....you mashed a 455 Buick gas pedal "to the carpet" ? That feeling of being thrown back in your seat from the torque of a Buick :TU: Well, I hope that Paul Massicotte enjoyed it. Paul stopped by on Tuesday (it was a nice sunny day,but now 2 days later we've got 9 inches of snow/ice one the roads.....got to love New England weather)+when going out for lunch was suggested it was obvious which car to take out..the 1970 Stage1,but of course, because the roads were begging for a thrashing :laugh: On our way back I learned that Paul had never driven one before,(well we can't have that can we)so I decided to pull over+move to other seat so that Paul could "let 'em rip" :3gears: :3gears: It was nice to see that ear to ear smile! Spreading some of that Buick feeling around........PRICELESS Happy New Year everyone!
Jim, In a word no. I do remember the last one, and it has been to long. I just got my first ride down the last summer. It was great, thanks to P.D. in Kearney. I cant wait until my 70 is done, it will give me back ten years of life. I know you enjoy helping the Buick community, and time is at a premium. I have a suggestion (project) for you. You will be able to maximize your generosity to the community, and free up some time. Get a 20 passenger bus and lighten it up, put the bull dog in it and we will see you in Salem this August. Nothing fancy thou, all muscle, and a 4 speed would be nice. You will see smiling faces wherever you go in it. :laugh: And at the 20-1 ratio you will have more time to go pretzel shopping. Seriously, it was a very kind gesture for you to do. And Im sure it was appreciated. Just as you help to me was. I hope you have a great year. Patrick
I remember the first time, but unfortunately it left me wanting more. After the heads/cam swap was a whole different story though :grin:
yeah, I had been driving and old tired 350 for 5 years.. Shoulda seen my face when I mashed the pedal of the 455 the first time:shock:
Sixteen years old, just bought the GSX from my dad, brought the revs up and dumped the clutch. Scared the hell outta me! :eek2: :shock: I'm glad I didn't fish tail it into a pole. I learned respect that day. I guess the car had a little more power than my cousin's Orange '70 Nova with an inline six and three on the tree that I learned the concept of a hole shot on.
Brian McMillan was kind enough to let me drive his 72 GS455 convertible in Salem, coming back from a barley pop run. That was my first time behind the wheel of a 455 car, but I didn't feel mashing the pedal would have been a very good idea... :error: But I could feel the obvious difference compared to my 350. Just gotta keep savin' those nickels and dimes for JW.
I was 16 in my dads 76 Electra Limited. In high school, that was a real sleeper. Beat more kids up with at 455. The old "pimp-mobile" got quite a reputation in town :laugh:
When I was 19 and brought my stage 1 home on a trailer in bad shape, but the motor had been rebuilt for national dragway before the car was left in a garage for about 7 years. That first holeshot on old g-60 bias plys in front of my parents house was a lot different from my 67 gta mustang. Worst thing was I couldn't do it again for 6 months because my old man wouldn't let me drive the car until we finished the body....
Well the first time I ever drove my 455, well lets say it wasn't running real well. I was dissappointed really.I did have a really cool smoke screen effect behind me when I did though. After rebuilding the carb though, Life was better. A buddy of mine said it wasn't so much how fast it went as how much it just kept pulling.
29 years ago.....summer of '76.......I didn't have my license yet.....I had just finished rebuilding the motor in my '66 Riv. My dad wouldn't let me......so my friends and I got in and took her around the block........I left a long dark skidmark in front of the house and scared the sh** out of myself! Good thing I didn't get busted.......the residential speed limit was 30 and by the time I reached the end of the block we were doing over 80.........and I couldn't stop and had to blow the stop sign! ou: No "Buicks are slow" comments from my friends! :Brow:
Most memorable for me was when I was 15 and after hanging around a buddies front yard helping him build a stage II for his GS ( he was the parts guy at our local Buick dealer) the car was a stageI 4 spd car and when he finished it I got to ride in it for the maiden run :eek2: :3gears: I've never been so scared in my life. The bad part of that ride was the thing cought on fire and burned to a crisp becouse he didnt have the tail pipes installed yet and the exhaust exiting the muff's just in front of the rear axle burned up the brake lines and, well our local fire dept had to put the thing out :ball: Last I heard that car was wasting away in a cornfield somewhere in southern Illinois :af: All my buddies have tried over the years to assertain the whereabouts of the car with no luck. D.
The ride. Back in 1976 my freind's older brother worked at a Chevy dealer detailing cars. When a Gold '70 Riviera came through on trade that only had about 10,000 miles on it. He snapped it up and puttered around at first, not thinking it was very fast at all. Then, when tuning it up he discovered the secondaries were stuck shut form lack of use. So, he stops by my house one day and says "GET IN!" We went to an open stretch of road were he mashed on the pedal from a dead stop. I remember the feeling of g forces pushing me into the seat and my feet feeling lighter as they wanted to come up of the floor. HOLY $***!!!!!! :shock: I always liked Buicks, but now I was really hooked! This car was affectionatley known as "Ol Gold" by all of us. I later bought it for use as a winter beater. It wasn't in very good shape by then from all the thrashings we had given it. Not to mention all the damaged body panels from when he ran from the cops for 45 minutes one night. But, that's another story.
