 |
Buick’s 1987 Grand National is the final hurrah, a sleek, black vision on the Regal platform. Among the 27,590 Turbo Regals, the lighter WE4 (Turbo T) stands out with its aluminum components. Even rarer is the GNX, with only 547 units boasting special interiors and performance tweaks straight from McLaren Performance Technologies. This “Darth Vader car” sports a turbocharged V6, achieving 0-60 in 4.3 seconds, proving V6s can rule the road, even when V8s were all the rage!
A turbocharged 1987 Buick GNX and a deceptively plain-looking 1969 Chevelle line up in this episode of MotorTrend’s Generation Gap, and neither car is what it first appears to be. The GNX’s 245-horsepower V6 built a reputation on boost, not displacement, while the Chevelle hides a genuine 427-cubic-inch COPO big-block under its unassuming trim. Tied to Ken Lingenfelter’s support of the Ronald McDonald House, this matchup has stakes beyond the stripe. Watch to see which reputation holds up.
MotorTrend’s Generation Gap lines up a 1987 Buick GNX, the turbocharged legend of the 1980s, against a 1969 Chevrolet Chevelle that looks like it belongs to somebody’s grandmother. The twist is what hides under the Chevelle’s plain sheet metal: a rare COPO 427 rated at 425 horsepower. It is 1980s tech versus 1960s cubic inches in a head-to-head sleeper showdown. Watch to see which era wins.