1970 Prototype being sold again!

It's not a debate or a dig at the OP. This car has been listed for sale many times and I don't recall it being referred to as a prototype before. It's not a prototype and the seller referring to it as one is incorrect and a misrepresentation at best and a money grab at worst. A buyer ought to know what he is getting...

 

If I was a wealthy man..

I would buy that car, do a show quality job of putting a custom made white carpet set back in it, and then get my hands on a roll of that sticky back plastic GM uses to protect the seats/carpet on new cars..

So it did not get dirty when I turned it into a Stock Eliminator race car...

Then any post about that car would be worth reading... either how cool it is as a stock elimin car, or how crazy I am for doing it.. I mean, the thing is not street legal anyway, and the clear glass would make a great tidbit for the announcers at the tracks.

it would have to be better than this thread.. over and over again..

JW

 

When John owned it.

 

I sure wish I had bought it back a couple years ago at $65,000!

 

Why is it not street legal?

 

Clear windshield... Not DOT approved.

JW

 

So Buick made a special windshield for this '70 Buick? What's different about that clear glass versus the clear glass that is in my '70 Nova which is completely clear with no tint and no shading across the top?

 

Buick fans are just lucky to be able to have a discussion like this because so many other manufacturers just cut-up or crushed "show cars" or "prototypes" (let's just all agree to manufacturer-built custom vehicles) which were likely never intended to be sold to the public (at least not to be registered to drive on public roads). It's amazing to me that these vehicles still exist and are in private hands who care for them and the history which they represent - regardless of reselling.

 

It's my understanding that even "clear" glass has a certain level of tint required in it, when used as a windshield. Duane or Brad might have better info on this, as they are more informed as to what Buick did with the Show cars, but I do recall reading on here that it was a special piece of glass.. not the standard DOT approved Clear Windshield.. Which would make some sense, since they want folks to look thru it and see the inside of the car as well as possible.

But, then again, I have been known to be wrong when it comes to the car show minutia.

I'd still race it...

JW

 

The shading strip across the top is not the only part of tinting auto glass ... they're two different things, I believe. The entire panel of glass is tinted (not as much as the shaded portion) when tinted glass is present.

This red GS show car is an example of no glass tint present at all (and no shading). Also, if Buick had installed a "regular" non tinted or shaded winshield in this GS, the darker windshield glass would have looked very odd from the clear (non-tinted) side and backlight glass in an inside car show invironment. Which, is probably the exact reason Buick built the car in the first place with the striking all white-out custom interior.

 

Jim I'd race it too. Heck if I was really rich I might even take it step further and restore it back to a plain white GS Stage 1. Probably be easier to sell the car down the road in that configuration anyway.

My Nova doesn't have the tinted windshield option (and no shading at the top) and the glass sure looks crystal clear to me when I've driving it. So are you saying that even a "clear" windshield really does have some tint but it's just not enough to notice it? Maybe that slight tint is due to it being safety glass? So did the '70 GS show car have a windshield in it that wasn't safety glass to make it optically clear? If so, does anyone know if it still has a special windshield in it today?

 

On cars with tinted glass,
The windshields use clear glass and the plastic sheet between the two pieces of glass is tinted.

These same cars use tinted safety glass for all other locations. This is tempered glass that shatters into small pieces when it breaks.

Non tinted glass cars have windshields that use a non tinted plastic sheet between the two pieces of glass. They also use non tinted safety glass at all other locations.

I remember seeing non tinted glass, with no tint at the top on cars from back in the day. That was very common back then, but is something you almost never see today, as it is not reproduced.

I never thought John’s car had a special wind shield, just that it was non-tinted.

I could be wrong of course, just never thought it was special.

Also, the tint for all three manufacturers of our glass, LOF, PPG, & DCL, are all different and the side glass should not be mixed and matched, as the different tints are noticeable when you put them next to each other.

John’s car was an engineering design study car, where they were looking at different types of interior materials and colors, plus different types of exterior paints.

I think the reason everyone gets excited about the glass is because we never see it today.


The problem with John’s car is the fact that it really doesn’t look that much different then a production model. That is what hurts the value.
Duane

 

All I know is this car was a real treat to see in person at the 2004(?) BPG nats. The glass was noticably clearer than our OEM spec cars, and the white interior was stunning. Of course the "Don't call it a prototype" GSX was there too. Good times.

 

What was the production number less than 100 when it came off the line?

And has anybody seen it in the last few years what’s the overall condition of it?

 

False . You can’t tint below the AS-1 line . It dosen’t say you have too . Nobody cares about a 53 year old car that’s exempt from safety / emissions testing anyways . Wear some ray-bans and go drive it .

 

Oh, I would... that clear glass would be great to see the Christmas tree thru...



Thanks for the input Duane to help clear that up.

JW

 

No problem, just trying to help.
Duane

 

Brad has stated that this car is only a few units apart from his GSX show car which was built the first week of September '69, so it's definitely early car but not anywhere near the first 100. By the first week of September the body numbers were well over 35,000. It's conceivable that it could be one of the first hundred Stage 1 cars since they are somewhat rare.

 

Maybe Brad can shed some light?

 

I think you're mistaking "shading" and "tinting". You can't shade below the AS-1 line .... shading is the dark horizontal band seen across the top of the windshield panel.
Tinting effects the entire glass panel ... in the case of the windshield (tempered safety glass), the laminate plastic layer has a slight tint to it which is really only seen when a piece of clear glass is placed next to it.
For example, look for pics of the red show car sitting next to a regular production GS .... you should see that the windshield of the red show car has no tinting at all.
Remember n GM called it "Soft-Ray" for a reason ... lightly tinted.