Anyway to tell if a 1972 GSX is real?

Car in question has vin: 4G37K2H196—

paint code 63 63 burnished copper

it has a window sticker…….shows a spoiler for the front, rear, hood tach


Any ideas?

 

Ok, so no Tell tale signs on the vehicle etc?

Ill post a picture of the window sticker.

If car was ordered with a hood tach, would it have the gsx paint scheme?

Thanks

 

This sounds like a car that was listed for sale in FB awhile back and it wasn’t the real deal. Be very careful. The seller only had a black and white photocopy of a window sticker which wasn’t even an original eibdiw sticker. It was a reproduction with errors! I honestly don’t think the seller knew it was a fake. The owner was surprised when it was questioned as a fake. Could it be the same car? It was also a 350 car and the same color that you mentioned.

One quick indicator that a car might be a GSX is the body number on the cowl tag will be very low. If the seller doesn’t have original documentation the only way to be sure if it’s a GSX is to get the documentation from the Sloan museum. If the car is a GSX there will be a 5 in box 4 of the Sloan documentation.

There were also regular 1972 GS cars (non-GSX) that got rear spoiler (72 made), front spoiler (35 made) or hood tach (30 made). Those cars also have a low body number so that’s why a low body number doesn’t automatically mean it’s a GSX. A low body number just indicates that the car was a special car order. Those cars will have a code in box 5 to denote those options.

I received documentation packages from Sloan today for four ‘72 Buicks. The cost is $75 each and it took about 8 days to get all four. I think they offer a rush service for an additional fee if you are in a hurry.

The best way to reach the Sloan Museum is to send and email and you will get a response pretty quickly collections@sloanlongway.org

Good luck and be very, very careful with anyone claiming to have a real ‘72 GSX, especially with no documentation or a photocopy of documentation. PM me if you have any questions.

 

no, GSX stripes were only included if the GSX ornamentation package was ordered (which automatically included the rear spoiler). The hood tach and front spoiler were not standard on a ‘72 GSX like the ‘70 models and could be ordered separately on a GS or GSX. It wasn’t shown on the regular order form so most buyers didn’t know this stuff was even available.

 

Throw it in water. If it floa... No, wait. That's for witches...

 

One more thing, many of the ‘72 GSXs were sold in Canada and therefore secondary documentation can be obtained from Vintage Vehicle Services to further back-up anything you get from the Sloan Museum.
www.vintagevehicleservices.com

 

Why were the body numbers low on cars that I assume were made throughout the year like GSXs and SCO? I never understood that correlation.

 

reportedly "very small rocks" as well

 

I’ve never heard an explanation of why Buick reserved the low body numbers and used them throughout the year for the SCO cars.

A couple of examples, we have a ‘72 Stage 1 convertible that was built on the very first day of production in late August 1971 with a VIN of 100048 and it has a body number of 010128. It’s not a SCO car but it is ultra-early and has a body number that is 5 digits.

Then compare that to a SCO ‘72 GS that I bought from a board member that was built in mid-May 1972 and the body number is much lower with 001015.

 

The low body numbers were reserved for the SCO cars, and this was for Flint SCO cars only. If a car was not an SCO car then the body numbers were put in the regular sequencing.

This was probably done by Fisher Body (in Flint) to track the SCO cars, as they were the entity that built the shells.

Now that is what they did on the 71 cars, but not all the 72 GSX’s have low body numbers.

The early 72 GSX’s used the regular sequencing for their body numbers up until a point. Then they went to the low body numbers like in 1971.

I think this was done because a bunch of 72 GSX’s were ordered early, and probably before the SCO ordering info was finalized for the 72 model year.
Duane

 

Were body numbers assigned when the car was starting its build? If so, did that number indicate something to the workers on the assembly line beyond what a build sheet would provide? Maybe just that the build was not standard and they have a different process than a standard car? Trying to figure out why they would be needed.

 

If you read my above post, that I just finished editing, I think it will answer your question.

I do not know exactly when the body numbers/vin numbers were developed, but they were done before the shells were built at Fisher and before the cars hit Final Assembly. We know this because those numbers were printed on the build sheets, and they were developed before the cars were built.

You have to realize there were 2 different entities here, Fisher Body for the shells and Buick for final assembly.

We know a lot about how Buick organized things, but the info about Fisher Body is scarce.
Duane

 

That’s great info. Thank you.

 

The previous post is an image of the photo copy of the window sticker on said car. The owner not claiming it’s a gsx, car has gsx stripes, some interesting options - n25, front spoiler, rear spoiler, hood tach. The font in this
Here is a pic of my original 72 window sticker.

 

The font seems off on the copy above?

 

I would want a lot more info then a window sticker to prove the options on that car.

They have been reproducing window stickers for years, so I never trust them.

It’s easy enough to find the truth, just contact Sloan and get a copy of all the options etc.
Duane

 

Thanks guys

 

That's the same car that was a no-sale on BAT @ around $17-18k several months ago. I questioned it on there & the seller never would post a pic of the trim tag. Also seems odd that only a copy of the window sticker is avail. & as @Duane said even an original window sticker would need some serious scrutiny but fortunately for '72 that isn't necessary. The chances that those options are original is slim but not zero and even if orig. only makes the car (more) valuable to a select few of us who'd care. As everyone has said, well worth getting the Sloan Docs before taking that chance on a bench seat NOM '72 GS that has a 455 transplant.