Watching this video just reminds me how lucky I am to have survived my high school years…

Welcome to another installment of the CarDomain Obscure Muscle Car Parking Lot, a regular feature which aims to expand the definition of what a muscle car is, and to discover hidden treasures while doing so. Many do not even know that the Buick division of General Motors produced the Grand National on a platform other than on the Regal, but there was a very unique Grand National built in late 1985: the 1986 LeSabre Grand National. This was the debut of GM’s new full-size FWD platforms, and the two door Buick LeSabre (along with its corporate cousin, the Oldsmobile Delta 88) proved to be quite slippery in wind tunnel tests. We have had this question in this series before, but can a front wheel drive two-door really be considered a muscle car?

Continue reading after the jump!

Continue reading "CarDomain Obscure Muscle Car Parking Lot – the 1986 Buick LeSabre Grand National" »

Throw your nitrous away and leave your turbo at the door. Tom Spinella’s 1970 Buick, powered by a 489ci big-block Chevy, cruises at 65 mph and nearly runs 9s on 93 octane straight out of the pump. Every week, this car gets driven to the track on the freeway, hammered on, and driven home. Spinella racks up a few thousand miles per year driving it to shows and the strip.

Get over the lack of a Buick motor. Tom’s brother Jay is a racer as well, and long ago, Jay took the big-block Chevy out of his bracket car and gave it to Tom, while Tom took the Buick out of the Skylark and put it in Jay’s car. In terms of power per cubic dollars, it’s impossible to beat a well built Rat, and this one certainly is.

To take a 3,750-pound fatty (and we say that with a smile) and hurtle it down the track without any outside assistance from a bottle or a blower in just hundredths over the nine-second zone means that this little big block has some snot. Coming in at only 489ci, it’s on the small end of the big-block food chain, but it will sing to more than 6,500 rpm in the lights.

We certainly had some fun during the photo shoot and filming the awesome video on the car. It was the first time Tom had the car out and about after swapping the cam. He was dealing with valvespring breakage issues, and after consulting cam legend Harold Brookshire on what the problem was, Brookshire told him that the ramps on his previous cam were about as gradual as a cliff face. A custom stick went in and now all is right with the world.

Pay close attention at some of the “fly by” shots in the video. This brute is baking a pretty used up set of big 295/65-15 MT drag radials at about a 30-mph roll. Torque is your friend.

Go here to see the photo gallery and learn all the gory details about this broad shouldered street bruiser. The video below kicks some serious ass as well (even though there is a little typo in there).

You’re going to get familiar with the names Gary and Pam Beineke. We invaded their privacy to shoot and video several cars from their way awesome collection, and we’ll be featuring those cars in coming weeks. Most are cars that the couple built from scratch, but there’s one that they just picked up along the way. That’s this one, a 1987 Buick GNX that the couple bought brand new back in 1987 and has held on ever since.

Ironically, every other piece in their collection is a Mopar product, but this Buick holds a special place in their hearts. As one of only 547 ever produced, there are plenty of reasons why.

The GNX was basically the parting shot fired by Buick when it came to be known that the Grand National would be dead at the end of 1987. Buick teamed up with ASC/Mclaren to design a package that would totally optimize the drivetrain and upgrade the suspension of the car to levels previously unheard of in factory cars. The name was an homage to the legendary GSX moniker that was used on the highest performing Buicks from 1970-1972. They used 455ci to shred tires, this car used less than 250 to haul the mail.

The devil is totally in the details, so click here to see the gallery that’s loaded with photos and captions that spill the beans on this pinnacle Buick.

Oh yeah, right below there’s also the kickass video of the 8,000-mile original shredding tires. The ones it rolled out of the factory on.

Queens, New York: my home. Today I was tooling around in the old Danger Van and started to notice all the old iron that is still roaming the streets. I decided to take a ten block survey from my house, and was quite surprised by what I found. Granted, I know the models, but many of the years escape me. If you know the years of the following cars, chime in as I’m kinda curious. Lots more after the jump!

1. Buick – no idea what year or model

Continue reading "The Cars of Queens" »

Just 50,000 miles! See Joshua’s ride page for more pics!

Welcome to the CarDomain Obscure Muscle Car Parking Lot, a regular feature which aims to expand the notion of what a muscle car is, and to create a healthy dialog in the process. Wagons have always been a paradox to true muscle car aficionados. Most of the wagons offered were utilitarian at best, and not all that exciting. However, there are a few examples in which the lowly wagon became a full blown muscle car, but you may have never noticed.

