The road was rocky, and the trip stretched on for years, but West Chester’s Tim Garland accomplished the practically unimaginable in resurrecting a rusted, beat-up, and junk-filled 1970 GSX from the Ugliest GSX in the nation to a near-perfect restoration of its glory.

“The car was a very big challenge but worth every minute,” Garland said in a Hot Rod Network report by Drew Hardin. “With some divine intervention, help from some great friends, and a blessing from my wife, Doreen, the soul was brought back to the 153rd GSX made in 1970.”

It started decades ago with a GSX dream.

“I had read about them, seen pictures, and actually got beat by one in my brother’s ’70 GS350,” he said. “It was the ultimate Buick, just out of reach. I didn’t think I would ever have one.”

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So instead, he turned a 1972 Skylark into a GSX lookalike.

It wasn’t until decades later that the professional car restorer on the team at Bulldog Rod and Custom in Exton stumbled upon what was left of a GSX way down in Louisiana. He brought it home in 2009.

Between then and the 2014 GSX Nationals reunion, cancer “kicked my butt and knocked me out of the game for about a year,” but Garland and his buddies persevered. When he finally showed up there, his masterpiece scored 394 of 400 points.

Read more about Garland’s restoration journey on the Hot Rod Network here.

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