That filler cap is not stupid! That's genius. It avoids old dears driving away with no petrol cap and also provides a handy place to keep your petrol cap.
"Hey Gary, the plate holder won't stay down." "Just shove something into it, it'll be fine." It would be a hard car to live with with the constant erection.
s0nnyburnett The owner of the car doing all talking about the parts of the car that I don't care about bored me. No offense to him but I prefer how the videos usually are.
I always thought that the spring-loaded grille was so that the bumpers could absorb a bump without breaking the grille. Back in the day, the bumpers had "shock absorbers" on them that would let the bumper push back a bit, then spring back into place without causing any body-damage, if they were hit at 5MPH or less. I can't remember exactly what year those "5 MPH Bumpers" disappeared, but I'd be willing to bet that the spring-loaded grille is a result of there being a 5MPH bumper on the GM G-Body at one point.
This tech should've stuck around. It worked. All the more reason some of us like older cars. We had metal bumpers up front and ready for action, not like today hiding under plastic all around. =\
I can't believe nobody noticed most 80's grills were sprung and were so surprised by this. Ford, GM and Chrysler did this and I'm sure some U.S. imports had them too.
Im impressed with how much the build quality of the GN has in common with my Mercury Cougar XR7. Both are buil rather well inside, certainly better than cara today. I love the Grand National
I wish every car had the fuel fill behind the liscense plate. I had an old '82 LeSabre with the same fuel fill. I NEVER had think about pulling up to the gas pump on the correct side!
The only problem with mine, being a 60's car, everything was bigger. Damn spring has gotten stuck in my filler neck before. I wish I had my own gas station, just for old cars. Omit the springs and all E0 gas. Boat guys and bike guys welcome, too.
My cutlass has the t-tops with leather bags and yes all came with those bags. The trick is to take out one bag and place on the side of your trunk then lay the other back in the trunk flat and open starting from the back seat. Then slowly on an angle insert each corner of the t-top in the bag then keep left hand under the bag and gently pull the bag toward the t-top as you push with your right hand and then keep the t-top flat until it's fully nested in the bag.
When did they make the T-Top Cutlass? Late 1970's-early 80's? I've seen a donked cutlass around, but my F-85 at stock ride height is too low to see the roof like I could if the poor thing didn't have three foot rims.
My father owned one of these. We'd call it the batmobile because of it being do menacing and black. And the sound. Ooh that sound. We sold it to a close friend who has since then, modified it, wrecked it, and ultimately restored it. Another car he had, which is now mine, is a 97 mustang cobra. I'd love to see you do a review on it. Nobody really has. Infact it hasn't even been in a racing game. It's, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful mustangs ever made. There's something about it that's just.... i don't know. Captivating. Manly. Intimidating.
The trunk release only works with the key on so no one breakers into your car and pops the trunk and steals your stuff if they don't have the key. The grill has springs so if someone backs into you with a higher bumper then you they don't break your grill. This video brings back memories, I had an 87 back in 1988 for about 2 months until it got hit by an 18 wheeler when it was parked and got destroyed 😥
I'm guessing the springy grille is because of the 5 mph bumper... the bumper and grille move back, then spring back into place if you should bump something.
Ethan Gee I don't know what yesterday you're talking about, the one that was before today or before tomorrow. Man, never mind, I'm thinking about 'how crab farts having no anus' for about two hours as now.. But still using comas.. Good sign
I enjoy watching video of a person that truly enjoys the GN. I've owned a 85 and 87 GNs and 2 t-types. I'm currently looking for another one. I own a 2004 monti SS supercharged Dale jr edition which shares the GNs powerplant and it's putting down 480 hp on the dyno. I miss the my GN so now I'm on the hunt. TY for this video brother
As the owner of a run of the mill 82 Regal years ago, I like how you pointed out all the weird stuff reminiscent of 1980s GMs. I never knew the gas cap trick!
the grill is spring loaded in case you bump into somebody because the bumpers are 15 mile hour bumpers they will push into the car and then pushed back out without any damage so you don't crack the grill
This car has been my wet dream since I was a small small child everyone else had pictures of Lamborghinis and Ferraris I had pictures of Buick Grand National
A lot of cars had spring loaded front grills in the 80s. The idea was so the grill wouldn't break so easily if you bumped into something at 5 or 10mph.
+Mike Burk I used to own an 86 Fleetwood Brougham, I'm 90% sure that it was the same setup, I never even considered putting the cap there, I just put it on the back of my trunk and let the fuel pump handle hold the plate down.
very nice car. Everything looks immaculate on it. Even the paint seems free of swirls and marring, more so than my 2014 mustang thanks to the dealer fucking up the paint with bad wash techniques. Cool guy too, and he knows what he's talking about.
