Roughed Up: 1987 Buick Regal Grand National
Dull paint, 7 owners, water damaged interior for $34,998. Is this what the car hobby has inflated to? This 1987 Buick Regal Grand National is being sold by a dealer in Naperville, Illinois. It is listed here on eBay with 3 days remaining in the auction. The bids have reached $24,300 and there is a Buy It Now Option for $34,998. The mileage on this car is said to be 115,972 and the AutoCheck score is 11 and for the normal range is from 23-28. Take a look at the pictures and decide for yourself but this car looks road hard and put up wet, literally.
Upon first glance, the car looks like what we all remember. A closer examination shows that this car is a driver and may need some work soon. The car is equipped with tilt steering, power windows, power brakes, posi traction rear end and automatic transmission. Another nice feature is the T-Tops. The car has an aftermarket console and cup holders installed along with aftermarket gauges in front of the shifter. The driver’s door panel appears to be water damaged and the steering wheel shows surface rust of staining. The ad does not state if the car runs and drives well.
Obviously, the special thing about a Buick Grand National is the turbocharged and intercooled 3.8 liter V6 engine that was also fuel injected. Buick rated the engine at 245 horsepower in 1987 and had 355 lb ft of torque from the factory. The Grand National was introduced in 1982 and named after the NASCAR Winston Cup Grand National Series. Buick had won the series in 1981 and 1982 and built this car to build on their success. In 1984, the Grand National was painted black but it wasn’t until 1986 that Buick added an intercooler that really made the car fast and exciting.
Maybe I am too hard on the condition of this car but $35k can still get a good car that doesn’t need paint. Maybe this is an example of a dealer putting a high price on a car and hoping it get the most for it. I admire the Buick Grand National and wish Buick would bring it back with the power and styling it deserves.
Auctions Ending Soon
2006 Ford Mustang Saleen S281 SCBid Now5 hours$16,000
2002 Subaru Impreza WRXBid Now3 days$333
1975 Chevrolet Corvette ConvertibleBid Now3 days$3,000
1964 Ford F-100 Camper CustomBid Now3 days$2,000
2006 Jeep Wrangler SportBid Now5 days$10,500
Comments
You know, it amazes me that 98.77% of all Grand Nationals were bought and rarely (if ever) driven. The remaining 1.23% of them had the crap beat out of them or were somehow neglected, as seems to be the case here. It seems like every other week there is a Grand National or GNX with almost no mileage turning up on these pages and it begs the question: WHY?
Consider this a rhetorical question. I’m just thinking out loud.
By 1987, muscle cars from the ’60s were climbing up rapidly in value, so a lot of people stored these thinking they would pay off in 20 years.
Were they right? Right now, prices are on the upswing, and these have always been desirable. But if you compare it to a stock market or real estate investment, not even close. The 1.23% probably had the most sane idea. Just have fun with it and use it as intended.
Yes,they’re desirable,but there are better examples out there for the same money! Patience is a virtue. I think that’s the jist of this discussion. This one,for that sum of money,is too rough. Wish I could find a nice ’92 El Dorado. I’d rather have that!
52 photos without a single underside pic. I don’t think its worth a trip to see it up close.
Something is not right with that car . It will need a lot of TLC. I think there maybe many internal problems you can not see. The only bad thing about those cars that the dash & speedometer are a complete fail on this nice looking car . This car has to be gone over with a fine microscope. To much for my budget ,good luck whomever gets this.Not enough pics of the whole car .Where is the underside pics?
First off as a guy who ordered one new I will explain what I experienced owning one. If you wanted pwr windows you had to get pdl as it was a PKG.
Paint of this era on gms especially was why we called them “peal mobile’s” GM got sued and they recalled, so they repainted mine.
If they care has a sunroof it might have caused the DP damage but more than likely a failed seal.
The rest is a crapshoot
I can’t speak to your personal salesman’s experience, but option A31 Power Windows does not require the AU3 Power Door Locks to be ordered together. Most were of course. My GN was sort of opposite, manual windows with power door locks. If you ordered the UA6 Theft Deterrent System, the power door locks were a mandatory option, as the door lock was an integral part of the system. This car is still for sale at $34,998! See my other comments. Rode hard and put away wet… very wet!
Things might have changed later on. I ordered mine in 1986
Worth 25K at the max in this condition. That is assuming it runs well and drives ok!
Goodness,still looks like an Earl Scheib paint job. How many miles?
The exhaust tips alone are worth the ask.
I would disagree with the T-tops as a “nice feature” While they are kind of cool, in a disco kind of way, they all ultimately leak, and rust under the trim, and that is likely why this car has interior water damage. T-top repair metal is available, but it is a significant amount of work to replace. It has been damp in the interior for quite some time as evidenced by the rust on the steering wheel spokes and the soggy drivers door panel. The T-top cars are also prone to rust in the A-pillar area, and you can clearly see it in the listing photos. With that much damage clearly visible, I can only imagine the floors.The car is for sale in the Chicago area, and if it was a local car there may be even more rust. Not a single under-hood photo or chassis photo, or the trunk SPID photo. It does have the typical window and tail light tint, aftermarket radio and gauges, and the go-fast clamp on exhaust tips. I guess after buying the exhaust tips the owner couldn’t afford to replace a lug nut on the right rear. The other major issue with the T-top cars is they lose a significant amount of their structural rigidity. Cutting out a chunk of the roof rail was never a good idea. We all know how well these cars run, and with that section removed from the body they twist easily. Many of the T-top cars literally crack in the lower A-pillar around the upper door hinge area. This one REALLY needs an in-person inspection.
Amen to that! I had a 1978 Corvette w/t-tops. Fiberglass? T-tops? You kidding me? Frames twist,t-tops leak. Fiberglass doesn’t rust but how do you stop the leak on ANY of them? For what the seller is asking you would think he would refurbish it better!
Excellent input 19sixty5!
New weatherstripping (which for some reason people disregard when they talk T-Top leaks), and a GNX brace in the trunk would solve your leakage and body rigidity issues.
Replacing weatherstripping is of course important, but very few people ever did it, unless it is a restoration or they had no choice. The GNX brace alone will not solve the rigidity issues. You can add the front bracing that was available on other was available on the other G-body cars. You can also add the the under hood bracing, and there is a full width trunk brace available that is actually better than the GNX part. The Buicks for some reason didn’t have some of the body bushings that the other G-bodies had. The GNX also added two additional bushings that the regular GN’s didn’t have. All these mods will help, but will not make up for for cutting essential chunks out of the car structure. Buick recognized this with the GNX, there were no GNX T-top or even sunroof cars built, due to possible issues with structural rigidity.
As a frequenter of old car shows, I believe that I’ve seen approximately three times as many Buick Grand Nationals as were manufactured. A Buick that would outrun its contemporary Corvette is certainly an interesting concept.I can spot a fake Mustang GT 350 fairly easily although the sophistication of our current builders is making it increasingly more difficult. Although I have owned three Olds Cutlass convertibles, I’ve never been adept at distinguishing a 4-4-2 from a Cutlass. Given the seller of this car’s breezy attitude toward its value, I would have it inspected thoroughly before paying even half the buy-it-now price.