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Barn Find: 1987 Buick Grand National – Factory Turbocharged

This 1987 Buick Grand National is a one-owner car that was left parked up in an open barn for years. This protected it from the majority of the weather and it has less rust than it otherwise would, it’s currently on eBay looking for a new owner to give it a restoration.

The 1987 model was both the most powerful of the Grand Nationals, producing 245 bhp and 355 lb ft of torque and outpacing its V8 contemporaries like the Corvette and the Camaro. Car and Driver magazine clocked the ’87 at 4.9 seconds in the 0 – 60 mph dash, faster than the Lamborghini Countach.

Fast Facts – The Buick Grand National

The Buick Grand National was first released as an option package in 1982 to celebrate Buick winning the NASCAR Manufacturers Cup in 1981 and 1982. It was named after the NASCAR Winston Cup Grand National Series and just 100 were planned.
Ultimately 215 would be built. Demand was so high Buick quickly realized they were onto something. They spent a year working on a full production Grand National that could be offered in far higher production numbers.
The distinctive jet black Buick Grand National would then appear for the 1984 model year. It was powered by a turbocharged 3.8 liter V6 producing 200 bhp and 300 lb ft of torque. Power would increase each year until the final year of production – 1987.
The 1987 Buick Grand National was the fastest of the lot, power was now 245 bhp and 355 lb ft of torque. Most importantly it was faster than its key competitor – the C4 Corvette.

Buick: Making V6s Cool Again

Americans have had a long love affair with the V8, it dates right back to the turn of the 20th century, but V8 power wasn’t truly democratized for the average American until the release of the 1932 Ford V8.

Above Video: Actor David Spade shows his ’87 Grand National to Jay Leno in this episode of Jay Leno’s Garage.

With its 221 cubic inch (3.6 liter) flathead V8, the 1932 Ford offered power and speed with an affordable sticker price, and America was hooked. Soon enough each of America’s major automakers had V8 models in production, often powering their fastest and most desirable cars.

Through all of this the humble V6 was largely forgotten by the American general public. The 1973 Oil Crisis and increasing emissions regulations led Buick to take a closer look at the engine configuration, they would release two V6-powered versions of their second generation Regal in 1978, including a turbocharged version that could hang with V8s.

Win On Sunday, Sell On Monday

Following the age old matra of “Win on Sunday, Sell on Monday” Buick set out to compete in America’s most famous racing series – NASCAR. Defying the odds the company managed to win the Winston Cup Grand National Championship in 1981 and 1982.

In order to celebrate the company released the 1982 Grand National as an option package on the Buick Regal. 100 were planned but 215 were sold – public demand was high and Buick engineers were set to work creating a production version that could be built in higher numbers.

This one-owner car has been sitting in a barn for years, it now needs a restoration but it’s a potentially a good matching-numbers base to start with.

There was no 1983 Grand National but the 1984 model landed with a bang. It was jet black and powered by a turbocharged V6 that gave it the pace to chase down Corvettes. Each year the model would get more powerful until its final year of production – 1987.

The 1987 Buick Grand National

Is one of the most desirable iterations of the model, alongside the less powerful but far rarer 1982 Grand National, and the pinnacle of Grand National evolution – the GNX.

It was known ahead of time that the 1987 Buick Grand National would be the last of the series due to the fact that the new front-wheel drive GM W platform was due to debut the next year. It was decided to send the Grand National off with a bang.

The intercooled 3.8 liter V6 was further upgraded, it was now capable of 245 bhp and 355 lb ft of torque. These were serious power figures for the era, Car and Driver magazine tested the car and recorded a 4.9 second 0 – 60 mph sprint and a 13.9 second quarter mile. Though they had their doubts the car they used was in stock configuration.

The 1987 Grand National was capable of 245 bhp and 355 lb ft of torque, making it quicker than the contemporary C4 Corvette.

Many of America’s formerly great V8 coupes had been left wheezing and underpowered due to emissions restrictions, so the 1987 Grand National could make short work of them on the street or drag strip.

A total of 20,740 1987 Grand Nationals would be built, surviving examples are now highly sought after by enthusiasts.

The Buick Grand National Barn Find Shown Here

The car you see here is a one-owner 1987 Buick Grand National with 74,097 miles on the odometer, a New York title, all the original manuals, and the bill of sale.

For many years cars from the 1980s were viewed with contempt and as a result many ended up getting scrapped, parted out, or otherwise wrecked.

The Grand National has always had a solid fan base in the United States including Sean Penn and Joe Dirt actor David Spade who regularly drives his 1987 Grand National including in an appearance on Jay Leno’s Garage (see it above).

