For all the crazy cars I see where I live (DC area) on nice-weather weekends, I've never seen a Grand National driving around. Then in the middle of nowhere in PA, on a 40-degree day, here's one cruising right by me. I can't say I'm really into the old American-car scene that much, but it was pretty sweet (and had a lot of gauges on the A-pillar, lol). Anyhow, figured I'd share - though maybe these are less rare elsewhere.
Boy, I bet those tire suck on cold pavement!
This would be a fare post on the unicorn thread, even though there are several up here in the Lehigh valley. Non of which I have seen since September.
In reply to John Welsh :
I think he can spin them hard enough to warm up so long as it is dry!
I don't see Grand Nationals often, but when I do, they always look badass.
John Welsh said:Boy, I bet those tire suck on cold pavement!
He was definitely cruising conservatively, there was no hot-rodding or high-speeds going on. I passed him while towing a 5k load in my sequoia and gave the thumbs-up.
I saw them when they were now. I probably haven't seen one driving in 19 years.
I used to see them driving around back when they were new, but not so much anymore except on the way to or from car shows.
I rear ended a guy with one when I was 17. Talking to him he said that he just got it back from the shop after getting slightly T-boned. I saw him again about a year later and asked him how the car was and he said he got hit head on in it about six months after I hit him. I asked how bad and he said it wasn't totaled but he was still debating on getting it fixed. Pretty sure that's the last one I've seen in the wild. I have seen a few T-Types though.
We had plenty of these and T-Types running around when we street raced as kids up here in eastern Ma.
Ill always have a soft spot for these.
Nothing from the 80’s makes me want it, but those make me all tingly inside and wish i was loaded.
EastCoastMojo said:I don't see Grand Nationals often, but when I do, they always look badass.
*cough*
I think our record is four at once, but we usually have at least one or two at any given time. These cars are 100% why I don't bother with modified cars of my own. I got to road tune a kilohorse GN, and it made me recognize that once you have enough power that you can break the tires loose at over 100 on asphalt... you still will want more power. So it's a no-win game to go down that road.
As soon as I am done doing a shackle reversal on a CJ7, I get to do a complete drivetrain transformation on one that was shipped up from Georgia. Should be pretty mild, only 750 or so horsepower 
For whatever reason you choose to believe, they always seem to drive better NOW, as cars, than Regals did when G-body Regals were new. But those dang bumper plastic inserts always fail, and I see the passenger-side one on that PA cat is collapsing and due to disintegrate any minute now. Fiberglass replicas are available but they don't look the same as the original Endura (?) plastic.
Funny enough one of the lube techs at the local walmart drives one every day. I think i surprised a couple people when me, a 22 year old autozone employee at the time in 2018, knew how to run a CEL on it. The guy who owned it didn't seem to know that was possible.
Daylan C said:Funny enough one of the lube techs at the local walmart drives one every day.
Walmart pays really good, or his daddy lets him drive his car. Most people who aren't bald/gray would buy an Evo with the kind of money a GN brings.
This isn't a dig. It's demographics: besides the obvious F&F/Gran Turismo/SCC factors, GNs *drive* like, well, old Buicks. Very fast in a straight line, but they're still Buicks, with the genteel cush that it entails. It's rare to see anyone under, say, 50, actively looking for that experience.
Hell. I'm 40, and I *have* a "genteel cush but fast" car, and I'd still take an Evo or STI over a GN if I had $20k to blow on a sometimes car.
In reply to Knurled. :
It seemed weird to me to. Guy looked to be in his late 30s. Car is definitely not a clean example. But its a blacked out regal with the right trim that makes turbo v6 noises. The guy was definitely wearing a walmart TLE uniform and the car is frequently seen parked in what I assume is the employee parking area there. Do I have proof that he owns the car? No. But he's definitely driving it to work there often.
Maybe I didn't question it too hard because I'm a 23 year old that owns an '87 GTA. However yes there are a lot of things I'd spend 20k on before a GN.
I had an 84 GN, the only year that had leather seats with the colors inverted from the 85 to 87. Last time I checked it was still with the guy that I sold it to, he offered to sell it back to me for three times what I sold it for.
As big as the mythos is around these things, I'm surprised you can get these for $20k. I guess the GNX is the big money car, but still seems like these would have gone higher by now.
There's actually a fair number of them here in Eastern PA. I know of at least 3 in lower Monroe county, just north of where you were. There's another I see from time to time in Wind Gap.
What's cool is that they'll drive them as long as there isn't visible brine on the roads. Same goes for a couple others around here with old muscle cars.
If they are a unicorn, it’s because they stay locked up in a garage. I remember when they were new. Mainly the GNX’s were the horded ones.
EastCoastMojo said:I don't see Grand Nationals often, but when I do, they always look badass.
Definitely. I always have wanted to get one and build a Pro Touring style one with a manual swap.
30+ years later, they still look so awesome.
There's lots of them here in FL--- we see them all the time. This is especially true when the hot-rod shows come to town.
Heck, there's an 87 T-Type for sale right down the street from the GRM offices. The T-Type had the same drivetrain, but better looking wheels (from the 85 GN) and you could order them in different colors. Actually more rare (and cooler IMHO) than a GN.
The GNX? Those are all living in climate controlled garages. I remember seeing one on the road when they came out. It created the same kind of stir seeing a genuine 427 Cobra would have. The GNX was a big deal in 1987.....at least for high-school me!
I was born in ‘70 so solid gen-Xr. That is my generation’s LS-6 Chevelle.
I remember my first ride in one. It was supposedly “chipped”. The owner punched it. No loading up the converter. No coming up on boost. Just booted it. And for about 1 second and change I was thoroughly disappointed. It responded like grandma’s V6 LeSabre-which is to say it didn’t. But then it was like someone switched on a giant Electrolux up under the dash somewhere and I have never before or since witnessed a speedometer sweep across its face like that one did. Granted, it only went to 85. With a jet engine type sound it started reeling in giant stretches of road at a startling rate. I was beginning to feel the edges of fear when the owner backed off.
I read later in GM High Tech Performance Magazine (quite a good publication at the time) that many mildly modded ones were making over 600 lbs*ft of torque—so you had to pay attention when assembling the rotating assembly. This wasn’t a 350 Chevy. This was in the ‘90’s. I showed it to my dad and he decried misprint. It wasn’t.
‘89 Turbo T/A might be the more GRM friendly option. Same drivetrain but for years their market never took off. I don’t know about now, but 10 years ago they were dime a dozen while the GN was going up quickly.
GNX? Pure unobtainium.
Remember those magazines back in the ‘80’s out of New Jersey like High Performance Cars, and Vette? They had Cliff Gromer, Jerry Heasley (YouTube star now), and some others I can’t remember. But they were doing Gonzo journalism in the car world. They would take press cars like the ‘87 Corvette out to the clandestine street races on Long Island and report back how they did. Anyway, I remember them being very pleasantly surprised at the performance of the Corvette and how well it had acquitted itself when facing off against some fairly strong competition. And I also remember one comment in particular: “5.0 Mustangs are easy. Grand Nationals have nice taillights.”
You'll need to log in to post.
