I for one like them a whole lot. I juet recently became interested in them. Here's a link
EDIT: seems like a lot of us are interested in this model
Posted Oct 13, 2011, 1:18 PM UTC · edited
The turbo ld5 was never attached to an manual transmission. The biggest flaw with the T-type and GN
FYI, the engine in the GN's and T-Types were LC2's not the LD5. Really the automatic is great for this set up (no loss in boost between shifts).
EDIT: Sorry the RPO change to from LD5 to LC2 happened in 1986.
It's great... but it lacks a big amount of fun that it could have with say a T56 in it's stead. I've driven a 84 T-Type (Long ago though) and it felt not as fun as it could've been if it had been manual. Maybe it's because I've never driven a full GN that I don't understand. (Kind of doubt it though)
they are beasts if you can do them right
Well i do like boobies
Lol! I thought that said breasts
When I sold cars for a time in the late '80s, we had two of them on the lot for a while. One was a GNX, one was a "base" Grand National. They are among the most fun cars I've ever driven. Crazy acceleration and easy drifting. On any kind of slippery surface they are absolutely deadly. They will snap you into a ditch with very little notice and very little opportunity to do anything about it. Their brakes are nearly useless and they handle like a mid-80s Buick Regal (for obvious reasons.)
Many of them came with the big heavy glass t-tops, which play hell with structural rigidity and center of gravity. Compared to a modern performance car, they were VERY top-heavy already and those t-tops made it worse. Look along the spine of a GN with t-tops and you'll almost always see cracks in the metal where the body flexes but the glass doesn't.
Unfortunately, it's incredibly hard to find a decent one for a couple of reasons... Almost all of them have been in a ditch at some point. Seriously, they are hella-dangerous to drive enthusiastically. Also, the interiors suffer from the malaise-era GM problems of cheap materials and horrible design. Most GN's you see now have cracks and discoloring throughout the plastic interior parts. Also, the interiors were hideous to start with. Compared to modern cars, the panel fits and detail work were mind-bogglingly bad.
Also of interest: A new documentary about the car, called Black Air.
Im def watching this when i get a chance, do you by chance know the torque on these models?
Im def watching this when i get a chance, do you by chance know the torque on these models?
Badass cars for sure, I just dont think I could live with such a dated 80s interior. Now if I had a collection of cars I would definetly have one of these because I could deal with the interior if it wasnt my only fun car.
I'd kill for one of these things man haha
They are cool but there are so many other cars I would want before this.
But there is no doubt that this thing with little mods is a hell of a performer, and a looker too.
Handsome cars. David Spade owns one so you will be in good company.
Splendid, now i just need to get one
Navarro has one as well.
This was my wet-dream car of the mid 80s. The turbo Regals started getting attention in the early 80s when one could smoke the average Camaro or Mustang. When the intercooled versions came out, they were absolutely mind-blowing. 245hp sounds lame by today's standards, but they had a lot of toque and the cars weren't that heavy, so they could accelerate like nothing else on the road of the day anywhere near that price.
The GNX was just beautiful and even faster. I remember when they went on sale, the MSRP was something like $30k which was pretty pricey for an American car in 1987, but they were so sought-after there were bidding wars and you couldn't get one for less than 50 - which was getting close to Porsche/Ferrari money back then.
Oh wow! 50k you say? Damn thats crazy. I'd love to have one, if you told me to pick between that and a '71 barracuda, my head would explode
50k in 1987. Now, a GNX is a very rare and very special car. If you can even find one for sale, it will probably be close to $100k. You can pick up a Grand National for less than $20k, but most I've seen have been ragged pretty hard.
Also, most of the GNX's you see are rebadged GN's. Make sure you get solid provenance before you buy one of those. I've also seem a fair number of GN's that are rebadged Regal T-types. Back in the '80s, somebody sold a kit that would turn your black Regal into a GN. It had the grill, the badges, the wheels, and some black tape for the chrome trim. I assume all the pieces were cheap knockoffs, but it would fool the average consumer.
It is easy to tell a GNX from a GN. GNX's are serialized inside with a different dash and have a completely different rear suspension set up.
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I drove a brand new one off the lot. I remember thinking, my god, this thing is fast. For a car in the day, it was fast.
It was damp out and I could get it to come on boost and light the tires up at about 30 miles an hour. So cool.
:0, do want even more now. do want.
Great fun, but the main problem I see is the interior. Most I've seen that haven't been garaged their entire lives have interiors that have self-destructed. I don't think anyone makes reproduction parts for them.
What's just as cool IMHO are the WH1's:
http://buickturboregal.com/1986wh1.html
There used to be a few of these around my town. I think the white one ended up in the junkyard. Sad. I'm a Buick guy - I have a '67 GS and '75 GS.
Very nice
I really like them. It would be cool to have pretty much the only 80s American car that wasn't embarrassingly slow.
honestly whenever i see somebody in one, or the monte carlo, I think 'the guy driving that has probably raped somebody' they just give off the redneck rape vibe
You know too much, you must be killed.
I own a 85 monte carlo, I've yet to rape anyone. But mine has 20inc I-roc rims on it so I prob fall under the sell you drugs vibe.
wanna change that?????
The rape part? Nah not really, But maybe you should get in my car to further discuss that subject in my basement.
My wife (then girlfriend) had an '85 Monte SS. That thing was quick for its time, but it was hell trying to do any serious cornering in that Chevy bench seat.
I like them a lot and I would love to have one.
Would love to have one of these. This is an american classic.
IMO anything pre-86 is more trouble than it's worth. The 86/87 Intercooled engines are wonderful, which is why I swapped one in to my car! If you want the status that comes with a GN (which today is pretty low, unless someone actually knows 80's cars), by all means get one.
If you like things that are decidedly 80's, they're really damn cool. I love (almost) everything about my T-Type. I'm never really sure how to describe the look of the car to someone. It doesn't quite look completely plain, but doesn't look sporty at all. Something about the overall shape just makes me happy in a "man, that brick looks awesome" sort of way. The engine sounds like absolute crap to me, but the torque these things make is just unreal.
If you want something just as cool but a little less expensive, look at a T-Type / Turbo T / T / Limited Turbo. Same damn car, price is a little lower, and it comes in a lot more colors than black.
They look like what The Lone Biker of the Apocalypse would drive when he drives a car.
I rode in a GNX once. it was amazingly fast. Personally, I love the cars.
They are ugly as homemade sin and can't in any way handle the torque that engine has, other than maybe as a traffic light racer assuming you don't have to stop any time soon. Just a gross car, I wouldn't have one for free.
Deff a different perspective then the masses, take this. upvote for being different
I think it's pure sex. Wild dirty sex.
The GNX is one of those cars that would be in my dream garage. It might be the most badass car to ever leave a GM factory. It is extremely valuable and rare, it can't be driven often. However, I could actually drive a standard GN. And I'd love to build one up for the drag strip.
Oh hell yeah, a ProStock GNX, can you say wet dream?
GN because the GNX would be at home in the climate controlled garage.
it's fast but dumb.
The GNX is a fucking boss.