1987 Buick GNX

The Story

By 1987 Buick's Regal Grand National had earned a fearsome reputation, but the company wanted a knockout send-off for its rear-drive G-body. The result was the GNX — Grand National Experimental — a limited final edition developed with help from McLaren Performance Technologies and ASC. Menacingly black from bumper to bumper, it looked like the muscle car had gone to the dark side.

Its weapon was a 3.8-liter turbocharged and intercooled V6, rated at a conservative 276 horsepower. Independent testing revealed the truth: well over 300 horsepower and a 0-60 time around 4.7 seconds. That made the GNX quicker than the Corvette and even the Ferrari Testarossa of its day, all from a humble Buick six.

Details set the GNX apart from a standard Grand National: functional fender vents, unique 16-inch wheels, a reinforced rear suspension, and an analog turbo-boost gauge in a special instrument panel. Each car wore a numbered dash plaque, marking it as one of just 547 ever built.

That rarity, combined with giant-killing performance, has made the GNX one of the most coveted American cars of the era. Low-mileage examples now command six figures at auction, with the finest crossing the block well past $200,000 — extraordinary money for a 1980s Buick, and proof that the GNX earned every bit of its legend.