Funny story for the gearheads...

[HotRod82]

A good friend of mine works in the custom car business and is a big car guy in general. He is always wheeling and dealing, he will keep a ride for a while, get tired of it, then send it down the road. He typically has four or five cars at a time. Recently, he found a Buick GN that was in the back of someone's shop. The car only had 18 thousand miles on it and had not seen daylight in 20 years. He cleaned her up, got her running and started driving it around quite a bit. I asked him how it compared speed wise to his newer challenger. He replied "they are about the same acceleration wise, the challenger is smooth, handles great, and has huge brakes....the GN is like you slapped a blower on grandma's Buick and it is way too fast for the chassis. It's fun in a Oh my God I'm gonna die kinda way." I replied "that's such a great feeling". Then with an ear to ear grin on his face he said "it sure is". We had a good laugh about it.

I'm sure there's others here who know exactly what we were laughing about.......

 

[GRADS]

A good friend of mine works in the custom car business and is a big car guy in general. He is always wheeling and dealing, he will keep a ride for a while, get tired of it, then send it down the road. He typically has four or five cars at a time. Recently, he found a Buick GN that was in the back of someone's shop. The car only had 18 thousand miles on it and had not seen daylight in 20 years. He cleaned her up, got her running and started driving it around quite a bit. I asked him how it compared speed wise to his newer challenger. He replied "they are about the same acceleration wise, the challenger is smooth, handles great, and has huge brakes....the GN is like you slapped a blower on grandma's Buick and it is way too fast for the chassis. It's fun in a Oh my God I'm gonna die kinda way." I replied "that's such a great feeling". Then with an ear to ear grin on his face he said "it sure is". We had a good laugh about it.

I'm sure there's others here who know exactly what we were laughing about.......

Love GN's

 

[Sharp Shooter]

I raced many a stock GN back when they were new in the 80's. I'm talking Carlsbad raceway and Lacr. In stock trim they ran low 14's. New Challengers will mop the floor with a stock GN or turbo regal.

Maybe your friends car has been upgraded.

 

[coolchange]

I have 2ratings for cars.
1 I’m going to die in this thing.
2. It WANTS to kill me.

 

[monkeyswrench]

It is funny though, the difference in cars and acceleration. I've had a bunch of cars, mostly junk, with maybe 300hp and a clutch pedal. Add to that, a straight axle and bias ply tires, and it's Mr. Toad's on crack...fun, and a whopping 13-14 second ride

 

[rush1]

One of those OMG I think I'm going to die cars for me was a manta with a small block chevy engine a friend of mine had ,it had a whole mess of small problems he asked me to staighten out for him and of course you have to test drive it and make sure everything is correct. Lest just say it ws stupid fast and would get away from you in a Nano second.

V8-powered Manta Montage on Craigslist | Rare Car Network

Boasting small-block Chevrolet power with Weber carburetors and a Porsche transaxle, this Manta Montage project car is everything a ’70s kit car should be.

www.rcnmag.com

 

[rivermobster]

I raced many a stock GN back when they were new in the 80's. I'm talking Carlsbad raceway and Lacr. In stock trim they ran low 14's. New Challengers will mop the floor with a stock GN or turbo regal.

Maybe your friends car has been upgraded.

View attachment 991326

That doesn't look like a Buick GN to me?

 

[rivermobster]

Really good read...

The Buick Grand National and GNX's History, Told by its Creators

The back story of how Buick's landmark 1980s muscle cars happened, straight from the horsepower makers' mouths.

www.caranddriver.com

 

[Yoshiro]

My high school friends and I ran early 80s carbed 5.0 mustangs in the late 80s. We were always on the lookout for a GN to drag race. We had to bring our A game when we lined up against one of those! With both cars in the whopping 175-210HP range we were really fast! It's funny to think back about that now.

 

[Sharp Shooter]

That doesn't look like a Buick GN to me?

That's my GN killer 'Stang. Grads meme said the thread was worthless without photos so I put one in.

 

[Taboma]

That's my GN killer 'Stang. Grads meme said the thread was worthless without photos so I put one in.

Although I never owned one, I thought the later GNX had more grunt ? Just cracks me up how a modern V6 Camry will muscle with many of the old "Muscles", yet barely stir the senses while doing it. I'm guessing, since I've never experienced it, this would similar to the " Thrill" or lack of when driving a potent Tesla --- Yawn ? Or not ?

 

[Yoshiro]

It's an interesting topic when you compare the performance cars of the 80s with cars of today. I had plenty of 5.0 mustangs that were hopped up back in the day, and they sure felt fast. But that's because even with extensive mods, they didn't handle or stop that well.

Fast forward to when the new gen Camaro came out in '16 we ordered an SS for the wife. Wow. I couldn't believe how much sports cars had advanced over time. The thing was a 171mph car that could handle like a dream and stop on a dime. 455HP/455TQ and an 8 speed. It was a fun car and wasn't anything special, just an SS model. What a difference between that and the mustang I currently own, a '68 fastback with a stroked out big block and dual quads. You gotta "drive" that car.

 

[rivermobster]

Although I never owned one, I thought the later GNX had more grunt ? Just cracks me up how a modern V6 Camry will muscle with many of the old "Muscles", yet barely stir the senses while doing it. I'm guessing, since I've never experienced it, this would similar to the " Thrill" or lack of when driving a potent Tesla --- Yawn ? Or not ?

The GNX had WAY more grunt. That article I posted explains it all pretty well. I always thought they were all the same. Guess not!

 

[rivermobster]

That's my GN killer 'Stang. Grads meme said the thread was worthless without photos so I put one in.

I had an 86 GT. Bought it brand new. I freakin LOVED that car.

 

[rrrr]

What a difference between that and the mustang I currently own, a '68 fastback with a stroked out big block and dual quads. You gotta "drive" that car.

The last couple generations of gearheads have no idea what it was like to wheel a 60 or 70s vintage car on a sub 11 second ¼ mile ET. You had to have serious game to keep it going down the strip in a straight line.

 

[coolchange]

The last couple generations of gearheads have no idea what it was like to wheel a 60 or 70s vintage car on a sub 11 second ¼ mile ET. You had to have serious game to keep it going down the strip in a straight line.

Especially an A body lol.

 

[rrrr]

Especially an A body lol.

There was a good reason for the NHRA to mandate cages five decades ago for doorslammers whose ETs dropped into the 10 second range.

 

[monkeyswrench]

In the 90's, 11.99 and under, they wanted you caged. I'll be damned, caged the car, and it took 3 trips out before it ran in the 11's again. Turned out, I'm pretty sure the body flex helped plant the car