Today's car is another one of my lottery cars, and is somewhat of a rarity - it's a General Motors offering from one of their dark periods, the 1980s:
1986 Buick Grand National. In 1986 they offered an intercooler along with the turbocharger that brought the horsepower out of the 3.8L V6 plant to 245 - not a huge amount by today's standards, but in a time frame when the big block 454 V8 was putting out an anemic 210 horsepower, that was really saying something.
I would love to restore one of the '86 or '87 models just to have. Don't know if I'd drive it all that much - the turbos were famous for quitting very early in the life of the motor (around 50K, which given that American motors only lasted until ~ 100K in that time period isn't *as* bad as it sounds). Definitely have to get one of the models with the T-roof, though. That's a must-have...
What other American car from the 1980s could seat 5 and still move like a GN?
That is all.
10 comments:
I'm a Ford man at heart. That said, the Grand National is one of my lottery cars, too.
There are a bunch for sale on Ebay as we speak. Interesting that Buick put so much effort into the V6. They still have the crummy GM interiors and fit and finish, but they were pretty impressive performers in their day.
I'm casting around for a car right now, and I'm amazed by the power and performance of the cars of today versus the cars I grew up with. I'm looking at a Mazda 3 Speed, a VW GTI and a Focus ST, all of which do 6 second-ish 0-60 and pull in excess of .8g on the skidpad.
That's what 911's did, back in the day.
We are living in a golden age of cars.
The FBI put 50 GNs in their fleet. I can't help but wonder how long those turbos lasted under the gentle ministrations of G-men.
I want the GNX variant. The Darth Vader of cars.
I remember a Car and Driver article that actually featured a race between the Grand National and the Corvette. The GN lost, but just barely. One of my early non-cop-magnet dream cars!
They are attempting to re-live past glory:
http://www.caranddriver.com/features/2015-buick-grand-national-and-gnx-25-cars-worth-waiting-for-20142017-future-cars
We ran those as Project 55 cars back in the day. Totally Stealth Screamers. Faster then the Crown Vic and the POS Dodge Diplomat that were the rigor of the time.
Great cars, but a HANDFUL to drive with that solid rear axle... :-)
Those GN's had a turbo on only 1 bank of the V-6. Hot rod mod was 2 turbos, bigger injectors unreal performance and quiet!!
As I recall the Conn. State Police had a number of those back in the day. All of them seemed to be black and mostly in front of me as I tried to get, well, anywhere in the state.
Post a Comment