1970 Buick GS Stage 1 $149,995
Upon first glance one is struck by the car’s luminous Fireglow pearlescent paint, which was never a production color but was nonetheless perfect for standing out even in the brightly-lit environs of a manufacturer’s car show. But even that dramatic first impression is soon overwhelmed by the white interior. Ordering a white interior back in the day would get you white seat coverings, side panels and headliner, but otherwise every other component, from the steering wheel rim to the floor carpeting, would be black. Not this factory show car! In order to bolster the interior’s effect to its fullest, the factory replaced the Soft Ray glass with crystal clear glass devoid of even the slightest tint. The result is that the car seems to glow from within.
|
|
This factory prototype GS Stage 1 show car and the GSX Prototype toured the show circuit together. Typically, such vehicles would be slated for the crusher after completing their rounds, but both cars were rescued by Len Immke Buick of Columbus, Ohio, which purchased them with the understanding that neither was ever to be sold. Of course, both were “accidentally” sold while Immke was away on business; incredibly, both survived. The Fireglow Stage 1 served drag strip and street duties until 1978, when it was decommissioned by its original owner, who in 2003 sold it to Chamberlain. All the original sheet metal was present in rust-free condition, and over the next two years Chamberlain restored it in time to present it at the 2005 GS Nationals.
Refinished in the original Fireglow paint, the car’s powertrain includes a correct specification engine built with the factory original 10.5:1 pistons, 1970 Stage 1 carburetor, distributor and transmission and original Stage 1 heads, giving it the same high torque and horsepower that made it the third-fastest production muscle car of its time. The subject of a 2005 feature article in Hemmings Muscle Machines Magazine and Gold Certification winner at the 2010 Buick Performance Group Nationals, this is an impeccably restored and carefully preserved factory show car embodying the audacity and showmanship that exemplified the high water mark of the first muscle car era.
Refinished in the original Fireglow paint, the car’s powertrain includes a correct specification engine built with the factory original 10.5:1 pistons, 1970 Stage 1 carburetor, distributor and transmission and original Stage 1 heads, giving it the same high torque and horsepower that made it the third-fastest production muscle car of its time. The subject of a 2005 feature article in Hemmings Muscle Machines Magazine and Gold Certification winner at the 2010 Buick Performance Group Nationals, this is an impeccably restored and carefully preserved factory show car embodying the audacity and showmanship that exemplified the high water mark of the first muscle car era.