As I was watching a GTO Judge ragtop go across the block at the Barrett-Jackson auction it got me to wondering why Buick never offered a convertible GSX. I am guessing it is because in 1970, Buick did not offer a 350 GS convertible. Does this sound plausible, or does someone know the factual reason if my guess is not correct? Cheers
Buick did offer a GS stage one convertible, and a GS 455 convertible so I think a 350 has nothing to do with it.
Here is the easy answer and it has been documented. They state in the Factory information, that there was not enough clearance between the rear spoiler and the rear quarter panels on a convertible. I guess they did not want to develop 2 different rear spoilers for a mid-year model, especially with a model they figured would have limited sales. Plus they would have had to make different paint masks for the convertible rear quarters and rear spoiler. You have to understand what was happening at the time...…………… The engineers were told about the lower compression for the 71 model year and were working with that, while trying to also address the reduced emissions the government was going after. Basically the writing was on the wall, with lower compressions, the muscle car days were coming to an end. The basic reason was Buick waited too long to jump into the "Striped" Muscle car market. They did offer a GSX for 1971, but it was not available at the start of the production year, and you had to really want one to wait for it. Then you had the GM strike in 71, which probably pushed it back ever further. For 72, there was no factory literature even showing how you could order one. It almost looks like the only dealer ships that ordered them were ones that knew how to do it for the 71 cars. The other thing to consider is even though WE like these cars, they were not the "target" market for your typical Buick Owner. I am sure there was a lot of flak sent their way about doing this type of thing in the first place. Duane
Also figure into the decision that, originally, GM planned to roll out the ‘new’ body style in ‘72. (I think the big strike delayed it?) Patrick
...IMO, additional factors included Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards enacted in '68, causing GM to phase out "unsafe" convertibles, and to a lesser extent hardtops (remember colonnade hardtop?). Also remember, car design begins about 5 years out and convertibles were gone mid '70s (albeit not for long, but at the time GM thought it would be forever). Also, GS convertibles only accounted for about 10% of (GS) production (900 of 9000 in '71). Also, "muscle cars" in general were creating insurance headaches, imagine how unsafe a muscle convertible was. In '71, Buick halfheartedly (SCO) dropped convertible bucket option. This one baffles me, were buckets considered less safe or was it just volume. I know OP asked about GSX, but convertibles in general were an issue...
Convertible sales had been tumbling. Look at the 1970 Mustang convertible numbers and compare it with 1965's. GM's phasing out of ragtops likely had more to do with sales (or lack thereof) than safety standards. And make note of the Eldorado, which lasted through 1976--plenty of time after 1970. And what about foreign convertibles that continued on afterwards? Shouldn't they have disappeared too?
Ford sold somthing like 600,000 Mustangs in '65 if the numbers I looked at are correct. They sold 150k or so in '70. And my word, the '70 Mustang was ugly. Chopping the top off wasn't going to help.
Yes and I mentioned total production. If they are producing 450,000 fewer cars doesn’t it seem reasonable that they would produce significantly fewer convertibles? So a reasonable estimate on the change in demand is closer to the gap between 18k and 7700 rather than 73k and 7700.
So how do you explain the Corvette? https://auto.howstuffworks.com/1968-1972-chevrolet-corvette7.htm The context was convertible Mustang production. I wanted to show how drastically things fell in just a few short years and how the body style was on the way out across the board in the industry.
