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.
By Bradley Broemmer
You can’t talk about the Sonic ’Cuda without also talking about the RTS ’Cuda. Both were built by legendary custom car builder Chuck Miller at his shop in Detroit, Styline Customs. Stylist Harry Bradley designed both cars.
As the years have passed, the lines separating these two cars have blurred dramatically, so much so that some Mopar fans still speculate they were the same car and it was just modified a bit during the course of a couple of years. However, Chuck Miller himself said they were entirely separate cars. The RTS ’Cuda was built and paid for by Plymouth directly and the Sonic ’Cuda was built and paid for by Promotions Inc., the company that ran the International Show Car Association (ISCA) World of Wheels custom car shows.
Miller’s Mods
The Sonic ’Cuda was built first and started life as a 383 Barracuda. It had a flat hood, basic black interior, console automatic, and no-frills basic black-on-black paint. The body modifications on all of Chuck’s cars were done with fabricated steel, including the nose treatment on the grille.
Stance is everything and this fish has it in spades. The ’Cuda made its rounds in the summer of 1974, including a stop in July at the Minnesota State Fair Grounds. (Photo Courtesy Mike Galewski)
The Sonic’s engine remained the stone-stock 383 4-barrel the car was born with, but because Cragar was also a sponsor of that car’s build, the company included a complete blower assembly along with a Fueler-style “bug catcher” unit and all the belts and pulleys. Chuck gutted this unit and mounted it atop the stock iron intake, hiding the 4-barrel and linkage underneath it all. It really looked functional, but it was just for looks.
Chuck said, “We hardly modified an engine back then for any of the show cars (other than dressing them up) because they were touring: They had to be dependable and easy to drive. Get ’em up on trailers and move them from town to town.” Chuck explained that he always tried to start with black cars because that way, they had black paint everywhere inside and out and if they didn’t have to modify an interior, black went with everything.
In photos the Sonic looks white with stripes all over, but that car wasn’t white: It was very very light pink. Promotions Inc. opted to make the Sonic ’Cuda into its grand prize giveaway car for the 1973 show season, and it was won by noted custom builder Jerry Pennington, who had won ISCA’s Ridler Award in 1972 with a custom known as The Scorpion. He won that award again in 1973 with a bizarre custom named The Devilish.
Among the many stops for the Sonic ’Cuda on the Rapid
