1969 Hurst Olds vs 1965 Buick Gran Sport - STOCK DRAG RACE
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1969 Hurst Olds vs 1965 Buick Gran Sport - STOCK DRAG RACE
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1969 Hurst Olds 455 vs 1965 Buick GS convertible - Pure Stock Muscle Car Drag Race (factory stock drag race) Our first car is a 1969 Hurst Olds with an Oldsmobile 455! Our second car is a 1965 Buick Gran Sport (GS) convertible with a 401! Both cars have automatic transmissions. The Hurst Olds has the TH400 3-speed with its signature dual gate shifter. The Buick has a Super Turbine 300 2-speed. As you might expect, the Buick is heavy... over 4200 pounds (Correction: The Buick weighed in at 3960 pounds with driver). The Hurst Olds is also fairly heavy, around 3900 pounds. The Hurst Olds is rare with only 906 produced that year (plus another 3 convertibles for promotions)... this isn't a run of the mill Oldsmobile 442 W30. The Buick is also fairly rare, only 1426 total Buick Gran Sport convertibles with automatic transmissions built in 1965. Both very interesting cars! Remember, both cars participate in the Pure Stock Muscle Car Drag Race series, so please check out their website:
https://www.psmcdr.com
The rules for PSMCDR are listed below: For 1955 to 1979 musclecars built in United States and Canadian assembly plants with a minimum warranty of 12 months and 12,000 miles. Any car running faster than 11.50 will be disqualified and will not have a qualifying time recorded. Any convertible running faster than 13.50 will be disqualified and will not have a qualifying time recorded. Casting numbers must be correct for the year and horsepower claimed including intake manifold, heads, and exhaust manifolds. Blocks do not have to be "numbers matching," but they must be the correct displacement. Overbores up to .070" are allowed. Stock cranks only. All Engines – 1.5 extra points allowed over advertised. The camshaft must be correct for the year, model, and horsepower claimed for the type of lifter (hydraulic or solid). Roller cams NOT allowed. The valve train must be factory stock for the year, make, and horsepower claimed. The ignition system must be stock, including the distributor, cap, coil, and wires. Points may be replaced with any electronic conversion that fits under the stock distributor cap. The carburetor must be correct for the year, make, and horsepower claimed. Jetting and metering changes are permitted. THE CHOKE ASSEMBLY MUST BE IN PLACE AND FUNCTIONAL! Cast-iron exhaust manifolds are mandatory and must be correct for the year, model, and horsepower claimed. Internal modifications to the exhaust manifolds are NOT allowed. Under no circumstances will headers be allowed, including those cars that came with headers delivered in the trunk. Pipes must be routed as they were originally for the year, make, model, and engine combination. Mufflers must be stock looking in design, that is, oval in shape. No glasspacks or straight pipes allowed unless installed as original equipment. Maximum muffler inlet and outlet size is 2.5 inches. X & H pipes allowed. The radiator must be correct for the year, make, model, and horsepower claimed. No lightweight, aluminum radiators allowed. The camshaft must be correct for the year, model, and horsepower claimed for the type of lifter (hydraulic or solid). Roller cams NOT allowed. Duration at .050" lobe lift must be within 1% of factory specs. Lift at the valve must be within 2% of factory specs. Maximum stall limited to 2200 rpm. The transmission must be correct for year, make, model and engine of the car. 3-speed manuals may be upgraded to the correct 4-speed if originally available. The rear axle must be of the same manufacturer as the car. Any gear ratio is allowed. Reproduction tires or radial tires only.You are allowed to run tires one size over stock. Factory wheels only.
1969 Hurst Olds 455 vs 1965 Buick GS convertible - Pure Stock Muscle Car Drag Race (factory stock drag race) Our first car is a 1969 Hurst Olds with an Oldsmobile 455! Our second car is a 1965 Buick Gran Sport (GS) convertible with a 401! Both cars have automatic transmissions. The Hurst Olds has the TH400 3-speed with its signature dual gate shifter. The Buick has a Super Turbine 300 2-speed. As you might expect, the Buick is heavy... over 4200 pounds (Correction: The Buick weighed in at 3960 pounds with driver). The Hurst Olds is also fairly heavy, around 3900 pounds. The Hurst Olds is rare with only 906 produced that year (plus another 3 convertibles for promotions)... this isn't a run of the mill Oldsmobile 442 W30. The Buick is also fairly rare, only 1426 total Buick Gran Sport convertibles with automatic transmissions built in 1965. Both very interesting cars! Remember, both cars participate in the Pure Stock Muscle Car Drag Race series, so please check out their website:
https://www.psmcdr.com
