“Guidance System?” “Ground Speed?” There are a lot of acronyms that might fit the burly muscle version of the Buick Skylark from 1970-’72 better than its actual name, “Gran Sport.” The GS-X was the head honcho in those years when Buick jumped on the muscle car craze, but the only slightly less potent “GS” was no slouch; in fact, the GS-X was mainly an appearance package, because the GS could be ordered with nearly all the same performance options as its better dressed sister, only without the stripes, rear wing, and other muscle styling cues. This made it a superb sleeper, as it could be made to look as innocuous as gramma’s six-cylinder Skylark coupe until the driver romped on it at the green light and unleased a “Gob Smacking” (hee hee) 510 pound-feet of torque from the 455 Stage 1 big block.
I’m happy to say I already own the white 1970 and black 1971 GS-X versions of this Auto World body, but here they’ve issued it again as a 1972 model with another slight modification to the grille pattern just like the real thing, and they released it as a GS rather than a GS-X. Although the GS-X option was technically available in 1972, the model essentially vanished that year, as compression ratios and horsepower were way down thanks to the jackboot of government. The 455 GS was down to a paltry 280HP in that final year of the chrome bumper, but even if it lacked the punch it had only a year or two before, it was still solid and well-built, comfortable, and it still looked great, making it the “Gold Standard” (ha ha) of muscle cars in what any enthusiast knows was “the last year” for the good times. I decided to keep this one a little on the tame side with my customization, although I did use my very last set of black-painted “Magnum” wheels from Road Race Replicas. I decided to leave the tires as blackwalls but they are the big silicone grippers, and its mounted on a brand new chassis at the peak of its performance. This car may never see track duty, but that wasn’t the point: the point is, it looks good, it wasn’t too expensive, I like Buicks, I wanted it. I don’t really need any other point than that, do I?
Even so, I came up with some quickie Lore anyway because that’s a big part of the fun: “Grand Slam” is the property of a newcomer to Drag City, Jim “Viking” VonDron. A white-blonde haired giant standing over 6’2” with an equally light colored beard, the Swedish/Dutch-derived San Diego resident has been a car fanatic his entire life. Working primarily with a team of amateurs, he has tuned and modified his clean low mileage ’72 GS for years, turning the once low-compression “emissions motor” into a big-block terror more powerful than any GS-X ever was. With a 4-speed conversion, 4-wheel disc brakes, a limited-slip Chevy 12-bolt axle and heads custom built by one of the best speed shops in the area, this “grocery getter” still wearing her original “Vintage Red” paint with a white vinyl top and black and white interior has been lightened and strengthened everywhere it counts. He’s only 27 years old, but “Viking” is making practice runs at the track now, and may yet see action at Drag City, where he’s been a spectator since his early teens!
I too love me some Buick’s and this one is worth having just to have! The cars, the lore, the spectacle! The excitement never seems to stop at Drag City!