Details about this rare Buick GS455 For Sale:
We are very proud to offer for sale at the St. Louis Car Museum an
impressive and fully restored 1970 Buick GS455 Stage 1 Sport
Hardtop Coupe. This stunning classic muscle car is wonderfully
cared for and finished in its original factory color code (RR) Fire
Red over (178) Black vinyl bench seat interior! Featuring an
original, numbers-matching 455ci Stage 1 Ram Air V8 producing 360hp
and ground-pounding 510 lb. ft. of torque paired with a
Hurst-shifted 4-speed Muncie transmission and upgraded 12-bolt rear
axle. Being only 1 of 664 Stage 1 hardtops produced, this unique
GS455 was special-ordered loaded with factory options including
Stage I Performance Option, air conditioning, power disc brakes,
power windows, Sonomatic AM radio with Stereo 8-track and rear
speaker (working AM/FM radio now installed), custom front & rear
seatbelts with front shoulder belts, tachometer & instrument
gauges, 14" chrome plated wheels with Wide Oval billboard lettered
tires, convenience group with trunk light, door edge guards
(removed after restoration), tinted windshield, and interior carpet
savers.
This very rare GS455 Stage I Hardtop was originally delivered as a
SOLD unit to its first owner through Dickerson Buick in Lynchburg,
Virginia, in early November 1970. The early ownership history of
this classic Buick is unknown, but it likely led a typical life as
a potent muscle car, roaming the streets on weekends. It comes to
us from the former owner of 19 years. He located this special Buick
in Petersburg, Virginia, in August 2006 with 76,203 miles showing
on the odometer and ready for a restoration. He would have the car
delivered to Thorpe Body & Restoration Shop and commission a
complete nut-and-bolt disassembly and restoration.
The body would be media blasted with all efforts to remove any rust
and replace with OEM factory sheet metal borrowed from a donor 1970
Skylark. During the process, the original factory black vinyl top
would be deleted along with the door edge guards. The repaint of
the exterior would be done after tedious hours of body preparation
and finished in base coat/clear coat fashion, color-sanded and
polished to a high gloss. The reassembly of the entire car would be
meticulously documented in invoices provided with the sale.
The original, numbers-matching engine would be sent to Buick
specialist, TA Performance Products of Scottsdale, Arizona, for a
professional rebuild. This included cleaning & magnafluxing the
block and heads, align bore and hone the block cylinders and torque
plate, drilling the oil pick up gallery to 5/8", balancing the
rotating assembly, grinding the crankshaft and chamfering the oil
holes, resizing the connecting rods, ARP rod bolts, new cast
pistons with chrome moly rings, new rod and main bearings, complete
competition valve job with stainless valves, Viton valve seals,
bronze guides, correct Stage I valve springs and retainers, Stage I
hydraulic camshaft, new Teflon-coated cam bearings, high
performance oil pump, new water pump, rebuilt distributor, all new
gaskets, timing set with TA performance cover, etc. all fully
assembled and stand tested to properly break in the camshaft before
returning it for installation into this GS455. Today, it has
approximately 600 miles on the engine and continues to perform
excellently! Power steering was added for additional driver comfort
and ease of operation, along with upgraded 15" chrome wheels.
The lengthy restoration was completed alongside several other
high-end project vehicles at Thorpe's Body & Restoration Shop and
was fully sorted and finished in August 2024. The owner had enjoyed
it for the past year and only recently elected to sell it due to
health reasons. This Buick GS455 will come with a reproduction
owner's manual, two window stickers (one faux-aged), an original
Buick brochure, Sloan Museum historical documentation, and all
restoration records from Thorpe's facility. It is a remarkable
opportunity to own a piece of General Motors' finest from the
muscle car era! Make no mistake about the rarity of a
factory-equipped Stage I GS455 with a 4-speed manual transmission
in combination with working air conditioning and power windows!
They just don't appear on the market and are exceptionally rare!
Contact Jon Faust at (314)993-1330 to schedule a test drive.
Vehicle is located at St. Louis Car Museum & Sales.
History of Buick's Gran Sport model:
The Gentlemen's Muscle Car that you could drive fast with class!
Buick's Gran Sport name became synonymous with high-performance
power as soon as it started production in 1965 with its 400ci V8,
which was the largest engine permitted by General Motors. In 1970,
power increased even further with the addition of the Grand Sports'
big block 455ci V8, producing the most torque of any American
production car of its era. The Stage I Performance Option bought
you a high output 455ci with ram air cold air induction, ported
heads with larger intake/exhaust valves, aggressive high lift
camshaft, stiffer valve spring & damper assemblies, high volume
fuel pump, rejetted Rochester carburetor, special built TH400
automatic transmission (if equipped), heavy duty radiator, low
restriction dual exhaust, and performance axle ratio with positive
traction. Publicized as having 360 horsepower, most felt Buick
clearly underrated its true output. Only 664 GS455 Stage 1 Sport
Coupes were produced in 1970, making them one of the hardest cars
to find on the market today! With insurance and emission standards
on the rise, these powerful cars became even more desirable as
production cars after 1971 just weren't the same.
Buying or selling a classic car? Financing and trading options are
available on all available vehicles at St. Louis Car Museum &
Sales. Contact Jon Faust @ (314)993-1330 or email
[email protected]
