Factory Buick tow cars

Discussion in 'The Choo-Choo shop' started by JayZee88, Feb 29, 2016.

  1. JayZee88

    JayZee88 Well-Known Member

    How many of you guys use your Buick as a tow vehicle? The guy I bought my 70 Convertible from used his 70s as tow vehicles as well as show cars. The info I got was in the early 70s Buick was the only luxury car manufacturer that offered a factory tow package. My 70 has this tow package and it suites the car well with the tall gearing so I get fairly low rpm on the highway, and a posi. They reinforced the rear of the frame and made a stout bracket set up for it. I never thought of convertibles as tow cars until I bought my 70, although I haven't towed anything.... yet. Im thinking about buying a beat up honda to put on the trailer. That will make the ricers cringe :laugh:
     
  2. carcrazy455

    carcrazy455 Well-Known Member

    I don't use it to tow anything but one of my 70 GS 350 cars had a tow bar installed when I bought it. Now the tow bar just sits on my shelf.

    Bill Lagna used to use his 68 sport wagon 400 as a tow vehicle. Before it became the "SPORTWAGON FROM HELL" racecar.

    Mike
     
  3. 436'd Skylark

    436'd Skylark Sweet Fancy Moses!!!!!

    I tow a 16' MFG with my jetstar in my signature. The 330 has plenty of grunt, even the tiny drum brakes are ok. I did add a tranny cooler since it will go into high stall when climbing a hill. We went over a 100 miles with it.
     
  4. tufbuick

    tufbuick RIP

    Never towed anything with my 1969 Electra 225 Custom convertible but it does have a complete tow package which I'm told was a factory ordered unit.
     

    Attached Files:

    D-Con likes this.
  5. Bad Boattail

    Bad Boattail Guest

    The other manufacturers also offered factory towing packages.
    Two examples, from the early seventies :TU:

    Cadillac:

    [​IMG]

    FoMoCo:

    [​IMG]
     
  6. JayZee88

    JayZee88 Well-Known Member

    That is interesting. I wonder how the others compared to Buick towing a load.
     
  7. mrolds69

    mrolds69 "The Cure"

    My 70 GS 455 is a factory tow car. The hitch is on the Sloan papers.
     
    MRP likes this.
  8. Waterboy

    Waterboy Mullet Mafia since 6/20

    My 68 GS400 convertible came with a tow hitch and I towed my buddies 20' Chaparral Cuddy Cabin all over the place. I tore the tread right of the tires leaving a boat ramp once. It was fun. :laugh: We even raced lots of times towing the boat back home. Yes, alcohol was involved. After I got mv 68 GS350 I put the hitch on it and we towed a pop up camper to the Nationals many times from South Florida. Just 2 years ago we towed a utility trailer to the Nationals so we could haul more parts home. A long time ago I bought a "grandma" 68 Skylark that came with a tow package. It had heavy duty shocks, springs, and a 12 bolt rear end. I never had any problems towing stuff.
    I also had a 71 Caddy Brougham that was a great tow vehicle and after that a 71 Calais that took over when the Brougham got sold. Excellent tow vehicles!
     
    Last edited: Feb 29, 2016
  9. Hawken

    Hawken Hawken

    Interesting thread and subject. I am not sure I would go so far to say that Buick was the only GM Division which had towing packages ... that's simply not accurate as all the Divisions .... Chevrolet, Pontiac, Olds and Cadillac all had various towing options from the factory.

    I do think it would be fair to say that back then Buick probably had the most extensive towing options across all the line of medium to large models and especially the BIG cars.

    I will say from experience - I grew up in the 3rd row seat of a '73 Buick Estate Wagon - that these big Electras, for example, could tow HUGE loads - scary big. My dad used to load up the Estate Wagon with the entire family (7 of us) with a full load on the luggage rack on the roof and a 25 foot boat on a double axle trailer in tow - several times a year and even in the mountains. It just seemed so easy. I know dad ordered the Estate Wagon with the auto air level suspension, class II (at least) hitch, HD cooling, posi, max-trac, etc. Dad loved that car and his red Centurion.
     
    Waterboy likes this.
  10. black70buick

    black70buick Well-Known Member

    My '70 Riviera has the dealer added GM/Buick tow hitch. I have only seen one other and it was mint in box on EBay. Car was originally used to tow a small plane to/from airport.

    Had since towed '47 Willys 2A and a 16 foot boat. It pulled that boat better than any truck I had used previously to pull with. Car had a tremendous amount of stability comparatively.

    Now the hitch is in the trunk "just in case" but I really don't plan on re-installing it.

