With Ford talking about eliminating V8s from it's lineup altogether and GM probably thinking some very similar thoughts, I keep wondering if Buick isn't letting an opportunity slip through their fingers by not bringing back the Grand National. I mean, they could easily build it on the CTS platform and offer it as a Turbo V6 (and even four banger, why not the 2.0 Ecotec Turbo from the Cobalt SS as a base engine?) offering only. If that's the wave of the future might as well bring back the most respected Turbo car of all time. Who here wouldn't like to see the Grand National again?
i sure would but i think they hate to ruin a legend
True, but the GN was always a legend after the fact. At the time people loved the car but most people couldn't afford it. What Buick did though, is show that you could build a classic car with a modern drivetrain that could smoke the classics. Still, the Grand National was never as fast as people say it was. It did the quarter in the high 14s tops. The GNX did it in the low 14s/high 13s, which is what the Cobalt SS does today. So things have improved carwise. However, I dunno... I think Buick had something there for a minute. A classic looking car with a tiny engine and HUGE turbo that blew the doors off older cars.
In a way it makes me dread the eventual demise of V8s less. The idea that the lightning-in-a-bottle that Buick captured will live on in other cars. That it's possible to have a tire smoking small displacement car.
I just hope it's RWD. I'm not so modern thinking that I can accept a front driver Musclecar yet. I'm old fashioned that way.
ya i see what your saying.only thing i can ever hope for is rwd.
I think the last thing GM (Or any car manufacturer for that matter) needs right now is another throw-back/retro platform. They already have a rear wheel drive turbo ECOTEC platform, Kappa. On a different note, the 3.8L was one of the largest non-exotic production turbo engines of its time, so I really wouldn't call it "TINY" by any means.
Knoxfire wrote: Still, the Grand National was never as fast as people say it was. It did the quarter in the high 14s tops. The GNX did it in the low 14s/high 13s, which is what the Cobalt SS does today.
LOL
your comparing apples to oranges... the GN was not a "fast" car, but for its time it was @!#$ rocket. GM makes the Vette their fastest, flagship sports car, the GN was faster then the vettes of the same years. Thats part of the reason why they pulled the plug on the GN is becasue it was faster then vette.
20 years of technology may mean the Cobalt SS runs what a GN runs but a current Vette will completely mop the floor with a cobalt.
Absolutely, at the time the Grand National was without question the fastest American car of 1987. I was just mentioning it as a bit of trivia.
And you're right about the plug being pulled on it. I've also suspected that Buick didn't cancel it willingly. For one, they had a LOT of extra engines, so many that they had to put them in the 1989 Pontiac Trans Am Turbo in order to clean out the wharehouses. That leads me to believe that Buick may have at least thought that there'd be a 1988 GN (The Monte-Carlo and Cutlass Supreme G-Bodies were still being made that year and the cancellation of the RWD Regal felt premature.). The second thing that raises an eyebrow is the 4.3 liter Turbo V6 used in the Syclone/Typhoon. I don't know, but it feels like this would have been a natural progression from the 3.8 Turbo for a 1989 Grand National. I know for sure that they tested the Syclone engines in Buick Electra Estate Wagons in 1989, so take that as you will. What I think happened is that Buick wanted to use that engine in the Buick Roadmaster redesign and that a lot of the parts they were going to use on that car got sent to the very Grand National looking 1994 Impala SS.
^^^^ dumbest post ever
This guy crammed a big turbo motor into a little Geo Metro and turned it into a drag car that runs 9's.... that means Geo Metros are fast
you can make ANY car run a 10 second quarter mile if you mod it enough...
GNX is 2 on my list of dream cars, falls behind a 71 hemi cuda.
Fast Production Car of its time.
I'd love to see them bring it, but to do it right they have to make it look like a normal persons car and drop a powerful powerplant in it. I'd say take the Pontiac Grand Prix and make it a 2 door. Then of course only offer it in Black.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edited Sunday, June 15, 2008 9:55 AM
5 YEAR ANNIVERSARY FREEBIE GIVEAWAY - CLICK HERE TO ENTER
What you know about Street Racing anyways? Only what Fast & Furious taught us....
SO EVERYTHING!
i like the idea of a buick being built on the CTS platform and given a badass turbo'd engine. it would be a great way to introduce the v6 ecotec like theyve got everywhere else in the world.
Here we go, a little bit more black, some nicer rims, some tweaking from McLaren and VOILA! You got a Grand National, put the ZR1 engine in it and it's a GNX.
am i the only fan of 2 door models? i HATE it when they bring back a nameplate that was coupe only and then stick 2 extra doors on it (yeah, im talking to you dodge charger)
or am i missing something and the GN was released as a sedan?
(tabs) wrote:am i the only fan of 2 door models? i HATE it when they bring back a nameplate that was coupe only and then stick 2 extra doors on it (yeah, im talking to you dodge charger)
or am i missing something and the GN was released as a sedan?
Naw, the GN was always a 2 door coupe, but Buick doesn't have any sort of coupes right now (Hell, all of GM doesn't have any coupes.) so I figured that they might as well work with what they have. Also, a Buick muscle sedan is less annoying because the Grand National was always meant to be a luxury musclecar for middle class guys in their 30's. It's not like the Charger where it was meant to be a kickass coupe for College guys who cruised around picking up hot chicks.
Personally I love 2 doors and hate sedans, but a GN 4 door wouldn't be the end of the world for me.
Just because they use a platform that may be 4 door, doesn't mean the car has to have 4 doors.
The Scion tC is built off the Avensis platform, the Avensis is a 4 door, the tC is a 2. Unless I'm getting the wrong impression from the "4 door" comments?
Gm will NEVER eliminate V8s alltogether, this has all been gone over before back in the late 70s and early 80s. Theres no real place in Gm's lineup for such a car, they would likely have to base it off the G6 coupe and it would have something like the GXP engine, basically it would just be yet another GM copycat world parts bin car. The camaro is going to fill whatever market there would be for such a car. The smartest thing GM could do would be to drop the Buick and Pontiac lines all together and quit making 4 different versions of the same car. Collectively in the past 10 years neither division has put out anything unique except the G6. Everything they make is copied off other GM cars.
Most respected turbo car of all time? Hardly. Maybe the best domestic turbo engine since Ford and Chrysler never put out anything worth a damn, but I hate to admit it the imports have been doing boost alot better for a lot longer.
1989 Turbo Trans Am #82, 2007 Cobalt SS G85
Actually, both Chrysler and Ford's four banger Turbos from the 80's did some very respectable numbers. The Ford Mustang SVO was actually slightly faster than the Mustang GT (and handled a whole lot better) and the Chrysler 2.2 Turbos can cut a 13 second quarter really easily with minimal mods. I remember that a Dodge Omni Shelby was one of the first really fast front driven four pots I'd ever seen. Back in 1990 or so a guy had build one that could blow the doors off old musclecars. Gotta love that.
I agree that I should have written "Domestic" in my statement, but I still stand by the "Most Respected" part. What other Turbo car do you know that's liked by almost every facet of car enthusiats? From the old school Musclecar/Hot Rod guys to the kids in Hondas with lights underneath. Yes, there are faster and better Turbos, but none that appeal to so many people at the same time. The Buick managed to be one of the first truly modern Musclecars, while still being a classic sort of car.
