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1968-1969 Buick GS 400 - Mediocrity No More
Buick made a decent first attempt in competing in the muscle car market with the release of its 1965-1967 Skylark Gran Sport (or better known as GS). However it was the release of the 1968-1969 GS 400 where Buick showed it was really serious about competing in the muscle car segment.
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I bought a '68 in June of that year. I was 23. It was a red GS400 convertable. Red with white top and white interior. Chrome mags ! I was in heaven ! I had the car until 1974 when I traded it in for a '74 Pontiac Grand Prix. Metallic blue with white interior and top. Once again, chrome mags. What jewels they used to be !
@thenov1944
3 жыл бұрын
My first new car also , ' 68 GS 400 Red , white top , white interior & lower white stripes on side . Loved that car ! Drove it from Key West to Washington state & many other USA places . 1976 bought a Fiat , Wow what a change ! the slogan " when better automobiles are built , Buick will build them " ! ! True today GM's remaining car , after Cad & Chevy !
Great job on covering a fine musclecar that many have forgotten about. The GS was the executive's hot rod, combining both performance and the luxury people expected from a Buick. The '70 GS 455 Stage 1 was a beast, offering over 500 ft lbs of torque---a Hemi could still beat it, but it had to work hard to do it.
One of my all time favorite Buicks. I had a '65 Skylark Convertible in Indian Red I restored. Classy. Trunk so huge you could easily fit several bodies in with room to spare. Quite a cruiser.
Thanks again and even though iv'e said it before; i'll say it again. Don't you ever change that perfect theme music X-D.
Another great vid here. Thank You. A guy in our neighborhood had one in light metallic blue around '71. Never got to ride in it but he'd get on it sometimes. Screamed !!
A 69 GS 350 was my very first car. My dad handed It down to me when I was 16. I learned you can use Pepsi to remove rust from the chrome (Lol). I went to T/As after that and never looked back. Thanks for bringing up some good memories for me.
Very nice... I always thought of these as part of the Cutlass, Malibu body style family from GM...
It's always nice to hear Morrie from Good Fellas doing his voice overs
Luv your vid's,,,Here in uk I worked with states cars,,owned a 70 GTO judge years back,,,saw a Buick Wildcat near my home as a teenager a real treat,,,,
Great overview. I had a '69 Skylark, 350, wish I could have found a more upscale model. Either way, great car, had 34k on it when I bought in 1985. Dual glass-packs, and black vinyl interior. The only flaw was the tail lights, power ran through one side and then to other, this made one side dimmer. No matter what I tried couldn't seem to equalize. My other 2 cars at that time were a '64 Riviera, and a mint '69 Eldorado.
Took me back, odd feeling.Thanks for the video.
Thank you for this very good vide. You told the whole story I wanted to hear. I owned a 1969 Riv. This was one of the best cars I have owned! This car was a one of a kind. Looks both inside and out, with good handling and performance.
Thank you for your most excellent videos as usual. Thank you for being so informative, and yeah I do like the music to.
In 1974, my uncle the car salesman put me me in a 1969 Skylark GS 350 for a song. It had about 3 times more power than my previous jalopy. It didn't have A/C or a 4 speed but it was like a rambunctious puppy that barked and jumped on you. It burned Polyglas on demand and by accident and it burned gasoline like a champ. It helped me to collect a string of driving infractions for the next 2 years. I don't know what gears it had in the rear end but with instant tip in and an open diff, any amount of throttle overloaded the rubber, particularly on right turns from a stop. And in rain and snow... YIKES! It was mechanically reliable but it cost a lot to run anyway. Yeah, it was great fun and I never had another car like it. I wish I had it still. I traded it for a 1968 Volvo 142 with IPD upgrades and mounted winter tires (Northern Alberta) plus $1500. I still can't tell if that was a bad decision, the Volvo was a very good car. I remember how the Buick felt doing a cold start on a frozen winter morning. The Volvo didn't much care about temperature.
I'm not a big GM fan, but I love the Coke Bottle design era.
I had a wonderful 1967 Buick GS 400 4 speed back in the day really fast and fun to drive, I had a 3/4 Isky cam in it and it was pushing 425 HP! Loved it wish I still had it. Mine was the rare 2 dr Hardtop Model.
@harddrivin1le-970
5 жыл бұрын
425 HP? LOL Even with the cam, the typical 5 year old V6/automatic Honda Accord (278 SAE Net HP) would have sucked the headlights out of your old car - not even close.
@dtotheponcharo
5 жыл бұрын
Keep dreaming
@thomasthurston6656
3 ай бұрын
Lol it had a cam must have been a big one.😅@dtotheponcharo
@thomasthurston6656
3 ай бұрын
A stock 67 with the 400 had 340 hp. Buick also put torque number on the air cleaner assembly and not horsepower.
3:55 I had a 1969 skylark when I was in the Navy (2001 to 2007) and the speedometer head broke. I remedied it by installing a 1972 gauge bezel and gauges. The dash pad was the same shape with only a few trim screws and clips needing relocation. Ironically, the 1968-1969 horizontal speedo was actually a 1 piece PCB with a modular connector (like in modern cars) while the LATER DESIGN was a hodgepodge of 1930s era bullet connectors in bakelite. Weird. I had to rewire the entire thing. But at least it worked and looked like it belonged once I was finished.
I had a 69 GS.. but it was not the 400. "only" a 350.. but it still sported the ram air hood and matching filter. That alone was both impressive and effective at the time.
Great video love the older cars especially the muscle cars
Your channel is awesome. Keep it going. More budget muscle projects.
There’s no other KZread channel Like this Nothing even remotely close The recipe is perfect. Please...do not change ANYTHING!
Informative and interesting. Hopefully it will be followed by segments on the 70-72 GS and the Colonnade Century GS of 73-75.
