The day I drove a Stage 2 - briefly :o)

Too Funny!
Enjoy your time with your little GS.. I hope he likes the pictures if he's old enough

 

A quick post with more picts. We are around 1986-1988 now. The car was still going through a few changes (painted the grill black, tried the tachomoter in a couple of locations (liked the steering column best), blue dots on the tail lights, B&M Quick Click Shifter, Tow Bar Tabs, etc.). Also included here is a copy of an add I had placed in mid to late 80's for $5,500 in an Oklahoma paper called "Bargain Post" - a ton of car adds in those days. $5,500 and no takers !! We are getting close to the end of this journey with just a couple more posts remaining......

P.S. That's my buddy Martin at the hood with VW in background. We were endlessly toying with our cars, hitting the salvage yards, going to races etc. We were both from Pennsylvania and compliments of Uncle Sam dropped in Altus OK but as stated before it was a gold mine in those days for motor heads!

On the hood is our cat Sebastien. A stray my wife and I took in. Poor guy slid off the hood of the GS one day (he was de-clawed) and landed in a pan of drained motor oil. We saw oil paw marks through the kitchen and hallway so that was a giveaway something was up LOL. He survived it!

 

Wow that car was solid even for late 80's
The trunk pic with the battery relocation made me just about cry as to how solid it was. Just about all my 1966 to 1974 cars in MA had trunk rust issues by 1990
I like the added red and black interior inserts..

 

Don't know if they still make them but the floor mats read "Evil, Wicked, Mean & Nasty" on them LOL

 

They probably still do but probably really expensive like all throw back repo's..
Where is the replacement steering from?

 

Hate to be that guy but it is

Gran Son!

Lol. Awesome pics keep them coming!

 

Well the end of the week off at Christmas - New Years went by too quick. Back at work now but still want to bring this story to a close - will make it a priority to scan last of photos and wrap up by this weekend (1/8/22). Happy New Year!

 

1988 - Off to the Car Craft Street Machine Nationals in Du Quoin Illinois. We stayed at a Holiday Inn Jr. in Marion Illinois and that was pure insanity!! The cops came through in the evening after the car show as the burnouts in the Inn's parking lot were insane! The police were really lenient and gave the crowd 90 minutes to get it out their system LOL. Felt bad for people staying at the hotel that may have been passing through (no I don't LOL). The truck in the photo is a 78 Ford with a 300 C.I. six cylinder and 3-On-The-Tree. The tow bar is something I hand fabricated at the base's auto hobby shop with metal from a local surplus store in Altus Ok. On one of the trips to Roosevelt Oklahoma I snagged a spare drive shaft yoke; pulled the drive shaft in the GS; tossed it in back of the pickup along with a tool box and hydraulic floor jack. Slid in the spare yoke on the TH400's tail shaft and secured it with some safety to keep it in place. Towing the Buick was a bit sporty on the up side of hills but it did quite fine. Same truck I would eventually tow the GS to Montana with in 1989 (towing through Colorado was successful too). Just had to get as much speed as possible going into the hills.

 

Favorite "KILL".... This had to have been on a Friday or Saturday night in Altus Ok. The cruise scene there was really good - think American Graffiti or Hollywood Knights. Don't recall if I was married at the time, but lets just say "wife to be" was riding shot gun. We are on Broadway (see map) and I'm in left lane pulling up to a red light. Well looky here, pulling in next to me on the right is a pickup that was nicknamed "Junkyard Dog" with BB Chevy power, B&M Blower, slicks, whole nine yards. It was a strong truck and in Oklahoma and Texas they love their trucks the way many of the rest of us love our cars. We gave each other the glance and knew it was game on. We both left very hard and neck and neck. At second gear (L2) the GS torque was starting to come in and saw we were pulling away from the pickup and click into Drive. To be "in it" through all three gears in a street race was serious and at about 700' or an 1/8 mile I had the truck covered when all of a sudden I see a cop pull out of store side and hit the lights. Now we are deep in it at this point and in an odd twist of instantaneous strategic thought I laid on the brakes and put the GS on a line of view that had the "Junkyard Dog" between the GS and cop car and just as we flew past the cop (that was now going to pursue us) I stood back on it and blew back past the pickup, switched lanes and jumped in front of the pickup and stayed on it. Guess who got pulled over? The pickup LOL. My "wife to be" was crapping herself in the passenger seat (I seem to recall she may have been down on the floor boards in the fetal position). She was scared pooless! With a few blocks away from the poo show I zig zagged our way down side streets back to the storage unit and put the GS away. I recall letting the car sit for a couple weeks after that one LOL. Picts are of how the engine looked at the time of the race.

 

At some point in time Altus introduced a city run car show called "Rock and Rumble" that has kept the cruising spirit there alive and well all these years later....

 

Wow, you really cleaned up the firewall and just about everything in the engine bay!

 

So it's here the journey ends. Uncle Sam said we were done in Oklahoma and it was off to Montana. Unfortunately in 1989 to 1993 while we were there the car activity was dismal if not non existent. The GS again resided in a rental storage unit. Recognizing years earlier that the car was rare (estimated production of the GS 455's in 71 was a debated estimate of around 501). During those trips to the salvage yards and tips on people with cars sitting I was gathering parts from Skylarks that I had previously and without thinking pitched in the dumpster. And yes - you'll cringe here but I even tossed the original ram air cleaner assembly (please find forgiveness in your souls LOL). Fortunately there was a farmer in Western Oklahoma that had a couple of GS's sitting in his yard that was willing to let an air cleaner go so I redeemed myself. I have very little memory of putting the car as best I could back to original probably around 91-92. Everything high performance wise that was bolted on was removed and sold independently piece by piece. And the car itself I sold to a local lot in Great Falls that a post here helped recall was "Gabes". No idea of the eventual sell or where it went nor where it is today (I don't have the VIN). In one of the picts you can see our daughter who was just little then riding shot gun.

And with that it brings this story to a close - hope you enjoyed the ride! The End.

 

VERY Cool! Thanks for sharing your adventure...
-MIG

 

Yes very Cool!
I enjoyed this thread!