I bought a 1972 GS350 that came with steel 14" x 6" 57 series rallye wheels. I have since swapped them for 15" x 7" and selling the 14" wheels. Someone has questioned that Buick GS cars ONLY came with 15" wheels - is that correct? Pics https://www.v8buick.com/index.php?threads/14-x6-set-of-4-rallye-wheels-750-00-south-eastern-virginia-pickup-only.386296/
No, it's not correct. I am unsure of '72, but at least in earlier years ('68, '69) 14" Buick Rally wheels were common. https://www.teambuick.com/reference/rallye_wheels.php
Was there a difference between GS wheels and Skylark wheels? This guy claims 15" wheels were ONLY on GS and 14" were on ONLY on Skylarks...
The 1972 GS was offered with both the 14" or 15" chrome plated wheels, both were extra cost options. If a person ordered the chrome plated wheels on a Skylark they could only get them in the 14" size. The chrome plated 14" wheels used on the GS and the Skylark were the same. To get 15" wheels on a '72 GS someone had to order option F7 which was not available on the Skylark. Here are the order forms for the 1972 GS and the 1972 Skylark. Trivia for you. At the beginning of the 1972 model year the F7 option for 15" wheels cost $230.65 but Buick changed the pricing during the model year and the price for option F7 changed to $224.00. At the beginning of the model year the 14" chrome plated wheels (option V2) were $94.79 and the Oversize whitewall tires (option F2) were an additional $50.46 (I don't have the revised pricing here with me). The '72 GS order form showing option code F7 SUPER WIDE OVAL GROUP (SUPER WIDE OVAL/WHITE BILLBOARD LETTERED TIRES G60-15 WITH CHROME PLATED WHEELS). So F7 got the buyer 15" tires and automatically included the chrome plated wheels. No other wheels were offered with the 15" tires on the 1972 GS A-body cars. Skylark was only offered with 14" tires and wheels. Option F7 was not offered F1 WHITEWALL TIRES F2 OVERSIZE WHITEWALL TIRES Window sticker examples: Early 1972 GS built September 1971 with 14" wheels: Early 1972 GS built August 1971 with 15" wheels: Later 1972 GS built March 1972 with 15" wheels:
In '72 they dropped the price for A/C on the later cars too. What was going on?.... I've never seen that before.
Many of the revised prices were lower and all of the revised prices for the A-body cars appear to be even dollar amounts too. Very strange. Mike Trom is the expert on this topic since he has been researching it for many years. Well, if he says that the 15” wheels were only available on the GS model of the A-body Buick he’s right. But if he’s saying that all GS A-body cars got 15” wheels, he’s wrong
I didn't think it was possible but the experts on Facebook have reached an entirely new level as of late.
15 inch where avalble in 69 when the new single piston disc brakes were started,up till then the 4 piston brakes were used and a 14 inch deep wheel was used to clear the calpers
Correct, 15" wheels first became available during the 1970 Model year. Some trivia about the 1970 15" wheels: the 15" wheels were not available at the beginning of the 1970 model year. So if you see a car built in Aug, Sept, or Oct 1969 rolling on 15" wheels, they were added after leaving the factory because they didn't become available until the week of 11/3/69.
...IIRC prices were lowered on/about 12/11/1971 due to feds eliminating 7% automotive excise tax. Also, '72 prices prior to 12/11 were same as '71. GM rescinded intended price increase in compliance with Nixon's wage/price freeze...
What year did they start having 15" steelies. I finally found a pair of dog dish poverty caps for my 1969 and am looking for 15x8 or 7s if possible. Ive seen 2 differrent styles reproduced and not shure wich is correct for buick
No Buick A-body had 15” rims, of any style, until the 1970 Model year, period, end of story. The 15” steel rims with trim rings and dog dish center caps started for the 70 model year. During the 70 model year 2 different coded steel rims were used. I could never see the differences between the two but there had to be something. At one time I had a 70 Stage 1 with that option. Three of the wheels were the earlier code while the other two were the later code. All were original to the car and were date coded correctly. Duane
I was on a 73-77 Buick site on Facebook and the group "expert" constantly calls them Grand Sport's. If he even looked at the cars, in block letters is say's Gran Sport.
