I had owned my GNX (#281) for about 3 weeks before I finally got over 500 miles on it. The car was awesome... From the GNX-specific wheels and Goodyear Gatorbacks to the ceramic impeller-equipped Turbo, special badging, and - well, I could go on and on - it was a killer combo.
But the neatest thing? Unless you were a Buick fan, you did not realize that what just pulled up next to you at the stop light was not just another 'gramma's car'/grocery getter but a high 12 second-capable V6. Sort of like a Silverback Gorilla in a Tux...
It was a sunny fall Sunday afternoon in October of 1987and I decided to drive the car into Lima just to get a few miles on it. Sure, it would get an occasional look or nod from someone who actually knew what it was. But for the most part, the car was ignored. Hard to understand these days but that's how it was - unless someone was a motor-head, usually a turbo regal/GN did not get much of a second look.
Now, if I was in my '87 IROC-Z (with the 5.7L motor, new in the IROC for '87)? Oh, it would get lots of looks. It was white with tan interior, a subtle wing, flashy rims, and so forth. Yeah, it looked decent but it couldn't hold a candle to the '87 GN I had traded in on the GNX, much less compete with the GNX.
Back in those days, if you were driving a Camaro, a 5.0 Mustang, or a Vette, you might get the nod. A TR? Nope. Not that it mattered or that I cared - I always have liked being under the radar if you will...
So, I'm sitting at the light on Elida Road just west of Toys R' Us facing west, sitting in the right lane minding my own business. Arby's was too my left and I was actually contemplating whipping the X in there and getting a roast beef so I was thinking about how to do that from the right lane when I heard a loud exhaust coming up from behind me and to my left.
I looked in the driver's door mirror and low and behold, here comes a hero in a Mustang. I'm not sure what year it was, but it was loud and proud and as it rolled to a stop I noted the 5.0 badge on the red fender. It wasn't very old - I'm guessing maybe an '86 or so.
I looked up to see who was driving the car because whoever it was enjoyed revving the motor. It was an older guy about my age, probably in his mid-30's or so. He nodded at me when he saw I was looking.
"Whacha driving?" he asked.
"It's a Buick" was all I said, not sure if he was 'in the loop'.
"Nice. I like black..."
I ask him - "What year is your car?"
"It's an '86 but it was a left-over so I just bought it a few months ago."
"Mods?" I ask. I figure he may be truthful or he may lie but at the least, I know he's got an exhaust and probably more. I couldn't hear any whine so I was pretty sure it wasn't force-fed.
"A few..." he just grinned. "Yours?"
"Bone stock..."
He grinned again, showing lots of perfect white teeth... sort of like the look a big 'gator might show - if he could grin - when a small deer dip its lips to drink from the river right in front of him...
Yeah... I think they guy just KNEW what was about to go down...
The only thing was - he was about to find out exactly WHO was the 'Gator and WHO was the deer...
The traffic was light and the light was long... we were still red.
He grinned and nodded forward in a 'Wanna run 'em?' sort of way and I just nodded an affirmative. Should be interesting, I remember thinking, hoping the pesky Elida Police weren't nearby. They could be such D*CKs sometimes...
The cross traffic light was still green... it shouldn't be long...
I hear him rev his motor again and then he stays into the pedal some, probablly keeping the revs around three or four grand I was guessing, ready to launch...
I just mash the brake pedal with my left foot and roll into the accelerator, watching the Borg Warner boost gauge begin to slowly inch up...
An evil hiss is now easily discernable above the crescendo next to me...
Cross light goes yellow...
I wonder if my tire pressure is too high and if I'm going to just smoke 'em off. I want to make sure I don't end up doing a burnout at the light!
We're dead even at the light... the sun is slowly going down and deep blue sky has just a few white, fluffy clouds slowly moving across it...
It's a beautiful day, especially to spank a 'Stang I was thinking - especially when he didn't know what it was he was running.
The light changed... As I saw it go go green my foot was already off the brake and boost came on. Luckily, the Gatorbacks only slipped a bit.
Badly for me was that the Mustang gripped hard and beat me out of the hole...
To my right was the Lima Mall. The stores were all closed so again, traffic was light. I'm not condoning street racing and to be honest, it was stupid.
But - I would probably do it again with the same set of conditions...
The five liter was pulling on me hard but that was ok - the boost was coming on like a freight train now... The V6 was SCREAMING and the whistle of the Turbo was awesome. Even completely stock, the X was damned impressive!
I was pushed back into the seat as the 1-2 shift came HARD and chirped the tires. 5.0 grabbed second about the same time but by now I was even with him... and as we pulled hard in 2nd, I began to pull ahead... by now, we're flying - in a 45 mph zone.
Just then, I hear him back out of it. I do too... I had him and he knew it.
We rolled up to the next light beside the Arthur Treacher's Fish and Chips store which had just turned red...
"Damn... what the F*&K IS that thing?" he asked. "You pretty much walked me!" I smiled...
As the engines idled and the clouds slid across the slate blue sky above a black and a red car, two guys shared stories at a stop light... brief, anecdotal stories about their cars on a quiet Sunday afternoon in Lima Ohio...
