The concept of cool is hard to define. It’s a nebulous blend of authenticity, presence, and ability that simply can’t be quantified through objective means. While it’s hard to come to a consensus of what makes something cool, there’s one thing pretty much everyone’s in agreement on these days, and that’s how the coolest GM-built U.S.-market car of the ’80s wasn’t a Corvette. It was the Buick Regal Grand National.
Yeah, a Buick. A midsize family car at that. A midsize family car that was marketed using a jingle-ized version of George Thorogood’s “Bad to the Bone” and absolutely owned it. It might not have featured a V8 under the hood, it might not have chrome bumpers, but enough time has passed that the turbocharged Grand National is really the last great muscle car—a rear-wheel-drive American midsizer with a whole lot of thrust. I guess there really is a replacement for displacement.
It’s a machine with cultural currency. From muscle car fans to celebrities, everyone loves a Regal Grand National. It’s been in music videos, movies, and television shows as the quintessential antihero car. Four decades on, it’s still an object of desire, yet you can still pick one up for the price of a new Volkswagen GTI.
What Are We Looking At?
Like many icons, the Buick Regal Grand National wasn’t born great, but it became legendary. When the Grand National package debuted in 1982, it came with a carbureted 4.1-liter V6 cranking out all of 125 horsepower as standard equipment. However, hope was on the options list by way of a 175-horsepower turbocharged 3.8-liter V6 from the Regal Sport Coupe package. It then took a year off before coming back—in the fashion of AC/DC—in black. [Ed note: Also bad to the bone in the fashion of George Thorogood– Pete]
While the Grand National was on a gap year, Buick’s boosted V6 was busy taking advantage of the digital age, gaining sequential fuel injection and electronic distributorless ignition to pump out 200 horsepower and 300 lb.-ft. of torque. Solid numbers by mid-1980s standards, although only good for zero-to-60 mph in 7.5 seconds in Car And Driver testing. See, a side effect of turbocharging is that the compressed intake air can get brutally hot, and hot air can contribute to detonation. To avoid detonation in a hot-air turbo setup, manufacturers used to run wildly low compression ratios and incredibly mild timing. You know what can fix that? An intercooler.
The one you really want is the 1986 to 1987 Regal Grand National, because that’s when Buick’s turbocharged midsizer really glowed up. The boosted 3.8-liter V6 gained much-needed intercooling and other airflow tweaks for serious power, 235 horsepower and 330 lb.-ft. of torque for 1986 and 245 horsepower and 355 lb.-ft. of torque for 1987. Those might not be huge figures by today’s standards, but they still propelled this midsize automatic coupe from zero-to-60 mph in 4.9 seconds and through the quarter-mile in the high 13s when Car And Driver tested it for its April 1986 issue. For those keeping track at home, the Grand Natty could dust a comparable Corvette off the mark if you launched it right. America’s sports car, who? The mic-drop came in 1987 with the GNX, an extremely limited-run Regal let off the leash, then given the most underrated 276-horsepower rating this side of Japan. It was so influential, Kendrick Lamar named a number-one album after it.
We’re talking about an instant classic here, a boosted brawler befitting Darth Vader himself. Unsurprisingly, late examples of the Regal Grand National have appreciated over time, although because they aren’t absurdly rare, you can still pick one up for what a new Volkswagen GTI costs. Guess what? The Buick should still get the jump on the dual-clutch Volkswagen.
How Much Are We Talking?
A brand new mid-range Volkswagen GTI with a moonroof will run you $38,845 including freight, and you can absolutely find a driver-condition Regal Grand National for less than that. Check out this 1987 model that sold on Hemmings Auctions for $32,628. Not only did the last owner keep it for a quarter-century, it’s also bone-stock with a squeaky-clean Carfax. What’s more, the underbody looks great for a nearly-40-year-old car, and the interior is mint. This thing would be a hit at local car shows, but it would be far more fun to take down your nearest quarter-mile drag strip.
