About to cross the block: one of the ’80s hottest street cars, the 1987 Buick GNX.
Upgrades over the standard Regal Grand National included an intercooler, Garrett T-3 turbo, reprogrammed transmission and a Panhard bar setup. The GNX also received 16-inch wheels–kind of a big thing at the time–plus those fender vents. Quarter-mile times–no mods–closed in on mid-12s.
Only one …
A friend of ours worked at ASC, back when these were rolling down the line.
Somewhere there’s a story about those times out there.
Sorry, but Vader only drives B Bodies.
Dang! Had no idea they were that rare, or pricey.
In reply to CrustyRedXpress :
Yeah, they’re both rare and pricey. Hagerty shows level prices since a big bump in 2022.
And a snapshot (literally) of past Buick GNX sales at Mecum.
vwcorvette (Forum Supporter) said:Sorry, but Vader only drives B Bodies.
GM took that quote from a magazine test of the GNX. Like to say it was C&D but it may have been Car Craft.
All GNs had T3s but the GNX had a special one, like to say it had a ceramic compressor wheel? There were also suspension changes to make them handle less like a Regal.
Of 547 made, I bet at least 500 were ushered into storage facilities to never be driven. Everyone knew that 1987 was the last of the Second Musclecar Coming and the first wave of musclecars was starting to rise in value. Why, people were paying over $50k for Hemi Barracudas!
David S. Wallens said:In reply to CrustyRedXpress :
Yeah, they’re both rare and pricey. Hagerty shows level prices since a big bump in 2022.
Even regular cold air GNs (1986 and 1987, the intercooled years) are crazy in price. About 15 years ago you could get a nice one for under $30k, now... not so much.
I have a feeling that they put special paint on the GNs. Working for 15 years in a shop that specialized in them, I got to play with all manner of force-fed six powered Buicks, from bone stock to wild, and they all had amazing paint. They always got detailed (by me) after we were done with our mechanical ministrations and I always marveled at how easy it was to get a real good finish on the paint with little more work than a very soapy wash and a Chamois dry. Never, ever any orange peel on those cars!
Yup, even the regular Grand Nationals are doing well.
Here’s a screen shot of some recent Mecum sales. Looks like a GNX got included in my results.
And a small footnote: Mecum had five Grand Nationals at just its Kissimmee sale earlier this year.
In reply to David S. Wallens :
So they are trending down, and I might get to own one someday? 
They are truly wonderful cars to drive. The interiors seemed like they were of much better quality, as far as materials and carpeting are concerned. And if you ditch the stock super-restrictive airbox for a nice open element air cleaner (you can shift the charcoal canister in its mounts and run plumbing through behind the driver side headlight, without having to cut sheetmetal) your aural experience is all turbo compressor whine, all the time.
And then you put in a converter with a few hundred RPM more stall speed, and tighten the wastegate a few turns, add some fuel with an adjustable regulator, maybe with a Red Armstrong chip if you can find one.... and then a 4" downpipe... *Homer drool noises*
The interesting thing is that the stock intercooler is actually really, really good. It's helped by a fan that bolted directly to the crank pulley, and it got its air from a duct that ran under the radiator.
I remember seeing a GNX in St. Pete when they were new out in the wild and it still had the window sticker in place. Actually it was probably just some dealership toolbag driving it to lunch now that I think about it, but I digress. Anyway, I remember right on the sticker was a line item for "additional dealer adjustment" and it was the princely sum of $5000. My 17 year old mind couldn't even comprehend the hubris of a dealer trying to pull such a stunt. These days folks would be excited to find a Honda Civic marked up only that much. Old man rant over.
I worked at AutoPalace in Queensbury, NY back in 91 and a local judge not only had a GNX he had a Typhoon as well. Always came in to by Turbo magazine.
GNX and a SyTy–a perfect pairing.
I prefer a really fast fake.
It’s been a little while, but I’ve seen a stock Grand National locally. Looks good. Perfect OE wheels, too.
In reply to Ranger50 :
Oddly, I had a customer take OUT a big block from a Chevelle and install a Buick 6 using a rare Stage II block, which are basically indestructible.
The power output of the 6 was well north of 1000. Way way over.
There were people making 900hp or so with "stock appearing" GNs. Had to have the stock intake manifold, heads, block, and the turbo had to be stock appearing. Very restrictive class. The limit at this point was basically the block splitting in half.
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