Buick Grand National GNX

Buick Grand National GNX

The 1987 Buick GNX (Grand National Experimental) is one of the most legendary American performance cars ever created. Built as a collaboration between Buick and McLaren Performance Technologies (ASC/McLaren in Livonia, Michigan), only 547 GNXs were produced, and each one was a hand-finished weapon.

The GNX took the already potent Grand National and turned it up to eleven. McLaren replaced the standard turbocharger with a larger Garrett T3/T4 ceramic-ball-bearing unit, added an intercooler, reprogrammed the engine management computer, and upgraded the exhaust. Official output was rated at 276 hp and 360 lb-ft of torque, but real-world testing consistently showed 300+ hp and 400+ lb-ft.

The result was devastating. Car and Driver tested the GNX to 60 mph in 4.7 seconds and through the quarter mile in 13.43 seconds at 104 mph. Those numbers made it the fastest production car in America in 1987 — faster than the Corvette, faster than the Ferrari 328, faster than anything else you could buy from a dealer.

The GNX's exterior was sinister. It was available only in black with dark-tinted windows, unique fender flares, functional fender vents, GNX-specific 16-inch mesh wheels, and all brightwork removed or blacked out. There was no chrome anywhere. The dashboard featured a serialized GNX plaque (001/547 through 547/547).

What made the GNX truly remarkable was its character. Here was a Buick — a brand associated with golf courses and retirement communities — that could destroy virtually any exotic car on the planet. It was the ultimate sleeper, the ultimate upset, the ultimate proof that displacement isn't everything.

The standard 1987 Grand National (with the 3.8L turbo V6 making 245 hp) is itself a legend, running 0-60 in 5.5 seconds. But the GNX elevated the concept to icon status. Today, GNXs are among the most coveted American cars of the 1980s, with prices regularly exceeding $200,000 for well-documented examples.