Come on people, you're breakin' my heart :ball: Question: Has anyone seen a '73 or '74 stage 1 in colors other than black body on white interior? All I've seen have been this combo. Dash's and carpet are usually black although I saw one, those items red. "The biggest problem with the '73-4s is the sheetmetal for all GM products for those years was of a much less quality than ever, someone told me they changed steel vendors for '73, trucks, cars all of them, my sister's first car was a '73 Chevelle with a straight 6 look good when she got it but within a few years it was a major rust mess too." This does not surprise me. I heard GM spent a bunch of money fixing rusted out trucks. They couldn't even get through their one year warranty without perforation. Another problem: paint/primer were crap. Anywhere water got trapped on top of the paint it would just blister right off. I've had to be really diligent with my '75 to keep this in check.
Except for... On a positive note, the driver was salvageable, if I am remembering the correct accident. Always good to have 'big iron' around you when something like this happens.:TU:
Any color as long as it's black! Dave, My evil first girlfriend had a burgandy and white 73 Stage 1 4-speed. Every other one I've seen was like you said, black . Soon after we broke up (this girl WAS "Run around Sue" wow!) she had the car crushed. Just to make you feel better here's a picture of a Mopar suffering a like fate. You gotta love how they pulled (or maybe "DRAGGED" is a better word) the drivetrain out of it! UGH! This car had TWO option tags.
A friend of mine, Fernando Alvare, has a '73 Stage 1 4 spd that he has owned since high school (when it was only a couple years old). In the mid-eighties he did a complete frame-off restoration. He still owns the car. It is dark blue with white interior. Fernando is a member of Skylark Drive and the GSCA if you have any questions. I even saw a picture of his car floating around the internet a few months back.
Dave to make you feel better, the 74 stage 1 car that is in town is white on white. the 73 GS455 that I am watching is currently white but originaly green and will be green again , with white/brown. George Hall in Mich had/has a brown 74 stage 1 Tim
I had a 73 Stage 1 that was a medium blue with white interior. I cant remember the name of the blue. It had the black dash, carpet, and console. I bought it for $500, and put some valve springs in and it ran great. Had the floor rust, but not too bad on the outside. I kind of wish I had it back. Oh well, Pete
I believe that the only bucket seat interior for the '73 GS was white, the bench seat versions were black, brown and white. in '74 the buckets came in several more colors including burgandy, and brown, beige, I'll have to look all that up in my books/stuff when I get a chance in the next few days. George Hall does still have the '74 by the way, he and Ellen were at the GS Club-Michigan Chapter Garage Tour in February 2002, in Hastings, MI. He is racing a '91 Skylark with a 454 Chevy, saw him at Mid-Michigan Motorplex in April making some time runs. Ellen is still racing the GN with a Chevy engine! We gave them a lifetime membership of the Michigan Chapter at the garage tour, since they started the club in 1984 and we are still going strong! They were totally surprised and enthused by that gesture. Email them at: gsfarm@i2k.com and say Hey, I'm sure they would love to hear from any of their old Buick friends. RV
I think you are right about the 73's and the white bucket seat interior, at least that is what I always heard. Now my 74 stage had black power bench interior. It was a special order car, also said so on the build sheet. Pete
Wow!! So much info!! Thanks guys:TU: Marco & Jeff: I thought I had seen Fernando Alvare's car before so I checked, and sure enough, it's featured on pages 32 & 33 of "The Great Book of Muscle Cars" by Publications International LTD. Fernando is listed on the credits as the car's owner. From the pics in that book I could have sworn that car was black. Man, what a bad ride. Would love to see what that four speed looks like on the inside. John: Unfortunately the photo of that poor '70 Coronet didn't make me feel any better. :ball: You see I'm also a Mopar fan and one of my other cars is a '71 Challenger. Thanks for the thought though.
Dave Ah, sorry Dave, Yes I have looked at that car many times trying to convince my self it could be brought back. I like em too. I know.....Let's try a Ford!
