Читать книгу Lost Muscle Cars - Wes Eisenschenk - Страница 14
ОглавлениеBy Wes Eisenschenk with Denny Manner
We’ve all heard the old wives’ tales about one-of-one factory-built muscle cars. For years, people have chased these mythical machines in an effort to uncover history and possibly own the most rare of the rare. One truly is the loneliest number when dealing with factory prototypes and that’s why you rarely come across single factory-built specimens. That’s why rumors of a factory-built Buick GSX sporting the ultra-rare Stage 2 package were just that, rumors, for the longest time. That is, until Buick engineer Denny Manner set the record straight.
During the pinnacle of the muscle car era, Denny Manner and his other Buick Engineering cohorts designed what may have become the most wicked factory production car of all time. Much like the S/S AMX, WO23 Coronet, and Hurst Hemi Dart, Buick designed a power-plant exclusively for off-road use.
This formidable engine sported special heads with enlarged and raised exhaust ports designed for use exclusively with headers, 11:1 forged pistons with low-tension rings, an Edelbrock B4B intake adorned with an 850 Holley carburetor, and the most imposing hood scoop this side of the 1968 Hemi A-Bodies. The Buick Stage 2 engine was intended to dominate NHRA Super Stock, and only a scant few cars were ever so equipped.
This is the only known photograph of the mighty Buick Stage 2 GSX as constructed by Dennis Manner and Buick Engineering. Sadly, the car was dismantled a short time later. The hood survived and is currently on the Reynolds Buick GS, another car that received Stage 2 components. (Photo Courtesy Dennis Manner)
Factory-Built Stage 2
The prototype Stage 2 engine found itself residing between the fenders of an Apollo White Buick GSX at Buick Engineering. So was this technically a factory-built Stage 2 Buick GSX? The story goes, as told by Denny in the July/August 2013 GSX-TRA newsletter, “In early 1970, we factory-built a prototype 1970 GSX Stage 2, which the Buick sales and public relations departments used to promote Buick GS performance with both magazines and dealers through Bill Trevor at the GM training center in Burbank, California.”
Yes folks, the factory built a prototype Buick GSX Stage 2. This car wasn’t outsourced to Creative Industries of Detroit, Hurst, or any other of the performance builders in Detroit. It was built at Buick, by Buick engineers.
So what ever happened to this fabled Buick? For years rumors swirled that this factory-built Stage 2 caught on fire and was either destroyed or was residing somewhere ominous. Fortunately for automotive archeologists, Denny was able to put the rumors to bed in the December 2012 issue of Hemmings’ Muscle Machines: “I don’t know how the story ever got started about the prototype car ever catching on fire, which was not true, and I have been trying to correct that statement ever since.
“In addition to the Stage 2 development car I used as a workhorse at Buick Engineering, we built a prototype GSX car in Flint in Buick Engineering and sent it out to California for exposure and evaluation for the dealers, the racers, and the magazine writers.
“Upon its return to Michigan long after we had decided to not factory produce the package and we were about to retire the vehicle, one of our Buick engineers missed a shift driving it at our GM proving grounds and put a rod through the side of the block. It did not catch fire.
“We then disassembled the car and scrapped it out, but the special hood was donated to the Jones/Benesick Buick drag car they raced in California.”
So there it was, the hunt for the elusive factory-built Buick Stage 2 was over. A guy missed a shift and lunched the fabled prototype. Or did he?
Other Stage 2 Recipients
Well, yes, the story of the factory-built Buick Stage 2 had a not-so-happy ending, but what about the other cars supplied with Stage 2 components? Two confirmed cars that received these engines for testing purposes were the Pops Kennedy–Jim Bell car campaigned out of Reynolds Buick in West Covina, California, and the Dave Benisek–Dave Jones 4-speed car. Both have survived and have been accounted for.
Also in development at the time of the Stage 2 program were experimental four-bolt main bearing cap blocks and cylinder heads that featured the Stage 2 exhaust ports with an enlarged intake port that had a steep tube inserted in the port for the pushrod to go through. They became known as the “tunnel port” heads.
Tony Branson campaigned a 1969 Buick GS out of Burlington, North Carolina, and was selected by Denny to evaluate these heads and the four-bolt main block. Other Stage 2 parts were sent as well. With a specially fabricated high-rise intake manifold and dual quads, Tony was able to catapult the Buick to a best time of 9.17 in the quarter-mile. The Buick was very successful and the only competition that gave him trouble was the purpose-built Race Hemi A-Bodies.
Among the few Buick racers that received Stage 2 components was Tony Branson of North Carolina. Branson campaigned this 1969 Buick with the experimental four-bolt main bearing cap block. (Photo Courtesy Dennis Manner)
The undisputed king of Buick performance may well have been this experimental four-bolt main block with enlarged intake port heads and Stage 2 exhaust ports. Adorning this monster is a custom high-rise intake fabricated by Tony Branson. (Photo Courtesy Lance Marlette)
In 2006 at the Buick performance meet and race in Ohio, Tony’s heads and intake made an appearance, garnering much attention and confirming speculation. The speed parts were no longer with the car. A couple of years later, over dinner with Denny, Tony related that his Buick had been stolen. Unfortunately Tony passed away in March 2008, taking prized information on his Buick with him.
Tony Branson’s stolen 1969 Buick GS is still missing, along with the four-bolt main Buick Engineering block. These prized pieces of Buick history need to be located and recovered so that their story isn’t lost forever. If you have information on the missing Buick and engine, please contact the authorities. The Buick community will be eternally grateful.
