This has been coming for years. I'm sure it will be an amazing piece of automotive technology and a great value compared to the price tag on other mid engined exotics. I'd imagine a lot of traditionalist Vette fans will be ticked off however. Wonder if they'll keep the front engined car in production at the same time?

https://jalopnik.com/...-mid-engi-1821340731

big kahuna wrote:

The Zora? They've been pushing the concept with more intensity since around 2014.

GM has been building mid engine prototypes since 1960 but they've all been dead in the water before going into production. There was talk about dropping the V6 turbo from the Buick Grand National into the Pontiac Fiero. What an amazing mid engine car that would have been, but the project was shelved when the Chevrolet division started complaining that it would cut into Corvette sales. Typical GM.

https://macsmotorcitygarage.com/...pes-a-brief-history/

"Typical GM" is right. I recall Buick catching a lot of flack in the mid-1980s with the Grand National and that turbo V6 and how the Chevy folks demanded that it couldn't be quicker than the Corvette.

Well, let's see if the Zora's team can overcome all the institutional biases and interest groups at GM that are guarding their silos. I'd love to see a mid-engine 'Vette join the stable for sure. :-)

They were damn fast. I remember him letting me drive it one time and my neck snapping back when pushing the pedal to the metal.

I think Duffy's dope dealer girl got in the back seat and pulled your head back. Wasn't a car in the 80s that could snap your head back otherwise.

Hows it going to do against that new Tesla that does 0 to 60 in 1.9???

I think Duffy's dope dealer girl got in the back seat and pulled your head back. Wasn't a car in the 80s that could snap your head back otherwise.

Where you even old enough to have a driving license then? :-) There were some very fast cars by the end of the decade. The early 80's was that time of fugly bumpers and choked up emission controls that they hadn't figured out yet. My 1980 Triumph TR8 was the fifth fastest production car in that year at 0-60 in about 8 seconds. Even the Corvette that year only put out 175 bhp. By the end of the decade it had all changed.

The '82 GN came with a naturally aspirated 4.1 L V6 engine with 125 hp (93 kW) at 4000 rpm and 205 lb⋅ft (278 N⋅m) of torque at 2000 rpm. Of the 215 Regal Grand Nationals produced in 1982, at least 35 were based on the Buick Regal Sport Coupe package with the turbocharged 3.8 V6 engine with 175 hp (130 kW) at 4000 rpm and 275 lb⋅ft (373 N⋅m) of torque at 2600 rpm. There were only 2022 Sport Coupes produced in 1982, and the number of cars with both the GN and Sport Coupe packages is estimated to be less than 50.

In 1984 the Grand National returned in all black paint. The turbocharged 3.8 L became standard and was refined with sequential fuel injection, distributor-less computer controlled ignition, and boasted 200 hp (150 kW) at 4400 rpm and 300 lb⋅ft (407 N⋅m) of torque at 2400 rpm. Only 5,204 Turbo Regals were produced that year, only 2000 of which were Grand Nationals. Because this was the first year production of the computer controlled Sequential Fuel Injection and Distributor-less ignition, this is often considered the year/model that started the development of the legendary intercooled Grand Nationals. The performance of this package was well ahead of its time and the “Little V6” easily kept up with the bigger V8’s. Quarter mile (~400 m) performance was listed at 15.9 seconds at stock boost levels of 10 psi (0.69 bar), while for the same year, the Chevrolet Camaro was listed at 17.0 and the Chevrolet Corvette at 15.2 seconds.[5] Soon, performance enthusiasts determined the modifications that worked and the Grand Nationals easily broke into the 13-second territory. All Grand Nationals for this year had the Lear Siegler-made cloth/leather interior which was only available for this year. An estimated 200 of the 1984 Grand Nationals were produced with the T-Top option which makes these the rarest of the Grand Nationals.

Hows it going to do against that new Tesla that does 0 to 60 in 1.9???

I had my license for two years and had one speeding ticket (in a Mercedes 240D -- 0-60 time of 20 sec, lol -- I worked for that ticket) when the Grand National debuted in 1982:



35 Grand Nationals were made with 175 hp. Woohoo.

Seriously, as you can recall, in 1980 when I started driving, cars had anemic HP.

Totally agree, things got better as the 80s went by.

No GN in 1983. Then in 1984:



Things continued to get better.

So, when it is all said and done, I think I want a Grand National.

ts funny how our perception of "fast" cars has changed over the years. What was legendary in their day is nothing to write home about by today's standards. The cars today are so much better especially with braking and cornering. But still, give me a classic any day. They had style, grace and charm which you just don't get nowadays and its actually a lot more fun to drive a slower car fast than it is to drive a faster car slow.

That and the Tesla is vaporware. Would not be surprised if they never make it. If they do, I’d bet the vette would beat it around a track. And I don’t like vettes...

I had an '85 Nissan 300ZX turbo ...