The Grand National debuted in 1982 in response to the success that Buick was having in NASCAR. It was generally produced in small quantities (by Buick standards) until 1987 when the sales floodgates opened during the car’s last year. This ’87 edition is in survivor condition and only needs paint and a headliner to wow fans of 1980s muscle cars (such as they were). Located in East Taunton, Massachusetts, this Grand National is available here on eBay where the bidding has reached $22,600 through brisk activity.
While most Grand Nationals are noted for their black paint, they started with a silver finish in 1982. Based on the Regal and with a production of just 215 units, there was no GN for 1983. The car returned for 1984 in black and had a 3.8-liter turbocharged V6 engine with sequential fuel injection. Both horsepower and torque were in play and these cars were capable of breaking 16 seconds in the quarter-mile. Production jumped to 2,000 in 1984, 2,102 for 1985, 5,512 in 1986, and 27,590 turbo-charged cars for 1987, the year of the seller’s car. Those last editions put out 245 horses and 355 lb.-ft of torque.
The seller’s GN has 63,000 miles which means it has not spent its life as a garage queen. We’re told it runs and drives well and the seller provides a video of it doing its thing. These cars came with 4-speed automatic transmission and were well-appointed machines as you would expect from Buick. The car is currently registered and passed its most recent State of Massachusetts inspection.
Next comes the imperfect parts of the car. The back paint is faded, especially on the upward-facing surfaces like the hood, roof, and trunk. There is no mention of rust, and we don’t see any in the photos provided. The interior looks used but in good order except for the headliner which has a case of the droops, typical for GM cars of this era and also ones with T-tops like this car. These Buicks can fetch a fair price on the resale market and getting this one into top driver quality might not take that much.
Interesting, a V6. I would have never thought a
1987 Buick Grand National would have a V6.
Never heard of a Turbocharged V6 either.
I guess I learned something today.
Stick around…there’ll be about a dozen more in 6 mos. time. You’ll learn plenty, including the fact that some people bought them as investments when they should have enjoyed them..
LMAO….was thinking the same thing….this guy is a car guy for preschoolers…..maybe he can find blues clue….
Or he’s very sarcastic…
Hoss. Also in 1987, Buick built 547 very special GN’s. They were called the GNX. They had even more horsepower. I think they were rated at 275 HP, but I’ve been told by a Buick engineer that it was underrated.
Here we go!!! It’s GN Week on Barn Finds. Get the popcorn and grab a seat. They finally ran out of 1954 Corvettes.
Too bad they can’t run our of rustangs!
Crazy price for something that needs a repaint and interior work
Huh. A Grand National with more than 100 miles?! That IS a rare car indeed!
The ’87’s were no joke. Would eat any Mustang up to mid 2000 SALEENS /Shelbys. I know, I’ve had several of both. !/4 mile in 13.2 or thereabout. 0-60 around 4.6. Had aa high speed limiter. These are underpriced(?) cars in my opinion. The GNX was a totally different animal. Strictly high dollar collectible since new(up to $50,000 in 1987!!!) Close to Supercar territory back in the day.
There’s an episode of Jay Leno’s garage that features a Grand National in absolutely pristine condition – it sat in the dealer’s showroom all these years, but never sold, for a variety of reasons. Cool car!
A GNX at that. 547 built and about 1000 miles.
I bought one in fall of 97. Truly a fast comfortable car to drive and get you 26 miles per gallon. Used to love beating small and big block Chevys. Have recently started looking for one! You have to drive one to experience it!
121 bids between 13 bidders!(?)
With high flow heads and 20 lbs of boost these cars would take you straight-to-jail. I wasn’t even drinking