GM 1967 Golden Years

[Z28SSMAN]

image_1297.jpg
Ahh...1967! Growing up in the '60s observing the new GM performance offerings was kinda like being in a candy store. Wasn't old enough to buy a new one, but doesn't take away from the memories engrained into my brain

[Bluetcster]

Cars were pretty sweet in the late 60's for all the manufacturers.

[Fast One]

Sure wish I still had my '67 Buick GS 400 4-speed ragtop. Was one of only 400 GS ragtops made with a 4-speed. Only ran 13.8s in the 1/4, but it sure was a fun car!

[Z28SSMAN]

Extremely rare. Would be worth more than most could afford to buy today. Easily over 6 digits.

[Fast One]

Yeah, long story. Bought it when I came home from the Navy in '76. Was in good shape. The 2nd yr I owned it, a local dickhead in Warroad totaled it in the middle of the night, while it was parked on the street in front of my folks' place. He pulled up sideways in the street with his pickup & rammed the front clip, then moved over & rammed the driver's door, then moved over again & rammed the driver's side rear. There were witnesses, but the cops didn't do a fucking thing to him!

I sold it to one of my best buddies, Al, who had a '66 Chevelle with nearly 400k miles on it that had seen everything from the stock 283 2bbl, to a 425 Olds Super Rocket, to a 400 Pontiac. He wore all of 'em out! It needed everything - driveline, suspension, you name it. We took everything that moved off the GS & put it into his Chevelle - engine, trans, rear-end, suspension, you name it. That was in the late '70s. Fast-forward to the early '80s, and we found out how rare the GS was. We went back to his dad's land, where all of the family's junked cars sat & everything was gone. The scrap metal guys had talked his dad into selling all of the old iron.

Al drove that Chevelle until he passed away from esophageal cancer in 2002. His younger brother Randy got it after that & he drove it for another decade-plus. He finally wore the Buick 400 out & dropped a 400 SBC into it. Still had the 4-speed & posi from the GS. The plot thickens...

Al had originally bought the Chevelle from my absolute best bud, Art - who had bought it second-hand after he came home from 'Nam in '72. Art & I drove that fucker sideways around pretty-much every dirt road within 100 miles of Lake of the Woods. It never got bent or even saw a ditch. 4 yrs ago, Art decided to buy it back from Al's brother Randy! Art was a retired body-shop owner. Still had original paint & sheet-metal. Old & faded, with a bit of bondo here 'n there - but not bad for half a million miles driving in Minnesota! His plan was to restore it to it's original condition, so it would look just like it did when new. He bought a new 283 2bbl & powerglide, all new factory-appearing interior, new glass, and all new sheet-metal - including the weld-in stuff like the roof & rear quarters.

Then he started getting sick from COPD, due to years of painting Imron paint without a "moon suit". Was gonna have a shop from Thief River Falls do the restoration. Art is the same buddy who bought my GN back from my brother ~5 yrs ago when he was gonna sell it out from under me - and then held onto it until I could afford to buy it from him. We had planned to take the Chevelle & GN on a tandem cruise around MN after he got it rebuilt. Well...Art didn't make it. COPD got him last year.

His wife died a number of yrs ago (I introduced them to each other back when she & I were in high-school, and Art had just got home from 'Nam). They only had one kid - Allison. She told me that she's gonna have the car rebuilt like Art was gonna do. And when it's done, we're gonna do the cruise that Art & I had planned. Here's a pic of Art's Chevelle on the way to the shop. When done, it will still have a bit of my '67 GS in it. She's keeping the GS's 3.36 posi rear-end, A-arms, springs, and swaybars. Fuck, makes me tear-up just writing this. Art & I were all-time best friends, ever since he & his mom moved to Warroad back in 1969.
Arts 66.jpg

[Z28SSMAN]

Wow! What a story! Lotta history. Thanks for a sharing

[Fast One]

Yeah, I think it would be worth an episode on one of the car-guy shows on MotorTrend TV. Don't know how to make that happen.

That Chevelle is the car that taught me the difference in weight between GM engines. When we pulled the 283 & dropped the dual-quad 425 Super Rocket from his uncle's Olds into it, the front-end went to the ground. Had to change the front springs. Had to change 'em again when we dropped-in the 400 Pontiac. When we dropped my 400 Buick into it, the front-end stayed right at the top of the stops. Didn't come down at all. We had to put the front springs from the GS in, 'cause the Buick 400 was so much lighter than either of those engines. That's when I started reading-up & found that a cast-iron 400/430/455 Buick is only 25 pounds heavier than a cast-iron 283 Chevy! 600 lb for the big-block Buick vs 575 lb for the SBC. The BBB was lightest factory cast-iron big-block of the old era, along with the 500 Caddy which also weighs only 600 lb!