In this week’s Wednesday Want we’ve found something truly special in the classified adverts and thought it really deserved some attention. You can check out past Wednesday Want entries right here.
Let’s face it, American cars in the 1980s were, for the most part, far from exciting. However, there were a few gems here and there, and this week we take a look at one of the finest — the 1987 Buick GNX.
The GNX is a pretty special car by itself. Not to mention rare; only 547 exist. This isn’t just any GNX though. It’s car #003, making it the lowest number GNX not currently in a museum. Car #001 is part of the GM Heritage Collection in Sterling Heights, Michigan and car #002 resides at the Buick Gallery in nearby Flint. Buick never sold either vehicle, so #003 is officially the first ever customer car.
The story of the GNX is part of the grander GM legend from the 1980s. With the Buick Regal set to switch over to the mundane FWD W-Body platform for the 1988 model year, the engineering team wanted a “Grand National to end all Grand Nationals”. This was sort of a last hoorah for the Regal, not to mention one of the last great Buick performance cars for some time.
Starting off life as a Grand National, the 547 cars were then shipped off to McLaren Performance Technologies (MPT) for an upgrade. That’s not the same McLaren that gave the world the F1, rather a powertrain company. It does trace its roots back to Bruce McLaren back in the 1960s, but today, the only thing the two companies share is their names.
With the work of MPT and American Specialty Cars, the Grand Nationals began their transformation. The 3.8-liter V6 got a larger Garrett T-3 turbocharger and a massive intercooler. A free-flowing exhaust, reprogrammed transmission, and improved cooling rounded out the changes to the drivetrain.
The GNX wore upgraded suspension, with unique Panhard bars and torque arms that worked to push the rear of the car into the pavement under acceleration.
The exterior changes were minimal. Black paint, the lack of badges, and some mesh wheels gave the car a great sleeper appearance though.
GM claims the GNX put out 276hp and 360lb-ft of torque, which is respectable in its own right. The standard Grand National was 76hp and 60lb-ft shy, so this was an upgrade for sure. However, the numbers of the GNX were part of a GM ruse. The accepted output for the car is nearer 300hp, with 420lb-ft of torque.
Once the press started testing the car — the GNX #003 currently for sale — they were shocked by the performance. It ran the quarter mile in 12.7 seconds and hit 60 mph in just 4.6 seconds. This was quicker than both the Ferrari F40 and Porsche 930.
Today, GNX #003 isn’t blasting down the drag strip or wooing automotive journalists. Instead, it sits peacefully in a private collection and hasn’t moved much since 1992.
Like any car sitting for the better part of 25 years, it needed some serious TLC. Thankfully, GNX #003 was restored back to its 1987 glory and is now in tip-top shape.
There’s no estimate for the auction, however GNX #385 with just 362 miles on it sold for a staggering $165,000 in 2015. Chances are this low number, previous press vehicle, will sell for more despite its 10,000 miles — mostly in the hands of unsympathetic journalists. It’ll hit the auction block in Scottsdale, Arizona in January as part of the large Barrett-Jackson auction.
The GNX, while incredibly strange, is definitely an awesome car. Whoever ends up with GNX #003 we hope they enjoy it.
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