    EDIT: The Riv, Electra and other big cars have what amounts to a 3/4 ton third member. From a capacity point the Riv is a notch above most 1/2 ton trucks up to the 2010s before 1/2 ton trucks became more like 3/4 ton trucks. :Do No:
     
  11. sunpeak

    sunpeak Well-Known Member

    I don't know much about factory tow cars per se but, I do tow with my Buicks and a friend of mine does as well. I tow a 1972 Shasta 16' SCS with my 69 Sport Wagon. That trailer weighs in at 3,400 lbs with food & beer :beer and about 320 lbs of tongue weight. I use load leveling bars and a sway bar with a Class 3 U-haul receiver that I modified to fit. The wagon has a 030 over 350 with a TA 212 cam advanced 4 degrees, TA high volume water pump, TA front cover, HEI, Q-Jet (FITech TBI planned), oil mods to the block, TA intake, 4 core aluminum radiator, TH-350 beefed up to tow, Hughes XTM towing convertor, custom drive shaft, variable rate rear springs, air shocks, an NOS factory Sport Wagon vacuum driven air shock pump (not yet installed), front disc conversion and... these are all things I have done since i started towing with it. But, for an over sized A-Body, it tows really, really well now.

    My other project is the 68 Wildcat pictured in the before mode with my 1968 27' Boles Aero 270NP. That big trailer only weighs 5,700 lbs fully loaded with about 650 lbs of tongue weight. I was building the Wildcat to tow it with a 030 over 430 with a Stage 1 cam and all the TA stuff. It should be back to running in a month or so.

    My dilemma is that now have a 72 GMC 1500 to tow with as well and it makes transporting the moped, kayaks and bikes easier with the big trailer...the wife says something has to go...:ball:

    My buddy has towed his 24' 1957 El Rey trailer (pictured with his 59 Caddy in a Real drag race...away from the dump station) with a 1996 Roadmaster Wagon. The trailer weighs about 4,700 lbs loaded. The wagon has gotten a little long in the tooth though so he is beginning to tow with his 70 Electra Convertible. The Electra really doesn't need any mods beyond a trans cooler. Here's the cool part, he contacted U-haul about a receiver for it. Since they didn't have one, they used his car as a template and he got it for free. So, U-haul now makes a Class 3 hitch that is custom for 69-70 B-Bodies and you get to pay for it :puzzled: (By the way, you can see that trailer on a episode of Flippin RVs)

    It's kinda cool that back in the 1960's most of the trailer mags showed nothing but cars towing. Pickups and suburbans didn't really show up in the publications until the early 1970s. The two Boles Aero ads I attached show a 65 Riviera and a 66 LeSabre. Boles always used luxury cars in their ads because their trailers were super expensive and out fitted to order like Silver Streaks and Streamlines.

    From a towing standpoint, Buicks have all that low end torque, those really big brakes, stout differentials and of course they almost always have AC - just what ya need for a prolonged tow. Nothing better than a Buick utilizing its full potential!

    Al
     

    Attached Files:

  12. bill lagna

    bill lagna Well-Known Member

    My wagon towed my mid 11 sec GSX back in the 90's
    IMG_0294.jpg
    until I got old and crazy and put the wagon in the 9.90's
    IMG_1498.JPG
    and 71 block out of the X is the same stroked block that
    I ran in the wagon !!!!
    Just some useless info

    Bill
     
    Waterboy likes this.
  13. nekkidhillbilly

    nekkidhillbilly jeffreyrigged youtube channel owner

    my grand pas 69 pulled a boat all the time. it had a oem trailer ball mount.
     
  14. 1969RIVI

    1969RIVI Well-Known Member

    I know this is an old post but black70buick if you decide to sell that hitch (if you haven't already) let me know! Maybe it will fit my 69 Riv. I plan on getting a small vintage 60's trailer 16' or less to fix up and drive down to the national's with the wife (maybe the kids lol) in the next few years!
     
  15. bamboo72

    bamboo72 Well-Known Member

    My 72 skylark had the tow package, ofcourse, hitch is long gone, but do have the wiring pigtail/connector.
     
  16. bignastyGS

    bignastyGS Maggot pilot

    72 4 speed pulling a 70 Stage 1 automatic (currently owned by Jeff Corey of Canada) 1601565_10151912034891674_138634476_n.jpg
     
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  17. WQ59B

    WQ59B Well-Known Member

  18. BQUICK

    BQUICK Gold Level Contributor

    I towed my GSX with my 67 Riv GS from Maryland to Rhode Island in the early 80s....with a clamp-on bumper to bumper flat tow setup!
    I'm sure illegal now.......
     
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  19. 69GS400s

    69GS400s ...my own amusement ride!

    I know Ken Lisk's father towed a boat with the 71 GSX 4 speed back when it was just an everyday family car
     
  20. Carcrazy

    Carcrazy Dan Whytock

    Could someone post pictures of there trailer hitches. My 72 came with one and I’m
    Just trying to figure out what they look like or how they hook to frame, bumper etc.
     

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