Just reread the article in the book I mentioned in my last post. It seems to confirm what Roberta thought about only 7 '73 Stage 1s being produced. It says "Of the 728 Stage 1s produced, 721 left the factory with the heavy-duty Turbo Hydara-Matic 400 transmission." Like Tim, I thought there weren't any 4-speeds in the Buick A-bodies so I always took this to mean the other 7 were with 350 trans'. Wow! Learn something new every day! So if Fernando Alvare owns one and John's ex had one crushed I wonder what happened to the other five. John: I think we should hunt down that horrid wench and make her pay for her crimes -- in some horribly disfiguring way. :blast:
Sorry John, still no good. I have a '67 Mercury Brougham in the shop we are restoring now. :grin: Dontcha ya have a pic of some smashed MaxiCamryCord or other import junk? Thanks for the effort:grin:
WHAT! SEVEN????? ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHH!:stmad: Man O man!!! Yeh she tried to have it crushed so none of us GS guys (used to be a bunch of us around here) could get ANY parts off it. One of the guys who about lived at the junkyard caught it in time to pull the 4 speed and all the linkage and pedals to convert his 70 Model 455 GS. Course then that car was stolen at the dealership while in for repairs and was a total loss after meeting it's match with a brick wall. Poor car was probably cursed by having parts from Sara's car. I always new it was very rare but SEVEN?ou: Well you got me back for the depressing pictures Dave.:ball: Fritz
Ok ok there are some rice burners in this link :boring: and just when I was getting ready to go to my Oldsmobiles and Pontiac pics.:Brow: http://www.carbuyingtips.com/disaster.htm You gotta check out the donkey and the cart picture too. Reminds me of some of the work loads we get these days! Ok, time to get a couple hours of shut eye (if the baby doesn't wake up). See Ya, :sleep:
mjs-13 said:I owned a 73 Stage 1 4 speed car earlier this year. Build sheet and sloan musuem documented car. Ok. two more accounted for. Three to go. You're right. Bedtime for me too.
5 accounted for. The 73 Stage 1 4 speed car that I got the sport steering wheel out of( put it in my 70 stage, I know wrong size) I pulled the grill emblem off it and still have it around here some where. that was early 83 in a bone yard in Howell, MI. sad to say though. One thing Roberta, the GSCA Mich chapter was started by the Halls in 1982. Tim
Check out this link for 73 4 speed GS That I found for sale. Is this one accounted for. on our list of the 73 4 speed cars, Also this one has black interior. Tim
Taken from 'The best of the GS-X-TRA - Tips, Tricks, and Quick Takes'. There is an article from Jim Moorhouse (July/Aug 1994) which addresses this. The guy states that there were more than 7 '73 Stage1 4-speeds produced. Here's the skinny from his article, with just the facts (directly from Buick) - you can speculate... 6,637 total '73 GranSports produced - 365 4-speeds (includes GS350, GS455, and GS Stage1) Sales code A1 was Stage1 (728 cars built) Sales code A6 was 455 motor non-GS option (99 cars built) Sales code A9 was 455 motor with GS option (979 cars built) No sales code 'A' meant no engine upgrade (base 350) I guess the trick is to find which cars came with A1 + A9 So, out of the 6637 cars, 1806 came with a 455 motor. 1,657 of the 1806 big blocks were documented TH400 cars, which leaves 149 big block 4-speeds. This is the farthest we can get with currently known facts (unless someone combs through the 1973 Sloan microfiche information). Jim also states option code A6 could only be ordered with a TH400. He speculates that around 75-80 1973 Stage1 4-speeds were produced.
Yer killin me! Tim! Now why did you have to show me that 73 4-speed car for sale? I'm not finished with the the 8 project cars I have and I'm about to fall in love with that one? ou: Ugh! Cool link though.Thanks:TU: Fritz
