1986 GNX Prototype #"000"

[Detroit Gearbox]

"Owner's View
I am just trying my best to preserve a little slice of Buick history. This is certainly the last high-performance Buick ever made, and that is sad."

Sweet car, but Buick also built the Black Hawk quite a few years later.

 

[nuttsgt]

If I won the lottery . . . . .

 

[DJ Red Barron]

I'd love to see Brad's X in-person. That car is awesome.


A car I have seen in person is the last GN. Mr. Colvin is a really cool guy and allowed me into his home to take some pics of the car. Here are the shots I took last year when I went up to his place...

 

[AutoEuphoria]

Wow, to have that car and never drive it...not even take the plastic off. That would take some self control (unless you had another one just like it I guess)

 

[Anthony]

i like the misprint on the "last Grand National" black board...

" the last part installed was an additional GM emblem on the header panel"

funny, it looks like a GN emblem

 

[ChevyManSS350]

Thats awesome. One of my all time favorite cars.

 

[DJ Red Barron]

Yea, I agree... The self control to not drive that car is more than I could probably do.

I know he has several cars in various places around his house and dealership. But I did not see any other Turbo Regals, although I know during the 80s & early 90s, he had several of them he drove and raced a lot.

 

[indyrt]

classic

I remember the write up in some magazine and seeing the pics of that car going down the line. That car is a sure classic. WHO owns that??!!??

 

[Roadrage]

I remember the write up in some magazine and seeing the pics of that car going down the line. That car is a sure classic. WHO owns that??!!??

Mr. Bob Colvin?:dunno:

 

[mrvids]

The last Grand National
While Bob Colvin does not own a prototype GNX, he does have the "last" Grand National safely tucked away in his house. The Springhill, Louisana, car dealer realized the significance of these cars and through a deluge of telephone calls to Buick officials, arranged to purchase the last Grand National and also to watch it being built on December 11, 1987. It helped that Colvin's family has owned a General Motors dealership for more than 60 years. The assembly of 1G4GJ1179HP465288 was photographed, and Colvin's son, Matt, then four years old, actually lowered the engine into the frame via electric controls with help from assembly line workers. Before the engine was installed, employees signed it for Colvin.

That car may NOT be the last GN built, the dealer claimed that to try & inflate it's worth and draw attention to himself. Larry Morgan was awarded the last GN, he was a line worker at Fisher Body in Flint, and he was laid off once the last car came off the line. Larry's car is signed all over the place, including inside the door panels, trunk, and hood. Larry's VIN ends with 5289. I had to dig through some archives but I did find the video and it that is the correct VIN number.

 

[moneypit]

he has the last "sold" gn

 

[mrvids]

Colvin's sign claims his car to be the last one built, not the last one sold.
He wrote and sent in articles to some magazines to add more hype to his car & dealership.

 

[Krazybones]

Then why would the Plant Manager sign this document? Or is this page a FAKE.

 

[mrvids]

The assembly line in Flint started building the cars, and then they were shipped via truck to Pontiac to be completed. So Larry Morgan's car with the later VIN was the last one built on the Flint line, and then shipped to Pontiac to be finished. The car Colvin has is the last one actually "for sale" off the line in Pontiac, as Morgan's was given to him via a pre-arranged raffle. At the time Morgan said he was going to have to sell his car as he was laid off from the plant in Flint and had no place to store it, nor could afford to keep it as he was without a job. The confusion lies in that there were two plants involved in the construction of these cars. Morgan has the same paperwork from the Flint Fisher Body plant stating his was the last GN and has the later VIN.

 

[Krazybones]

Thanks for the clarification... so in reality the Morgan car is the better one to have from a collectors standpoint IMO.

Do you know if Morgan was able to keep his? Any idea as to the history of the last 23 years of it?

 

[mrvids]

I don't know about Morgan's car history after he got his GN, he had 34 years of service in at GM back in 87, that would make him about 78 years old today.
That's a good idea to look him up and see where the car ended up. (or if he's still alive :-~) I might do that Monday.
Later this summer I'll try to post photos of a 1940 Buick pickup a local man was able to get out of the Buick Experimental Department back in the day.
It's storage building caught fire two weeks ago and now the truck needs to be repainted and checked for other damage.