Here are some detail pics of the 1975 year only, Gran Sport decal stripes. Also note, the Gran Sport script decals on drivers front fender has been affixed at the factory about 2 inches lower than passenger side.
That is an awesome car. Good find. That decal placement is funny--I used to have a couple of '79 Trans Ams and searched a lot for parts; it was interesting noting the variances in placement on those cars. Some too high, some too low, hood birds not centered etc. Some seemed to be very carefully placed, like it was a matter of preference for the worker, some were more obviously the result of a person in a hurry. That was a package on every third car or so; I bet the assembly line went days without seeing a GS Century. I guess they wouldn't slow the line just to check the manual for placement. Patrick
Those little mess ups are pretty cool. Kinda like on Don's Cream '66 GS. One rear quarter has the Skylark bird and the other side doesn't.
Rich, thanks for sharing this. This car really is important as like you said, it caps off the 65-75 Buick Gran Sports. I love the stripe on the front fender that continues on the door. You can see how they carried over ideas from the GSX for the large stripe that goes down the entire length of the car. They didn't do a bad job in my opinion, but they could have cleaned the back of it up better...we all know how nice the stripes on the GSXs look, going over the rear spoiler. Anyways, very cool. If you need floor pans:laugh: send me a PM, I have a floor section out of a 77 Century. And was the 3-speed manual actually available as it says in those documents? Actually, I might recall seeing a Regal or Century from 76-77 that had a 3-on-the-tree on this board. I think someone on here owns it. Post some pictures of the engine when you get a chance. :beer
Thank you guys I agree ,with so few of these cars being built, line workers probably just put Gran Sport front fender decal where they thought would look best. If you look on Sloan documents ,it has option I 4 "No Air conditioner". I would assume most 1975 Buick Century's had factory AC, but this car being ordered here in Ontario, does not have AC. Yes, the stripes are very GSX like ,the family tree line of thinking, was well at work, when Buick designers created the 75 Gran Sport stripes. You could could only get a 3 speed manual on the tree with base 231 V6 engine. Here are some engine bay pics,note the no AC, and last pic shows canister style oil pressure sender unit for oil pressure gauge in rally gauge cluster.
Does anyone have any 1975 Buick Century/Gran Sport magazine road tests /articles they can post or email me? Secondly, has anyone here, ever owned a 75 Gran Sport ? Does anyone have any pictures of other 75 Century Gran Sport's they can post?
I can see the Line Workers, What The Hell Is This? The Manifest (Build Sheet) would tell them, but where do I put the Stripes. All kinds of havoc would break out. I'm willing to bet this and every One of the GS cars went to Repair to get things straightened out. I used to own a '75 Regal with a 350/4 engine. 12 mpg and not enough power to get out of it's own way. Sure did like it tho. PONCH
Rich, here are a couple I have. I was looking at getting the gray one from a member in MT. But he seemed to have dropped from the board.
Yes I remember the silver original paint 75 Gran Sport that was for sale few years back. That car was a bench seat column shift car as I recall
Rich, Can't believe this is a non-AC car. What a find! I wonder if they actually made any at all with the 231, 3-speed manual set up??o No:
Yes I agree, by 1975 almost all new cars had factory AC, but in the Great White North still good percentage of new cars did not have AC. The 231 V6 would have been a 3 speed on the tree and was apparently from my research 75 Gran Sport only. The pic above of the Red 75 Gran Sport repainted with no stripes, is from what I know, a factory base motor 231 V6 car, do not if it is and auto or 3 speed on tree?
Rich enjoyed seeing this post. I had a 1975 regal I drove for years, really enjoyed the car. Seeing a GS in this year is really cool. I have the original AM 8 track stereo out of it if you want it. Not sure why they made that combo in the radio.
I don't know how I missed this thread when it was first posted I love that Corvette-style three-spoke steering wheel. Was that GS only?
My Dad bought a LeSabre new in '75 with the 350 4bbl (base engine for the car) It moved ok, but yeah, it was NOOO powerhouse tho, a whopping 165 hp The 455 in '75/'76 wasn't much better, 205 hp:shock: Definatly a dark time for V8 performance from ANY automaker.
I think it was around 1975 or '76 when a Dodge Omni would beat a Corvette in the quarter-mile. Sad. The good news is that in many states (believe it or not the Peoples Democratic Commonwealth of Massachusetts is one of them) a 1975 automobile no longer comes under the emission laws, so you are free to install any monster engine that you want. You could build up a super-strong 350 that would still look pretty much stock.
