And the Buick is worth more today than the S-4.....go figure !

 

Didn't they put that V-6 in the Trans Am 25th Anniversary edition? I seem to remember Car and Driver taking one up to 150mph or something with that engine. Also I believe the FBI used them (in brown) as pursuit vehicles and didn't have the speed limiter on them.

http://www.gtasourcepage.com/8920thTACDReview.html

Not the greatest back up to my recollection but I do remember it: http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthrea...rand-Nationals

 

Gary,

You would have had a VERY HARD TIME getting a 959 in to the country back in the late '80's or even the early '90's! Just ask Bill Gates about it! Today things are different and there are quite a lot of them here but they are not cheap. Same is true for the Pantera GT5-S (or GTS-5???) I don't think those were being imported in '87 either. F40 would have been all your arms and legs and if you were not on Ferrari's "SPECIAL CUSTOMER LIST" you would have been out of luck anyway... I like those cars, but they were not realistic alternatives to a 928. Jalpa, Mondial, 328 all were and I think the 928 S4 is/was superior to all of them. Oh, Lotus Esprit as well would have been available...

GNX...great performance, TERRIBLE interior (basic BUICK...what do you expect), menacing exterior for an '80 US production car.

Finally!, you should have kept that 300TT! I love those cars and considered one over the 928 but then came to my senses and got the 928 anyway!

Oh, another American car I like and would put high in the fun category and I think might have had the same engine as the GNX is the Typhoon! I ALWAYS love those SUV's!!! STILL love to have a white Typhoon!!!

 

A '72 Datona coupe

 

James,
I know, but I included those cars for our wealthy European cousins

You would have had a hard time picking up a Typhoon or a TT 300ZX in 1987 also as neither were produced until the 90's.

BTW., I can't believe I forgot to add the Esprit to that list.

 

Yea, Gary, I know the Typhoon was not till the '90's (the GNX just reminded me of them), the 300 ZX TT was actually available in '87, but it was the ugly origami one not the pretty and potent one from '90... so technically I am correct on the 300ZX TT call! LOL! In the '80's our Euro brethren had FAR MORE choices of awesome cars than we did! Oh, how about my FAV Ferrari the 288GTO...I guess it would have been a couple of years old by '87, but WHAT A CAR!!!

 

300ZX turbo or twin turbo?

 

Buick ,Like a painting you have to die before it's worth something,but what do i know have a 75 Matador X with 401. Does that mean our tastes change . The fastest was 69 corvette with a ZL1 in it .

 

Gary, I never thought about it...I thought the '80's model ZX's with turbo's were TT's too? I never really looked in to them, but maybe they were single turbo's... Hmmmmm.

 

We can thank Tom Wallace, retired Corvette Chief Engineer. He was a key player in the Buick Grand National development and as the 4th Corvette Chief Engineer (Duntov, McLellan, and Hill) responsible for the current ZR-1. His nickname, "Turbo Tom." A great guy too!

 

Ferrari 328, Porsche 951, 930 with Slant nose package....they would be my top 3.

 

Let's see, a 87 Porsche 928 was around $70k? And the GNX was around $30k. Today, the 928 is worth maybe $20k in really good shape, and the GNX is worth around $100k in nice shape. Money says get the GNX. Of course the Porsche has a higher top end, which no one every sees, but the GNX has the acceleration. I'd have bought the GNX and keep it nice.

 

The GN used a Buick 3.8L and the Syclone/Typhoon use a Chevrolet 4.3L Two totally different animals. I have an Oldsmobile Bravada, it has the same drivetrain as the Sy/Ty trucks. (different from the S-10's) I just don't have the turbos.

BTW, the GNX would have ran 150+ but was limited to 135. Still scary speed for a car that handles like the Love Boat.

 

My first car was an '83 Regal that my dad picked out and then paid for half of it (I took out a bank loan for the other half.) That thing could barely get out of its own way. I was really hoping that he would give me one of the two 85.5 944s that he owned at the time, but that was a pipe dream. I didn't even know the turbocharged Regal variants existed back then.

 

TT... What an incredible car.. When I sold it it had been dyno'd at just a bit under 425 hp at the wheels. Did an almost 100% gut and redo; paint, interior, leather, you name it. Engine was clean enough to eat off of, suspension, etc. It's undoing was when I replaced all the rubber suspension bits and then compounded that by replacing the rear subframe bushings (what a miserable job, have to literlly torch the damned things out!) with urethane. Handling like it was on rails but riding as a passenger was not any fun. Wife refused to ride it and not much fun not being able to take on road trips, etc... <sigh> I'll see if can find some pics at home tonight...