Been searching for another Gran Sport project and came across a hardtop in Minnesota. Mark Ascher did me a BIG favor and drove the two hours to look at the car. Unfortunately the seller is not a Buick guy and did not have much information on the car to share. The inspection revealed a car that appears to be a 1965 Gran Sport - boxed frame, ventiport front fenders, exterior badges, glove box emblem, battery on drivers side, cross flow radiator, A/C with proper attachments, big nailhead engine with correct exhaust manifolds, etc. Only problem is the trim tag says 12 C for a build date and Buick did not build any GS's until 1965.
The seller said he was told that this was a prototype car for the original run of Gran Sports. No documentation of course. So ...... has anybody ever heard of Buick building a prototype car ? If not, what do you make of this car ? A rebody ? Any insight (speculation even) is welcome.