1986 Buick LeSabre Grand National

[HarleyEarl]

I had never heard of this car, the 1986 Buick LeSabre Grand National:

http://www.lesabret-type.com/LeSabreGN.html

Exactly What is a LeSabre Grand National?

Many do not even know that Buick Division of General Motors produced the Grand National on a platform other than on the Regal but there was a very unique Grand National built in late1985 – the 1986 LeSabre Grand National. 117 (or 112) copies were built to qualify the new, first year 1986 LeSabre FWD Coupe body for NASCAR competition. The main reason for building the 1986 LeSabre Grand National was to get the new body with modified rear quarter windows sanctioned for Winston Cup racing that year. The modified windows gave the car a streamline advantage over the large rear quarter windows. All LeSabre Grand Nationals were produced in December, 1985 in one run, from one run sheet – some of the first FWD LeSabre Coupes produced. Serial numbers are sequential or nearly sequential and all have the same exact options. Around that time Buick Motor Division changed its marketing strategy from a performance to luxury car image and cancelled future LeSabre Grand National builds. Only the one production run of LeSabre Grand Nationals was completed and Buick decided to build no more. As such, the 1986 LeSabre Grand National is the rarest of Buicks wearing the Grand National emblem and one of the rarest of all “modern” era Buicks.

Edited July 28, 2008 by HarleyEarl

[Robert Hall]

I don't think I've ever seen one of those, other than that magazine ad back in the day. I do remember the Le Sabre T-Types, though.

[daves87rs]

Cool!

[wildcat]

one of the rarest of all “modern” era Buicks

To my eyes (and I'm a Buick guy), one of the plainest! There's not a thing I like about it; doctor, give me a Buick tri-shield, some curves, a full-width taillight, and some whitewalls and chrome GS road wheels stat!

[HarleyEarl]

To my eyes (and I'm a Buick guy), one of the plainest! There's not a thing I like about it; doctor, give me a Buick tri-shield, some curves, a full-width taillight, and some whitewalls and chrome GS road wheels stat!

And the Wildcat name....always loved that Buick name.

But I like this Grand National for it's rarity. It's an interesting little bit of Buick history that's not widely known. And it was a time that Buick was interested in a performance image. I'm glad they flirted with it.

[wildcat]

HarleyEarl: Yes, thank you for sharing it. I guess it is rare!

[Oracle of Delphi]

I never saw one, but I was not a Buick fan then.

[wildcat]

then

:AH-HA_wink:

[cletus8269]

there was an old lady that drove what i think was an 86 buick GS with t-type badges on it. i took pics of it and then about a year later she stopped working as a volunteer.

[Justin Bimmer]

Yeah, there was a short time that NASCAR teams ran that car before the Regal. In the lower levels, it had a bit more longevity as car turnover is not as fast in the lower levels.

Here are a few photos of the NASCAR version...

More info here LeSabre GN Link

[wildcat]

Isn't the middle picture a Monte Carlo???

EDIT: No, it says "Buick Motorsports" on the body. But it still looks like a Monte Carlo to me.

Edited July 28, 2008 by wildcat

[bobo]

Yes, that's a Monte Carlo.

[HarleyEarl]

Oh oh...I feel a feud coming on.

[wildcat]

No feud. But I thought it was a Monte Carlo.

[Robert Hall]

Yeah, there was a short time that NASCAR teams ran that car before the Regal. In the lower levels, it had a bit more longevity as car turnover is not as fast in the lower levels.

More info here LeSabre GN Link

IIRC, some teams ran the Olds 88 also...Cale Yarbourough's Hardees car was an 88, IIRC. When NASCAR went to the FWD car bodystyles over the fake RWD chassis was about the time I stopped watching NASCAR.

Edited July 28, 2008 by moltar

[HarleyEarl]

IIRC, some teams ran the Olds 88 also...Cale Yarbourough's Hardees car was an 88, IIRC. When NASCAR went to the FWD car bodystyles over the fake RWD chassis was about the time I stopped watching NASCAR.

