For the most part, Buick was content to stay away from the show and stripe packages with their muscle offerings in the 1960s. They preferred instead to pick colors from the mature palette, add chrome and give the beast enough torque to alter the earth’s rotation. Even when they finally did jump into the fray with the GSX for 1970, they remained willfully restrained: two bright colors, a mild stripe, and enough torque that anything else needed to think very, very carefully before trying out Dad’s hot rod. The downside, if there was one, was that Buick didn’t make many 1970 GSXs…production topped out at 678 and it’s torque figure of 510 ft/lbs stood until the 2003 Dodge Viper debuted.

For most people, that’s the end of the story, but Buick did make 1971 and 1972 GSXs – 124 for 1971, 44 for 1972. More colors were added, the 350ci V8 was an option, and the look remained unchanged apart from very minor trim changes that were found across Buick’s A-body line. The real-deal cars are money if you can document one, but what about a tribute? At Barrett-Jackson, that’s almost a dirty word…in the grand arena of million dollar cars and fierce bidding, the chances that this GSX-cloned Skylark will capture much attention are actually pretty low, and that may be all that’s needed for a score during the Scottsdale auction. The winning bidder of this no-reserve car will be happy with the purchase, for sure: a 462ci Buick mill should provide all of the grunt and then some, the paint looks absolutely stunning, and the interior has been treated to a mild upgrading that inludes a Dakota Digitial dash and a modern sound system. It might not be a six-figure resto job, but who wants a museum piece when you can go burn the hides off of a look-alike built to this quality?

Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale Auction 2018: Lot #71 – 1971 Buick Skylark GSX Clone