This Is The Baddest Buick Grand National

While many car enthusiasts refer to the late 70s and 80s the “Era of Malaise” one shining star from that period was the Buick Grand National. That might be a shocking fact to kids these days if they’ve never heard of the sinister muscle car, but there was a time when a Buick outran Corvettes, Ferraris, and other contemporary models. But this one has been modified to be impressive by today’s standards, absolutely shredding tires with ferocity.

After a decade, stolen Darth Vader Buick GNX is returned to its owner.

As the badges allude to on Grand Nationals, their secret weapon was a single turbo. And there are few better at dialing up that snail-driven performance than the Roadster Shop. That’s right, Autotopia LA traveled all the way to Illinois to check out this amazing build and it’s easy to see why.

But as Sean says, purists won’t like this build because it swaps out the single turbo, six-cylinder powertrain from the original Grand National for a twin-turbo 7.0-liter LS V8. If you pop the hood, the layout isn’t flashy at all, even though the piping is humongous and so is the engine, with an overall muted color scheme that fits the car.

That LS is built for extreme performance, and the turbos are 66 mm, with the setup producing about 1,600-horsepower at the crank and around 1,200 at the wheels. Even though that’s with running on ethanol, those are impressive figures and a ton of power for a K-body.

One of the first signs this isn’t your dad’s Grand National is the fender flares (as well as the twin-turbo badges). That gives the Buick a much more athletic stance and works well with the natural body lines.

Of course, being a Roadster Shop build the whole thing is on one of its famous chassis, called the Fast Track. Added to that are 14-inch Baer brakes with 6-piston calipers, Fox triple-adjustable coilovers, and more.

What’s great about this build is not only does it push extreme performance, it honors the spirit of the Grand National. The sleek, understated nature that almost like a factory sleeper, but clad in sinister black, is still there in all its glory.

Images via Autotopia LA/YouTube