Vehicle Description
1968 Buick GS400 Convertible
While Buick did not exactly dominate the market in the late 1960s
and early 1970s, it did bless the automotive world with some
well-known classic cars. During the golden era of muscle greatness,
with the presence of icons such as the Chevrolet Chevelle SS and
the Dodge Charger, many praise-worthy cars didn't receive the
attention they truly deserved. A perfect example of muscle cars
that were relatively overlooked because of their iconic rivals is
the Buick Gran Sport. A mighty and muscular performance-oriented
machine with an interesting history that is rarely appreciated.
-Thx to Yavar Nekounam Hotcoars.com.
For consignment, a 1968 Buick GS, (Grand Sport), 400...Buick's
answer to high performance but now with a bigger and badder engine
under the slightly scooped hood. This consignment comes to us with
a binder full of paperwork on the build and it has been restored,
is looking great and runs like a champ. The current odometer
reading is 39,442 and these are title verifiedoriginal miles.
Exterior
For this year the exterior takes on an Olds 442 look with dual
headlights flanking a v shaped grille trimmed in chrome with thin
strips on top and sides, and a corresponding bumper below. The hood
has a functional bump up which I'll get to under the Drivetrain
section of this description. Meanwhile, a peppering of more
stainless, polished to chrome shine, trims the wheel wells that
frame 15-inch Magnum 500 wheels wrapped in BFG raised white letter
rubber in staggered width form. Our consignment is a snazzy
convertible which presents in clean black canvas having a glass
rear window and is power operated. When down, the side view of this
piece of Detroit iron muscle looks like a bullet. Much of this look
can be attributed to the gently sloping rear trunk lid deck which
melts into the rear bumper which forms a V shape to the rear
quarters and also houses the horizontal tail lighting within it.
All this nicely gapped steel is bathed in a color change to Scarlet
Red, which has been applied with professionalism. Perfect
complimenting GS 400 badging is on front fenders and the central
trunk lid. Dual exhaust barely peek out the bottom of the rear
bumper and a small descending gracefully metal bump-put in the body
on the front quarters, dives through the doors to add just a bit of
motion while standing still.
Interior
Plenty of factory coverings in black vinyl, starting with the door
panels. This leads us into the passenger chairs, which are sleek
low back buckets, nice and wide with tuck and roll inserts and
smooth bolsters. These are also in the black vinyl, and present
very clean as does the rear bench, with side flanking armrests with
ash receptacles. A black center console sweeps from front to back
through the buckets, and contains a glovebox and a chrome handled
black ball topped Hurst shift lever. A factory Buick tachometer
resides in the console just under the dash and above are a trio of
aftermarket supporting gauges to help keep your eyes on the pulse
under the hood. Upfront, a purely GM dash with a silver horizontal
speedo, black padded dash top, and a strip of aluminum below which
houses various knobs and pulls along with vertically mounted dial
temp controls. In the center is a factory AM radio. All this
menagerie floats on clean black carpeting and the tri-shield Buick
badging is noted throughout the interior.
Drivetrain
That bump in the hood I mentioned is functional and we can verify
this when popping the hood. Here we see a non original 455ci V8,
(carrying a 1238861 casting number puts this as a 1970/71 engine),
making a dyno proven 428.2hp and 468.2lbft of torque thanks to some
help from a Lunati camshaft. Feeding the 455 cubes through the mill
is a single 4-barrel carburetor Holley carburetor perched between
an open element air cleaner and Edelbrock intake manifold. A non
numbers matching Muncie M21 4-speed manual, (circa 1971), is on
back, and the rear axle is a 10 bolt version. Overall, this bay is
very clean as are all the bolt ons highly polished and supple hoses
and wiring snakes its way throughout.
Undercarriage
A bit of patina and slight wear off and patina of the undercoating
but no rust is noted, surface or otherwise. Independent coil
springs are on front and in back, a 4 link with coil springs is on.
Power disc braking is in front, and power drums are on back. Dual
Flowmaster exhaust helps with the exhale as they work in
conjunction with long tube headers and these end in back with
turned down tips under the rear bumper.
Drive-Ability
Late 60's and early 70's muscle is always a hoot to drive, and this
car was no exception to this rule! It fired right up, the interior
was nice and comfy, and it ran like it was on fire, (a
colloquialism). Plenty of power, solid braking, and smooth shifting
as well as easy power steering. The clock did not work and the
reverse lights did not illuminate but otherwise a nice experience
was had by myself and my cohort, who couldn't get his lollipop out
of his mouth long enough to comment. But he liked it, especially
when he was behind the controls, as he tends to have a heavy foot,
and this car graciously obliged.
Buicks answer to the muscle car threats that were coming in late
60's form from all fronts. This example fully restored, runs great,
and hopped up on the performance front as well as having all around
good looks. Come on in and take a look, and while you're here
peruse our Hallowed Halls. Or go online
towww.Classicautomall.comand look at all our top hits which
definitely belt out to you!
446678B104195
4-Buick
46-GS400
67-Convertible
8-1968
B-Baltimore, MD Assy Plant
104195-Sequential Unit Number
TRIM TAG
09D-4th Week September
ST 68 44667-1968 Buick GS400 Convertible
BDY BAL00046-Baltimore Body #
TR 178-Black Vinyl
PNT G2-Ivory Gold Mist, Black Top
Classic Auto Mall is a 336,000-square foot classic and special
interest automobile showroom, featuring over 850 vehicles for sale
with showroom space for up to 1,000 vehicles. Also, a 400 vehicle
barn find collection is on display. This vehicle is located in our
showroom in Morgantown, Pennsylvania, conveniently located just
1-hour west of Philadelphia on the I-76 Pennsylvania Turnpike. The
website is www.classicautomall.com and our phone number is (888)
227-0914. Please contact us anytime for more information or to come
see the vehicle in person.