The Bow Ties over at Chevy wasn't amused there flagship was whipped by a pressurized V-6 in zero to sixty.. Corporate limited production of the Gran National. But Buick borrowed a trick from Pontiac, order a Regal and check off on the Turbo V6 and suspension pkg. Chevy was fooling around with tune intake manifolds on the Corvette, Buick engineers with there coke bottle bottom glasses said "tuning smunig, more pressure is better.. lol.. it's a new day.
@@mustardseedpower1188 "....whipped by a pressurized V6 in zero to 60".........MY ASS. What planet did you arrive from? Because the very 1st year production Grand National ( at least a few years before the GNX was produced ) actually gapped the twin turbo Callaway Corvette in the standing 1/4 mile by at least several car lengths. As a matter of fact, it was an official test done BY General Motors. They raced both cars 3 times, and all 3 times, the Grand National gapped the twin turbo Vette severely. The 3rd race was the worst, because the Buick rep had his wife & kid in the car with him, and actually gapped the Vette even more than the previous 2 passes. It's all documented on video & right here on youtube. Furthermore, the reason they stopped making Buick Grand Nationals had NOTHING to do with it "beating the Chevy Corvette"......the reason is ALL the American auto makers EXCEPT the Corvette were under federal pressure to drop horsepower and even worse, planned to produce nearly ALL of their cars front wheel drive. That was the plan and Buick decided to go out those last few years with a bang before that horrible change........and they made a shit load of Grand Nationals AND Regal T-types for at least a few years, that had the same turbo V6. The GNX was made the final year. Stop smoking birdseed & get a clue man, because you don't know what the hell you're talking about. Look this shit up.
It’s funny to think that at the time this was happening, these cars were only 15 years old or so. It would be the equivalent of watching 05 mustangs, 09 camaros and 08 challengers racing today. But most of these were considered collectibles by this point. Can’t say the same about 15 year old muscle cars today.
Yeah good point. I guess the AAR 'Cuda in 1987 would be valued like an '07 Mustang 427R Roush today maybe. Times were just different. We now have an idea about the collector car market. Back in the '80s it was certainly different lol. The sh*t really broke loose and exploded in early 2000s. Prices just went full stupid.
@@nedaCFilms I remember that. When I was 17 in 2000 I decided I wanted a muscle car. I remember looking a several drivers that were relatively cheap. 73 charger with a 360 for $700. A 71 Javelin SST 360 for for $1500. A 72 AMX 401 4-speed for $4k. Ended up buying a 73 AMX for $550. Rebuilt the carb, fresh gas and a battery and I daily drove it for 3 years. Shortly after I bought my AMX I found a running and driving 71 Roadrunner 383 auto for $800. I still kick myself for not buying it. At least I still have my AMX. It would cost me a heck of a lot more to replace it today. In the 80s my father bought a string of muscle cars at auctions for $400 or less. Chevelles, dusters, novas, imperials and others. Wish he would of kept them.
I'm glad I bought my '88 Iroc when I did, got it for $5,000 but it was mint and still is. I'm working on trying to find a good solid G Body....now those have skyrocketed in the last 8-10 years. Great cars though.
Excellent point! I drove a 67' Fairlane in high school at the time it was 19 years old. I look at 19 year old cars now and the floor pans aren't rusted like my Fairlane's were Lol
That takes me back down memory lane, local drag strips everywhere and people running their street cars for the fun of it, for me it was a '57 Ford 312 in '65 while in high school, then in '70 after getting out of the service it was a 750 Norton Commando...Oh the joy, of being able to shut down any showroom stock car out there (at least the ones I ran)...Any stock street car getting into the 14 second bracket (this is a mile high, up in Colorado) was a screaming machine...
These videos are real gems! Obviously not as strict a rule book as today’s Pure Stock Drags, but still great to watch. I just wish somebody would record the Pure Stock and FAST events today with coverage like this.
Yeah, the Buick Grand Nationals, despite being V6, the factory turbocharger helped a LOT. They outclassed even the '80s Mustangs at the time which had the H.O version of the 302 Windsor V8, and they still pack a punch today. But I wished a police Crown Vic showed up there to race, as they had the 351. I actually have a 1989 Vic LX by the way, but, although it does have the small block 302 Windsor, it's sadly dog slow when stock, as only 150hp plus all that factory smog equipment really killed its true potential without forcing me to modify the engine/exhaust entirely.
