The 405 Coffee Break with O.K. Solberg

It's once again Jay and Joe's Motor Monday, this week we learn O.K. had one of these cars, growing up as a kid. It was the 1970 Buick GS Stage I with a 455!

What is The 405 Coffee Break with O.K. Solberg?

Greetings and Welcome to The 405 Coffee Break with O.K. Solberg

New episodes tend to air over the local KMMR radio station @ 5 minutes past 4PM each M-F. And have been doing so, nearly every week since Sept 2018.
New episodes appear here usually within a few hours after that KMMR air time and been striving to post new releases here by 4:30PM.

OK Solberg:

I want to again welcome you to The 405 Coffee Break. A little rainy today. Nothing to complain about. Get your cup of coffee, put a sweater on. Let's see what's happening out there.

OK Solberg:

Spring wheat $6.70 a bushel. 550lb steer calf, tapering off, the rush is coming. $4.40 up to $4.40 depending on their quality per pound. And a 100lb lamb that is fat, in Billings at PAYS top end $3.11 a pound. But guys there's more, much more.

OK Solberg:

It's Monday, and that means it's Jay and Joe's Motor Monday. Today something from my past. I did have a car at one point in my life and it was Lee Koss's trade in at M and F Chevrolet Olds.

OK Solberg:

And that car that I bought the summer of my junior year in Malta high school was a 1970 Buick Grand Sport Stage I with a 455, I purchased it for $1,400 guys.

OK Solberg:

It was a steal and that car was smoking. And I think it's a good time for our bible verse because it's great that I made it out alive. That much power in the hands of a kid, that's just not a good thing.

OK Solberg:

In Psalm 91 verse 11, it says, for he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. Again, Psalm 91:11

OK Solberg:

Well, let me tell you, he guarded me. Someone once said, god protects children and fools. Well, I'm here to admit I was both. But let's look into that car. The 1970 Buick that could still surprise a lot of cars today.

OK Solberg:

It was a 70 Grand Sport GS Grand Sport 455 Stage I. If you didn't know what was under the hood, you might have mistaken it just for another Buick, but it wasn't. Under that hood was a 455 cubic inch V8 with 510 lb-ft of torque.

OK Solberg:

Buick officially rated the Stage I at 360 horsepower. You had also understand those old horsepower ratings were measured differently than they are today.

OK Solberg:

Now Motor Trend tested a Stage I in 1970 and it recorded 13.38 seconds in a quarter mile, 13.38. And it also clocked it at a 105.5 miles per hour, quarter mile. At the time, Motor Trend called it the quickest American production car that they had ever tested.

OK Solberg:

Oh, it was fast, guys. There's no doubt about that. But so as I was thinking back, I was wondering if I pulled that Buick out from 1970 and lined it up against ordinary cars from present day 2026, I wondered what would happen.

OK Solberg:

Well, let me tell you, quite a bit would happen. Take a 2026 Toyota Camry. It's a perfectly respectable modern automobile, comfortable, economical, and much quicker than a family sedan had any right to be 50 years ago, but the Camry runs the quarter mile in about 15.4 seconds. The old Buick, 13.38.

OK Solberg:

See you later, Camry. A 2006 Suburban Outback with a turbocharged engine runs about 14.8 seconds. The Buick still wins. Now listen to this. A modern Ford F150 can run the quarter mile in about 13.5 seconds, depending on configuration.

OK Solberg:

Now that's getting close. And remember, it's a pickup. But that old Buick still has a slight advantage. Now let's shift gears. The 2026 Dodge Charger RT runs the quarter in about 12.9 seconds.

OK Solberg:

The new Charger Scat Pack is around 12.2 seconds in Dodge's configuration with independent testing putting it in the 12 second range. So understand some showroom cars purchased today could beat the Buick hands down.

OK Solberg:

And then there's the electric world. A 2026 Tesla Model III performance can run the quarter mile, listen, in about 11 seconds. That's not even a race.

OK Solberg:

That's an introduction followed immediately by see you later and a 2026 electric Dodge Charger Daytona Scant Pack. Dodge says it'll run it in 11.5 seconds in the quarter mile.

OK Solberg:

Well, think whatever you want about the Buick, but in that race, it would be looking at the tail lights for 11 full seconds. But here's where you have to give the Buick 1970 Buick a little break. It weighed roughly 3,800lbs. It had a carburetor.

OK Solberg:

It had a 3 speed manual transmission. Guys, no computers, no launch control, no traction control system figuring out how much power the tires could handle, just a big 455, a 4 barrel carburetor, rear wheel drive, and the right foot of the guy behind the wheel.

OK Solberg:

So understand this, that Buick could still outrun a surprising number of ordinary automobiles sitting on today's showroom floors, but not all of them. Modern vehicles are amazingly fast.

OK Solberg:

But don't tell anyone that the 1970 Buick was obsolete because for one brief moment in 1970, Buick a family sized automobile that could run with the fastest American cars on the road.

OK Solberg:

So guys, some cars have horsepower, some cars become history, and the 1970 Buick GS Stage I with a 455 did both. It had horsepower, and it is historical.

OK Solberg:

So until next time, as you go out there, remember now, don't be bitter.