On Valentines Day 1987, shortly after turning 22, I bought a 1986 Buick Grand National with 4500 miles on the clock. For the rest of that day and many more to follow, you could not wipe the '#$%*-eating grin' from my face. I had previously owned a 1983 15th Anniversary Hurst/Olds and was highly disappointed with its anemic performance.
Not so with the Buick, great gas mileage when driven normally, gobs of power when you mashed the pedal and that turbo spooled up.
Fast forward to 2000, still had the GN, now with 45,000 miles but still looking like new thanks to storing during the winters and not driving in inclement weather. Then, my main car broke down forcing me to use the GN to get back and forth to work until repairs could be made. After running my route one day, (I worked for FedEx) I came back to my terminal and an empty parking spot. Some young punk Stole my GN!
To make a long story short, it was recovered three weeks later from two young punks who also had two to three other stolen GN's in their possession. To try and disguise the cars, they mixed & matched various parts among them. I got mine back minus it's VIN tag on the dash, my mint interior was replaced with a ratty, cigarette burned T-Type interior, and my stock low-mileage engine had had the top end taken apart, modified, and put back together with the wrong head gaskets, and minus it's exhaust. They totally #$%*ed my car and my dream of retaining it until the day the keys could be pried from my cold, dead hands.
I parked the car in my uncle’s barn for a couple of years after recovering it until I couldn’t bear to think of it or see it anymore. Sold it on the cheap. End of story. So to answer the question, I would find the nicest, unmolested, lowest mileage, 1986 Grand National I could find. I know there are a lot of faster cars out there now, but I’d still be content with the GN.
(The attached picture is not of mine)