Nice Video. The grill spring thing .... yeah that was cool. Actually the NHSTA had a Provision for 5 MPH bumpers with no damage at that speed into a barrier. So to stay compliant Buick made the grille (which was costly) with hinges and springs so that the 5 MPH test could be passed.
i love these after videos. theres so much random sometimes useless info. but its so damn interesting that I'm just happy to know. like the front grill springs. or the license plate cap holder. great stuff!
That's a beautiful car. BTW my 90 and 91 Mustang GTs had sunroofs that would flip up in the back or remove completely, and they came with a similar bag to put the sunroof in. My bags were grey vinyl IIRC.
I've had my 79 Regal since I was 14, so I'd like to call myself an amateur G Body Expert. The spring loaded grille is part of the energy absorbing bumper system. You bump into someone in a parking lot or whatever that will flex and not crack or break your grille. It will however break your bumper fillers, ask me how I know.
When you got to the grille I thought, "here comes the flappy grille" because an old friend from high school had a GN, and I'd flap that grille every time I walked by.
Purchased my 1987 GN brand new from Duke Buick in Augusta Georgia, in my opinion one of the most beautiful automobiles of all time, however I always felt that it was too heavy for the little V6, even though it was extremely quick. Myself along with many of my friends that owned them in the late 80s early 90s were constantly replacing turbos and the occasional engine. Mine didn't have t-tops, although the ones I were familiar with leaked terribly, due to the the twist that was produced under hard acceleration.
The grill? Spring loaded to protect it from ass ***** that parallel park by ear. And to move as far as the 5 mph bumper needs to in order to absorb the impact. Cool thought! Thou if I remember well many cars had something similar.
That bag thing looks like a real PITA. My 1999 Camaro Z28 had t-tops. In the back hatch there was this moulded piece of plastic where you stuck them down in there, turned the handle and the pins that hold it to the roof lock it into place in the hatch. You could go out and rip donuts in the parking lot with the t-tops secured back there, they didn't budge once you locked them in place in the rear hatch well.
I've seen this very same car (same license plate number, I checked) at Kauffman's car show about two weeks ago. It's very obvious that RCR is right around this area, I've always wanted to put in one of my cars.
I loved my Monte SS’s gas cap location. Never had to worry about what side I pulled up to the pump with plus if gas spilled out it wouldn’t run down the side of the car.
My 87 Camaro has T-tops, but I have one bag. You put both in the one bag, it zips up and then it has straps with anchors that suspend the bag in the rear (taking up all the space back there), but keep them from moving around whilst driving.
Most GM power trunks of that decade can be activated without the key by holding the trunk button while pulling the hazard light switch on the steering column partially out, enough to make the lights flash, which is usually up to, but not past the detent. Power will then be supplied to some of the accessories each time the 4-way flashers blink. Sometimes this even includes the power windows, which is a very handy trick to know if it begins to rain and the keys aren't handy. Also good for checking the time.
How nice you get a bag for each side. My '87 Iroc-Z gets one bag that serves a slightly greater hassle when getting the windows to sit evenly for zipping the bag shut while also keeping the dividing flap even so it doesn't get pinched.
the Audi B3 and 200/5000 had the Hydroboost system, it really doesn't make the power steering all that weak, the only issue is the Bomb (Hydraulic Pressure Accumulator) going out. That big black cylinder on the side of his booster system is the accumulator, but Audis used a remote accumulator.
JMunn55 unnatural selection, off of their 2009 album the resistance. like I said, this particular song is a little more obscure, compared to uprising, resistance and undisclosed desires off of the same album. but yeah its a good song (all muse songs are) so go check it out!
I love the "Vader" on the console. This is literally "Father" in Dutch, which is where Lucas got it from, father-vader, mother-moeder. It's as if the car has a 'dad' tattoo. ;-)
I can't believe nobody noticed most 80's grills were sprung and were so surprised by this. Ford, GM and Chrysler did this and I'm sure some U.S. imports had them too.
I had a Regal, and many of it's clones (Monte, Cutlass, etc). I always loved those cars, but this vid reminded me of just how bad the fit/finish of the interior was. GM didn't really put much thought into stuff like that back then....their thinking was that if the panel covered what was underneath, job done.
I use the copper header gaskets from GN1. They haven't blown out on me yet after 5 years and I have a big Turbonetics ball bearing turbo, about 24 psi of boost.