Me too.....always irked me that phoniness.

[Blake Noble]

Doesn't American_Revolution2005 own one of these or a LeSabre similar to it?

[HarleyEarl]

I've always been a fan of the LeSabre T-Type coupes.....it'd be great to own one of these rare GNs.

[2005 EquinoxLS]

I remember seeing one of these at one time. Dont know what happened to it.

[Justin Bimmer]

I think the car in question is the last year of the Buick LeSabre before they went back to the regal. . . not sure though exactly.

[XP715]

WOW!!! A front wheel drive LeSabre coupe with ZERO performance modifications whatsoever and sporting such RACE-INSPIRED FEATURES (excuse me while I $h! my pants!) as a rear quarter window insert and embroidered floormats! That's the SICKEST MUSCLE CAR I'VE EVER SEEN!!!

Oh wait, no it isn't. It's my grandmother's car with a f@#king different steering wheel. Kinda sad that a "race-ready" Buick used to mean this:

OR, even more pathetic is the fact that in the same year that this FWD piece of $h! rolled off the assembly line, this was sitting right next to it in the showroom:

Which one of the two would you prefer? Yeah, that's what I thought.

Remind me again why a car whose deviation from the run of the mill production unit begins and ends at the emblem glued to the front fender matters at all.

Edited July 28, 2008 by XP715

[Sixty8panther]

Yeah, that clamshell-hooded Citation GT is a disgrace to the Grand National name.

What an ugly turd-bucket to begin with, and then to make matters worse they glue

a G.N. emblem to it as if it deserves to even wear a Buick logo.

THIS is exactly why I have no problem owning an '84 Mercedes hardtop & yet still

calling myself a diehard GM fan. These '80s fwd bland mobiles did more damage at

GM that some people to this day consider Buick to be a lame brand for geriatrics.

That Saturn yellow GSX would slap that "LeSabre Grand National" into submission

so quick it would end up at an Import used car lot sitting next to a Hyundai Pony.

[The O.C.]

I don't think I've ever seen one of those, other than that magazine ad back in the day. I do remember the Le Sabre T-Types, though.

I remember this car when working at Buick.

It was the precursor to the actual production LeSabre T-Type. The LeSabre T-Type was introduced after this LeSabre Grand National....and sported the LeSabre MCE changes including the flush-mounted headlamps and revised front end.

They did build a very small amount of LeSabre GN models but, unlike the Regal GN, this LeSabre GN ran a bone-stock 3800 V6 that it shared with the later LeSabre T-Type.

(Incidentally, I LOVE the LeSabre and Electra T-Type models from that day and would love to find a cherry version of either.)

Also, does anyone remember the Century (A-body) Gran Sport? It was also a very limited edition Century 2-door with Grand National-like all black paint and trim with exclusive wheels (I think 15-inch when the Century T-Type sported 14-inch rims in the day) and a special two-tone black and gray interior....

[HarleyEarl]

Don't be hating me.

I just posted it as a curious piece of Buick history.

No one said it was a fire breathing Corvette.

It got caught in a change of direction for Buick.

Don't be hating me and Buick.

[Robert Hall]

Anyone remember the turbo LeSabre coupe from '78? I haven't seen one of those in at least 25 years.

[XP715]

Anyone remember the turbo LeSabre coupe from '78? I haven't seen one of those in at least 25 years.

There's one that's been sitting on flat tires rotting away in the back lot of a tow yard for the last two years that's a mile from my house. Has 90,000 miles on it and the burgundy interior is beyond mint. It was a beautiful metallic gunmetal gray before it all rusted off. Factory Buick rally wheels complete the look, and every single little trinket and piece of trim is present. Supposedly it even starts and runs and drives. Every time I go in to ask how much, the price goes up because THAT'S A GRAND NATIONAL, Y'KNOW! THEY GO FOR ALL KINDSA MONEY ON EBAY!

