TThe wizards at Roadster Shop in the United States have taken the heyday of American motoring in the late 80s and reinvented it in every conceivable way with their 1987 Buick Grand National.
It would be easier to get by with the 1500hp twin-turbo LS combo (which we’ll get into in a moment), but that’s only part of what makes this Grand National stand above the rest.
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In true Roadster Shop fashion, they didn’t do things by halves. The body came off the chassis and was 3D scanned by head engineer Mike O’Brien, giving the crew the perfect starting point for the build. Scanning the underpinnings meant they could electronically manufacture each part needed for the project before it was made from beautiful billet material.
The crew went for the Buick with one of the roadster shop’s own Fast Track IRS chassis, further modifying the rear end to give the car the correct stance and room to fit the rear 345 tires.
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Wait, 345? Yes, the Buick now rides on factory-style, one-of-a-kind wheels by Greening Auto Co., measuring 18×10.5 up front, and 19×12 rears wrapped in 345 Nitto rubber. A full set of flares help fit the Mammoth rims, which the Roadster Shop has matched to fit the body as if they were an OEM part.
Up front is a 427-cube Dart unit, force-fed by a pair of Precision 64/66 turbos. Using the Holy Dominator brain, it’s capable of 1504hp with full noise on the Ignite E98.
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Behind it is a Bowler Performance 4L80E box, which is fully manual and controlled by Kilduff Shifters’ super-cool Lightning Rods-style shifter. It may look old school, but it still has line lock, torque converter lockup and transbrake arrangements.
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Other cool features inside include the custom dash which is another 3D printed component, and the way Roadster Boys brilliantly integrated all the advanced sensors and features with the oh-so-cool 80s graphics.
We love the car’s blend of modern tech while maintaining Buick’s core identity.