1986 Buick Grand National
1986 was a major break-through year for the Grand National. The engine was totally redesigned and a couple new additions were thrown in. This included an air-to-air intercooler, better turbo-charger, a better computer-controlled fuel management system, and a ton of minor upgrades. Horsepower was increased to 235 hp and 335 lbs. of torque. It was dubbed as the fastest U.S. production car in 1986. Remember the statement I made earlier about the 86 and 87 GNs having an underrated horsepower rating? Well here's the story. Remember the old horsepower wars of the classic muscle cars of the late 60's and early 70's? Well rumor has it Chevy and Buick had a little war going on of their own (and they are both GM!). Buick didn't like the fact that GM wanted the Corvette to be the "flag-ship" car of the company but they didn't want to get in trouble with rating the GN too much higher than the Corvette. The 86 Corvette was rated at 230 horsepower so Buick countered with 235 hp. They didn't want to go any higher because of the fact of them getting in trouble for making a car being so much more powerful than the Vette so they kept it at a minimum.
This is the 1986 GN. The engine was totally re-designed into the "LC2" motor. Most everything was changed around and upgraded. This was the first year for the air-to-air intercooler which boosted horsepower ratings to 235 and torque to 330 lbs. The rims were changed and the chrome front grille was modified just a tad. It was the fastest production car on U.S. soil that year. 5,512 GNs were produced in 86.
This is an article from Car & Driver Magazine back in 1986. It's a complete run-down of the specifications for the 86 GN. Quite an impressive 0-60 time of 4.9 seconds and 1/4 mile time of 13.9 @ 98 mph! Not bad for a V6 family sedan car.
1987 Buick Grand National
The 87 GN was basically the same car as the 86 version except for some minor changes such as a reprogrammed chip and front grille. There were 20,193 GNs produced and sold in 1987, which was the final year for the Grand National. It was dubbed by Motor Trend Magazine as the "fastest production car of America" and backed it up with solid proof. They ran several tests with the 87 GN in the 1/4 mile and compared the times against all the other sports cars at the time. It ran a best of 13.9 @ 100 mph and probably still had more in it. Other publications from various other magazines posted a 13.8 @ 100 mph but that is about the fastest I have seen a factory stock GN published. The Camaro, Firebird, Mustang, and even the Corvette couldn't keep up with the Grand National. It was said that the only car faster in 0-60 time back then was a 911 turbo Porsche and a couple other super car exotics that cost more than a house! Nothing in America was faster than the GN "factory production-wise" until the Corvette ZR-1 came out in 1990. You could compare the GN of the 80's decade to the Dodge Viper of the 90's decade as far as "Americas fastest muscle car".
In 1989 Pontiac made a Turbo Trans-Am and borrowed the Buick 3.8 V6 turbo motor. It was the official pace car of the Indianapolis 500. Some say it is the fastest factory Trans Am ever built. It could run low 13's as well as the GNX. It was a limited production vehicle just like the 87 GNX (which we will talk about later) and those were the only cars faster than a factory GN but both cars were limited production.
Reasons are still unknown to the general public today, but most say that GM told Buick to axe the GN because they were tired of a family car being faster than the Corvette and didn't care much for the competition within the company (many people won't admit this but Buick Representatives have spoken to a few guys in the Buick community here and have said so); also the G-body/RWD platform style was fading out. The last thing that made them extinct was the federal government passed a new emissions and fuel economy act stating that cars had to be even more fuel efficient and emissions friendly. Well that pretty much ended the entire G-body lineup (thank you federal government again!). Buick had no choice but to go with a new FWD body and a new motor because the new platform could not handle the LC2 motor. The Regal was a performance car no more. It was a true economy/family car which have evolved into today's Buick Supercharged Regals which are quick but they are no Turbo Regals.
This is the 1987 Buick Grand National. It was the final year for the GN but Buick didn't go quiet into the night. They put out a whopping 20,193 GNs that year. A few changes were made over the 86 version. Once again Motor Trend and other magazines gave the GN the title of fastest U.S. production car, as it ran 13.8 seconds @ 100 mph in the quarter mile, in show-room form. *photo shown here is of a good friend of mine; Bill Moller's 87 GN*
Here is an article showing some specs for the 87 GN. This is a comparison against an 87 Iroc-Z Camaro with the TPI 350 motor. It was just unheard of back then that a V6 could be so fast. The base Regal GN was around 3400 lbs but a fully loaded one was around 3650 to 3700 lbs.