The rules for PSMCDR are listed below: For 1955 to 1979 musclecars built in United States and Canadian assembly plants with a minimum warranty of 12 months and 12,000 miles. Any car running faster than 11.50 will be disqualified and will not have a qualifying time recorded. Any convertible running faster than 13.50 will be disqualified and will not have a qualifying time recorded. Casting numbers must be correct for the year and horsepower claimed including intake manifold, heads, and exhaust manifolds. Blocks do not have to be "numbers matching," but they must be the correct displacement. Overbores up to .070" are allowed. Stock cranks only. All Engines – 1.5 extra points allowed over advertised. The camshaft must be correct for the year, model, and horsepower claimed for the type of lifter (hydraulic or solid). Roller cams NOT allowed. The valve train must be factory stock for the year, make, and horsepower claimed. The ignition system must be stock, including the distributor, cap, coil, and wires. Points may be replaced with any electronic conversion that fits under the stock distributor cap. The carburetor must be correct for the year, make, and horsepower claimed. Jetting and metering changes are permitted. THE CHOKE ASSEMBLY MUST BE IN PLACE AND FUNCTIONAL! Cast-iron exhaust manifolds are mandatory and must be correct for the year, model, and horsepower claimed. Internal modifications to the exhaust manifolds are NOT allowed. Under no circumstances will headers be allowed, including those cars that came with headers delivered in the trunk. Pipes must be routed as they were originally for the year, make, model, and engine combination. Mufflers must be stock looking in design, that is, oval in shape. No glasspacks or straight pipes allowed unless installed as original equipment. Maximum muffler inlet and outlet size is 2.5 inches. X & H pipes allowed. The radiator must be correct for the year, make, model, and horsepower claimed. No lightweight, aluminum radiators allowed. The camshaft must be correct for the year, model, and horsepower claimed for the type of lifter (hydraulic or solid). Roller cams NOT allowed. Duration at .050" lobe lift must be within 1% of factory specs. Lift at the valve must be within 2% of factory specs. Maximum stall limited to 2200 rpm. The transmission must be correct for year, make, model and engine of the car. 3-speed manuals may be upgraded to the correct 4-speed if originally available. The rear axle must be of the same manufacturer as the car. Any gear ratio is allowed. Reproduction tires or radial tires only.You are allowed to run tires one size over stock. Factory wheels only.
Last edited by Cosmic Charlie; Sep 24, 2020 at 06:49 PM.
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Good stuff Charlie. Two beautiful legendary cars going at it.
Great evenly matched race at event but never would of been this close straight out of factory. The GS is clearly taking advantage of the "pure stock" allowable mods. While the Hurst Olds is running exactly as it did back in 1969.
Bone stock as well as in this race. Transmission, rear gear, torque and horsepower should all be in the Hurst Olds advantage column.
Car Life tested both cars back when new.
1965 Buick GS 401 CID ST300 3.08 gear, test weight 4030 LBS 1/4 mile 15.3 @ 88 MPH (hardtop version)
1969 Hurst Olds 455 CID TH400 3.42 gear, test weight 4205 LBS 1/4 mile 14.1 @ 100.1 MPH
http://wildaboutcarsonline.com/membe...S_Test_1-4.pdf
http://wildaboutcarsonline.com/membe...s_Test_1-4.pdf
Great evenly matched race at event but never would of been this close straight out of factory. The GS is clearly taking advantage of the "pure stock" allowable mods. While the Hurst Olds is running exactly as it did back in 1969.
Bone stock as well as in this race. Transmission, rear gear, torque and horsepower should all be in the Hurst Olds advantage column.
Car Life tested both cars back when new.
1965 Buick GS 401 CID ST300 3.08 gear, test weight 4030 LBS 1/4 mile 15.3 @ 88 MPH (hardtop version)
1969 Hurst Olds 455 CID TH400 3.42 gear, test weight 4205 LBS 1/4 mile 14.1 @ 100.1 MPH
http://wildaboutcarsonline.com/membe...S_Test_1-4.pdf
http://wildaboutcarsonline.com/membe...s_Test_1-4.pdf
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Joined: Nov 2020
Posts: 17
From: Hartford, CT
This is funny, I know the owner of the GS and have raced with him in my 1967 Buick Riviera. Rhett is a great guy, and only blueprinted his engine, no special tricks up his sleeve. His GS is incredibly stock, and a beautiful car to look at too
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Joined: Dec 2014
Posts: 16,747
This looked like a mismatch but proved to be closer than you'd guess. The H/O ran about like an H/O should -- I would have thought it could do better if properly set up for Pure Stock. But low 14s from a nailhead convertible with a 2-speed automatic? Those things ran mid-upper 15s and that was with a little tweaking from showroom. Well done. Could have lived without the inane chatter from the "emcee," but this in no way means that I'm not grateful for the post. Thanks!
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This looked like a mismatch but proved to be closer than you'd guess. The H/O ran about like an H/O should -- I would have thought it could do better if properly set up for Pure Stock. But low 14s from a nailhead convertible with a 2-speed automatic? Those things ran mid-upper 15s and that was with a little tweaking from showroom.
The Hurst Olds in this race was bone stock not pure stock. Pure stock is a misnomer. Every single HP enhancing tweak is a modification from bone stock. Cold plugs is a mod, timing advance is a mod, flipped air cleaner lid is a mod, etc, etc, etc. And "Pure Stock" goes way further than that.
Rhett's got a great car and I don't doubt he is a great guy. But my experience with this scene is there is often plenty of misremembering. Been around it since I was the tag along kid brother 40 years ago. Been a licensed driver for 35 years now and always into this same scene. There is a enormous chasm between stock and what car guys think is stock.
P.S Cosmic Charlie this should of been a kick *** thread. I'm afraid it is lost in the abyss of "Other" and its 1 viewer, much like a killer "Newbie" thread and its 10 viewers. Most threads deserve to be in "General discussion" and its constant 100 viewers...
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