Should you never meet your heroes?
YouTuber Kali Muscle, who is all about muscle cars and building big muscles, finally got the chance to drive a classic Buick Grand National. The man is a big gearhead, so when he’s not lifting crazy-heavy weights he’s smoking tires. And while he does enjoy the exotic European vehicles, he’s a big fan of American muscle. When it comes to the 80s, the Buick Grand National was one of the dominant forces out there, so it’s a car many 80s children turned gearheads dream of driving one day.
Watch a Buick Grand National race a Dodge Hellcat here.
Kali Muscle definitely fits into that category, something we can understand. The man says just seeing Grand National in the flesh filled his head with all kinds of childhood memories. This is partly why 80s and 90s classic cars are now on the rise in the market as Millennials and Gen Xers who have more disposable income want to scoop those rides which were cool when they were kids as a way to recapture the magic they see as lost in new cars.
Since Buick used the ho-hum Regal platform for the Grand Nationals, many of them flew under the radar as sleepers since they looked like grandpa rides. That’s part of the appeal of these classics. But the all-black exterior also helps, adding a sinister look to something which otherwise is completely benign.
Don’t think for a moment it was just the fact the Grand Nationals were faster than they look which made them popular. After smoking many performance cars from back in the day, enthusiasts who were more interested in going fast than just looking cool flocked to Buick.
Today, people debate if these Grand Nationals were really muscle cars. The biggest hit against them was the powertrain. After all, there’s a big difference between a V8 and a turbo-6, although some enthusiasts will try to tell you otherwise. Check out the video to see what Kali Muscle thinks of the 80s classic.