My little 327 in my 66 Chevelle does 5.5sec@96mph in 1/8 It would out run all of these in the 1/4 mile My 327 makes 450hp and sreams to the Moon at 11,000rpm
You’d like the video of the 283 Impala hitting 11s. I used to have an old 010 block 327 back in the ‘90s. Pink rods and a nasty little cam and it would sing
You can't find any drag racing content on RU-vid like this today. And where else can you see a relatively low miles Grand National with the original 3.8 turbo burning up the track?
I am proud to say I received a speeding ticket on my first test drive in a new Grand National in 1987. I left the Buick dealership going sideways. For the life of me, I just couldn't get those rear tires to grip. Maybe it was driver error. :)
Lawrence Conley .. anyone recognize that name ? Yes thats him racing his GN before he came out with his Famous green "Tweaked" Buick that dominated drag racing in the mid 90s
Pure Stock rules haven’t changed since the NHRA first started it in 1962. People now just use all allowed changes. Not a difficult concept to understand.
@@mohh.4327 Yeah and by the rules, they aint stock. More compression, aftermarket cams, pistons, rods etc etc. Not stock, hence my original comment.....
I don’t care who wins 69 Cameron’s rule! We use to win so many races in one just like that crammed it, big block Holley with an Edlebrook hi-rise manifold. We would seek out guys to race ( my buddy and I, we were both the same weight). We would look for guys with 427 ci and dual quads. By the time they got through doing their smoke show we already had 2 to 3 car links ahead of them. The only way we could lose was if we missed a shift. Easy $50.00 bucks. Three races we would party all week end. The good old days!
This is great stock the way our cars actually ran back in the day. Not so called NHRA or IHRA (STOCK) . Back in the late seventies I raced my bone stock 390 AMC REBEL automatic and ran 15.35 on one run losing to a stock class Chevy 283 station wagon power glide automatic who ran 14.83. That's the day I was told that bracket racing was the way to go. I never raced again but have really liked bracket racing ever since. If you ever have chance to see the old road tests from say CAR AND DRIVER you'll find that cars running 13's back in the day were really unusual for a car from the dealer . Mostly cars like a Hemi Cuda or a 427 Vette.
@@hotrodray6802 I remember reading about a dealer I think around Detroit called possibly Royal Oak fixing up cars like a 69 Pontiac Grand Prix . But most of cars that I saw were like 350 camaros 340 Cuda and things like that. There were I believe more big block Mopar but cars like hemis were very rare.
@@donferensic7482 Yeah thanks for that, I used to have a bunch of old car mags that someone gave me when I was around 14 in or around 1970 . I've long lost track of those magazines unfortunately. But I seem to recall the 69 ? Grand Prix from that dealer letting car review guys from maybe Car And Driver ? Boot it around on Woodward Avenue . It seems to me that it had a 428 Pontiac engine, which I haven't heard of since and was called a Bobcat . I'm going to look at Automobile catalog .com . To see about that engine .
The odd thing is at today's ''showroom stock'' 60's and 70's muscle cars are running 2 to 3 seconds faster than what you are seeing here. That tells me that the showroom stock 60's and 70's muscle cars are far from ''showroom stock''.
Yep, but the majority of the cars featured on this channel are actual concours class showroom stock unlike the F.A.S.T and pure stock cars running today which are work over a bit with porting, extrude honing and valve jobs etc
There’s a few more Pure Stock Drags from 1987 featuring Grand Nationals racing other ‘80s cars of the era as well as ‘60s-‘70s cars, on the channel #MuscleCarTimeMachine
99% of these were concours class, 100% showroom factory stock right down to original tires. This was 1987, most of these cars weren’t even 20yrs old yet.
I'm 49 years old graduated in 91, iroc, GTA,Formula, 5.0 mustang LX,GT were it at the time if you had a turbo Buick you were a bad ass only few around in my town. I drove a 72 nova 350 still have it today! It's a high 12 second car and lots of fun.
@@rjmzz430 yeah, we are from the same era. I’m 51 and graduated in 1989. Was a fun time for sure. You’ll find the cars you mentioned are the foundation of the channel. Have a few Novas and Chevy II models on here as well.
This is exactly how I remember my 1970 Roadrunner I drove in 1980... slow. But it sounded good!! Today we think of these cars as being mythical speed machines and pay crazy money for good examples. Sadly, I think my newish Toyota Highlander could smoke most of these.