It’s clear that this car needs a full restoration, it’s being offered for $22,500 out of East Setauket, New York. If you’d like to take this project on you can click here to visit the listing.

The post Barn Find: 1987 Buick Grand National – Factory Turbocharged appeared first on Silodrome.

from Silodrome https://silodrome.com/1987-buick-grand-national/
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The AC Greyhound: A Rare Cousin Of The Shelby Cobra

The AC Greyhound was released in 1959 as a touring car to accompany the more sporty AC Ace and AC Aceca. The AC Ace won its class at Le Mans in 1959 and it was soon to become famous as the platform Carroll Shelby would use to build his famous Shelby Cobra.

The Shelby Cobra became such a juggernaut in the automotive world that many have forgotten about AC and their handbuilt sports cars – without which Carroll Shelby may still be remembered as “just” a retired racing driver.

Fast Facts – The AC Greyhound

The AC Greyhound was developed on a slightly larger version of the chassis used by the AC Ace, the sports car that won its class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and formed the foundation of the Shelby Cobra.
The success of that Cobra would strain the already limited resources of AC Cars, resulting in the AC Greyhound being discontinued after just 83 had been made, so the workers could focus on building cars for Carroll in California.
Much like the AC Ace and the AC Aceca (pronounced “a-see-ka”), the AC Greyhound is based on a tubular steel ladder frame chassis, it has an alloy body, and independent suspension on all four corners. Though the Greyhound uses coil springs in place of the transverse leaf spring on its stablemates.
The AC Greyhound was built with a number of different engines including the AC 2.0 liter, the 2.0 liter and 2.2 liter Bristol engines, and the 2.6 liter Ford Zephyr engine. Power was sent back to the rear wheels via a four speed manual transmission with optional overdrive.

AC Cars + The Shelby Cobra

Very few people in the world have never seen a Shelby Cobra. It’s a car that has adorned countless t-shirts, posters, magazine covers, advertising billboards, and it’s appeared in many films and television shows.

This car is powered by the Bristol 2.2 liter inline-six, originally a pre-WWII BMW engine design.

Most people don’t realize the car was originally designed in England by John Tojeiro, it was called the AC Ace and in its original form, it was never designed to fit a V8 engine under the hood.

Recently retired racing driver Carroll Shelby saw the AC Ace and had an idea. He had raced Allards back in the early 1950s, lightweight British sports cars with excellent handling and large American V8s up front, and he realized this same formula would work with the Ace.

He managed to get Ford onboard to provide him with V8 engines and transmissions, then had AC send him an Ace. His mechanics fitted the engine and transmission to the car in his California workshop and the rest is history.

The AC Greyhound

There are many “what ifs” in motoring history, some have wondered how things may have played out if Shelby had instead decided to build his sports car using the AC Aceca coupe or the AC Greyhound as his starting point – both of these cars were also in production with AC when Shelby chose the Ace.

The AC Aceca was essentially just the coupe version of the Ace but the Greyhound was an altogether different car.

The interior is well appointed by the standards of the late 1950s, with ample use of leather, carpeting, and dashboard with all the gauges and switch gear you might need.

Whereas the Ace and Aceca were designed as two-seaters for drivers who wanted sports cars, the Greyhound was designed to compete more with the likes of the Aston Martin DB4 and the Jaguar XK150.

Chassis + Specifications

The Greyhound was given a slightly longer version of the steel ladder frame chassis and the alloy body was slightly longer to match, allowing space for an additional row of two seats behind the driver and front passenger, as well as a decent sized trunk.

Most cars in the late 1950s still relied on live rear axles, leaf springs, and four wheel drum brakes but the Greyhound broke out of this mould. It came with fully independent front and rear suspension on coil springs and it came with front disc brakes (and rear drums).

The interior of the car was well appointed, with leather seats front and back, full carpeting throughout, ample instrumentation, and good headroom for all occupants.

Though unique, the styling of the car was very much in the same vein as similar 1950s GTs like the Aston Martin DB Mark III.

The design has been compared to Aston Martins of the era, it was designed to compete against them and the likes the Jaguar XK150.

Under the hood you’ll find any one of four engines: the AC 2.0 liter, the 2.0 liter and 2.2 liter Bristol engines, and the 2.6 liter Ford Zephyr engine. The Zephyr engine is the most powerful of the bunch but many purists prefer the Bristol engines due to their history with the marque.

AC Cars would make just 83 examples of the Greyhound between 1959 and 1963, production was ended to focus resources on the AC Aces that were being built and sent off to Carroll Shelby in the United States – without a drivetrain fitted.

The AC Greyhound Shown Here

The car you see here is a 1961 AC Greyhound that was once owned by Colonel John Nicholas Blashford-Snell CBE. British Army officer, explorer, and author who founded Operation Raleigh.