Right. That's why it's still sitting exactly where you dropped it two years ago. Probably got it for free off an old man who decided he just couldn't drive anymore, too. What a shame. It's an odd variant of a BOF RWD malaise era coupe that I wouldn't mind having at the right price. Pretty sharp looking, really.

[Sixty8panther]

Sorry to spout flames H.E., ...it's just that my several month long

anger/depression over the Camaro growing a dog-damn fat

ugly B-pillar from Concept to production has irritated me beyond

belief & made me think more than ever about the lack of direction

at GM and the stupid, unforgivable mistakes they've been cursed

with making for about 3 decades now....

It's disgusting, inexcusable and takes the wind right out of my sails

as far as my GM enthusiasm.

[HarleyEarl]

Sorry to spout flames H.E., ...it's just that my several month long

anger/depression over the Camaro growing a dog-damn fat

ugly B-pillar from Concept to production has irritated me beyond

belief & made me think more than ever about the lack of direction

at GM and the stupid, unforgivable mistakes they've been cursed

with making for about 3 decades now....

It's disgusting, inexcusable and takes the wind right out of my sails

as far as my GM enthusiasm.

No worries budster....I'm the same. I waited to see that first news and photo of the Camaro and hope against hope it would be a proper pillarless hardtop...nope, just as I thought....crappy, stupid, dumb stationary little window. I've been pissed about it ever since...can hardly look at a photo of the car.

GM is in a habit of doing this, they cut corners or build a car to a price, trying to sell it at garage sale prices....wouldn't it be nice to sweat the details a bit and charge a bit more?!!! Make the car special?!!!!! They could have used the pillarless thing as a marketing thing, it would have added to the aura surrounding this car. A cryin shame. Don't even get me started Sylvester.

[XP715]

Don't be hating me.

I just posted it as a curious piece of Buick history.

No one said it was a fire breathing Corvette.

It got caught in a change of direction for Buick.

Don't be hating me and Buick.

I wasn't hating on you or Buick, but rather hating on General Motors for becoming the sad shell of the incredible company they used to be. Look at that '70 GSX. In fifteen years time, they went from selling actual fire-breathing purpose-built muscle cars and top-notch product with awesome styling across the board in all brands to bland, generic-looking cheesy garbage and never looked back. This FWD $h!box and others like it signify the first of many nails in the General's coffin. And there ain't many nails left. As you and Sixty8 were talking about before: look at the new Camaro. The car should be a hardtop, no questions asked. Only GM could build something so incredibly perfectly awesome and then somehow f@#k it up at the last possible second. Compromising on perfection got them to the piss-poor state they're in in the first place, and it would appear as though they could give a $h! less if said pitiful state ever changes.

Edited July 29, 2008 by XP715

[HarleyEarl]

Oh, believe me, I share the pain. Agree with all you said.

I sometimes think I'm a GM fan based on long ago greatness.

[Robert Hall]

Oh, believe me, I share the pain. Agree with all you said.

I sometimes think I'm a GM fan based on long ago greatness.

Yes, I can understand that... the '50s through early/mid '70s were their great era, at least as far as products go, IMHO.

[american_revolution_2005]

These Lesabre GNs are indeed rare but I actually prefer the T-Types to these. I can even say that these were not worthy to the Grand National name. The car doesn't even have bucket seats or leather nothing like that. It's pretty much a Lesabre Custom coupe cloth 6 passenger car. I still have my Buicks and the T-Type is all mechanically redone now. I have actually been offered a 1960 Pontiac Laurentian 2 door hardtop for free as my friend had no use as it sat in their field for a year or so and they moved. He said if I wanted the car I could have it so I am thinking it might be worth it to put it aside until I finish my other cars. Not everyday you can get a 1960 Pontiac hardtop for free so I may take advantage.