In 1955, Chevrolet introduced the breathtaking 1955 Nomad, and by 1957, it was offered with fuel injection. In 1964, again Chevrolet offered a two door Chevelle wagon, and it was available with all the performance hardware of the SS (without the nameplate). By the early 70s these faux wood beasts could be equipped with 327, 400, or 454 power. But what would you say to a 90’s land yacht from Buick, complete with plastic wood paneling, Vista Cruiser roof, and a Corvette LT-1 V8 under the hood? Say hello to a most unconventional muscle car, the Buick Roadmaster Estate Wagon.

Continue reading after the jump!

Continue reading "CarDomain Obscure Muscle Car Parking Lot: the 1994-96 Buick Roadmaster Estate Wagon" »

We’ve been collecting up photo galleries of all sorts of car that we see during our car-guy travels, and this time it’s a gallery of 31 Buick photos. We would have liked to have more, but there just aren’t enough of you Buick guys out there representing!

Welcome to the CarDomain Obscure Muscle Car Parking Lot, a regular feature which aims to expand the notion of what a muscle car is, and to learn about different cars while doing so. Buick has been known as the car that many people bought if they wanted the luxury of a Cadillac without the ostentation. It was the consummate “Doctor’s Car,” if you will. Something happened to Buick during the late 50’s and early 60’s though–it took on a car that Cadillac rejected as being too radical for the brand, and created a new category. Let’s take a look at the beautiful 1963-65 Buick Riviera.

Continue reading "CarDomain Obscure Muscle Car Parking Lot – The 1963-65 Buick Riviera" »

I’m a fan of $1000-or-less cars and an even bigger fan of rescuing junkers from the crusher, so this is my very favorite kind of story. Mitch, the April winner for last year’s Mobilize Your Ride contest, used his prize cash to rescue this awesome ’68 Buick Electra convertible. The car had been sitting, sadly neglected and unwelcome, in someone’s driveway and was slated to be sold to the junkyard for scrap. But fortunately, with that thousand bucks in winnings burning a hole in his pocket, Mitch ponied up a paltry $800 to give the big-boat Buick the loving home it deserves. Fantastic job, Mitch! He’s already pulled and rebuilt the Buick’s 430 big block, and is now getting to work on the brakes. Check out his ride page to see how far this 800-dollar rescue project has come!

When I was walking through the Grand National Roadster Show last month, I spotted this Buick Riviera parked outside the exhibit halls. I didn’t even know what kind of car it was at first, but I was just drawn to it. I thought, “damn, this is a car you’d expect to see in an old gangster movie.” I seem to have an affection for low, mean looking cars, no matter what kind of car it is.

I’m not even a Buick fan necessarily, but I just love the simple and elegant body of this car, with the nice detail in the bumper, grill, headlight covers, and hood ornament. The front end of the car definitely looks mean, as if it’s scowling at you. I love that. Continue reading at Speedhunters

By Antonio Alvendia

Any George Thorogood fans here? Thank for the tip, Maffew!

A while back I spent some time in LA on the set of the new Fast & Furious movie. It was a blast–there was an absolute treasure trove of hopped-up rides, I got to hang out with the CarDomain members whose cars were cast for the flick, and Vin Diesel and Paul Walker were actually pretty cool in real life (Walker is a seriously enthusiastic gearhead, it turns out–and Diesel was tooling around the set on an electric scooter like a giant bald kid). Judging by the rides that turned out for the shoot, as well as the star cars featured below, the latest installation is going to be more domestic-centric than any of its predecessors, with a good mix of American muscle and hot imports–all in all, something for everybody. Read on for vital stats and a ton more pics of the movie’s star cars–and stay tuned to the CarDomain blog for more details on Fast & Furious over the next few days.

Continue reading "Fast & Furious Movie Cars: Official Pics and Specs Now Live!" »

If I could go back to the future, I’d hook a tow-dolly on my DeLorean, set the clock to go back 20 years or so, and haul home something like this never-titled, never-registered Grand National GNX with 9 original miles on the odometer. Turns out that if I had an extra $100K lying around, I wouldn’t have to! Less than 3 hours left on the auction.

Many thanks to Eric for finding this!

Damon has one of the sickest Grand Nationals on CarDomain, so it’s no wonder the Fast Lane Daily guys liked his ride. But since they’re in New York, they couldn’t resist making some Raiders jokes… Tune in right around 3:20.