Jim Nowak

I'll have to agree with you on that one. A good friend of mine purchased one new in 1985 and it was the biggest POS car ever made. Finally, after replacing the motor and turbo 5 or 6 times in a three year peroid, he sued GM and got all of his money back from the purchase of the car. His GN was a non-intercooled version so I don't know how the other intercooled GN's held up.

With that said, I like muscle cars and I liked the GN for what it was at the time and I still think they are a special car today. GM took a regal, painted it black, added a custom hood, alloy rims, did a special interior scheme, and stuffed in a turbo. Simple but effective. I do remember that the car handled like a boat and rode like one too.

FBIII

Its ashame we can't discuss autos of different generations and with different purposes without the childish and idiotic response that a 928 is a "better" car. These discussions aren't for determining better. Their a form of reminiscing an incredible period of automotive history. Their value today is based on how intwined they were in the culture of the era. Beach Boys, Jan & Dean and others sang about these cars for christ sake. Every year a faster car came out with even more horsepower. And not many of these cars cost over $4000. Detroit didn't care about road racing or if a car handled, they just cared about how much horsepower they could make and what mfgr would win nascar and sell more cars. The heated Ford vs Chevy vs Mopar battles. I was in high school at this time and it was incredible. A twelve second beautiful 57 Corvette, an equally quick 56 tbird with some form of Buick engine were just two of the many performance cars I can remember in our high school parking lot. Nightly parading through the Hot Shoppes and McDonalds and the infamous street racing that went on at the time. It was the final age of innocence.
So if you want to compare 40 year old cars to a 20 year old car be my guest but don't forget to ask yourself if it was 1965 and you were an adolescent involved in the culture of the time, what would you rather have driven, a 1965 fuel injected Corvette or a 356sc Porsche?

Fogey1

FBIII wrote
"... So if you want to compare 40 year old cars to a 20 year old car be my guest but don't forget to ask yourself if it was 1965 and you were an adolescent involved in the culture of the time, what would you rather have driven, a 1965 fuel injected Corvette or a 356sc Porsche?"

We were talking about muscle cars, not Corvettes. Crude as they were, Corvettes were in a different class than Detroit muscle. The scariest car I've ever driven was a 67 Chevelle with a 396 - way more muscle than brains.

And given the choice I still might have gone with the 356SC Cab. And definitely would if the choice were the Posrche or a muscle car. As long as you're ahead at the first corner you could just watch 'em go off the road in the mirror.

m21sniper

Considering that a chipped 87 GNX will beat an 87S4 by about 15 car lengths in the 1/4, what does that say for Porsche 1/4 mile times?

As far as braking, i thought the hydramatic brake system of the GNs was really excellent for the type of car it was(much better than the vacuum system of other contemporary GMs).

We have to consider cost too. A GN brand new cost LESS than 1/2 what a 928 did. TODAY it's worth almost TWICE what a 928 of the same year is.

LOL...i love the high and mighty attitudes from some of the snobs on this board.

m21sniper

I had a hot air(Non intercooled) car myself. Beat the living snot out of it for 5 years, never had any problems with the totally stock bottom end 3.8 V-6. Your buddy just wound up with a lemon, and that can happen with any marque....even Porsche.

"With that said, I like muscle cars and I liked the GN for what it was at the time and I still think they are a special car today. GM took a regal, painted it black, added a custom hood, alloy rims, did a special interior scheme, and stuffed in a turbo. Simple but effective. I do remember that the car handled like a boat and rode like one too."

There were some suspension mods too(especially in the GNX), but yeah, it was a pretty simple modification.

Ketchmi

15 car lengths? Sniper is off his medications again!

m21sniper

A chipped 87 GNX runs the 1/4 mile in 13.0 flat.

An 87 S4 is in the mid 14 second range. So yeah, i exxagerated a bit, but a 1.5 sec margin of victory in a drag race is about 8-10 lengths(depending on the ET range of the cars in question).

You have my humblest appologies though.

FBIII

Will, I guess you forgot that A production at that time was a battle between the Corvettes and the Cobras or that one of the all time great battles in production racing was B production the battle of the Lotus Elans and the small block Corvettes. Or possibly that a L88 Corvette won the GT class at the 1968 Lemans and finished 6th overall.

m21sniper

My old man had an L-88 Vette.

Absolutely terrifying acceleration as your mind went numb to insulate your psyche from the fear of imminent death.

But then, 560hp in a 3200lb car will do that.

Jim bailey - 928 International

the question ..."Considering that a chipped 87 GNX will beat an 87S4 by about 15 car lengths in the 1/4, what does that say for Porsche 1/4 mile times?" Probably means that Porsche cared little about 1/4 mile times. I recall that the world record basket ball freethrow shooter at one time was a guy about 70 years old who was incredible at freethrows...he could not play the ball game but was unbeatable at freethrows. Anyone who thinks drag racing is a good measure of how good a car is has overlooked the game. Personally if I hold down the accelerator for 14 seconds and find I am going 100MPH plus that is fast enough... You could also have brake contests to see how quickly a car can stop from 100 mph that is equally as one dimensional as drag racing or a 70 year old freethrow specialist

BC

For the thread's sake, why are 1/4 mile time important? GN cost less than half? It was less then half the car a 928 or any complete package back then, and trust me I am no car snob. I have thought more then twice about selling all my 928 stuff and starting over with a new Z06. With a freaking warrantee.

But a GN? A snob can mean someone leaning in one direction OR THE OTHER.

m21sniper

Of course you are correct Jim, but then...ALL most gearheads care about IS 1/4 mile racing. THOSE guys don't give a rat's *** about handling or braking, or they'd have bought a Vette or Porsche to begin with.

Me, i'm lucky...i like ALL versions of racing. Drag, circle, road, and otherwise.

m21sniper

As a drag racer the GN IS a complete package.

You have to consider who was buying them, and what they were buying them for. The guy that's buying a GTO, or a GN, or a Chevelle, or a Roadrunner doesn't give a flying damn about cornering. He cares about one thing, and one thing only.....

1/4 mile performance.

At that the GN is clearly the real deal.

FBIII

Jim,
If you combine the two I think your onto something. I think Aston Martin boasted in the early 60's that a DB4 would do 0 - 100 - 0 in 20 some seconds and then years later the 427 cobra touted a figure of around 10 seconds I think.

Jim bailey - 928 International

FBIII Yes and if you add cornering suddenly you have a road race add comfort and you have what many call a Gran Touring . Drag racing just happens far to quickly I probably get more track time in one day at a DE than John Force gets in one year ! I know, I know he goes 300 mph but I travel much more racetrack