seen or heard of one. I knew of GTO's, Chevelle SS's, 442's, GTX's, Mercury's etc.,etc. No idea Buick made a hi-po version of a Skylark. His parents always had Buicks and his younger brother is a board member here and has a GS & a Riv. I don't know that I'd ever seen a GSX before the '85 (my 1st) Nationals - Maybe 1 (the one I ultimately purchased). By then I had bought a '72 GS (350) but don't even know that I'd ever seen a GS 455 or Stage 1 at that point. I'd definitely never seen a '70-72 Buick A-body w/o Air Conditioning &/or PS before then.

 

Vinyl roof covering - $102.16
Two tone paint (painted roof) - $31.07

 

Before buying my first GS in 1984 I did not even know they existed. I was looking for a Skylark and went to look at a 67 GS340, it was way too rusty so I passed, Found a '68 GS400 locally and ended up purchasing it. While I was looking my GF at the times father said a friend of his was selling a green 1970 Skylark with a 455 engine. I dismissed it thinking it was some sort of transplanted engine in a Skylark....never even went to look at it. As for a GSX, never seen one in person until the 1988 GS Nationals. To this day I have only seen one or two at local shows, the same goes for any year GS.

In high school (early 80's) I knew of the Chevelle SS, 442, GTO, GTX, Roadrunners, Mach 1, Trans-ams but never knew anything about a GS.

Buick had to be loosing money on the Stage 1 option because it included Posi Rear which was an extra cost option, heavy duty Radiator and special ornamentation along with the engine modifications. I can see whey they did not want to loose any more money on the GSX package.

 

I've contended (maybe even earlier in this thread) that between marketing, engineering, tooling, etc. that Buick probably barely if at all made any $ on GS's. Maybe it drew ppl in and they sold more other cars but...

 

The seller knew what he had and I would venture to say all the original owners knew. That was my point. In his classified ad, the seller is trying to inform a public that largely didn't know anything about them in 1974. He had no doubt come to the realization by how many questions he fielded during his ownership combined with how many "nice Chevelle" comments he received.

Try to look at it this way Diego. If it were a Judge, that one word was all that would have been necessary in an ad, even back then. There may well have been cars that were more rare, but they also may well have been more known. Maybe think ZL-1 Camaro?

 

The orbit orange judge in the photo you posted is my dream car. If I had to choose between that and a Saturn Yellow GSX based on just looks it would be very hard to do.

The funny thing is that back in high school when I though of a GTO it was the 66/67 version, never really paid attention to the 68-72 body style.

 

You and me both on the Orbit car, but I used to be a solid '68-'69 fan

 

Had to google that one, Two Lane Blacktop......I get it now

 

https://www.motortrend.com/news/hppp-0806-behind-the-camera-two-lane-blacktop/