Winter 1990? in Athens, Ga, I was a student at UGA and a friend of Nick Sloop. My '64 Skylark vert was laid up for the weekend with a bad wheel bearing, so Nick lent me his '68 GS400 convertible (shabby cool with a 455, MT headers, and 3.90s). That car ran mid 13s on street tires and was loud. I spent a whole weekend driving friends around, top down in 35* weather, laying rubber whenever deemed necessary. Went roaring past the 'peace campers' living on north campus protesting the first gulf war. Couple of those friends still joke about 'wakin' up the peace campers'. The sound and punch of a WOT downshift to first at about 35, top down, yeah, that was the hook. Patrick
Mine was about five years ago. I went to Port Elgin, ON to look at a '72 GS Stage 1 clone, BBB 4-speed that was for sale. The owner also had a '72 GS with a BBB that had TA Stage 2 heads, an SP1, etc. It ran 10.80s. He took me out on the streets (slicks and all) an proceeded to show me what she'd do. LOTS of fun! Then we went out in the car I came to look at (13.70s) car. He wasn't afraid to let it out either. In the end, he decided to keep the car, and even though the 10.80s car was for sale also, it was a little more than I was looking for. I had always wanted a Stage GS, and those rides (both within minutes of each other) let me know that I'd waited long enough to get one. Nothing like being pressed into the seat courtesy of BBB torque.:3gears:
1982. I had just got my license, and had my $375 69 Wildcat on the road. I bought with a $1.00 per hour job. The first time I put my foot to the floor I was hooked. No one in high school beat me. A couple of years later I ended up with a very beat up 70 GS 455. Punched it at 20 MPH and broke the tires loose. It was year before I had that kind of power again.
I had always thought my 71 LeSabre 350 was fast...boy was I wrong! My second car was my 71 Centurion Convertible with the 455, and it was the "big valve" high performance 455 option. (Not Stage1, please don't tell me there was a Stage1 Centurion...ever.) I bought the car and hat it towed home from he transport company station, since it was nothing but chocolate milk in the radiator. Once I flushed it out, I took it to the gas station to fill up on good stuff. It felt like the car had 3x the power my LeSabre did!! HELLO! I still had my LeSabre at the time, and it felt like I was driving a Yugo compared to that big block. Also, as a kid, my neighbor had a built 72 Olds Cutlass with 455 and 4 speed. It was crazy fast.
Still waiting on the 455. Should be by this march. The 350 with a cam and headers with a TA intake was pretty fun. The 455/462 should really be wild. Only big block I was in was a 383 Road Runner. The SBB definitely was more fun out of the whole.
It would be about 14 years ago for me. I had recently quit smoking at that time. With all sorts of extra :dollar::dollar::dollar: burning holes in my jeans it was time for another convertible. Since I had never previously owned a Chevy, I was half heartedly looking around for a 69-70 Impala convert when I spotted an ad for a 69 Electra convert. After calling the owners daughter, I arranged to look it over later that afternoon. Not much to look at, but it ran well. It did have a minor exhaust manifold leak, but since it used virtually no oil, I made the deal. That boat surprised me with its torque, easily breaking the right tire loose. :laugh: It also rode very nicely at highway speeds, with plenty of passing power. That car began my conversion to the trishield banner. It's long gone, but I'm now on my second 65 GS.