After having belonged to just two families for its entire life the car is now being offered for sale. It’s had a recent recommissioning including attention to the engine, brakes, ignition, cooling system, overdrive and steering etc not to mention a gearbox overhaul.

It retains its original interior complete with ‘sunburst’ pattern door cards and it’s believed to have covered just 37,000 miles from new.

If you’d like to read more or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing. It’s due to cross the auction block on the 16th of March with a price guide of £60,000 – £70,000 or $81,400 – 95,000 USD.

Images courtesy of H+H Classics

The post The AC Greyhound: A Rare Cousin Of The Shelby Cobra appeared first on Silodrome.

from Silodrome https://silodrome.com/ac-greyhound-car/
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There’s An 840 BHP Dodge Hellcrate Redeye Crate Engine For Sale On eBay

When Dodge released the Hellcrate Redeye 6.2 liter Supercharged HEMI® V8 crate engine in late 2020 it gave the wider automotive community the chance to get their hands on the engine that had been first introduced in the 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon.

At the time of its release it was the fastest muscle car ever made, powerful enough to lift the front wheels off the ground when accelerating and able to do the 0 – 60 mph dash in just 2.1 seconds, that’s even faster than the Tesla Model S (2.28 seconds).

Fast Facts – The Dodge Hellcrate Redeye Crate Engine

The Dodge Hellcrate Redeye crate engine is the heart and soul of the Dodge Challenger SRT Demon, one of the fastest accelerating production cars ever made.
In standard tune the engine produces 808 horsepower and 717 lb ft of torque (on 91 octane pump gas), this rises to 840 hp and 770 lb ft of torque on 100+ higher octane race fuel with a different tune loaded into the ECU.
The Dodge Hellcrate Redeye crate engine was a displacement of 6.2 liters, and unusually for a high-performance engine it uses pushrods and two valves per cylinder. The engine is topped with a 2.7 liter supercharger pushing 14.5 PSI into the intake, and it hits the redline at 6,500 rpm.
We only rarely see these engines come up for sale, they cost over $20,000 USD apiece before you start adding accessories and most who buy them have very specific plans for them. Usually a car destined for the drag strip.

The Dodge Hellcat Hellcrate Crate Engine

The continuing surge in popularity of electric vehicles has most (if not all) automakers investing heavily in electric drivetrain technology, oftentimes at the detriment of their internal combustion engine model range.

Dodge Hellcrate Redeye Crate Engine Collage

This Hellcrate Redeye is unused and still bolted to its shipping pallet, ready for a new owner to install it into the car of their choosing.

One major exception to this phenomenon is Dodge, who seem hellbent on making sure the gasoline-powered engine goes out with a bang rather than a whimper.

The American automaker has released a number of sports cars so powerful they set new world records, as well as a series of high-performance crate engines with the Hellephant and the Hellcrate Redeye at the top of the range.

Dodge Hellcrate Redeye – Specifications

The Hellcrate Redeye is a significantly upgraded version of the earlier Hellcrate (sans Redeye) engine, it has the same 6.2 liter displacement but a new 2.7 liter supercharger replaces the original 2.4 liter unit.

A number of internal changes were made to handle the extra boost including a forged alloy steel crankshaft, induction-hardened crank bearing surfaces, a 5150 alloy gun-drilled camshaft optimized for high rpm performance, forged high-strength alloy pistons, powder-forged connecting rods, and much more.

The 2.7 liter supercharger atop the Redeye version of this engine is slightly larger than the 2.4 liter version on the regular Hellcrate engine, it produces 14.5 PSI of boost vs the 11.6 PSI on the less powerful non-Redeye version.

In standard tune the Hellcrate Redeye produces 808 horsepower and 717 lb ft of torque on regular 91 octane pump gas, increasing to 840 hp and 770 lb ft of torque on 100+ higher octane race fuel with a special tune applied.

A number of custom-built cars have been released that use the Redeye, the majority of them focus on 1/4 mile drag racing, this makes a lot of sense given that it was also the intended playground of the Dodge Challenger SRT Demon that was first fitted with this V8.

Many of us grew up in the 1980s with supercars like the Ferrari Testarossa and Lamborghini Countach plastered all over our bedroom walls. These seminal supercars are a good reference point as they produced something in the region of 375 – 414 bhp (depending on variant) – less than half of what the Hellcrate Redeye is turning out.

The engine you see here is a new and unused Hellcrate Redeye that’s still fixed to its shipping pallet. The eBay seller has it listed for $22,699 USD and it’s available for pick-up in Garland, Texas.