And... somewhere else that evening far to the south where swamps abound, a small deer disappeared quickly but violently beneath the river's surface, no trace of what took it or where it went...
This story is 100% true... I sure miss that car...
But the neatest thing? Unless you were a Buick fan, you did not realize that what just pulled up next to you at the stop light was not just another 'gramma's car'/grocery getter but a high 12 second-capable V6. Sort of like a Silverback Gorilla in a Tux...
It was a sunny fall Sunday afternoon in October of 1987and I decided to drive the car into Lima just to get a few miles on it. Sure, it would get an occasional look or nod from someone who actually knew what it was. But for the most part, the car was ignored. Hard to understand these days but that's how it was - unless someone was a motor-head, usually a turbo regal/GN did not get much of a second look.
Now, if I was in my '87 IROC-Z (with the 5.7L motor, new in the IROC for '87)? Oh, it would get lots of looks. It was white with tan interior, a subtle wing, flashy rims, and so forth. Yeah, it looked decent but it couldn't hold a candle to the '87 GN I had traded in on the GNX, much less compete with the GNX.
Back in those days, if you were driving a Camaro, a 5.0 Mustang, or a Vette, you might get the nod. A TR? Nope. Not that it mattered or that I cared - I always have liked being under the radar if you will...
So, I'm sitting at the light on Elida Road just west of Toys R' Us facing west, sitting in the right lane minding my own business. Arby's was too my left and I was actually contemplating whipping the X in there and getting a roast beef so I was thinking about how to do that from the right lane when I heard a loud exhaust coming up from behind me and to my left.
I looked in the driver's door mirror and low and behold, here comes a hero in a Mustang. I'm not sure what year it was, but it was loud and proud and as it rolled to a stop I noted the 5.0 badge on the red fender. It wasn't very old - I'm guessing maybe an '86 or so.
I looked up to see who was driving the car because whoever it was enjoyed revving the motor. It was an older guy about my age, probably in his mid-30's or so. He nodded at me when he saw I was looking.
"Whacha driving?" he asked.
"It's a Buick" was all I said, not sure if he was 'in the loop'.
"Nice. I like black..."
I ask him - "What year is your car?"
"It's an '86 but it was a left-over so I just bought it a few months ago."
"Mods?" I ask. I figure he may be truthful or he may lie but at the least, I know he's got an exhaust and probably more. I couldn't hear any whine so I was pretty sure it wasn't force-fed.
"A few..." he just grinned. "Yours?"
"Bone stock..."
He grinned again, showing lots of perfect white teeth... sort of like the look a big 'gator might show - if he could grin - when a small deer dip its lips to drink from the river right in front of him...
Yeah... I think they guy just KNEW what was about to go down...
The only thing was - he was about to find out exactly WHO was the 'Gator and WHO was the deer...
The traffic was light and the light was long... we were still red.
He grinned and nodded forward in a 'Wanna run 'em?' sort of way and I just nodded an affirmative. Should be interesting, I remember thinking, hoping the pesky Elida Police weren't nearby. They could be such D*CKs sometimes...
The cross traffic light was still green... it shouldn't be long...
I hear him rev his motor again and then he stays into the pedal some, probablly keeping the revs around three or four grand I was guessing, ready to launch...
I just mash the brake pedal with my left foot and roll into the accelerator, watching the Borg Warner boost gauge begin to slowly inch up...
An evil hiss is now easily discernable above the crescendo next to me...
Cross light goes yellow...
I wonder if my tire pressure is too high and if I'm going to just smoke 'em off. I want to make sure I don't end up doing a burnout at the light!
We're dead even at the light... the sun is slowly going down and deep blue sky has just a few white, fluffy clouds slowly moving across it...
It's a beautiful day, especially to spank a 'Stang I was thinking - especially when he didn't know what it was he was running.
The light changed... As I saw it go go green my foot was already off the brake and boost came on. Luckily, the Gatorbacks only slipped a bit.
Badly for me was that the Mustang gripped hard and beat me out of the hole...
To my right was the Lima Mall. The stores were all closed so again, traffic was light. I'm not condoning street racing and to be honest, it was stupid.
But - I would probably do it again with the same set of conditions...
The five liter was pulling on me hard but that was ok - the boost was coming on like a freight train now... The V6 was SCREAMING and the whistle of the Turbo was awesome. Even completely stock, the X was damned impressive!
I was pushed back into the seat as the 1-2 shift came HARD and chirped the tires. 5.0 grabbed second about the same time but by now I was even with him... and as we pulled hard in 2nd, I began to pull ahead... by now, we're flying - in a 45 mph zone.
Just then, I hear him back out of it. I do too... I had him and he knew it.
We rolled up to the next light beside the Arthur Treacher's Fish and Chips store which had just turned red...
"Damn... what the F*&K IS that thing?" he asked. "You pretty much walked me!" I smiled...
As the engines idled and the clouds slid across the slate blue sky above a black and a red car, two guys shared stories at a stop light... brief, anecdotal stories about their cars on a quiet Sunday afternoon in Lima Ohio...
And... somewhere else that evening far to the south where swamps abound, a small deer disappeared quickly but violently beneath the river's surface, no trace of what took it or where it went...
This story is 100% true... I sure miss that car...