The reason the power trunk only works with the key on is so someone can't break a window to get in, press the button & get into your trunk without keys. it actually makes sense if u think about it. and the grill moves because of the 5 mph bumper law. if you bump into something lightly, the bumper which is mounted on 2 shock absorbers that compress during a light tap, and the grill moves with the bumper so it doesn't crack. also quite smart. Not like today, a 5 mph bump will cost $1k to fix.
I can't remember for sure, but here goes-the grill hinged to protect them in the five mile per hour crash the bumpers were designed to take without damage.
Very surprised about your front grille comment. I remember when this car came out that was a feature. It was collapsible, if you will, to save the front grille from damage in a minor crunch. In the day, it was mentioned. I also believe, not 100% on this, that Olds had it on the Cutlass of that era. Need to check into that.
Haha man its wierd to hear myself in a video like this
Lee Epler Thanks agin for giving me another goal to reach for in my Dream Garage
Lee Epler Hey man nice car. You seem like a pretty cool person to chill with.
TheLeafySpring hey thanks alot I'm glad you like the vid
Lee Epler beautiful Buick you have Lee! Jelly
Very much so a beautiful car. I'm surprised you weren't on my strange addictions making out with it.
That filler cap is not stupid! That's genius. It avoids old dears driving away with no petrol cap and also provides a handy place to keep your petrol cap.
And you won't leave your plate down
It also is something GM has been doing since at least 1973 since my Monte Carlo had the same setup.
"Hey Gary, the plate holder won't stay down."
"Just shove something into it, it'll be fine."
It would be a hard car to live with with the constant erection.
Hammond had that same problem with the Mach 1
I liked that episode A LOT. Too bad they all had to abandon the 3 cars at the near end of the episode. What a waste to 3 really unique cars.
*SHOVE THE ERECTION INTO THE PLATE HOLDER*
I never cared much for muscle cars but this one gets much respect.
GM always has had those interesting little quirks that you could never figure out why they were there. To me it just adds character to every car.
Would like to see more of these kinds of videos.
s0nnyburnett agreed
s0nnyburnett More you will get!
RegularCars yey
s0nnyburnett The owner of the car doing all talking about the parts of the car that I don't care about bored me. No offense to him but I prefer how the videos usually are.
RegularCars Yes, more of this.
Great video!
I would love to see more of these nerdy, in depth videos
I would buy cars from this guy. Seems to take really good care of his stuff.
I always thought that the spring-loaded grille was so that the bumpers could absorb a bump without breaking the grille. Back in the day, the bumpers had "shock absorbers" on them that would let the bumper push back a bit, then spring back into place without causing any body-damage, if they were hit at 5MPH or less.
I can't remember exactly what year those "5 MPH Bumpers" disappeared, but I'd be willing to bet that the spring-loaded grille is a result of there being a 5MPH bumper on the GM G-Body at one point.
This tech should've stuck around. It worked. All the more reason some of us like older cars. We had metal bumpers up front and ready for action, not like today hiding under plastic all around. =\
I can't believe nobody noticed most 80's grills were sprung and were so surprised by this. Ford, GM and Chrysler did this and I'm sure some U.S. imports had them too.
That black shines so much it hurts my eyes. Very cool car, one of my all time favorites.
Im impressed with how much the build quality of the GN has in common with my Mercury Cougar XR7. Both are buil rather well inside, certainly better than cara today. I love the Grand National
I wish every car had the fuel fill behind the liscense plate. I had an old '82 LeSabre with the same fuel fill. I NEVER had think about pulling up to the gas pump on the correct side!
The only problem with mine, being a 60's car, everything was bigger. Damn spring has gotten stuck in my filler neck before. I wish I had my own gas station, just for old cars. Omit the springs and all E0 gas. Boat guys and bike guys welcome, too.
here in aus at least, almost every station that has pumps made in the past 20 or so years has hoses that are long enough to reach around ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
This video rocks! Love hearing about all the odd quirks of vehicles most people aren't familiar with. The spring loaded grill definitely surprised me!
My cutlass has the t-tops with leather bags and yes all came with those bags. The trick is to take out one bag and place on the side of your trunk then lay the other back in the trunk flat and open starting from the back seat. Then slowly on an angle insert each corner of the t-top in the bag then keep left hand under the bag and gently pull the bag toward the t-top as you push with your right hand and then keep the t-top flat until it's fully nested in the bag.
When did they make the T-Top Cutlass? Late 1970's-early 80's? I've seen a donked cutlass around, but my F-85 at stock ride height is too low to see the roof like I could if the poor thing didn't have three foot rims.