Visit The eBay Listing

The post There’s An 840 BHP Dodge Hellcrate Redeye Crate Engine For Sale On eBay appeared first on Silodrome.

from Silodrome https://silodrome.com/dodge-hellcrate-redeye-crate-engine/
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A Turbocharged 1963 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ40 By Icon

This 1963 Toyota Land Cruiser has been through a comprehensive nut-and-bolt rebuild at the hands of Icon in California, the world’s preeminent FJ40 specialists who have worked closely with Toyota on a number of projects including the FJ Cruiser production vehicle.

Most of Icon’s FJ40 builds are powered by the General Motors LS V8 however the vehicle you see here has been fitted with a turbocharged International HS 2.8 liter diesel inline-four cylinder engine, which offers excellent torque at almost 300 lb ft with better mileage than the gasoline-fueled LS V8.

Fast Facts – The Toyota Land Cruiser FJ40 By Icon

In recent years a remarkable number of companies have been founded that follow in the footsteps laid out by Icon – a company started back in the mid-1990s by husband and wife team Jonathan and Jamie Ward.
In the years since, Icon has become the global leader in Toyota Land Cruiser and Ford Bronco rebuilds with a focus on keeping the original vintage spirit of the vehicles while upgrading them to make them much easier to use regularly in the 21st century.
Land Cruisers that have been rebuilt by Icon are now collectibles in their own right, regularly selling for well over $100,000 USD on the open market and occupying a similar sector in the market to Outlaw Porsche 356s and Eagle E-Type Jaguars.
The FJ40 Land Cruiser you see here is an excellent example of Icon’s rebuilds. The attention to detail throughout is excellent and power is now provided by a turbodiesel International HS 2.8 liter inline-four producing approximately 135 bhp and 277 lb ft of torque.

The Toyota Land Cruiser FJ40

The Land Cruiser has come a long way since it was first introduced in 1951 as the Toyota “Jeep” BJ series.

Toyota had first been tasked with developing a Jeep-like 4×4 during WWII when Imperial Japanese Army soldiers discovered an American Willys Jeep in the Philippines, the usefulness of such a vehicle was clear so it was sent back to Japan to be reversed engineered.

Each Icon FJ40 is totally rebuilt and significantly modified to make them highly capable daily drivers, with modern drivetrains for reliability and added power.

A few years later in 1950 the Japanese were now on the same side as the Americans who were fighting the Korean War. The United States government ordered 100 Jeep-like 4x4s from Toyota, kickstarting the series that would be renamed “Land Cruiser” in 1954 due to Jeep getting (understandably) a little testy about their use of the brandname.

Over the intervening decades over 10 million Land Cruisers have been built, they’ve developed a reputation for toughness and reliability, and modern versions have shaken off the rust issues that tended to plague the steel bodies of earlier models.

Vintage 4x4s Become Classics

Today the early FJ40 models and their BJ40 series siblings are in high demand with collectors and enthusiasts as vintage four-wheel drives continue to grow into a major sector in the classic car world.

By modern standards many of these early four-wheel drives can seem a little agricultural, this is where Icon comes in, offering a full modern drivetrain, uprated suspension and brakes, a fully rebuilt chassis and body, and an interior that’s almost luxurious by the standards of the original vehicles.

The Turbodiesel Toyota Land Cruiser FJ40 By Icon

The 1963 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ40 you see here has been given the full Icon nut-and-bolt rebuild, it’s now perfectly suited to use either as a daily driver or a weekend adventure wagon.

The interior keeps the spirit of the original but includes features like a hidden Alpine stereo with SiriusXM satellite radio and an amplifier, much improved seats, and smaller luxuries like cup holders.

The bodywork has been powdercoated in Rocky Mountain Grey, the cabin has been trimmed in black leather with grey textured Chilewich textile seat centers and matching carpet. A modern Alpine stereo has been fitted, as well as SiriusXM satellite radio receiver, and an integrated amplifier.

For inclement weather protection the vehicle has been given an insulated double three-ply folding soft top, and it’s fitted with Hella halogen headlights, front and rear auxiliary lights, and a Warn winch is integrated into the front bumper.

The drivetrain consists of a turbodiesel International HS 2.8 liter inline-four cylinder engine producing approximately 135 bhp and 277 lb ft of torque. Power is sent back through a five-speed manual gearbox and transfer case to live front and rear axles with locking differentials.

This Land Cruiser now rides on coil over suspension in place of the original leaf springs, it also has four-wheel disc brakes, powdercoated alloy wheels, and on onboard air compressor.

This Icon FJ40 is currently being auctioned live online by Collecting Cars, if you’d like to read more about it or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing.

If you’d like to learn more about Icon you can click here to visit the website and see their current range of models.