Buicks were considered serious cars for grown folk. They were for doctors, bankers, lawyers, and businessmen. But when they saw the sales sheets for the GTO and the Super Sport, they knew that they had to get on board. Thus, the Gran Sport. And when the insurance companies jacked up the rates on American muscle, they thought so little of Buick that it was able to get away with flying under the radar. And the Gran Sport would be reincarnated in thr '80s as the Grand National, the (IMO) baddest car of the '80s. Thanks for the video from a Buick fan.
I own a 1969 convertible GS 400 stage 1. there ain’t nothing like a Buick of this model
I had a 1966 Skylark with the 340 in it. Also had the power slide two speed automatic transmission which was okay for the highway driving that was most of it driving duties. Low back bucket seats. Great car. Still miss it every day.
@thomasthurston6656
3 ай бұрын
Buick had a Super Turbine 300 with the switch pitch converter. Chevy had the power Glide.
@thomasthurston6656
3 ай бұрын
In 67 the GS 400 got the new ST400 trans a 3 speed auto. The CAGS and 340GS had the 2 speed.
Takes me back to my life in the 1960s & 70's!
Proud owner of a '69 Buick Skylark!!
My grandma had a Skylark was a 69 model had a 350 a 4 barrel carb run pretty good.
First car was a '67 GS. LOVED that car
We had a 1968 Skylark with a 350 2-barrel and a 2 speed "Turbine Drive" transmission. I think that it was a base model. It was a dog. In about 1978, it ran 0-60 in about 14 seconds. To top it off, it was brown.
What a car, much prefer a classy comfortable interior in a car with power to go with it than a big ol boat.
I really like the “rally” wheel on these cars.
What about the GS caifornia special. My nephew owns a 69 Only around 8thousand were built light tan in color black vinyl top. Black interior. automatic 400. nice looking cars. Has chrome California scripts on rear quarter panels.
@thomasthurston6656
3 ай бұрын
67 68 and 69 they had a CAGS also Colorado had a GS edition. The cars were all built on the Special frame unlike the GS400 that was built on the Skylark boxed frame. 67 had the 340 and 68 and 69 had the 350. The cars were sold new at Mickey Garrett Buick here in Hollywood CA. Hi from SoCal 😊
@thomasthurston6656
3 ай бұрын
They also had a W1 Special GS in 67.
I love the 68-69 GS400!
Fast with Class!
I wish you could make a series on a Ford F-100 Rangers. They were excellent trucks. Excellent video tho
@merc-ni7hy
6 жыл бұрын
you talking just the appearance package?...or the older 65/66 trucks that came with bucket seats and a console???
Was about to buy a Skylark but I got my Corvette instead
I had a 71 GS 350 When I dropped in a C head, 1968 olds 455...She woke up !!!
That black car is sick.
Nice video, classy muscle!
67 was the best looking, 68and 9 were a disappointment and the 70 was much improved kinda a recopy of the 67 with much more performance !
Had a 1969 GS 400with a 3 speed which was a Ford 3speed, because GM didn't have a 3speed that could handle the Horsepower of GS!
@jkammes902
5 жыл бұрын
@Harold French as Many as GS had 3peeds
Could you one day make a video detailing the foxbody mustangs? Im trying to get one as my first car and id love for you to make a vid about them
I had a 1967 Buick GS 340 i liked it,wasn't the fastest car but wasnt a slouch either
I owned a 68 skylark 350 4bbl carb, 2 speed automatic transmission. Wished I still had it. Was a dumb teenager blew the engine and scrapped the car afterwards. Man I was dumb!!.
@harddrivin1le-970
5 жыл бұрын
That would be a slow car by modern standards.
lovely ♥♥ view nice
What was the hp in the 1970 GS 455 stage 2 ?
God Bless General Motors!
GM should have installed the Riviera 430s in the 60's GS.
Great video but I was wondering how much the Buick GS actually was at the time?
@thenov1944
3 жыл бұрын
My new ' 68 GS 400 was I think $ 3800 , to many Yrs. ago , but great car !
@vassa1972
3 жыл бұрын
@@thenov1944 hello and good morning mark I'm Peter 48 years old from Hamilton Ontario Canada and now unfortunately a stroke and cardiac arrest survivor and use a cane for balance when I'm outside walking around and haven't driven since early 2006 because of the stroke but love seeing these older cars and always wanted to have a car from the 60's. Be safe.
Very cool :)
❤❤❤❤❤
My 68 year old grandmother bought a new 1969 GS 400. She could drive it like the Little Old Lady from Pasadena.
@harddrivin1le-970
5 жыл бұрын
I doubt that. Even if she did, these cars were low 15 second cars as they rolled off the showroom floor. What was "fast" then is typically pretty slow by today's standards.
I love my 69 4 door
I owned a 1969 GS 400 , 4 speed manual , no ps, no pb, no ac. The factory booklet that came with the car stated horsepower at 375 !
@harddrivin1le-970
5 жыл бұрын
Post a copy of that. The '69 GS400 was rated at 340 Gross HP, which is perhaps equal to 235 HP in todays (post 1971) Net rating system. Tire for tire and otherwise bone stock vs. same, the typical 5 year old Honda Accord V6 automatic would suck the headlights out of a '69 GS400.
For sale?
Ive got a 69 gs 400 convertable factory a/c 3 speed auto car for sale here in syracuse ny to anyone seriously interested.. Leave me a comment to inquire.
The best ones were yet to come... 1970-1973 ? Could you do a segment on this gen. ? The styling was so much better looking and even with the 350 4 barrel it was a fast car. This previous body made it to big and fat. The body roll was much more obvious then the other A body division versions. It must have been very heavy.
Do a video on the Foxbody Mustang.