Those who were “in the know” back in 1970 were aware that the Skylark GS 455 Stage 1 was a very special car, but it managed to slip under the radar of many muscle car enthusiasts. That has all changed, and from a pure performance perspective, this is a car that can hold its own with the best from that era. This particular Stage 1 looks like quite an honest car, and it is being sold with a BIN price of $55,000, although there is the option to make an offer. It is located in Flemington, New Jersey, and is listed for sale here on eBay.
Tackling what we can’t see first, the owner says that the underside of the Skylark is as clean as a whistle, with the floors and frame both solid. The car has undergone a repaint at some point during the 1980s. It appears that it may have received a new quarter panel, door, and fender on the passenger side at that point. The paint was then vandalized after this work was completed, and that has been repaired, but some of the damage is still visible. There is also a small amount of rust appearing under one of the Stage 1 badges that will need to be addressed. Take a step back from the car though, and it really does look nice.
If you take the condition of the front seats out of the equation, the condition of the interior is actually pretty good. There is an issue with the headliner that will need to be addressed, while the front seats are both stained. There is also a seam separation on the driver’s seat, so it may be a better idea to replace the covers rather than to attempt a repair. Some of the plastic trim (especially on the backs of both front seats) is starting to show its age, but the rest of the interior trim such as the dash and floor console all look pretty good.
It was under the hood where things got pretty special with the GS 455 Stage 1. This engine received a number of major upgrades over the standard 455ci V8, including different cylinder heads, a different camshaft grind, and a specially tuned 4-barrel Quadrajet carburetor. The result was an engine that pumped out 360hp. The news with this particular car is all good, with it being a full, numbers-matching car. The engine was given a refresh and has only covered around 2,500 miles since this occurred. Hooked to the 455 is a Muncie 4-speed manual transmission, while power is fed to the road via a 3.64 Posi rear end. The engine has been fitted with aftermarket headers, but the original exhaust manifolds are included with the car. The owner has a ring binder full of original documentation for the Skylark, and these confirm that the car has only covered 68,000 original miles. All of this documentation is included with the car.
This 1970 GS 455 Stage 1 is a great car that needs very little work to really stand out. In 1970, there were 2,465 Stage 1 Coupes built, but of these, only 664 were fitted with a 4-speed transmission. These do come onto the market on a reasonably regular basis, but rarely as a 4-speed. That usually sees really good ones selling for prices in the region of $70,000, although higher prices aren’t unusual. When you take into account that this is a numbers-matching car and the work that would be required to get it to an immaculate state, then the asking price does seem to be quite reasonable.
Nice rare Skylark GS 455 Stage 1 with the factory 4-speed however, the story of the damage and unknowns sends up red flags for me.
55k, and it may need body work, definitely paint, and at least a partial interior. I think more like 40k, but given it’s a 4 speed and numbers matching, 45k.
But the market will decide.
What a torque monster!
Truly, fast with class.
Being a Buick guy myself, would
love to have it parked in the garage next to my 70 Skylark.
GLWTS.
Color threw me off, along with the inadequate rear tires. One hard launch would turn those into melted rubber. Haha.
Did an engine like this really need a 4 gear? With all that low end torque the automatic seems well suited, know I’ll eat it for saying that. This is a really nice car that must be driven to be really appreciated, if you know what I mean, but that kind of money will keep it parked for the most part. Bummer.
Heck yeah it needs the 4 speed it wouldn’t be as fun driving if it was an automatic on the floor I would shift it manually instead of leaving it in drive since it is hard on the transmission leaving it in drive and could ruin the transmission when doing burn outs or hard launches so the manual transmission is the better
There were 103 Aquamist GS 455’s built at the Flint plant in 1970. Deductive reasoning says that very few were Stage 1 cars and even fewer were Stage 1 4-speeds. This could be a single digit example of Buick muscle.
Nice color for this car, much more so than the typical brown or pale yellow. Love the light colored seats w the contrasting black carpet.
Seller text me earlier.
Car sold today but he didn’t say for how much. Someone got one super rare piece of Buick history.
Says sold for 45K
The front fenders always looked to me like they had bad body work done to them.
The quarter panel is flared and the front fender is flat. That was always odd to me.
I love this car. They are finally commanding big money, (not that I’m happy about that). I sold my driver quality 71 Skylark conv. For $7200 9 years ago, I’ll bet it’s worth twice that now. This thing is a beast with that 455 in it. Good luck to the new owner.
My heart skipped a beat. I had a 1970 GS exactly the same color back in the early 70’s. It was a 350, and could melt the tires at will. Best car that I have ever owned. Still regret selling it. I have had dozens of cars since then, but nothing could quite compare with the GS. Truly a classic.
I knew about these cars back in the day! My brother had one. The asking price is just a fantasy for the seller. Too much money for a car that most didn’t know about or care to know about. I saw that it was removed at 45g, he should have taken that, and ran to the bank quickly! JMHO
Good points all around, but for me especially the not knowing or want to know…guys my age(born in ’66) weren’t all that aware of these Buicks in the eighties at least early on, one night out cruising one of these pulled up along side and made a right turn to which my buddy replied “what year of Chevelle was that???”. It’s a BUICK, dummy!
I have no idea what the gear heads thought of these when new, but a certain magazine article in the mid to late eighties comparing it to a Hemi powered Mopar of sorts along with the rising popularity of the turbocharged GN and comparisons between the two seemed to launch these into the spotlight. Yellow GSX appeared out of nowhere in the neighborhood, man, of all the decaled up muscle cars that had to be the best looking.
Hemi Killer
Uh… no. The hemi was very, very conservatively rated at 425 hp. There is a reason the hemi mopped up at the drag strip and in NASCAR as well… the high RPM breathing of the hemi heads put that engine well above anything else. I think this is a neat and interesting and very quick car, but it’s not a ‘hemi killer’.
You must have not been privy to the grudge race back in the 80’s.
Don’t know much about muscle cars do you? The hemi was also hampered, severely, by it’s own weight. The lightweight casting methods used to make the big block Buick were quite advantageous.
I believe the term “Hemi Killer” that’s associated with the Buick 455, particularly the Stage 1 was given to ones that were in special tune. There was a specific cam grind for the 455 that was said to stomp a few Hemi powered cars. Again, these were very few that had been built with aftermarket parts and off production build methods that beat the big Hemi. By in large, the 426 Hemi took far more checkered flags than did any other competitor in it’s day.
Plates W. Virginia in front and New Jersey in the rear….Cop’s gotta love that !
Awesome looking car! My favourite part of the 1970 Skylark GS has always been the grille. :)
Always been my favorite muscle car of all time! I had a ’70 GS455 back in 1983. It was an awesome car! I still miss it to this day.
Friend of mine from high school had a 70 chevelle SS454 ,beautiful very fast car. He sold it and bought a 70 GS455,can’t remember if it was a stage 1,beautiful very very fast car.Both were 4spd cars,just seemed that the Buick was a tad bit nicer as far as the interior, a little more classy.Now mind you I’m a diehard chevy guy through and through,but that Buick was a Beast.
Very, very rare GS being a 4spd and IMO the perfect color for this car. I think some the assessments above are a little harsh. This is a highly desirable GM muscle car with matching numbers and good supporting documents. $35-40 grand isn’t a terrible buy for an original, complete Stage 1.
Agreed.
People forget the white one that sold at B/J back in January of 2017 that sold for $130K ish and that one was missing a key Stage 1 component.
This car with some TLC should command some serious loot.
Listing ended. Sold for $45,000.00.
Worth it, easily.