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The naturally-aspirated 3.8 in in the present day’s Nice Price or No Dice Buick GS is 90 horsepower shy of the turbocharged version within the modern Grand Nationwide. Let’s see if the worth can be commensurately decrease, or if it’s a Grand Nationwide catastrophe.
Asking underneath 5 grand for a clean-working automotive in in the present day’s market is laudable. Make that automotive an AWD BMW wagon with a five-speed stick and that immediately turns into tremendous spectacular. That was what we had with yesterday’s 2002 BMW 325Xi Touring and with its $4,900 asking worth, it obtained extra than simply lauding within the feedback; it took dwelling a hefty 82 % Good Worth win. Good factor it’s a wagon and has the area.
As we speak’s 1986 Buick Century Gran Sport is a kind of automotive that I don’t suppose any producer makes anymore. Whereas referred to as a coupe on the time, the mannequin’s upright posture actually makes it extra of a conventional two-door sedan. Buick had offered an precise coupe within the type of the RWD Regal. That Regal obtained an non-obligatory turbocharged 3.8-liter V6 engine and particular badging to create the Grand Nationwide, a automotive that was successful then and is wanted in the present day by collectors and fanatics alike.
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So successful was the Grand National as a halo car for Buick that the company attempted to load a number of other models onto its coattails. One such was the Gran Sport, a handful of which were built on the A-body Century two-door only for 1986. These models carried special badging and alloy wheels and were made available exclusively in Darth Vader’s underoos black.
Now, you may note that the name Gran Sport has lost its “d” which is a little weird. Buick has used that badge to denote its sporty models since all the way back in 1965. Odder still, however, is the other part of the model’s badging, carried on each fender and on the standard bucket seats. That looks suspiciously like the Grand National’s badge with a looping arrow that implies a turbocharger. That’s something else lost in translation.
The Gran Sport uses the same 3.8-liter V6 as the Grand National, albeit in naturally aspirated form. That means 150 horsepower rather than the turbo’d and intercooled 1986 Regal’s 245. It’s also FWD rather than RWD. Transmission duties in the Gran Sport are handled by a TH125 four-speed automatic. A front disc/rear drum brake setup ensures entertaining stopping opportunities.
This was mostly a cosmetic package, including model-specific GS badging (which Buick called “ornamentation” in the mannequin’s brochure) on the automotive. That included branding on the alloy wheels’ middle caps and on the steering wheel. The inside featured related upholstery as its larger brother, the Grand Nationwide, a sporty three-spoke wheel, and a flooring shifter.
A set of BUICK decals got here with the mannequin, though these have been shipped from the manufacturing facility within the trunk, with the intention that they’d be put in on the flanks by the vendor. This GS lacks these, both in or on the automotive.
The vendor says the GS does have its unique paint, and that’s deemed to be adequate to make the automotive “a very good ten-footer.” The one actually noticeable flaws are some puckering within the plastic of the bumper caps and what seems to be to be varmint harm within the under-hood padding and trunk insulation.
The inside seems to be in wonderful form, with the one criticism being some minor put on on the seats. In response to the advert, every part on the automotive, save for the cruise management and energy antenna, works because it ought to. Over its 36-year life, the GS has racked up 106,000 miles, which is sort of Mama Bear— not too little and never an excessive amount of. It has a clear title and may have the construct sheet and a bunch of brochures thrown in as a part of the sale.
That sale would require parting with $7,000 and it’s now time for you all to weigh in on whether or not that’s a good worth or not. What do you suppose? Is this one-year sporty Century price that $7,000 asking because it sits? Or, for that a lot, wouldn’t it need to be much better than only a 10-foot automotive?
You determine!
South New Jersey Craigslist, or go here if the advert disappears.
H/T to RevUnlimiter for the hookup!
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