The family hauler was built using an existing B-body Electra wagon as the donor. According to Mr. Doble, it featured a custom interior with Reatta bucket seats and center consoles front and rear, and an upgraded suspension. “It had real wire wheels,” Mr. Thodoroff said. “And we used to say, it had a suspension by Louisville Slugger, because the stabilizer bars were as big as a baseball bat.” Still, it maintained its traditional woodgrain vinyl siding. “It looked like the family truckster,” Mr. Doble said. “It was a sleeper.”
According to Mr. Doble, the team entered this superwagon in One Lap of America, the road-trip and time-attack event Brock Yates founded as the successor to the Cannonball. “It went all around the country. We led every bit of it in this huge wagon. All the other imports, whether they were Maseratis or Ferraris, were behind us because of all the torque and horsepower we had in the straightaways,” Mr. Doble said. But, coming into Miami for the last leg of the race, the sponsors were so irritated that a wagon was going to win, they changed the final event to a Gymkhana, with cones and everything. “We ended up coming in second to a Toyota All-Trac,” Mr. Doble lamented.
Eventually, his team made the mistake of challenging a competitor closer to home. “We had the GNX prototype, and all the other turbo prototypes, at Milan Raceway near Detroit, and we were telling everyone, this is the fastest car GM ever produced,” Mr. Doble said. “Chevy showed up with twin-turbo Callaway Corvettes, and we put them on the drag strip, and we beat them with four straight runs. And one of them was the wagon.”
But these antics broke GM’s cardinal rule—nothing can be faster than Corvette—and the brass was not amused.
But these antics broke GM’s cardinal rule—nothing can be faster than Corvette—and the brass was not amused.
Very interesting back story to the Buick GNX and the 3.8 V6........Which was first produced by Buick in 1961, in 1967 they sold the motor & production like to Jeep thinking they had no need for it. In walks the 1970's fuel crisis and Buick had 'nothing' with any fuel economy, in 1974 Buick bought the motor & the assembly/production line back and bolted it back up to it's original spot in Flint Michigan. The Buick Sky Hawk carried the 3.8 from 75-80 as Buicks economy car......In 1977 they changed the 3.8 from an odd firing engine, to an even firing engine making it run smoother, this was done with a modified crank, splitting the rod journals. The same basic 3.8 later brought the GNX to fame and fortune with some tweaks and the turbo charger. By then the block was an antique, but don't tell that to GNX Fans.......and early 4.1litre Grand Nationals...Same V6 block. If you'd like a link to this Jesse, I will email it to you!
ReplyDeleteChanged from an odd firing to and even firing? I haven't ever heard about that. But then, I've never heard of an engine getting changed in it's timing sequence, or "splitting rod journals"
DeleteI'm fascinated about the concept of the process of deciding that an engine can get it's timing sequence changed up, and though I understand that this could make it run smoother, and save a lot of money on designing a better engine, I can't understand why they didn't look around, and use another engine entirely that someone else at GM already evolved to whatever they needed in terms of power or gas mileage
I'll pass on the link though, I just want to spend more time enjoying things, and less time learning engineering. Too much like homework, and I have no need to learn that. I do need to learn the guitar, and I will save my few working brain cells for that
DeleteGuitars are fun, my brother is in the rebuild/restore business. I'll attach the link here, you can remove it if you like......it's 11 minutes with Steve Magnante in a junk yard, and this is where he uncovers the info, super-over the top car guy!...... https://youtu.be/mdUh2RutDG0
ReplyDeleteThere was a story that Chevy built a station wagon in the 80s or 90s with a Corvette drivetrain. It had a sticker that said "Wagons are made to haul things. This one hauls ass"
ReplyDeleteoh wow, that's a great line! Thanks!
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