Ken Cunningham
Post No Bills
- Joined
- May 24, 2001
Just ran across an old review of a 1986 Grand National by one of my favorite authors: P.J. O'Rourke (I recommend Give War a Chance). It appeared in the April 1986 Automobile Magazine. It's a great review, not because O'Rourke is a gearhead and can explain what the GN can do, but because he is a commentator and can explain what the GN means. Some excerpts:
"Power and looks, however, do not explain the Grand National's personality. It doesn't have a good personality, exactly. It doesn't have a bad personality. What it has is a lot of personality."
"...coldly considered, the car is pretty homely. It's the same old tatty assistant-sales-supervisor Regal styling that dates back to the age of disco. Yet a subcontracted cosmetic treatment -- by a southern California genius known as 'Molly' -- somehow turned it into Darth Buick."
"Just don't step on the gas when there's ice, snow, rain, sand, or a candy wrapper on the road, or you'll make like a street salmon for blocks.'
"Is the Regal Grand National a good car? No. But it might be a great one."
"The G.N. is not heir to the muscle cars, those stripped economy coupes jammed with raw engine. Instead, it's a descendant of the great luxury performance monstrosities, like the 4000-pound 1964 Buick Wildcat with 401 cubic inches of V-8. These cars could take Mom to the grocery store or you to an early grave at 130 mph. They were bigger, faster, badder, weirder than there was any possible need to be."
"Power and looks, however, do not explain the Grand National's personality. It doesn't have a good personality, exactly. It doesn't have a bad personality. What it has is a lot of personality."
"...coldly considered, the car is pretty homely. It's the same old tatty assistant-sales-supervisor Regal styling that dates back to the age of disco. Yet a subcontracted cosmetic treatment -- by a southern California genius known as 'Molly' -- somehow turned it into Darth Buick."
"Just don't step on the gas when there's ice, snow, rain, sand, or a candy wrapper on the road, or you'll make like a street salmon for blocks.'
"Is the Regal Grand National a good car? No. But it might be a great one."
"The G.N. is not heir to the muscle cars, those stripped economy coupes jammed with raw engine. Instead, it's a descendant of the great luxury performance monstrosities, like the 4000-pound 1964 Buick Wildcat with 401 cubic inches of V-8. These cars could take Mom to the grocery store or you to an early grave at 130 mph. They were bigger, faster, badder, weirder than there was any possible need to be."
