Steve..and to all who have followed this build. The results are difficult to attach adequate words. This is my brothers car, and as with many of us, life directs us in other tangents, and with my Brother's strong Faith in God, has realized that this new direction means that certain things are put on the back burner. Such as with my brother and this 47K GN. I received this car in a custom transport back in October. The transport driver said he delivers Lamborghini's and high dollar cars, and he said this one made his top 10. He was taking pictures left and right (via his associate) while being offloaded. I video taped it coming into town, pulling up to my house, the offload, and then I washed and waxed it before putting it to rest. We had things to do, before introducing it to Steve V.
I have been the medium in a very exciting journey. I have read, and watched on You-tube with interest all of you that have enjoyed the mystique of the Turbo Buick.. what an awesome medium turbobuick.com forum is....thank you to all that make this possible. Thank you to those of you that have made constructive comments and followed our journey along with us.
After developing, what I consider a great friendship with Steve V, and now being faced with an opportunity to keep this GN in the family, I am making every effort to shed my assets and carry the torch forward with this car. I recently sold my 69 Vet we built back in 1977...part of the deal for the 69, I have a pristine IROC I have to move now. Never been left out overnight since bought brand new in 1987. I picked up 4 years ago, An Astro roof, digital dash 87 GN...and have been waiting for my turn with Steve...however, the best thing that could have happened, was to be intimately involved in the 47K journey with Steve. So here we are.....
I have taken it to my first Cruise In, and the response and WOW factor is obvious and real..Steve has knocked this out of the park. To each of you in the Turbo Buick family that contributed to Steve's formula..thank you. I cannot adequately describe how driving an almost new 1987 Grand National, with an unbelievable balance between tame drive-ability and the obvious response and feedback in sound and feel that significantly more potential is just a few pounds of Boost away. The ride is firm but not harsh...you would swear this is not a 6...the harmonics say otherwise. His repeated tests and tweaks with the transmission are a linear hand-off from one gear to the next. The idle when backing off the throttle...and at the light, decries anything but a 6...when the Corvette starter brings it to life, it does not just come to life, it announces it is ready, and you savor it before you are ready to go. I could go on and on. And that is my plan, to take this forward, as a tribute to what Grand Nationals are, and in recognition to the talent and passion that Steve lives thru these. We are already talking a GNX theme in the dash area, and a few other items to insure longivity thru value added enhancements. Steve is keeping me under control.
I have been tempted to visit the First Kill section of this awesome forum. Yes, on the way home from the Cruise In, someone tracked me down, and paced me..had my wife and one of my 25 year old twin sons with me..so I had to behave (as much as possible). He races along with his brother at a local speedway here..and was his first ride in this GN. Our first hit was at 45mph...and thankfully we had the MT drag radials on...I pulled the LT-1 so soundly...grins abounded in the car. We met at the next light..and friendly exchanges went both ways. His wife was giving us the thumbs up, and he indicated he had heard of these cars...but. When the light went green, I waited and paced him, side by side, and once thru the light he went full throttle. As did I....the GN kept pulling, harder and harder..each shift crisp and launched when it handed off to the next gear....there was NO comparison between the LT-1 and us...it was done, and it was obvious. My son then told me, "I now understand why you wanted one of these cars so badly". It will be with me, for my brother to drive when he comes into town to visit...as his trust in me, and then with Steve to spread his wings and do this build...made an opportunity for me that otherwise may not have happened. More to come....thanks for letting me ramble on here. Steve, you are awesome.