Buick gnx how many made

But Buick extended its Grand National build through the end of that year to satisfy demand. A total of 20, GNs were built for versus in Of those, exactly would be converted to GNXs. Then we said, 'Let's make because of the Indy and the Daytona The objective was to build the quickest ever GM production sedan—or, as was written in an internal presentation, "to create a limited-production Buick Grand National that achieves a memorable place in the history of high-performance automobiles, one that car collectors will want to own and that automotive writers will never forget.

Also added were a transmission oil cooler, composite fender flares, and Stewart-Warner analog gauges including tachometer, oil pressure, coolant temperature, and turbo boost in a modified cluster. Functional front-fender louvers helped lower underhood temperatures; the all-black exterior was set off by bold GNX badges on the grille, decklid, and wheel centers; and each GNX got its own serial-number plaque on the passenger-side dashboard.

The original GNXs were allocated to Buick's top-selling dealers out of roughly at the time , "but well more than wanted one," said then—assistant general sales manager Darwin Clark.

Sharpe and I said, 'How are we going to come up with 47 more? Getting media into the GNX was a challenge. With all allocated to dealers, none were available for Buick's press fleets. So, in January —before the program had final approval and well before the prototypes were fully developed—Larry Gustin newly promoted to news-relations manager invited key magazines one at a time to GM's Desert Proving Ground in Arizona to spend a day with two prototypes—one for driving, the other for photography.

Car and Driver May recorded a 4. But this baddest Buick Grand National was not just a hoot to drive but also hugely historically significant.

The last old-school American muscle car, it was uniquely powered by a high-tech harbinger of the displacement-downsized, turbo-boosted, federal-regulations-driven, high-fuel-economy future. New Cars. Buyer's Guide. It was the first time the Buick Grand National bested the base-model Corvette in horsepower, producing five more ponies than the 'Vette.

With the deeper-breathing turbo and intercooler, the Regal Grand National had a time of 4. As Car and Driver noted in their review, their testing further showed the Buick Regal Grand National was quicker in the quarter mile than all buy a handful of the most powerful Ferrari and Porsche street cars, and even faster than the legendary Lamborghini Countach. All the magic was under skin, including a turbo intercooled 3. Due to their extreme rarity, GNX models are highly coveted by collectors today.

That assist came in the form of a special, GNX-only rear-end housing, developed by ASC McLaren, which featured a hinged torque arm that used the weight of the car's body to plant the tires on takeoff. During a dragstrip launch, the torque-arm system pushed the rear wheels of the GNX into the pavement with over a ton of downward force, for near-zero wheel slip and rocket sled-like launches. Share on Facebook. Tweet This. Pin This.