Did I hear him say leather condom when he but the tops away
More of these kind of videos its nice to hear from owners about problems or neat touches of car.
My father owned one of these. We'd call it the batmobile because of it being do menacing and black. And the sound. Ooh that sound. We sold it to a close friend who has since then, modified it, wrecked it, and ultimately restored it. Another car he had, which is now mine, is a 97 mustang cobra. I'd love to see you do a review on it. Nobody really has. Infact it hasn't even been in a racing game. It's, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful mustangs ever made. There's something about it that's just.... i don't know. Captivating. Manly. Intimidating.
The trunk release only works with the key on so no one breakers into your car and pops the trunk and steals your stuff if they don't have the key.
The grill has springs so if someone backs into you with a higher bumper then you they don't break your grill.
This video brings back memories, I had an 87 back in 1988 for about 2 months until it got hit by an 18 wheeler when it was parked and got destroyed 😥
I'm guessing the springy grille is because of the 5 mph bumper... the bumper and grille move back, then spring back into place if you should bump something.
compu85 The videos on your channel are awesome! Especially the ones about Chevy trucks from the 80s
That's what it's actually there for.
As soon as i heard the unnatural selection cover at the beginning i just hit the thumbs up
Ethan Gee Yay!
RegularCars YAAAAAYYY!
Ethan Gee good morning sir, I'm Ethan too.. We're Ethan. Who's Ethan? Me and you.. Or that join I smoked two hours ago? Whatever =)
yo man, you know 420 was yesterday right?
Ethan Gee I don't know what yesterday you're talking about, the one that was before today or before tomorrow. Man, never mind, I'm thinking about 'how crab farts having no anus' for about two hours as now.. But still using comas.. Good sign
Very interesting! Cool to learn about the small details of these particular cars.
I enjoy watching video of a person that truly enjoys the GN. I've owned a 85 and 87 GNs and 2 t-types. I'm currently looking for another one. I own a 2004 monti SS supercharged Dale jr edition which shares the GNs powerplant and it's putting down 480 hp on the dyno. I miss the my GN so now I'm on the hunt. TY for this video brother
As the owner of a run of the mill 82 Regal years ago, I like how you pointed out all the weird stuff reminiscent of 1980s GMs. I never knew the gas cap trick!
the grill is spring loaded in case you bump into somebody because the bumpers are 15 mile hour bumpers they will push into the car and then pushed back out without any damage so you don't crack the grill
This guy knows his shit
This car has been my wet dream since I was a small small child everyone else had pictures of Lamborghinis and Ferraris I had pictures of Buick Grand National
I'd take it over a Ferrari testarosa no joke
This car was the black lightning. A factory sleeper before they really existed.
Wow! The paint is amazing on this car! Nice work!
it doesn't have the logo burhurhur
My 84 olds cutlass supreme had spring loaded grills also.
I also had an '84 Cutlass Supreme, I'm having so many flashbacks watching this video. I loved that car.
Hey, my stepdad has one
A lot of cars had spring loaded front grills in the 80s. The idea was so the grill wouldn't break so easily if you bumped into something at 5 or 10mph.
The 2 door cutlass had them,the 4 doors didn't.
Gorgeous GN! Fun little video
+1 for the gas cap holder! i had no idea where to put it at first. thanks!
+Mike Burk I used to own an 86 Fleetwood Brougham, I'm 90% sure that it was the same setup, I never even considered putting the cap there, I just put it on the back of my trunk and let the fuel pump handle hold the plate down.
very nice car. Everything looks immaculate on it. Even the paint seems free of swirls and marring, more so than my 2014 mustang thanks to the dealer fucking up the paint with bad wash techniques. Cool guy too, and he knows what he's talking about.
OilBaron84 He had it repainted, hence why the hood emblems that cost $60-70 EACH are not on there.
The 3.8 emblems? FUCK. My grandfather's needs one.
@@vector6977 Actually looks better without emblems
Great car, great review, great insight, great song lyrics.
Nice Video. The grill spring thing .... yeah that was cool. Actually the NHSTA had a Provision for 5 MPH bumpers with no damage at that speed into a barrier. So to stay compliant Buick made the grille (which was costly) with hinges and springs so that the 5 MPH test could be passed.
i love these after videos. theres so much random sometimes useless info. but its so damn interesting that I'm just happy to know. like the front grill springs. or the license plate cap holder.
great stuff!
cool footage, its cool to learn interesting facts about different cars
That's a beautiful car. BTW my 90 and 91 Mustang GTs had sunroofs that would flip up in the back or remove completely, and they came with a similar bag to put the sunroof in. My bags were grey vinyl IIRC.