Speaking of the quarter-mile, there are a whole bunch of modified Grand National examples out there because it just takes so well to modification. Cars like this 1987 model that recently sold on Bring A Trailer for $26,500. This one’s rocking a bigger turbocharger and intercooler, aftermarket cylinder heads, a bigger camshaft, and the fuelling modifications to match. Sure, the selling dealer reports a little bit of rust around the driver’s door drain hole, but the underbody of this Grand National looks as clean as you’d expect for an Oregon car.
Can’t wait for an auction? If you cast a reasonably wide net, it’s not that difficult to find a Grand National for GTI money. This 1987 model is up for sale in Arizona for $34,000, and it looks to be in great shape. Plus, it’s had a few common sore spots addressed, like switching to a vacuum brake booster. Nice.
What Could Go Wrong On A Buick Grand National?
While the Buick Regal Grand National is one of the more reliable ’80s turbo cars you can buy, it’s not without its problems. Right off the rip, the Power Master brake master cylinder is problematic, and the exhaust manifolds were known to crack, even 20 years ago. At the same time, durability in the ’80s isn’t the same thing it is today. The Regal Grand National’s valve springs, timing chain, and turbocharger are wear items on a long enough timeline, but a need to replace those is also an excuse to make one of GM’s fastest ’80s cars even faster. Keep in mind, modern turbo technology has come a long way. Just don’t blow past what the stock 10-bolt rear end can handle.
Otherwise, oil cooler line leaks are fairly common now that these cars are aging, and you’re going to want to check that the TV cable on the transmission is adjusted properly. At the same time, head gaskets are known to fail on occasion, although replacement is generally fairly easy and cheap, requiring new top-end gaskets, head bolts, and fluids. The G-Body is a simple platform, and these cars are generally far less needy than anything similarly quick from the era.
Should You Buy A Buick Grand National For New GTI Money?
If you’re looking for something old-school and spicy, and live in a place where the roads are mostly straight lines, absolutely. To date, there hasn’t been a Buick as menacing as the Grand National, or a V6 muscle car as credible. So, if you want to have the most presence of anyone in your neighborhood, and a genuinely fun and quick ’80s cruiser capable of accommodating the whole family, get yourself a Grand National. It’s an icon for a reason.
Top graphic image: Bring A Trailer
A GN is a car I’d love to have in the garage as a replacement for my C10. A new GTI is a new VW and therefore not something I’d even consider owning. Something to keep in mind with values for these when comparing to earlier muscle cars: They aren’t smog exempt in CA. I suspect values would jump a pretty fair chunk overnight if that changed.
100% get the GN.
The GTI is a loaded comparison. However, keeping it domestic, coupe body style, and RWD, the GN is absolute trash compared to a brand-new and warrantied EcoBoost Mustang, which can be had for less than most of the cars listed in this article. Same with a late model Challenger or Camaro.
Thinking about it, I actually have the new car that is in many ways the most similar to the GN. A body-on-frame, RWD, solid rear axle, GM, Chevy crewcab Silverado TurboMax (the blown to hell 310 HP, 430 FTLP, turbo 2.7 I4). Except the Silverado is safer, more comfortable, immensely higher quality, has a better ride, handles at least as well, tows my boat, and only is down 1 second on a GN 0-60. Plus if I turn off the traction control it “feels” fast on all-season tires, just like a GN. My Silverado is pretty menacing in all white with no chrome, just ask the people that brake check me.
The difference between my Silverado and a GN, based on the GN owner’s I’ve known and the comments below, is I don’t fantasize a valet will park my Silverado next to a Bentley, and I did not tell the dealer to keep the transport stuff like the plastic on the seats on it because of all the money it will be worth in the future, and I don’t consider it my retirement plan.
The regular GN (not GNX) was $18,295 in 1987, which, based on a CPI calculator, is $51,672 today, so these have not even kept up with inflation despite all the boomers who thought they were great investments. And that does not net out carrying costs. That $18,295 in the S&P reinvesting dividends would have been $824,141.
Somewhat ironically, the GNs would be worth more today if people actually used them up back in the day instead of suffering under the delusion that the anachronism was some kind of automotive high-water mark.