The Buick GS as a Muscle Car

In 1965, General Motors set out to compete with other companies to make muscle cars. These cars started out on other vehicles already available. Buick chose the Skylark to build the GS. A GS is a Grand Sport car. The biggest available engine at that time was a 401 cubic inch engine. They put this engine into the Skylark and dubbed it the Buick GS. They sold almost 16,000 the first year it was available. 11,351 were two door hard tops, 2,282 were two door coupes and 2,147 were convertibles.

Throughout the years the Buick GS had many modifications. In 1966, Buick blacked the grill out. In 1967, the Buick GS changed from the 401 cubic inch engine to a newer more modern 400 engine. In 1968, Buick came out with what they dubbed the junior GS, which had a smaller engine. This engine was a 340 cubic inch engine. They also lost 4.4 inches in length in 1968 and 3 inches off the wheel base. Cars were getting smaller and Buick knew they had to change with the times.

1968 also brought about the California GS, sold exclusively in California. The California GS had California decals and a standard two speed automatic transmission. This model also sported the 350 engine, which boasted an increase in both horsepower and torque. They claimed that the horsepower increased by eight percent and the torque increased by six. By the mid-1970s, the muscle car era was coming to an end. By 1974, Buick discontinued making the Buick GS. What a run it had though.