We typically find really nice survivors or automobiles that have perished to rust and rodent infestation when historic cars are pulled out of long-term storage. Both are cool to observe as they come out into the open air, but the survivors have the most interesting backstories.
One of such vehicles is this 1968 Buick GS 400. The majority of cars that have been kept for many years typically have sentimental value.
Some belonged to departed family members, while other owners are reluctant to part with their high school racing or daily driver vehicles. Life interfered with several of the restoration plans.
This Buick’s story is a little bit different, though. And you’d better bring out the tissues because it’s touching, to say the least. Yup, it’s one of those cars that was reunited with a previous owner after a very, very long time.
The story begins in 1975, when a young teenager named Al bought a 1968 Buick GS 400 as a dream car before he got his license. Al enjoyed the car for about five years before he decided to give it a makeover and sell it. But he regretted it almost immediately and started pondering about getting it back the next day.
Unfortunately, he lost track of the car as the buyer lived in a different town. His cousin spotted the car about six years later, but Al didn’t follow up on that bit of info until 2022, exactly 42 years after he saw the Buick leaving his front lawn. That’s when he called his cousin and asked for the address where he had last seen the GS.
He got the address and called the guy living there only to find out that the previous owner moved out a few years back. Luckily, he also recalled that he had an old car in the garage that was moved across the street.
A couple of phone calls later and Al got in touch with the guy who bought the Buick from him back in 1980. Both were astonished about what was happening.
And the good news kept coming. Not only did he still have the GS 400, but he was considering selling it because the car spent way too much time in the garage. After many years during which he thought the Buick had become a rust bucket, Al discovered the car was in remarkably good condition.
It had been sitting for 35 years. He immediately agreed to buy it, bringing it back to his garage after a whopping 42 years.
Now a full-blown survivor with a surprisingly low amount of wear and tear and an all-original V8 engine that agreed to run after years without a sip of gasoline, the GS 400 is scheduled for restoration.
And that’s the greatest thing it can happen now that it’s been reunited with the guy who missed it for almost half a century.
And needless to say, 1968 GS 400s aren’t very common either, with some 10,000 hardtops built and many left to rot away in junkyards and barns. Check it out and learn more about this amazing story in the video below.
