I think I can count the number of Buicks I’d like to own on the fingers of one hand. Today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe Grand National is one of those digits, but is its price a middle finger to its buyer?
The thought of a twenty-nine year old Lincoln burning oil may not be too surprising. However, when that oil being burned is diesel, and its doing so in a BMW six powering a Lincoln named Mark, then you might just take notice.
Yesterday’s 1984 Lincoln Mark VII not only had the Bimmer can full of rocks under its hood, but its exemplary presentation and claims of drivability - hey, the airbag suspension still works! - led to its six grand asking receiving a reasonable 55% Nice Price win.
The eighties were kind of a heyday of great American coupes. Not only the Lincoln, but Ford’s Thunderbird as well rising from the ashes of baroque behemothness to become amazing drivers. And then there was the Buick.
A lot of cars are named after somebody or some place, but few are named for a state of being. Buick’s Regal is one of those notable exceptions. That illustrious name has over the years been applied to a number of cars unworthy of the title, but some, like today's 1987 coupe, aren't just Regal, they're Grand.
That's right, this black beauty is a Grand National, a model named in honor of Buick's 1981 and 82 Nascar Manufacturer's Cup wins. It also looks pretty nice, rocks T-tops, and the seller says the back seat looks as virginal as the tuba player in your high school band. In fact he lays claim to the upholstery in its entirety being devoid of tears, rips, or other blemishes.
That, and the claim that it runs "amazingly" are pretty much all you get as far as description of the car's condition. Instead the seller chooses to focus on the car's mileage - or kilometerage as it were - seeing as the nation this Buick is so grand aboot just so happens to be Canada.
As such the ad makes a big deal out of the car's 141,000 total kilometer mileage, which the seller maths out to 5,500 per year. That's about 88,000 miles to those of you averse to the metric system on religious grounds. Of course for all we know it could have put on any number of those miles in the past year. Just saying.
Seeing as the seller can't be bothered to give us much info on the car - or more than a single picture - I'm not going to assist him by delving in the rich history of the model. Suffice to say that by '87 the turbocharged and intercooled 3.8-litre V6 had been pretty well sorted out, and pumped out close to 300 ponies. There's a THM200-4R backing that up, and of course the suspension was given the 'heavy duty" treatment to coax as much handling out of the plebeian G-body platform as possible.
The seller notes that these cars typically go for the mid-teens and up, making his $9,900 (Canadian, meaning about $9,600 U.S.) a bargain. Here's the thing, the lack of pics and description, along with the ad noting this to be a screaming deal makes me wonder if there's something fishy about the car. I mean, is the car under some sort of gypsy curse or perhaps haunted? Do they even have ghosts in Canada? I don't know, but there are some flags raised with this ad, and they are all red.
But maybe it's too legit to quit, and that $9,900 price isn't simply a ruse to lure in unsuspecting buyers who are aren't seen again until their teeth are spotted being used as a necklace by a guy with Buick keys in line at Tim Hortons. Let's say that's not the case. In that event, what do you think about that price for this kind of mysterious Grand National? Is that a deal, or is that just too many grand?
You decide!
Vancouver Craigslist, or go here, if the ad disappears.
A tip on the lid to Rob Young for the hookup!
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For $9,900, Get That Grand Feeling