Wondering if they did pull it off the line as a regular Stage 1, did they swap in the different rate GSX coil springs and maby thicker front bar?
Ya Gary, did not intend to call you out on that.. it just got me thinking.. "can the factory really build a clone?" was an interesting brain teaser.. my answer was no.. It came down to the fact that any parts they would use, would not have likely ever been on any other car.. and then of course if their not "authorized" to build a particular model, regardless of how the do it, then who is? JW
If the owner didn't know the history on the car, then he probably purchased the Sloan documentation and thought he got screwed on his car purchase. Notice that I mention Sloan documentation, which precedes the timeframe for normal GSX production, but does coincide with the use of the clear top overflow, plastic radiator cover, and cone gauge lenses (all present on the magazine car).
That's the question really... IMHO, it's a real GSX whether or not it has the actual option code and likely the 679th & most unique of all, but if it doesn't have the option (maybe it does too and was the actual 1st despite the spoiler letter) how do you go about proving it's lineage?
That's the problem, How do you prove Japan GSX is THAT car in the magazines? It's like proving that a '71 is a real GSX without documentation. There are indicators that help, but until there is documentation, it can't really be proven 100%. For the Japan GSX it has the EXACT same option load as the magazine car but that's not really enough to 100% prove it's THAT car without a nice paper trail. Sloan has documents for cars up to VIN 0H193507 (about the 1st week of December '69). We have a '70 Stage 1 with has clear top overflow, plastic radiator cover, and cone lenses that was built 3rd week of December (12C) and has a VIN of 0H211535 so we had to get the documents from Wayne Roberts. I seem to remember that the seller on eBay had documents for this car and it was not shown as a GSX and therefore it sold for GS money, not GSX money. I was convinced at that time that the Japan GSX was the magazine car but there was no real way for me to prove it.
Exactly on the docs. The mags prob. recorded the VIN at the time but those records are prob. gone. I guess if it was shown as being an internal sale (can't remember off hand the zone desig.) or even a "demo" that would help but still... If it had variable ratio PS, the steering box date code too. I've seen a S1 car invoiced 1/4/70 (IMHO, invoice date is the closest thing we have to the day it rolled off the line) that had clear/plastic/pointed. Another S1 invoiced the same day that had clear/plastic/flat so I believe short of them finding/using up some older parts that's when the switch pointed/flat switch happened.
I bought an entire collection of Road Test magazines from a guy in California that was one of the test drivers. I asked him what happened to all of the original photos and records of the test cars hoping to find out more about the GSX. He said he has no idea if it even exists anymore since the magazine folded up decades ago. He was a very nice guy with some interesting stories. He also gave me two of the original cardboard license plates that they literally taped onto the cars they tested. It's not the exact same style as the one on the GSX in the Sept '70 issue but I still put it on my car anyway. I recently had it reproduced onto a metal license plate so I don't have to worry about it getting wet. Car Craft Magazine records might exist but getting that info from the current company that has their old info would be really tough.
I am not certain that the "mid-year" changes (like pointed vs. flat lense, radiator overflow top color or plastic vs. metal radiator top plate, etc.) being referenced here absolutely translate into a "hard date" on the '70 MY calendar. I believe Duane has chimed-in on this subject before in other threads explaining that while Buick released bulletins and production equipment updates regularly throughout the '70 MY (really, any given MY) - and made changes to the Assembly Manual for the year, that: 1. there were multiple plants making our Skylarks and GSs (Buick plants and GMAD plants) and each had its own inventory level/stock of parts to work through; and 2. while Buick designed the way these cars were intended to be screwed together and built, GMAD plants exercised their own authority at times and deviated in some sense at times (fasteners, documentation/process, etc.). You probably have to rely on observation and inspection of the original unmolested vehicles (from different plants) in order to identify when (or date range) of the various mid-year equipment changes. As far as another piece of the puzzle for documetation of the Japan GSX, does Sloan have and release the invoicing documentation? Would it contain any info that Buick was invoiced like a fleet vehicle? If so, this might provide additional circumstantial indication.
The documents from Sloan and Wayne Roberts would show if the car was initially invoiced to BMD, and would also include which dealer the car was eventually sent to after Buick finished using the car. So yes, that would be another clue that the Japan GSX could have been the car in the magazine tests if was used by Buick for some period of time.
Great idea to say the least!! I do remember always seeing those plates in the monthly magazines. (Remember those )
I was referring specifically to Flint since both were Stage 1 cars. Even then there were variations. Otherwise, yes, I agree. It varied plant to plant and in Freemont esp., never know what you might get.
We need to get an ownership trail. Who owned it prior to Japan? You think Mike mullen might have any information?
I stand corrected regarding the timing of Sloan documentation vs. the mid-year parts changeover. I thought Wayne's documentation didn't begin until January 1970, but I was obviously off by a couple of weeks. GSX number 1 is documented as VIN number 240851 with a build date of 02A, so all regular production GSXs should fall after the midyear parts switchover. Therefore, the magazine GSX almost certainly is not GSX number 1 and is most likely a production line Stage 1 which was converted by Buick to GSX specs.
So forgive me if I am missing something here, but to me it begs the question, if the Japan X does not at first blush appear to be one of the 678 and Brad's X show car is not one of the 678, then did Buick actually build 680 and not 678? Cheers
They built 678 production jobs. There were a few pre production cars like this one, design study cars like the yellow one with the brown interior, Brad's show car...
Found my notes from when the '70 Buick "GSX" was for sale on eBay in Japan, December 2006. Paint code 10 10 Interior code 188 Build date: 12B (2 months before the first production GSXs) All of the options match the car in the road tests except the car on eBay has cruse control and an in-dash tach (but still has a hood tach too).
