[car fanatics]

Vimeo
July 20, 2012
By: CF staff

BLACK AIR - "Misfit" Teaser from Andrew Filippone Jr. on Vimeo.

Though born a Buick, the Grand National was clearly something else. It was too quick and too brutish to carry that stodgy name. There was something inside the car trying to get out.

Its straight-line 0-60mph acceleration was extraordinary. Nothing in the mid-1980s could match it. Not Corvette. Not Lamborghini. Not Ferrari. But, in spite of this talent, the car was little more than a curiosity, a sidebar in debates about the performance elite of the day. Its roots as a Buick Regal, a conventional, mass-produced personal luxury car, marked it as an outsider, something too ordinary for serious discussion.

Its shortcomings were obvious and plentiful – a boxy design, a mediocre chassis, an undersized engine, an electronically limited top speed, and an unremarkable pedigree. But with just six cylinders, an intercooled turbo, and fierce black paint, the Grand National became a legend. In its final year of production, outfitted in GNX trim, it was the quickest production car in America, reaching 60mph in only 4.7 seconds.

Impossible? Ridiculous? After road testing the Grand National for "Car and Driver," Technical Editor Csaba Csere remembers thinking, “there’s no way this can go that fast.” But it did, test after test, and on streets across the country. The only Grand Prix it qualified for was the “stop light” kind, but that was enough to prove what it could do.

But, how to reconcile these opposites? This car that straddled worlds, where did it come from? Where did it fit? And now, two decades after its passing, what is its legacy? In "BLACK AIR: The Buick Grand National Documentary," these questions – and more – are answered by the people who built the car, who wrote about the car, and who own the car. Featured voices include Lloyd Reuss, the Buick General Manager who launched the Grand National project; Tony Assenza, the "Car and Driver" Editor who dubbed the GNX an “ax-wielding barbarian;” Richard Clark, the renowned owner, enthusiast, and collector; and many, many others.

On December 11, 1987, Buick built the last Grand National. 25 years later, BLACK AIR arrives to commemorate this landmark car.

[G8mike]

25 years since the last one was built and I'd leap at the chance to get one today! I love this car!!!!

[lengnert]

That was truly a car that was special in all the right ways, even if it was just what it was.

[96s-10ss]

My dad will have a crisis over this documentary

[Gixser995]

I must watch this.

[MOPAR74]

Absolutely! I will have one, one day

[G8mike]

I was at a car show a couple of weeks ago and a 1987 Regal Grand National won its class. This thing looked like it just came off the showroom floor. Absolutely, drop dead, gorgeous. I wished I at least had my crappy camera with me...

[McLovin]

I fondly miss my SC Regal GS.
Great car, although limited by FWD. I did get it to the tune of almost 300hp though. Talk about torque steer.

[ncguy]

One of my all time favorite cars! Also as I've said sooooooooo many times - this is a car that I had that I sooooooooo regret selling

For it's time it would eat Corvette's, it would eat Mustang 5.0's and yes it would eat pretty much anything from across the waters

What made this car so interesting was... it was a V6 (yes today this isn't a big deal but we're talking about the mid-80s), it was comfortable with seating for 5 but would 'go like a mutherfuck' when you pushed the gas pedal.

I will never forget I had took my car in for service, there was a wrecked T-Type sitting out back so I was talking to the service mgr and he told me an older couple had the car... it was raining which they were pulling out into traffic which was heavy on this stretch of road so mashed on the gas pretty hard. By the time they got out into the middle of the highway the 'boost' come on and due to it having a pos rear end it spun them around in the road and they hit another car. It wasn't long after that, GM started putting a single traction rear end in the GN and T-Type which was also a HUGE mistake.... the car would literally roast the tire meaning '0' traction! I was for one glad mine was a pos rear end.... but then again - I knew how to drive my car and I knew that one the 'boost' come on to hold on.... yes even pulling out in traffic on a rainy day

[Chevroletguy]

Buick needs to bring this car back, either on Zeta or Alpha with a turbo V6.

[96s-10ss]

Once the things begun to spin,they wouldn't get traction until 3rd gear