The Grand National was one of the coolest muscle cars to ever come out of a time when muscle cars weren’t cool. It was powerful, rugged, and produced by…Buick.

The car was a testament to Buick’s ability to produce a muscle car. Unfortunately, due to the era and being owned by General Motors, the vehicle may have been great, but due to unfortunate circumstances, it was cancelled. It lives as one of the greatest sleeper muscle cars to this day.

Power Under the Grand National Hood

The car was awesome. I mean, Buick wanted to make a competitive car without overselling it based off of sporty-ness. It was a simple concept. “Let’s add some turbo-charged power to our Regal series,” they said. They did just that. The new vehicle sported up to 400 horse-power and an all0new top of the line suspension system.

It came in black. Only black. To give it the Darth Vader empire look.

Sales Were Too High

Now, you would think that awesome sales would be good for one of the fastest cars of the time, but you’d be wrong. The issue came with the ability to outsell its sister cars. See Buick is owned by General motors who also own Chevy. Cars like the Camaro and the Corvette were the sporty showrunners by even today’s standards.

Unfortunately, GM didn’t want their pride and joys to be outdone by a suped-up old-man car. Even though the sales were amazing, they canceled the car.

Grand National Legacy

Grand National was fitting for the car. Seeing as it won 2 Grand National races back-to-back. The car has been featured in everything from car magazines to even The Fast and The Furious franchise.

It remains one of the coolest sleeper cars to come out of the 80s. With its iconic look, it set the bar for post-embargo era driving and car design.