It’s rare to find one of the halo muscle cars of the 1980s offered as trade bait for another project or even listed with a reasonable asking price. But that’s what we have here, and although this 1985 Buick Grand National needs plenty of love, it’s still a genuine collector car that seems like it could be gotten for reasonable money or even just a straight swap if you’ve got a project taking up space. The seller is asking $8,000 to buy the running project car outright, and it will come with a bevy of spare parts. Find it here on craigslist in Sarasota, Florida.
Normally, when we see Grand Nationals this cheap, they’re either rusty, former accident victims or sitting with an empty engine bay. This one doesn’t appear to suffer from any of these issues, aside from being partially disassembled, clearly the victim of a stalled restoration project. The good news is the body appears to be straight and the seller makes no mention of any significant rust in his ad. The listing does mention, however, loads of spare parts, including replacement bumper fillers, new headlight bezels and emblems, and much more.
The seller mentions that the seats are out of the car and that he has all the needed parts to put the cabin back together. I wish we knew why it came out in the first place, as it seems sort of secondary to getting the car sorted out mechanically. Was there a water leak? Mouse infestation? Who knows, but if the original components are included, they likely weren’t destroyed by water or rodents. The seller does mention having new carpet, so perhaps he was just in the process of replacing it. Still, that’s a pretty simple job to finish, so I’d button up the interior and then list it for sale if it were me.
The paint looks fairly flat in this photo, so I’m guessing it will need some further cosmetic sorting beyond bumper fillers and emblems. The Grand National is surrounded by a variety of other muscle car projects, so it’s clear that this seller has more than a few projects to choose from at a given time; perhaps the Buick just fell down the list of priorities and the thought of putting it back together didn’t appeal. The later GNs made more power, but seemingly every Grand National has become a collector car as of late. Given the emphasis on possible trades, I’m guessing this seller just has a wandering eye, and if it’s as complete as it’s described, this seems like a fair deal for a desirable 80s performance car.
$8000 is way to dear for a hot air car that needs so much work. As someone who owned an ’87 GN from new for 25 years, I can say that this doesn’t interest me, but if someone looking for the GN mystique and can bargain this car down to $4-5k might find this to be a cool cruiser.
Clean title with a not so clean car attached. Severely overpriced and photos are neglecting the important areas. Something’s rotten in Florida.
No way hot air car is only $8000 in great condition good luck
Flood victim.
You can tell by the comments which people have owned and know these cars.
I have owned ’84 ’86 and 2 ’87 G.N.’s
Bottom line all of them had the 3.42 axle, etc. True ’84 & ’85’s were down about 45 (rated) hp. It you wanted to make the earlier cars run better, you could add an intercooler, new computer chips, water injection, etc. for a lot less than the difference in cost of a intercooled model.
This looks like a good solid car and at that price is a steal for a Grand National
It even has the right rims.
I agree with Frank B. but I think the car is overpriced.
I own a 87 we4 2 1986 gn and so I know what thing go for have been in to bucks my whole life 86 and 87 are the big money bucks yes you can add a intercooler to a 85 but buick did not you can paint it pink but that’s not how it left the factory 🤔
A 1985 GN may not be as desired as the 86-87 models,but the questions I get asked when I drive my ’85 a lot of times is”Is it for sale?” A slow Grand National is better than no Grand National!
The attraction to these has always mystified me.
This is one of those situations of “if you owned one, you’d know.”
Definitely! I wanted a Monte Carlo SS but I fell in love with the GN.
Yep, Once you hit the gas pedal on one of these babies, You get Hooked!
I drove a 1983 T-Type from ’87-’90 – maroon with t-tops. Always wanted a GN!