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A 1970 Buick GS hid an engine most muscle car fans have never heard of: an 11.0:1-compression 455 built for Super Stock racing and estimated past 500 horsepower, that Buick scrapped before a single customer could order one. Only two prototypes ever existed, and incoming emissions rules buried the program before it ever reached a factory build sheet.
Only 81 Buick GS 455 Stage 1 convertibles were built for 1971, and just 72 of those got an automatic transmission — making this triple-black example one of the rarest muscle car convertibles GM ever produced. A magazine once claimed a car just like it could beat a Hemi Plymouth GTX in the quarter mile. Here’s the story behind the numbers, and the Jim Morrison ad campaign that almost never happened.
Buick built the 1969 GS 400 Stage 1 to out-punch flashier muscle cars while wearing a luxury convertible’s clothes. This triple-black four-speed survivor is one of the rarest option combinations Buick ever built, hiding 345 horsepower and 440 lb-ft under a completely understated shell. Here’s the story behind the numbers most people never notice.
