RUMOR: Buick Resurrecting Grand National in Detroit?

by Mark Stevenson

Published: January 9th, 2016

rumor buick resurrecting grand national in detroit

If you were looking for at least one wild-ass auto show rumor to see you through the weekend, look no further: Bloomberg (via AutoGuide) is reporting that Buick may show “a sporty coupe concept” this weekend prior to the opening of the North American International Auto Show in Detroit on Monday.

The sports car, reported to be “about the size of the Chevrolet Camaro,” is expected to debut Sunday night. AutoGuide is now speculating that model will be called — drum roll, please — Grand National!

Many speculated ( us included) that the surprise Buick model would be a redesigned Enclave crossover. That speculation makes a fair bit of sense when you consider GMC is also pipped to reveal an all-new Acadia. However, considering the lack of leaking evidence to support the Enclave hypothesis, and now a supposed inside source speaking to Bloomberg on the reveal plans, a “sporty coupe” seems to be a valid option.

(After all, General Motors needs to amortize that Alpha platform somehow, and the Cadillac ATS isn’t pulling its weight.)

The original Grand National — along with the related Turbo-T, T-Type and GNX models — were built from 1982 until the end of the second-generation Regal in 1987, skipping a year in 1983.

Buick will reveal the mystery model alongside the Chinese-built Envision crossover Sunday night.

#2016Naias #2016NorthAmericanInternationalAutoShow #Buick #BuickGnx #BuickGrandNational #DetroitAutoShow #GrandNational #NorthAmericanInternationalAutoShow

Mark Stevenson

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6 of 94 comments

DrSandman on Jan 10, 2016

Oh please Oh please oh please oh please! GNX! GNX! GNX! I need a back seat for tall kids and a trunk. Oh, and a twin turbo V6, for about $40k. Thanks. Check's in the mail.

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Anonymous on Jan 10, 2016

Lets think about this one for a minute. According to GM Authority, GM December 2015 sales were up 5.7% over December 2014. 290,230 units. Alpha platorm cars: ATS up 40% but that's only a total of 3451 cars CTS down 7.96% - 2441 cars Camaro down 9.04 - 5,366 cars So far all I see is a loser platform. And a loser looking division that's decided to manufacture whole automobiles in China. If the loser division releases a new car on a loser platform, who cares?

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Art Vandelay on Jan 10, 2016

Enough with the old folks comments. All I read is how millineals have no jobs or prospects and hate cars anyway...why build anything catered to such a demographic. And yes, the original Grand National didn't handle. It was the 80's, nothing handled. It was still awesome. It wasn't until the 90s that obtainable cars lime the SER, Miata, and Civic Si brought handling to the masses. Know what, id take a Grand National in a heartbeat over any of those. I have owned Miatas. Fun Cars, but the Grand National I drove was on another planet as far as making me smile.

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- DenverMike on Jan 10, 2016
  
  Aside from obvious sports cars, some '80s cars did handle/stop exceptionally well, if you knew where to look. But the Grand National went out of its way to $uck at these two things. Meaning it ran the normal suspension and brakes your granny's Olds Cutlass or Regal Limited did, with white sidewalls and wire-wheel hubcaps. Aside from straight line dynamics, that's what made the Grand National a complete joke, if not a legal tort. The GNX did absolutely nothing to help stop or turn it. The Mustang GT, including the 5.0 LX, 'Bird T-Coupe, as well as the Z28/IROC/TA, Shelby Charger, Daytona Turbo, and anything of the sort in the '80s, did execute/include an upgraded suspension and brake setup that went far above the base/regular cars they were based on. OTOH the Grand National was a traditional/old skool "Muscle Car" in the truest sense of the word. And yes I wanted one then as I do now. By the way, even the base MR2, 1st gen would've, and still would knock your socks off!
  
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- Redmondjp on Jan 11, 2016
  
  @DenverMike I was going to school at GMI (now Kettering Univ) in Flint during the mid-80s when the Grand National was being built. Buick used to bring over their R&D test mule cars to the GMI spring car show on campus every year. I second all of the comments above about the Grand National - it did one thing well and that was to go fast in a straight line, but even then, it had difficulty getting the power to the ground, with a big wheel-hop issue. Otherwise, it didn't stop or turn well, and these cars were rattletraps from day one. They look way cooler than they are to drive. There were plenty of other American cars, yes even GM cars, that were much better cars in many respects - the Corvette, Z28 Camaro, and Trans Am come to mind. Heck, even a V6 Firebird was overall a much nicer driving and handling car (a classmate had a new one).
  
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Stanczyk on Jan 12, 2016

Both GN or Riviera would be a good idea .. GM have a good platform, and they could use "detuned" ATS / CTS engines .. There's lack of nice "personal luxury cars" on the market today (sth between cheap-sporty-Camaro .. and expensive-classy-Cadillac). Not every car need to handle like M3 and be a "Nurburgring-record-beater" .. so "powerfull-cruiser" would be a very attractive concept . Challanger is a nice, big, comfortable car .. , probably closest to a modern interpretation of an traditional Personal-lux-car > but big-3 could do even better .. GM could try sth under Buick brand and Ford could bring back T-Bird or Lincoln "Mark" based on (relatively good) "Mustang equipment".. ... American cars(especially Muscle- and Personal-luxury) have fans all over the world .. and automakers will sell a lot of them, if they will(not chase germans .. but) keep their "american style/character)..

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