The Buick Grand National, and the holy-grail GNX, have been cemented as cult-classic cars. Although the cars were certainly appreciated in their time, the cars have taken on a larger-than-life appreciation in modern times.
So, let’s take a stroll through history and look back at the greatness that was the Buick Regal Grand National and the GNX—and how the latter was quicker than a Ferrari F40 in the quarter mile.
The Grand National was a product of Buick’s NASCAR Grand National series success in 1981 and 1982. Win on Sunday, sell on Monday. In its first model year, the 1982 Regal Grand National made a whopping 125 horsepower from a naturally-aspirated V6 engine, though Buick made 35 Grand Nationals with the iconic turbocharged V6 setup.
It wasn’t until 1984 when the iconic 3.8-liter turbocharged V6 engine would become standard, and the party really began. With 200 hp, it was tenths shy of beating C4 Corvettes at the drag strip, but Buick wasn’t finished. In 1986, the Grand National returned with 235 hp and 330 pound-feet of torque. The massive power figures—mind you, this was the 1980s—were enough to send the 1986 Buick Grand National down the quarter-mile in under 14 seconds. It was absolutely quicker and faster than the Chevrolet Camaro and Pontiac Firebird.
But, in 1987, the Grand National was set to retire. So, GM sent 547 of them to McLaren to concoct something really special, and the GNXÂ (Grand National Experimental) was born. McLaren fitted bigger turbos, a new ECU, better suspension components, and more. All of these improvements made for 276 hp and 360 lb-ft of torque. And it was quicker than a Ferrari F40. You know, Ferrari’s flagship supercar of the day.
Official track testing saw the car sprint down the quarter mile in 12.7 seconds at 113 mph, which was 0.3 seconds quicker than an F40. Now that’s a muscle car.
Comments
The last Buick that you’d want to own.
Hmm i am a GM guy but I think I would still take the Ferrari.
I would never buy Ferrari. Those racist Romans kept my people as slaves. I will never forgive them.
Dude you need to order a pizza and seek help.
I hope no one cuts you off in traffic.
I don’t like Ferrari either, but I’m not going to stare down at every Italian because of their blood-thirsty past from centuries ago. If that was the case, I’d never buy any American, Japanese, or German cars. Get over yourself.
@ Scott cubed, G daddy and Sheldon Cooper. Next time I will hold up the sarcasm sign first.
If you are going to use sarcasam you might want to use some better material and keep your day job.
Once again Scott cubed is out of the loop. I work nights.
If you’re trying to show sarcasm, why the hell are you using the comments section on a blog? Sarcasm works better verbally, not in text.
Is that the way they do it in Canada?
Here, you’re given 2 verbal warnings. After that, it’s a public execution.
Now, was that sarcasm or not? Like I said, sarcasm doesn’t work well in text, so you could already be on your way to a second warning.
G daddy you are wrong. Your sarcasm text Worked you did not need to hold up a sign. That’s why I’m giving you a thumbs up. Canada has no capital punishment there too polite. Canada was the first country in the world to gain their independence by asking politely. This is not sarcasm your comment was well done.
Please explain? How are they racist and who are your people?
Tom Wallace was head of the project and defied GM orders to always keep the Corvette the fastest in the stable. Tom went on to become Corvette Chief Engineeer & VLE. Responsible for the ZR1 and the C7 being track ready.
I will take a GNX if anyone has one to part with.
Great car but I would rather have a Monte Carlo SS of the day
Front wheels in the air disqualify the GNX from being considered.
F40 for sure.
Give me the GN any day of the week. Cars today only wish they could be this cool and sharp looking.
I’ll take a ZO6 and run circles around you
Faster than an F40?! Hahaha. You better recheck your specs. The F40 did the quarter mile in low 12s.
I wanna’ race a GNX with my slant-6 3-on-the-tree Duster.
My naber has gnx twin Turbo ended up producing 900 horsepower in third gear it wax just about everything except a Buick Nova with 1.200hp