Just got the newest issue of hemmings super cool article on the 70 gsx early photos... Of course I can't upload pics Maybe someone else can Would love to build one off these pics....
This new information is very interesting. I believe Denny Manner commented some time ago that the GSX program went through many design changes and scope of equipment. Considering the earliest graphics (sides specifically), they do look very Pontiac-ish. There is an internal Buick communication Denny released (I think it was Denny) where the proposal for the GSX model was described as a youth market vehicle for Buick to better compete with other sister Divisions (Olds and Pontiac) and other manufacturers like Ford and Mercury with new image vehicles in the youth market (with new paints and graphics). If you think back to the GTO Judge development program about 2 years or so earlier, the Judge was always intended as an image type vehicle, but a low cost option kind of like the Plymouth Roadrunner (a lower cost Pontiac A body performance version ended up being a LeMans "E.T." for 'Elapsed Time' which took the place of the original 'Judge' low cost concept). It did not turn out that way as the Judge went a bit more upscale. I wonder how that whole process went and the story behind it as the GSX package design and content was being developed and it appears that the whole project ended up going up market and being essentially a complete package instead of just a high impact color/paint/high-impact package? No doubt that a decontented bare-bones type GSX image car doesn't really match well with the typical Buick upscale image and Dealer base which wants to sell well optioned cars. But it is an interesting thought. I remember another story about all the design (for functionality) work that went into the GSX front and rear spoilers and involved some discussions between one of the upper Buick brass and an Engineer about how the front and rear spoilers (which originally were quite different) were cosmetic versus being functional. The Buick brass responded something like, "Make the spoilers functional because that's the way we do it at Buick." And, the Engineer and/or designer went back to work testing the different designs at speed. Interesting. No doubt that the younger Designers and Engineers then at Buick were the driving force for the GSX and we are lucky they knew how to work the system at Buick because the (much older) upper Buick brass would never have brought the GSX out themselves.
Where has all of this new information and photos come from? This is fantastic information, why is it just surfacing now in 2016? Who or what was the source for this information?
I can't wait until someone builds one like this....I think it's awesome looking...it will be a great story teller
x2... And to have it turn up for the first time in a national magazine, and not somewhere like the GSCA or here???? There must be a story there...
I just wonder what ever happened to that very early GSX. Was it turned to a tin can or maybe it was Brad's car in a earlier configuration. Very few alive would know. maybe Denny knows? Tim
Here are a couple more observations/questions: Look at Pic 2 of Set 1 in this thread and key in on the front contours of the passenger side sport mirror. What do you notice? It might just be me, but I see a rather unusually pointed leading edge .... kinda looks like the early '70's Olds mirror contour to me. But first, before you reply, compare the contour on the GSX development car to other regular sport mirrors in the set of all photos including similar shots of the production GSXs .. I am not seeing a similar "pointy" curved contour. So, did that development mule GSX on that date have Olds style mirrors? And, I wonder if there is a way to tell if there was any RED present in the minimal graphics in the development mule GSX pictures? Like any of the outer striping on the small hood stripes or any in the side striping? I have always thought Buick should have painted the recessed cove surround of the hood scoop grilles with red instead of the 1/8 inch black paint - it would have stood out more.
Those are '69 Hurst/Olds mirrors that have been painted entirely body color. Originally they would've been partial'y body color, with the larger mirror "ring" chrome.
Not surprising to me. Having spent 30 years in new product development, the prototypes and pilot units were always different from the production versions. Many reasons for it: cost, manufacturability, market inputs, vendors, competition, etc. Scope Creep rears its' head, and things change. The ultimate goal to have the best design to release.
I think you are looking at two different cars here. The early design study car has a black bucket seat interior and headliner. Brads car came factory with a white interior and headliner, and his original white headliner was still in the car when it was restored. We also have pics of Brads car as an earlier iteration, and can tell within a few weeks of when his 1st version was built from the inter-departmental meeting notes. There was also a yellow "design study" car with yet another striping version, and again we can tell when it was built from the factory notes. I have my own thoughts as to what the early design car ended up looking like. Duane
Is there no engine in this prototype? It sits awfully high in the front and it looks like daylight above the crossmember. Maybe the magazine pictures are clearer. I haven't cracked open the Hemming's yet.
