Anybody remember the Buick Grand National?
- Thread starter mjg1
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Oh yeah! My brother had a 87 GNX. We took it to the track and it clocked several 13.2-13.5 second quarter miles on street tires with no mods. The reason for the fast 0-60, but low top steep was the relatively steep 3.42 rear-end gears and the ease of spooling up the turbo in an automatic transmission car against the brakes. In it's day it was a looker, especially in all black. The interior was typical GM blah. Quality was also typical late 80s GM (crap!) although he never had a problem with the motor. He sold it after 3 years for the same amount as he paid for it new.
The engine was also put into GM's small Sonoma pick-up and called the Cyclone and it pulled a 13.6 second quarter and was traction limited. I never saw one on the street.
Thanks for the memory!
Oh yes. When I was in High School in Hamilton.
I remember being a total GM man (boy at the time). Me and my buddies would drive over (or walk) to the GM dealer and just look and marvel at the new cars. I remember being dirt poor and had to scrape money together just to take the bus. Owning a thing like the Grand National or a Monte Carlo SS seemed like an impossible dream. I remember in HS going to the dealer just to look and we'd go into the showroom and the staff there would chase us no good greebie kids out after 3 minutes of us ogling the new iron.
Funny cause now I can afford any piece of shit that GM makes and I'd sooner eat glass than buy it (probably stemming from how those sales people treated me and my friends (plus GM building nothing but shit now)).
I remember being a total GM man (boy at the time). Me and my buddies would drive over (or walk) to the GM dealer and just look and marvel at the new cars. I remember being dirt poor and had to scrape money together just to take the bus. Owning a thing like the Grand National or a Monte Carlo SS seemed like an impossible dream. I remember in HS going to the dealer just to look and we'd go into the showroom and the staff there would chase us no good greebie kids out after 3 minutes of us ogling the new iron.
Funny cause now I can afford any piece of shit that GM makes and I'd sooner eat glass than buy it (probably stemming from how those sales people treated me and my friends (plus GM building nothing but shit now)).
Yeah, my cousin had one and was so proud. Then around 2002, he was with some chick in Windsor. After he woke up from his night of drinking and fornication, his car was gone! "Those sorry niggers stole my car" his quote. There was a little party going on and some guys he didn't know. For the PC police, he's black and from Detroit, and is a cop now.
Fast in a straight line but that was about it. Forget about cornering or stopping.
I tend to agree with you with the exception of the 2015 Z06. Not that I'd ever buy one but it is one hell of a car!
You are really getting grumpy and opinionated in your old age!
GM makes many great vehicles. The 2015 Vette is world class in every way, especially when you factor in the price. The new Z28 Camaro is outperforming on the road tracks as witnessed by the large number of races already won. The V8 Camaro, even at it's steep price is doing well. The 2015 GM pick-up trucks have won most independent test reviews. Among people who actually use their pickup trucks for real work including carrying loads and towing, the GM brand is number 1. Ford is for the weekend wanna-be crowd. Caddies have certainly recaptured the hearts of the image and performance crowd. Among mid-sized cars-are-not-our-lives crowd, the Malibu and Impala continue to do well and provide many years of trouble free, low-cost service.
I still sigh at your " soul crushing banal suburb" comment a few weeks ago. Seriously, every time I drive into the core along the Gardener I just cringe at the sea of ugly condos lining both sides of the highway, horribly dominating Toronto's formly beautiful waterfront. Tiny claustrophobic 600 sq ft units, many with tiny or no balconies or opening windows. I love older homes, especially Victorian and French-gothic of which Toronto has plenty --- however many of the modest examples are being torn-down and replaced with monstrosities. I love the streets of period row-homes and semis --- unfortunately many people aren't properly caring for them and they are deteriorating. Allot of old buildings that were stunning at one time, like St Joe's Hospital in your neighbourhood --- horrible, ugly, dehumanizing place now. I used to love the islands, the "Ex", Ontario Place, the planetarium, even just walking up Yonge street - all are well past their best-before dates. Yep, "soul crushing banal" certainly applies to the current Toronto. It used to be such a pretty and inviting people-orientated city. No more.
To be balanced, Oshawa and Brampton are in full decay and Mississauga is not far behind.
Not really true. The GN and GNXs were equipped with bigger rotors and more powerful booster. They stopped as well as any other mid-priced, mid-sized performance car of that era (within 10 feet of the vette at 60mph). My brother's car had no pedal feel what-so-ever, but back then that was the norm.
Handling also was typical of mid-priced cars of that era. In a typical street race, acceleration is the determining factor almost all of the time. Not that many windy roads in the GTA. The Grand National regularly wasted contemporary vettes on the street. With a few performance mods, it wasn't even close.
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Used to love the Grand National. In fact, I just noticed there are 2 on trader.ca, one is 10 grand, the other 30. Don't think so. I used to have an 81 Grand Prix 3.8 litre in the late 80's, and had dreams of converting it as much as possible into a Grand National. Even bought the same rims. Had some buddies who were into customizing old cars and had a couple interested in working on it for me (I was so not a car guy lol).Then I moved out of my parents and life started becoming real lol.
Turbocharged and Intercooled (86 and later).
Don't confuse bad pedal feel with short stopping distances. In it's day, the car stopped reasonably well. Look at the test reports. Same with handling.
I had a 72 Buick GS (Skylark model) 455, 4 speed. Watch the speedo go up and the gas gauge go down. Price of gas was 35/litre and it stil cost me $10 a day to drive to work and back ! I admired the GN for their technology.
I still have one. On a cold day, with a little bit of mist in the air, the car hauls like a freight train. 11.78 was my best time in the quarter with open exhaust and slicks. That's fully equipped with working air conditioning. Car would stop well twice, then you would experience heavy brake fade.
