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Buick Grand National 3.8 liter turbocharged V6 1987

General description : We’ve had a lot of fast cars here at Harwood Motors and there are some truly spectacular performance machines rolling out of factories today. But as miraculous as an 800 horsepower Dodge may seem, it still wasn’t the world-changer that the Buick Grand National was back in the mid-80s. Even today, you’d do well to give these nasty black Buicks a wide berth because the performance potential they represent doesn’t reveal itself until it’s too late. And with so many Grand Nationals getting various upgrades to give them sufficient power to reverse the rotation of the earth, finding an unmodified turbo Buick is not so easy today. That’s why we’re so excited about this beautifully preserved and almost painfully stock 1987 Buick Grand National, which shows just 17,248 original miles and has been carefully maintained by the same lady owner since 1988. You want one that’s never been abused, this is it.

These are seriously fast cars, so it must have been tough to resist the massive wave of torque generated by that giant Garrett turbocharger there on top of everything. GM was playing games with the numbers in 1987 specifically to keep the Buick under the flagship Corvette’s 250 horsepower, so the 3.8 liter turbo is rated at a slightly discreet 245. Everyone knows that’s rubbish with the real number being closer to 300, which, to be honest, was life-changing in 1987. And what that number doesn’t tell you is torque—a massive, endless wave of thrust that comes on with a modest push and gathers itself into a frantic rush of acceleration where the sane part of your brain will tell you to back off. And it’s all wrapped in this angular coupe bodywork that was designed for septuagenarians, albeit dipped completely in black. Quite honestly, it’s badass. This car has swagger. This car kicks ass and takes names. This car ignored what people thought performance cars should be and redesigned the whole category. All because of a turbocharger.

Even with the low mileage, this big, black Buick has been repainted—GM’s quality control being what it was in 1987, plus some experimentation with water-borne paints, meant that very few Buicks of the ‘80s were able to maintain their original finish. No matter, because black is black and this car is absolutely laser-straight from front to back. It has never seen winter weather, so rust is a non-issue, and it was obviously never used for the daily grind so there’s not so much as a door ding in the glossy black flanks. All the trim is original and—of course—it’s black, too, with none of the fading or chalky look that you get on cars that have been outdoors most of their life. There is no chrome aside from the Grand National badges on the front fenders and trunk lid, and the relatively discreet “3.8 SFI TURBO” lettering on the also somewhat modest hood bulge. But the list of faults we can complain about on this car’s glossy black bodywork is notably short. It looks every bit like a low-mileage, well-maintained car.

The interior was perhaps an even bigger change from the usual Regal fare than the lack of chrome on the outside. Bucket seats, a console with T-handle shifter, and a dash full of gauges harken back to the GS Stage 1 cars of 1970. All Grand Nationals had black and gray cloth upholstery, and yes it’s the same soft fur that GM was putting in all their cars during the ‘80s. Fortunately, it’s in great shape and the seats are still supportive and comfortable, again thanks to the low mileage. A 3-spoke steering wheel makes it feel appropriately sporting from the driver’s seat and that might be this car’s biggest demerit: the horn button has cracked and reproductions are not available (although you can get cool billet aluminum pieces for not a lot of cash). Engineers were forced to work with the Regal’s somewhat uninspiring dash with its large, wide speedometer and prominent fuel gauge, and as a result the tachometer and boost gauges are bar graphs kind of tucked in at the bottom. Meh, it’s not like they really matter anyway because the thing accelerates so quickly that you’ll be too busy hanging on to the wheel to worry about shifting—good thing there’s a decent automatic gearbox in there. The rest of the interior is basic Regal stuff, Delco AM/FM/cassette radio, sliding climate control levers, a rocker switch for the headlights, all that. It’s very familiar. Someone did add a vacuum/boost gauge under the center stack, and that’s a bit more fun to watch than the bar graph simply because it reacts instantly—with this, you can see the anger coming as the turbo spools up. The upholstery is in great shape, the back seat is almost new, and unlike almost every other Grand National we’ve ever seen, the headliner is still tightly affixed to the roof without even any bubbles. Nice! The trunk is unmarked and the original space-saver spare, jack assembly, and even the little cardboard tab to keep your junk from falling into the tire well are still in place. It’s a legit survivor.

OK, sure, the trunk is nice, but you know what makes this cars special? A 3.8 liter pushrod V6. On paper, not so amazing. In practice? Hooo boy! Fuel injection and intercooling allowed this engine to reach its full potential and it takes to turbocharging like little kids to a water park. It loves boost. This one remains completely stock, not so much as an air filter change, although it has been properly maintained all its life and used sparingly so it remains healthy. It does have that typical Buick turbo grumpy and slightly irregular idle, but that’s totally normal (the Turbo Trans Ams do it, too), but once it’s warmed up it’s surprisingly docile. It’s also quiet, with the turbo taking the edge off and giving it a deep, burly, and slightly metallic hum that’s unique to these cars. Sharp-eyed Buick experts will spot that the original Hydro-Boost power brake system is gone, replaced by a standard booster and master cylinder which was purely for feel—the lady owner felt that the brakes were too spongy with the Hydro-Boost setup so they changed them out years ago (the original equipment is included if you want to change it back). And while you can get massive horsepower with minimal changes like a chip, downpipe, and a bigger intercooler, this one has none of that. No abuse, no racing, no backyard engineering, just a super clean and still seriously fast GN.

The undercarriage is completely original and aside from some light surface scale on some of the bare metal parts. You’ll note it still has its original catalytic converter and 1-into-2 exhaust system that is augmented by a Flowmaster cross-flow muffler in back. The 200-4R 4-speed automatic transmission has proven itself up to the task of harnessing all that torque and has a real split personality depending on how you’re driving. Out back, 3.42 gears allow the turbo to spool up quickly and get the engine into the sweet part of the torque curve, allowing it to run 0-60 in 4.9 seconds and rip through the quarter in 13.9 (Car & Driver figures). In 1987, that was SERIOUSLY fast. It still rides and handles like a Regal, however, and the brakes were standard Regal fare, so keep that in mind when you’re dipping into the boost. Factory steel wheels were chrome plated to help them stand out a bit, and they’re wrapped in 215/65/15 Firestone radials.

Documentation includes the original owner’s manual and maintenance booklet, plus maintenance receipts from the past.

These cars changed performance forever, and if not for the blown Buicks, would we have supercharged Hellcats and GT500s? Still spectacularly fast and with a nasty street reputation, they’re like nothing else. As with other performance cars of the ‘80s, finding one today that hasn’t been abused, raced, modified, and wrecked is a real treat and driving a low-mileage example is like owning a time machine. Call today!

Harwood Motors always recommends and welcomes personal or professional inspections of any vehicle in our inventory prior to purchase.

http://www.harwoodmotors.com/vehicles/inventory_details.php?id=1241

1987 Buick Grand National 3.8 liter turbocharged V6 is listed sold on ClassicDigest in Macedonia by for $34900.

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