Info from a 1967 Popular Mechanics article on the GS

[elagache]

Dear mid-60s Buick caregivers,

We are lucky that Thomas A. DeMauro is writing blog entries for Hemmings.  Since he owns a 1967 Buick GS, he is often writing about topics that are more interesting to us.  Today is has an entry about a March 1967 report on the 1967 GS in Popular Mechanics magazine:

https://www.hemmings.com/blog/2018/03/09/what-new-car-owners-said-regarding-the-1967-buick-gs-400/

Instead of the usual test drive information, Popular Mechanics sent surveys to people who had bought the 1967 GS to get their opinions on their new cars.  So it is a chance to learn about the culture that Buick was selling to.  Better still, this magazine has been archived on Google books.  So you can read the articles yourself and make up your own opinion!

https://books.google.com/books?id=RdQDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA88&lpg=PA88&dq=1967+Buick+GS+400,+magazine&source=bl&ots=BEoXIRuEsL&sig=CmLssIe7N1xwGTbQ3OG1j8mAfic&hl=en&ei=hekVS_K2DYi6lAeYuqjHBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result#v=onepage&q&f=false

Enjoy!

Cheers, Edouard 

[Super65lark]

48% reported mechanical trouble! Ouch! 
Still love that styling though
But something I hadn't put much thought into is what the cars were like for the early owners. New cars - most of the time you hop in and drive away.

[elagache]

Dear Iain and mid-60s Buick caregivers,

48% reported mechanical trouble! Ouch! 

1967 is 2 years after our 1965 cars, but GM was definitely in decline at that point.

But something I hadn't put much thought into is what the cars were like for the early owners. New cars - most of the time you hop in and drive away.

My parents bought our wagon second hand in April 1968.  My Mom was recalling driving from the place we were staying to the house we had bought at about the same time.  She remembers the tunes we could hear on the AM radio at the time.  Whatever the mechanical situation, my wagon was just reliable transportation and that was a good thing at the time because I was a little kid!

Few of us get to watch the transition from daily driver to classic.  Honestly, my troubles have been driven mostly because I was very slow to realize my wagon was a classic and needed special care!

Cheers, Edouard 

[Super65lark]

"very slow to realize my wagon was a classic and needed special care!"

Brah! You didn't know??  :

I couldn't tell you what the 'in thing' is now, but in the early 2000s I remember wagons being very popular.

I wonder if my first car, a 1990 Honda Prelude (red) will ever be a classic. Doubt it. 

[elagache]

Dear Iain and mid-60s Buick owners who go way back!

very slow to realize my wagon was a classic and needed special care!

Brah! You didn't know??  :

Perhaps it is a bit hard to explain, but as late as 2000 I was still using my wagon was a daily driver.  In the 1980s I had a friend who was into amateur astronomy and had a 1967 wagon.  He was driving a 20 year old car into the remote campgrounds and thinking nothing of it.  My then my Mom wasn't willing to drive Biquette because she didn't feel safe in her.  Well if my friend could take his 1967 wagon, I decided I could take our 1965 wagon.  Over time I was taking her very long distances.  One year I drove all the way to the Riverside Telescope Makers conference in Big Bear Lake (Southern California.)  That was a round trip of well over 1000 miles.  Just from Astronomy, Biquette found herself in situations like this:



Should you drive a 25+ year old car into dirt camp grounds?  Well, look at this way - I sure won't do that again!  Still that is how my wagon lived and she ended up having a very adventurous life as a result. After Astronomy, I got interested in Scuba diving and Biquette ended up covering many more miles between San Francisco and Monterey bay.

I couldn't tell you what the 'in thing' is now, but in the early 2000s I remember wagons being very popular.

There will always be a love-hate relationship with wagons.  There is just too much stigma associated with the dysfunctional families of the 1960-70s.  How wagons got associated with this is an indication of how painful those memories had become.

I wonder if my first car, a 1990 Honda Prelude (red) will ever be a classic. Doubt it. 

Well strictly speaking, any car that is 25 years old or older is a classic.  If you pick up a Hemmings you would be amazed at the comparatively modern cars that are getting interest from collectors.

Cheers, Edouard