Buddy of mine had a Monte Carlos SS...
I'm not exactly a "car guy", but I remember cruising around in that sweet ride which was very similar looking to the Grand National.
I'm not exactly a "car guy", but I remember cruising around in that sweet ride which was very similar looking to the Grand National.
Sorry, GM builds shit everything.
I will give you the new Vette to be an excellent car. (Mind you, I wouldn't buy one because I don't like the styling. But it is an impressive car from an Engineering point of view I will admit. And I have to hand it to them that they didn't go all retro). The new Camaro is 3'rd behind Ford, which is behind Chrysler. The Dodge Challenger Hellcat is 700 HP of pure beast and will rip the doors off of any Camaro.
Everything else GM builds is crap. Shit quality, shit reliability, shit styling, shit everything. Caddy? Please. They are a joke. Ugly ugly ugly cars that do not hold their value whatsoever. Escalade? Har - you'll take a 50 to 60 percent hit in just 2 years off the lot. Junk.
GM cars are all about multiple coffee cup holders, power points and gizmos to keep the rug rats occupied in the back seat on trips.
Pickup trucks? (Which I'm in the market for). I would not even consider a GM. Not ever. It's Ford or Ram for me - in that order.
In my world, for my day to day driver (if I was going to buy the car of my choice), it would be an Audi S6. I would not even for a nanosecond think Caddy.
Sports car?
If I had to choose between the new Vette, or the new Jaguar F type, again, not even a nano second = Jaguar F type baby. That is one sexy sexy car. Maybe the vette can drive circles around it. Don't know, don't care. The new Jag F-type just has it. As in IT. I've only seen a few F types on the road. A while back a white one just sailed past me on the 427. It was if it was on rails how it powered past me.
The new Jag has styling galore. The new vette? Looks a lot like the previous vette.
OK. Don't laugh or flame me but here goes.
My uncle had one and I had just learned to drive and he let me drive it. It was crazy fast. Especially from a stand still. But it handled like shit.
His next car was a Toyota cressida. Not as fast off the mark but still stimulating acceleration. But the cressida had crazy great handling compared to any North American cars we had ever driven.
We've been buying Toyota's ever since.
But I'd take a grand national for a quick spin just to remember my uncle and dad.
My uncle had one and I had just learned to drive and he let me drive it. It was crazy fast. Especially from a stand still. But it handled like shit.
His next car was a Toyota cressida. Not as fast off the mark but still stimulating acceleration. But the cressida had crazy great handling compared to any North American cars we had ever driven.
We've been buying Toyota's ever since.
But I'd take a grand national for a quick spin just to remember my uncle and dad.
LOL, can you actually back-up any of that frothing tirate with facts? Edmonds rate GMC on par with the other American manufactures and in the top half of all manufacturers. In regards to resale value, FAIL - modern Cadillacs do pretty well; http://www.edmunds.com/car-reviews/best-retained-value-cars.html Interesting that your hated brand Acura is the best in several catagories. http://www.kbb.com/cadillac/ats/2014-cadillac-ats/ http://www.kbb.com/cadillac/escalade/2015-cadillac-escalade/
Yet both Car and Driver and Road and Track rated them: #1 Z28 Camaro, #2 Ford Shelby GT500, #3 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat. Although I'm not a Ford guy, I really like the Mustang styling. I'm a Dodge musclecar bigot, so yeah I'd love a Hellcat. Camaro styling is boring.
You aren't comparing similar classes of car. The S6 starts at $89K, the Cadillac starts at $51K. An M4 or M5 would be more comparable. I won't consider a Cadillac either, but many, many people do.
But aren't you a Infiniti G owner? Isn't that car totally marketed at males in their mid 50s that can't afford BMWs? At least the 2 door G is gorgeous, the 4 door is an automotive abortion.
We agree! Jags are the sexest car on the road with Austin Martin a close second. The Brits know how to style a performance car.
Don't get upset, I'm playing with you here. I don't like GM styling at all either, but they don't build shit cars - they build boring cars for boring people that are decent quality.
The resale of recent Cadillac's is good, you say?
If you go on CarMax, you'll find plenty of CTS and ATS with ~$10k off sticker...brand new. How do you figure the resale on used models to be "good" if you can buy a brand new unit for 25%+ off? The only Caddy that has decent resale is the 'Slade, and even that is iffy now that the Gen4 is just out.
Saying the the Vette is "world class...especially if you consider the price" is like saying the Hyundai Equus is world class. Sure bro.
The GN was a muscle car. It was/is desirable because it appeals to domestic iron guys. It's an engineering feat of stuffing enormous power into a car. It doesn't drive well. The design isn't groundbreaking (I mean, c'mon. it's a Regal with bigger guts!). The interior is classic GM (ages like an albino in the florida sun). But, it could claim kick-ass power. 'MuricA!
If you go on CarMax, you'll find plenty of CTS and ATS with ~$10k off sticker...brand new. How do you figure the resale on used models to be "good" if you can buy a brand new unit for 25%+ off? The only Caddy that has decent resale is the 'Slade, and even that is iffy now that the Gen4 is just out.
Saying the the Vette is "world class...especially if you consider the price" is like saying the Hyundai Equus is world class. Sure bro.
The GN was a muscle car. It was/is desirable because it appeals to domestic iron guys. It's an engineering feat of stuffing enormous power into a car. It doesn't drive well. The design isn't groundbreaking (I mean, c'mon. it's a Regal with bigger guts!). The interior is classic GM (ages like an albino in the florida sun). But, it could claim kick-ass power. 'MuricA!
