1975 Buick Century Free Spirit Indy Pace Car EXTREMELY RARE!!!

Description

UP FOR BID IS A 1975 BUICK CENTURY FREE SPIRIT PACE CAR. ALL ORIGINAL RUST-FREE NORTH CAROLINA CAR-STILL HAVE THE NC TITLE.THE CARHAS BEEN GARAGE STORED FOR MANY YEARS. INCLUDES HURST HATCHES, BUCKET SEATS, CONSOLE. THE CAR IS COMPLETE WITH MANY EXTRA PARTS INCLUDED IN THE SALE PRICE. SOME OF THE EXTRA PARTS INCLUDE:

NOS PASSENGER SIDE REAR-QUARTER

NOS GRILLE

EXTRA DRIVERS SIDE FRONT FENDER & DECK LID

75% OF EXTRA INTERIOR PARTS IN MATCHING COLOR

MANY, MANY MORE MISCELLANEOUS PARTS AND LITERATURE...

I HAVE INCLUDED AN ARTICLE ABOUT THE CAR FOR YOUR READING PLEASURE AS WELL AS A FEW PHOTOS OF WHAT THE CAR WOULD LOOK LIKE FULLY RESTORED.

Promofile: The 1975 Buick Century Pace Car

By: Patrick Smith
Mention the 1975 Buick Century Pace Car today and you'll likely get a shrug or blank stare. Only Flintophiles will know that Buick did indeed campaign a bunch of 1970s era pace cars. It's an odd fact that in 30 years of the auto industry I haven't yet seen a real 1975 Century Pace Car, only photographs. I've done loads of car shows and auctions so it's possible I missed one, but I have the programs too and not one shows up. I assumed when doing this article that they were quite rare. Well, it turns out that they're rare but by no means gone or forgotten! Truth is, there are quite a few of these cars in Ontario.
Some background first, in 1975 Buick Century was picked for the Indianapolis Race held every year in May. The Pace Car is an honored American Auto Industry tradition and manufacturers vie for the privilege every season.May is perfect for a Spring promo venture to get customers into the showrooms and jump start sales. Ironically, Buick was chosen just after their run with the Skylark GS series had terminated!Usually factoryPace Cars and dealer replicas are quite similar.It wasn't so with the Century, quite a lot of changes were made by the factory and customerviaordering options. They weren't package cars the way some Pace Cars were. Actual Pace Cars were track tuned and given special magnafluxed chassis parts and lighting for safety. The actual Century Pace Car was455 four barrel poweredwith dual exhaust, heavy duty suspension, front and rear stabilizer bars, GR70X15 steel belted tires, and a hatch roof conversion. The body color was white with flashy full side decals in red and blue with a hawk image on the front fenders and hood. The words "Free Spirit' and 'Buick' were added. This was extremely brash for Buick. Inside it was trimmed with bucket seats, console and the usual list of creature comforts.
The dealer pace car replicas differed by way of equipment. You got theHurst hatch roofpanels and same body as the Pace Car.The engine was a 350 V8 and tires were substituted with "GM Specification radial tires GR70X15." Other changes includedvariations in power windows, door locks, audio sound equipment and bumper trim. One car even came with a column shift automatic. The standardized features included graphics, white paint, Glacier Blue interior with White vinyl bucket seats, Hurst Hatch panels, 350 four barrel V8 and TH350 transmission, air conditioning, X2 rally steering wheel, white rally wheels with trim rings and GS style black out grille.The heavy duty suspension was toned downto make it more pleasant for road use. Buick knew a 455 V8 was a tough sell after OPEC's embargo and no way were they going to pay to have magnafluxed suspension goodies and race tires put on a street car. Lawyers needed to sleep at night too! No455 V8 Century Pace Cars were made as replicas.As for rarity, Buck supposedly made 1700, but the real total could be less than 400.One enthusiast searched for 17 years before getting one that was drivable.
As delivered the Century was nice. A sporty interpretation of the Colonnade design from 1973 mixed with the hip new targa panels and tri color graphics made it a neat car without being garish. Buick Pace Car designer, Gary Smith, recalled his contributions to the project in an online interview at deansgarage.com in 2009. "The body design itself seemed to suggest to me a waving flag, so that's what I proposed. Studio management bought the idea from the first sketch. The country was anticipating the 1976 Bicentennial so the paint scheme was in anticipation of all things patriotic." Gary remembers some controversy relating to the hawk decal. "I do remember having a battle over the orientation of the free spirit hawk graphic.Whenever the graphicswere attached to the car, the designers kept layingthe hawk back on itstail.I insisted that it be vertical like the old Richfield emblem.I must havegotten my way." Gary Smith also designed graphics for severallater eraBuick Pace Cars. Today, they're beautiful artifacts from a time when gas was cheaper than dirt and the V8 was still King.
*Article copyright 2011 by Patrick Smith pictures by PHS Media. Posted 2nd May 2012 by Patrick Smith Labels: 1970s Indianapolis Pace Cars 1975 Buick Century Buick 350 four barrel engine Buick Century Pace Car GR70x15 raised white letter tires Hurst Hatchs X2 rally steering wheel
BUYER IS RESPONSIBLE FOR VEHICLE PICK-UP OR SHIPPING ARRANGEMENTS & COSTS. NO WARRANTY EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED. VEHICLE IS SOLD AS-IS, WHERE IS. NON-REFUNDABLE DEPOSIT IS DUE WITHIN 48 HOURS AFTER SALE COMPLETION. POOS-AUCTION WILL END EARLY IF SOLD LOCALLY.