My first muscle car ride was in our neighbor across the street's 70 442 W30, 4 spd when I was 16. Man....he hit it in 2nd gear going DOWN a hill than then went uphill.Like a rollercoaster! I almost bought his nice 66 442 but didn't like the 2 speed auto. Ended up buying my 67 Riv GS ($450), that I still have. Raced him in the 66 442 and took him out and I was hooked on Buicks. Bruce
Not me - Not my story but it was so good I have to share it - This is from my friend Scott Williams, who told me about his first time. There was this guy that lived over by him in Hazel Park, Michigan. He had a SuperPro Camaro, a bracket car with a liftoff front end etc, probably a low nine second machine. Scott used to ride his bike over to this guy's house and watch him work, hand him wrenches, etc. Well, Scott rode his bike over there one night and the guy was just finishing putting the motor back in. He told Scott "ok, now it's time to wash 'er up". So Scott starts finding the bucket and dragging the hose out and the guys says "Nope. We're going to take it down to the quarter wash". So they load up and drive it down 8 mile over to the car wash, no front clip or lights on the car (and no passenger seat, either). They hose the thing off, get it all dried off and head back to the house. After they get straighted out on 8 mile again he looks over at Scott and says "Ready?". Remember, Scott is not in a seat but is crouched down on the passenger side hanging onto the roll cage tubing. Before Scott can answer, this guy does this HUGE smokey burnout right there on 8 mile. Then, HE BACKS UP IN THE SAME TRACKS, hits the trans brake and launches the car. BAM!! Does a full quarter mile pass, wide open through all the gears AND THEN PULLS THE CHUTE!! They get the thing slowed down, Scott wobbles out and throws the chute in the back, and they run home and stick it in the garage. Well, by now it's 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning. A little while after they get back there is a knock on the door. Yep, it's the "local constabulatory". "You guys been drivin' this thing?". "Nope" they say. Of course, it's sitting steaming in the background, hot as all get out, oil mist coming out the breathers.... I laughed so hard I couldn't breathe. Of course I've heard of guys taking a shot on a city street but NEVER, EVER heard of someone (a) doing a burnout first (b) backing up in the tracks and (c) pulling the chute!! K Disclaimer - The views expressed in this post are those of the storyowner and not necessarily shared by the storyteller, website or its managers. We do not condone unsafe driving or exhibitions of speed on city streets. Don't drink and drive. Know when to say when. Offer not available in Delaware.
That's a good one, Keith. When I first put my scoop on my GS I was getting turbulence problems. So between rounds at the local track I put the air cleaner on and went out the gate and up the road....slicks and open exhaust and all. A friend of mine wanted to come along so she got in the backseat since the pass seat was out. She sat there holding onto the crossbar of the rolllbar. After I went thru the gears. I looked back and she was literally shaking. The quickest she had been in was a 13 sec car and this was mid tens. Bruce
We would be willing to ship Jason out there for a small fee.....He'd prolly locate it before you could say "Chee-buger" :laugh: :laugh:
I remember years ago,Bob Christo let me drive his '71 Stage 1 and I couldn't believe it. The moment I mashed the gas pedal left me stunned :shock: and respecting these awesome engines. :3gears: When you feel 510 ft/lbs. of torque,it is going to put a smile on your face,like it did mine. :grin: All I can say is Buick made a great engine and it is good to see these engines finally getting the respect from the motoring world. They were (and are)truly "Going fast with class" engines :TU:
Torkin' BBB's....... I've had my 72' for almost 3 years . The only time I've driven it was to bring it home . It was a 350 and tired but man for a small block it would "Git with the program . I can hardley wait to drive it with the 455 . (soon I hope) . I'm trying to think ...........( I'll let ya know when the screamin' stops)......... Oh, Okay , I feel better :laugh: The last Big Block I drove was my 64' Chrysler w/383 ;to big to be scary ,then,a 69' Cutlass w/455 . Got 7 speeding tickets in 4 months :Brow: that was in 79' . Before that was 71' Ranchero with a factory 429 CJ. that I stuck on it's roof @ 90+ MPH . :jd: I'm alot older and I think I've got that outta my system . Can't wait though to see and feel the REAL meaning of power :3gears: Steve
I remember the day in 1999, that I went to look at the car I now own, my 70 Stage1. The owner had performed a frame off restoration, and the car looked great to me. When he offered me a test drive, I didn't hesitate. Driving it around town, it was tight and quiet. About halfway through the test drive, he directed me to an on ramp for a 2 lane highway. I stopped at the stop sign, before the on ramp. I then proceeded to accelerate moderately to get onto the highway. As the car shifted into second gear, he said to me don't be afraid to stomp it. Well OK, balls to the wall it went :laugh: The THM400 downshifted into 1st gear, chirped the tires, and put me back in the seat like I had never been. I was used to my 72 Skylark 350-4 with the 2.56 rear. In comparison, I felt like I was being launched off the deck of the Nimitz in an F-16. I was hooked, and bought that car the same day. Nothing like Buick torque! My cars only a 13 second ride. I been in a few 11 second cars on the street. I can just imagine what it feels like when you hook up all that torque on a set of slicks, and it hikes your butt halfway up the seat, and wants to throw you through the rear window. The Chevy guys just don't understand.
Never driven anything Buick before and I found my boattail sitting on the back of a used car lot and loved the way it looked. So I decided I had to do a test drive. I took out to a nice straight stretch of road and put my foot to the floor. I about Sh*&. I thought somebody had punched me in the gut. That feeling of torque just blew me away. I have never been the same.... :Brow:
