Finding an iconic muscle car at a bargain basement price is always tempting, but it often means you’re buying it in near-basketcase condition. That’s potentially the case with this desirable 1987 Buick Grand National, but it still looks like a worthwhile project given what good ones are selling for. The Buick comes with the original engine block but no transmission is included, so the next owner will have some parts sleuthing to do. Mileage is believed to be genuine at 63,211 and it is a one-owner example that will be sold with title. Find it here on eBay where bidding is at $3,950 with the reserve unmet.
The Grand National is parked in a salvage yard it seems, with another Regal / Grand National of the same era parked next to it. The paint clearly suggests prolonged outdoor exposure and the car is missing the often-damaged bumper filler trim pieces. The seller claims rust is minimal, limited to surface-level only, but the car’s location in Pennsylvania would still push me to inspect underneath. Regardless, assuming the reserve is around $5K, there’s nothing visible in photos that would cause me a great deal of concern – and there’s always a chance this was locked away in someone’s garage as a long-standing project that never got finished.
The interior isn’t terrible, but I’ve always associated the puckered-up piping on the seats with dampness and moisture intrusion. I have no scientific basis for this claim, but any car I’ve owned or crawled through in a junkyard that was particularly damp usually had wrinkled piping like this Grand National does. As it has the T-top roof panes, water intrusion is almost certain, especially if the Grand National has been largely neglected these last several years. Still, seats can wither like this due to prolonged exposure to the sun, too, but I’m not seeing the fading typically associated with that. But don’t worry – the seat period car phone will be included with the sale.
The engine bay is a sad sight, leaving you to wonder what caused the engine of a collector car like this to be partially disassembled and left in pieces. More and more the Grand National has the vibe of an unfinished project, and the next owner will have to pick up where the previous caretaker left off. Still, given the huge demand for Grand Nationals that seemingly never even comes close to withering, the next owner will likely have a desirable project on their hands if the reserve price isn’t too lofty. Do you think this beater Grand National makes sense to restore, or would you wait for a better one?
I can smell the stank of that interior from here! I’m guessing it’s going to cost way more to fix this one up than to buy one in halfway decent condition
Always better to buy a driver than to start from scratch. You’l be on the road right away with a huge outlay of cash and pain.
without! I meant without!
Where’s the GD edit button?
Nothing to see here move along.
Creature from the Black Lagoon, your car is ready.
I am amazed that it still has the original plastic protective covering on the instrument cluster bezel, radio bezel and other places on the dash… it is normally removed as part of the new car prep. I can’t believe it still hasn’t been peeled off in 33 years! If it was a solid roof car, it would have more value.
Even if the sellers claim of 63,xxx miles is accurate, does it really matter?
The sellers suggestion that it’s a one owner car is laughably bad, they even contradict themselves in the text of the ad. Any potential buyer would be wise to make sure there are no issues with the title before finalizing the purchase.
Steve R
“Car comes with original engine block, NO transmission. Car is very solid with minimal surface rust . This 87 Grand National wont take much to get back on the road . Some elbow grease & a sand an shoot” Don’t you just LOVE the sellers ‘optimistic’ appraisal of how easy it will be to restore this car? LOL!
You forgot the black and grey duct tape! That always solves many problems!
Wait, where’s the motor ..?
The drivers side inner door panel, with its warped and separating cardboard behind the shriveled cloth material, is a BIG indication of water damage. This is from either the T Tops leaking or window seals, or someone had the window down for a period. Just think of what the floor pans will look like once you pull the carpet back.
Restomod is all this car is good for NOW!
These cars are hugely expensive to restore. The last 1987 GN I restored was a 1 owner 47K mile car that sat for 10 years.
I spent almost a $1,000 just getting the gas tank back in shape with a new Walbro pump, fuel sending unit and fuel hanger. The original units were not usable. Fortunately for me the original GN gas tank was able to be cleaned as the tank is also unique to the GN. A rebuildable complete core REAL GN BRF code automatic transmission will bring $500.00 plus!
The price of NICE 1987 GN’s has been the same for the last 20 years. $20K will buy you a very NICE 1987 GN. You cannot fix a this or any other basket case 1987 GN for that kind of money!
I would pass on this one , unless you have plenty of time and plenty of cash , first the paint rust , you will have to go under and fill it and of course with the time will blow again that monster cane with t-tops rust around that structure will be a nightmare, interiors wet carpet, rust under the carpet and rust in seat coils plus the damaged electronic needs good cash to fix it . Second no Tranny the match between GNX engine and tranny was made in heaven finding one in good shape and properly fix and sealed will be a Christmas dream , decals, emblems,will keep you busy looking for them. Engine that the turbo is not wear, and all the gaskets rotten and dry plus the In board computer, ignitions and coils also will cost a bundle. Reserve is about 5,000 ? Add the at least 15k neede to start up this one and because if the massive body work will not be a auction princess
No thank you.
Im figuring this Buick was beaten to death by one too many burnouts and drsg races.
I know of a supposed prototype GN engine here locally. My memory is fuzzy, though. The man who owned it had a metal scrapyard and collected all sorts of old trucks, farm equipment, motorcycles and whatever else often weird things. He passed away last year. I don’t get along with his sons but do get along with his wife. She’s a nurse who may be getting busy if and when the virus arrives here in rural Iowa. I haven’t heard if there’ll be an auction. The engine is stashed away in a large modern building and is very hard to get at. He thought highly enough of it to make would be thieves think twice about stealing it. I did take some pics of it at that time, along with dozens of shots of interesting old iron. Pretty sure I have those pics on a thumb drive if anyone is interested in following up with the owner(s). I bought many cycles and some steel from him over the years but it was pretty tough going, difficult to deal with. I imagine his wife doesn’t feel the same ‘near and dear’ as old Jim did.
Call 867-5309 on that handy phone see where that gets you.
Jenny is busy
FrankY, Apparently you haven’t read this, “RULES: No profanity, politics, or personal attacks.” So then, why the personal attack? You owe everyone an explanation. A REAL explanation. Own it.
Put a turbocharged LS motor in it with a 6-speed
Looks like there may be a couple of donor cars parked next to this Grand National.
Both likely in no better shape than this one!
JUST A LITTLE UPDATE:
a friend sent me the link to this car, yes this exact basket case. When I finally got the auction listing loaded it had less then 12 minutes left and I hadn’t even entered my CC info yet. I actually wasnt even sure of its location, but hey its a GRAND NATIONAL! ive always dreamed of owning one and knew if i ever did id remove the turbo 3.8 (but am a huge fan of the buick turbocharged 3800 v6. It was decades ahead of its time. I mean think about it, a corvette of this era with the L98 engine made 225hp iirc at the crank from a 5.7 liter v8. And the buick made 275 wheel horsepower from a non intercooled 3.8 v6. Which equals probably 340 crank horsepower) but im a speed demon and chevy profected the v8 that just love boost thrown at them with the chevy LS. 4.8,5.3,6.0,6.2… it didnt matter, slap a 70mm turbo on it and you were in business. And they literally put them in, or had an option to put them in every non transverse vehicle they sold starting in 2001ish aside from the Colorado pickup. Vans passenger, cargo, and work vans, trucks, suvs big and small, box trucks/ambulances/uhauls.. EVERYTHING!
But my friend, who is a snobby purist to say the least (bought a 1968 Malibu with a modern-ish 383 stroker with FItech fuel injection and a tremec t56 trans with hydraulic throw out bearing and a ford explorer 8.8 inch rear end that made a super reliable 515hp to the back tires and the 6 speed trans would let him cruise at 85mph in 6th gear at an unheard of 3k rpm or slightly less. He is such a purist he yanked the power plant and traded it for 4 speed powered 2 bolt main 396 with a quadrajet carb on it. Only thing cool about it was it was a 396. But from 1972 or 1973 so made an astonishing 240hp at the crank. And in 4th gear at 80mph he was well over 4k rpm but it didnt matter cuz it was already suffering at that point..
But anyways I thot since he sent this listing to my phone, my personal email and my work email that it must be something special. I was wrong… not only was it on the other side of the country and clearly stated in the listing local pickup only and buyer wouldn’t help with shipping it(i didnt discover that until almost 2 hours after the auction ended. My very first time purchasing a car online tho. Oh well) Immediately after the auction ended I was feeling beyond excited. (Remember after entering my credit card info and i live in the middle of nowhere, which yes i have wifi but in the house not 400+ yards away in the shop seperared by 6-8″ of fresh snow) And then I walked in the house with a huge smile on my face, I also learned from my wife I rarely smile and when I do its never from ear to ear like I just won a date with Pamela Anderson (not modern day pam, but Pam when I was in my prime so like 1st season of baywatch pam) my wife didnt know what to expect to come out of my mouth and I remember looking at her and saying, “your gonna be mad, and im prepared and ok with that. As you should be cuz I would be. But I did it. I bought my dream car” she instantly looked very unamused and said “how much was this dream car?” Then followed by, “like you bought a day rental with one or a die-cast model of one?” I said, “nope I bought a g body buick gnx! I think its a 1987”
Long story short after we discovered that I bought what used to be a grand national I literally slept on the couch for almost 2 weeks after until I left to go get it..
Coming from Washington State, I realize now I should have just reached out to a vehicle transporter who would do all the work. It woulda saved me $2700 in just travel expenses. 2545 miles away sat a grand national that i just paid $6180 after tax and fees and everything. And I think it took me 41 hours to get there with my dodge 3500 and 26 foot 3 axle, 5th wheel “equipment trailer”. (Took me 70 to get home but i wasnt as excited as I was on the way there. I made it there with 2 1 hour naps and drove straight thru other then those 2 naps that I doubt were more then 30 minutes each)
Now ive had the car home and off the trailer since June 27,2020. Today is March 3rd, 2026. And what a transformation its gone thru. But the absolute almost killer to this project that made me almost just cut my losses and leave without it cuz I was so furious when I was told when I got there how impossible it would be to get it titled. The car when to its first salvage yard in 2006 In Florida and was acquired by a junk yard in Pittsburgh in 2011. The junk yard that bought it had a very nice looking, very nice looking, 12k mile 100% original one that we thru a hurricane on the coast and sat in 3 foot standing water for days cuz of Katrina inside a single car garage. So this one was bought to swap everything over to it, after everything was rebuilt of course (water didnt even make it to the tops of the tires, so really most people woulda just drove that sucker and let it air dry lol) but the owner of the junk yard, I remember his name was Dickey. I remember the sign pulling in said “welcome to dickeys dream cars. Under it it said dreams come from all kinds, people even dreamed about owning a Yugo” he passed away before doing anything with either of them or the regal t type that sat next to the 12k mile gnx. Neither of which were for sale.
Ok im gonna leave you on a bit of a cliffhanger until I get home from work, and im truly sorry about that. But ive got an idea of how much ive dumped into the car, but im also in kinda denial a bit and so wanna finally add up all my receipts and upload some pictures.. but I know ive broken 6 figures. But not without some major sacrifices! My daily driver was a 2019 lexus ISF. Black with Red leather interior and 1 of 12 of the whole 4th generation run of the lexus IS with a 6 speed manual transmission. Was special ordered and took 9 months to get the car. And the lexus was paid for. Even tho it cost just over $95k, if ever given the chance to drive one or get one even if in 15 years when they have depreciated do to $20-$30k i highly suggest it. They are still appreciating in value. I sold mine with 43k miles for $101k and it was 5 years old. And pretty much stock aside from full titanium exhaust and ride tech air ride system and some wheels (plus all stock parts) And I had a 2017 quad cab dodge Cummins.
I now drive a 2021acura integra type s thats financed and a 2008 powerstroke thats about as nice as a 20 year old Ford can get. But at least it’s paid for.. and had to get rid of my equipment trailer to get a low dove tailed 21foot trailer to tow the buick.
Its 8:30am now. Ill finish this post by about 2pm today and with pictures and links to my YouTube page. I will say this tho, even tho its now all wheel drive, we gave up on the dyno at over 2000hp on “mid range boost” cuz no matter what anything over 55psi of boost it would just melt the 28×10.50 slicks. Also thats way larger then what I run on the car but for the sake of the dyno sheet we tried everything