I spent years at O.C.I.R. on Wednesday Nights $5.00 all you can race in the late 70's and early 80's, this is exactly how I remember the "Muscle Cars" they weren't all that fast and they were all pretty evenly matched.
those old pontiacs make me think back to those days.. i could have bought a 1971 pontiac gto judge 455 ho for 3800. but i didnt quite have that much to spend. the guy ended up selling it for 3500. the guy that bought totalled it later, pushing the 455 ho into the firewall. ill never forget that car. oh, it had a 4 speed to. if i remember right they only made like 379 like that.
Crazy I know. Back in 1987 I could've bought a black on black 1970 'Cuda 440-6pck 4-spd for $4500 lol but I ended up buying a 1971 Chevelle Malibu 350 for much less because I only had half the 'Cuda $$$$ lol. So many more amazing muscle cars I could've bought in mid-late '80s
I graduated high school in '71 so I saw what all these cars (minus the Grand Nationals) would run in their heyday. Hot Rod, Car Life and Car and Driver tested them all and established the baselines. It was rare that an owner could equal a magazine time. A fast car, anointed "Supercar" by C&D, was anything that ran 15.0 or better. Sub-14 sec. cars were rare and included Hemi's, LS6 Chevelles, a minority of Cobra Jets, 427 Corvettes and a few others. It's amazing to think that my 2020 Supra with only a tune runs 11 flat at 128 in street trim.
Crazy to think, huh lol. Back in 1988 a fella I worked with offered to sell me his 1970 ‘Cuda 440-6 pack, 4-speed pistol grip, black on black for $4500 lol. Also a buddy of mine had a 1970 Challenger R/T 383 magnum he sold for $2500…. the list goes on buddy lol. How about a 1969 DZ302 Z/28 for $1200 lol, yeah…. that one still haunts me lol.
@@nedaCFilms Got ya beat . Both a 1970 Hemi Cuda 4 speed original drivetrain 5k . Boss 429 1970 stang $5500 same year for sale around 1980 . Both under 50k miles . Couldn't come up with the cash working as a cashier at a grocery store . Pure Torture when both were sold 😟
Concours class, these cars are 100% factory showroom stock so they aren’t going to produce times like today’s Pure Stock Drags, which most of the cars competing these days are tuned, tweaked and had every trick in the book used, like valve jobs, port work, extrude honing and parasitic drag tricks. Hell, even magazine publications of the era only averaged low 14s out of the Boss 302 Mustang and DZ 302 Camaro.
Man these cars seem slow..... Growing up these things seemed like the epitome of fast, funny to think a late fox body 5.0 or early sn95 rated at 215 to 225 HP could beat these cars, they all ran in 14s no problem and some got stockers with old drag racer tricks like unplug that but plug this, shift like this at this rpm n so on and got into the high 13s with a mild mannered efi 5.0"ho" . It is deceptive to watch a car from one end on an open 1/4 mile slowly move away it seems like they're barely moving yet on the street it may seem pretty badass. My ol 92 hot rod truck seems healthy and it has probably 350+/- HP but I'm afraid it would seem slow at the 1/4 mile.... It does seem noticably faster than my 95 mustang gt.... And people say oh trucks are so heavy but mine is right at 4000lbs no not light weight by any means but is on par with a lot of old cars and actually a lot lighter than new muscle cars the challenger is well over 4000. Just better aero dynamic and better weight distribution. But I can make a dump run!
@@markdellacqua1038 Sure but is this a video of T/A racing or drag racing lol? I'm curious what engine Chrysler put in their actual race cars, though... Maybe a 340 with a 273 crank to get around 302ci?
@@MidnightinSavannah Noticed I said "run circles around an AAR Cuda- meaning a road course car. The Boss 351 would be more than enough for a 340 Dodge.
Real world times. Totally stock at summer temperatures. No lying dynos. In the day, MagazineS tested stock GT350s at 15.5 sec..... And GT500s at 15.3. Look it up.
@@hotrodray6802 I just watched a video of a barn find '69 SS 396 Chevelle, L78 with L88 aluminum heads...bone stock, ordered that way. 4:10 posi w/Muncie 4 speed. In the dash were time slips...lowest was 12:49. There were lots of 12s and a few low 13s. And these big blocks are running 15s and you ppl say that's good? That's more realistic? "Real world times"? BS. That's slow as hell. Something is wrong somewhere.
@port nut ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-GyaCFS1j1Ig.html Watch for the time slips still in the dash. Bone stock, factory SS 396 ran 12:49, 12:75, 13.1 etc. I don't know where you come from but where I come from mid 12s to low 13s were norm for BB muscle cars. My 71 LS5 SS Chevelle could run high 12s.
