The 1987 Buick GNX was the last hurrah for the Buick Regal Grand National in its final year of production. Dressed all in black, this rocket featured black basket-weave wheels with polished lips, and a black and gray cloth interior with stylized Buick 6 logo embroidered in the headrests. The standard-issue 1987 Grand National made 245 turbocharged horsepower from its 3.8-liter V6, but the GNX was a different animal altogether.
Working in conjunction with ASC/McLaren, Buick built the 547 copies into street beasts in black sheep’s clothing known as the GNX (Grand National Experimental). The Buick GNX differed from the Grand National in that it had freer flowing heads, improved engine management controls, a less restrictive exhaust, and an upgraded turbo. All of this yielded an increased output of 276 horsepower and 360 pound-feet of torque.
In addition to the modifications under the hood, a transmission cooler was added, the body was stiffened, and an improved rear suspension design featured stiffer springs and stabilizer. To accommodate the increased dimensions of all the performance goodies, the hood grew a power bulge. With newfound performance capabilities, the GNX laid down a zero-to-60 time of 4.6 seconds, and shot through the quarter-mile in the low 13-second range, embarrassing GM’s flagship Chevrolet Corvette, which ran a 5.9 second zero-to-sixty and a 14.5 second quarter mile.
The Buick GNX had a multitude of unique styling cues that distinguished it from its stock Grand National stablemate. Composite fender flares, functional fender vents over the front tires to help cool the engine compartment, the aforementioned hood bulge, larger basket-weave 16-inch black wheels with polished aluminum lips, and GNX badges appeared in the grille, trunk lid, and on the wheel center caps. The interior featured a serial number plate that was mounted on the passenger side of the dash. Standard gauges were swapped for Stewart-Warner units, with gauges for oil pressure, coolant temp, and boost level housed in a modified cluster.
Our feature Buick GNX is number 386 of the 547 GNXs built. It has covered just 552 miles from new, and is resplendent in its original gloss black finish. It still wears the factory protective plastic coverings on the driver’s door panel, seats, and carpets, while the window stickers remain affixed to the passenger side window. Everything is in like-new condition throughout.
This like-new Buick GNX is currently offered on eBay by seller fusionluxurymotors for an eye-watering $269,950.
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Comments
One of the last cars I had my hands on before laid off in 1987 remember the days of yay& nay,very good times proud employee of GM!!!
funny it doesnt seem that impressive now, my caddy srx had 305 hp and cars can do 0to60 in under 3sec.but at the time it was hot ,still the stylish A body cars were on there way out! that said i owned a 81 2dr regal with 2 tone paint ,turbo wheels v6. when the car was new and cool
0-60 in under 3sec. From an SRX. What are you talking about???
I love these cars GN and GNX but at $270,000 that’s not going to happen
How does a car that still has protective plastic on it amass 552 miles? And why take the covering off the passenger side but not the driverside? Obviously a dealer’s car, bit still weird. And over a quarter of a million asking price? Maybe, MAYBE, $100,000…
One of the worse things you can do to a car is let it sit for years and not run it. I’m sure after 34 years, seals are shot, hoses and vacuum lines have deteriorated, and the weather stripping could be dried out.
The article has a few flaws. Cylinder heads were the exact same as the Grand National. The hood was also the same as the GN. The car was also under rated on power, a 3800 LBS car won’t pull a Low 13 on the rated HP.
It ran mid to low mid 13s easy. minor tweaking easy 12’s and a few bolt on’s easy 11’s!! Very tuneable cars!!
G bodies were light. At most the GNX weighed 3500-3550 lbs. Generally G bodies weighed around 3300-3400 lbs and dragsters could dip under 3000 lbs with weight reduction. Mine weighed in at 2900 lbs with fiberglass front and rear clip and no interior.
270k Is Crazy, But If I Could Afford It, I’d Be Gullible Enough To Buy It 💁🏽♂️
The ’89 Turbo T/A had the GNX motor and why Pontiac didn’t make it an permanent option is beyond wonder..
When Buick was done building the GN in late 1987, they had a surplus of these engines that sat around for a couple of years. Pontiac purchased some of these from Buick to install into the T/A as a limited run. By ’89 the old 3.8L was no longer in production, as it had switched to the new 3800 and 3300. It would have been neat to see Buick develop a turbo 3800, but they were moving away from that type of product, and nothing FWD would be able to handle it.
I own my 87 Grand national still that I bought in 88. We would just add fuel with an adjustable fuel regulator and add boost by bleeding off a little boost that the sensor controling the waste gate saw , and you could beat up on everybody except race cars . I ran a 235 tire , 5 buddys for traction and killed big blocks off the line. On the street up to 100mph . Then they could kill me. So street light racing was my bag and you where my sucker . Lol . A few mods and today at the strip I run 11.0 at 120 mph easy. No cage so they make me run 11.5 or send me home.
The listing ended with no sale.
It sold as a private sale for above asking price of $269,900…
Talk about over rated Blah Blah Blah …
These cars were never that fast …
I think the only reason for wanting an ugly over rated car is to prove you can afford throwing money away ..
Any GTO from any year , can bury the best GN ever built … The only good thing about the car was the wide choice of exterior colors … as long it was Black …. Want a Fast Powerful car … buy a Chrysler 300 from 1957 … unique and incredibly Beautiful .
Hell … Buy a 53 or 54 Corvette and turn it into a Olds F-88 …For those that have never seen or heard of a F-88 …looks like a Corvette but , this one’s got Giant Cojones …. If I remember correctly , they only made 3 of them … But … you can buy a piece of junk corvette from 53 and install everything Oldsmobile and you have a Beast of a car that can burn rubber in 3 speeds 💪💪💪 😎
You’re a moron.