Yeah he had slicks I believe. 90% of these cars were running a factory showroom stock “concours class” but that yellow Demon and a couple other cars were not. Lawrence’s Grand National with the ugly aftermarket wheels, that ran 13.16 was also tuned and tweaked lol. He also owned a yellow Stage 1 GSX back then. Both cars were low 13 second runners and both were able to squeeze into the high 12s on cooler days with right track conditions. Lawrence always claimed the GN was quicker than his older 455 GSX.
@deborahchesser7375 , I have a time machine ! It's a 66 Chevelle Super Sport . It can't take you back in the past but it can take you into the Future very very Fast
Those are great and beautiful old cars there, but there times are so slow, I am afraid my 2017 Dodge Grand Caravan could give them a run for the money.
Those early ‘70s 340 Demons were strong small block runners in their day. They shook up a few 351 Mustangs and 350 Camaros in stoplight to stoplight street action.
Because it’s delayed, the times are from the race before. If you pay attention to some of the other vids from this series you will see the times change once the cars are well passed the finish.
Those DZ302 Z/28 models ran low 14s in “showroom stock” form. Publications of the time recorded an average of 14.2 quarter mile times. The Boss 302 Mustang ran similar times. Those engines were produced for SCCA Trans Am and road racing, not drag racing. But low 14 second times were very respectable in those days, even up into the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. The lightweight 5.0 Mustang LX “Notchback” models were recording similar times, as was the legendary Grand Nationals and T-Types.
But honestly, there’s not many muscle car models that I would choose to own over a dark green DZ-302 equipped Camaro Z/28. Absolute fabulous V8 Pony Car ❤️ Those little de-stroked 327 engines (283 crankshaft) were just so damn sweet. Total perfection.
@@nedaCFilms driving an Accord with biden gas prices is pretty fkn cool.... I daily drive a Lexus RX because it would cost $200/week to drive my ‘72 C10 454, 3.73 gears, drag radials that runs high 11’s. That’s cool enough to smoke all these new badass $100k trucks including that TRX! These 🤡’s hear my exhaust and here they come all bowed up and I run off and leave them so fast they turn off at the next side street....kinda funny!
But not, of course, a 1970(!) Accord. 50 years makes all the difference. None here have computers, V-TEC, knock sensor timing, injection, traction control, variable intake tracts, 4 valve heads, DOHC, aluminum blocks, electronic ignition. They had carbs, pushrods, 2 valve iron heads, point distributors cast iron intake and exhaust manifolds, centrifugal timing advance, 1 fixed cam, live rear axle drive. Many here look like stock suspension and near-stock tire sizes. All weighed at least 3200 lbs and handled like barges. None were wind-tunnel developed. No cup holders or ding-ding reminders. But we loved them then and do now, just as your grandpa loves your grandma now and did 50 years ago. People modded them to go faster after buying them, using 1970s tech. The essence of hot rodding isn't how fast you go, but that you made it go faster than before. Drive an Accord and you command the starship Enterprise. Fire up one of these and you awaken the beast under the hood ... and in your chest. It's an entirely different experience and, for oldsters, one laden with nostalgic memories. I wonder if a present-day Accord will do that for you someday. Perhaps so.
I must say it again, this is great stuff. I hope you find more tapes like this somewhere, someday. The real thing... Honorable mention to that white '68 Torino, cool as hell!
Depends how well you can drag race it lol.... actually uploaded a couple vids with LS5 and LS6 454 Chevelles and Corvettes a couple weeks ago #MuscleCarTimeMachine
Great memories ! Most of this is footage from the 1987 Supercar Showdown. This was an annual event that was held for several years at Quaker City Dragway in Salem, Ohio. I was there with my 1985 Olds 442, and still have the video cassette from this event.
Ah yes Todd, If I remember right you were from Altoona, Pennsylvania. Back in the late ‘80s I used to pass through Altoona to Penn State. You had a white Olds 442?
@@nedaCFilms, you are correct ! I'm from Altoona and had the white 1985 Olds 442. I found your other clip from the event where you show me getting stomped by a Grand National.
once you realize how slow these old cars are, then factor in all the other negative attributes, they really lose all appeal. prices should plummet. I'd rather have a new miata
😂Shit i had a grand national early 90’s that i had Kenny duttweiler do minor “minor” work on and would run 9.90’s all day long an with ac! “DAILY DRIVER” Went best 9.82 at the Texas motorplex. Would blow away anything coming out right now easily. And that was with the factory turbo! For even half of what you would pay for any Shelby supersnake, z06, hellcat. There were guys running low 9’s with the stock bottom end with just a turbo swap.