I've had my 79 Regal since I was 14, so I'd like to call myself an amateur G Body Expert. The spring loaded grille is part of the energy absorbing bumper system. You bump into someone in a parking lot or whatever that will flex and not crack or break your grille. It will however break your bumper fillers, ask me how I know.
I really enjoyed watching this video!
3.8 Buicks of this era had such a unique sound to them at idle. Could pick one out without even looking up!
Man, I really really like T-Tops. I got an 81 corvette with glass t-tops on it and I just love them.
unnatural selection was a what got me into muse so thank you for the nostalgia
When you got to the grille I thought, "here comes the flappy grille" because an old friend from high school had a GN, and I'd flap that grille every time I walked by.
honestly these kind of nitty gritty details about certain car's are 100x more interesting than a slow POV drive
Cool guy learned a lot of new things about the Grand National
Purchased my 1987 GN brand new from Duke Buick in Augusta Georgia, in my opinion one of the most beautiful automobiles of all time, however I always felt that it was too heavy for the little V6, even though it was extremely quick. Myself along with many of my friends that owned them in the late 80s early 90s were constantly replacing turbos and the occasional engine. Mine didn't have t-tops, although the ones I were familiar with leaked terribly, due to the the twist that was produced under hard acceleration.
I love all the buick coverage by RCR
The t-tops on 4th gen f-bodies had this nice bracket in under the rear hatch that made taking them off and storing them really simple.
i've always loved Japanese cars but this is one of the few (older) American cars that i would absolutely love to own
Mr. Regular's laugh is the reason I watch these.
My Dad has an 87 GN.. completely rebuilt and repainted... original interior. Puts down 507 rwhp. It's a fun car.
Very enlightening! I loved it!
Jacob Ninedorf
My first car was an 84 Regal Limited 4.1 coupe. My grille did the same thing. Same squishy dash too, except it was a darkish brown.
The grill? Spring loaded to protect it from ass ***** that parallel park by ear.
And to move as far as the 5 mph bumper needs to in order to absorb the impact.
Cool thought! Thou if I remember well many cars had something similar.
very cool car. ive always liked these. buddy was pretty funny too. chill guy
That bag thing looks like a real PITA. My 1999 Camaro Z28 had t-tops. In the back hatch there was this moulded piece of plastic where you stuck them down in there, turned the handle and the pins that hold it to the roof lock it into place in the hatch. You could go out and rip donuts in the parking lot with the t-tops secured back there, they didn't budge once you locked them in place in the rear hatch well.
Rofl, as an owner of a WE-2 and a WE-4 (oh no!) this was so spot on! Cool video! =D
Buick GN's are phenomenal cars !!!
"I'm glad we got that footage. That's good fumbling footage"
It beats fumbling frottage every day of the week.
didn't he say "humbling"?
I had an 86...what memories...what speed!
I've seen this very same car (same license plate number, I checked) at Kauffman's car show about two weeks ago. It's very obvious that RCR is right around this area, I've always wanted to put in one of my cars.
T-Tops are worth the hassle.
Leaks are not...
@@Sideler74 well yeah, but t‐tops though
@@KFCGAMING55 it's frowned upon as far as rigidity for drag racing & the leak
@@Sideler74 yeah, but t‐top
@@KFCGAMING55 I'd 100% pass on a 1980s t top car. I have had the leaky experience already.
Stone in love turned into a Grand National song. That's cool.
I loved my Monte SS’s gas cap location. Never had to worry about what side I pulled up to the pump with plus if gas spilled out it wouldn’t run down the side of the car.
My 87 Camaro has T-tops, but I have one bag. You put both in the one bag, it zips up and then it has straps with anchors that suspend the bag in the rear (taking up all the space back there), but keep them from moving around whilst driving.
Holy shit this guy is young. So cool that he knows his stuff though, and takes really good care of this car.
our family doctor had a T top grand national. I love these cars.
That spring loaded grill is an amazing idea. So many classic cars have damaged grills because of this
Nice GN! The grill was designed to flex and give with the springs for things like bird strikes so the grill wouldn't break.
Most GM power trunks of that decade can be activated without the key by holding the trunk button while pulling the hazard light switch on the steering column partially out, enough to make the lights flash, which is usually up to, but not past the detent. Power will then be supplied to some of the accessories each time the 4-way flashers blink. Sometimes this even includes the power windows, which is a very handy trick to know if it begins to rain and the keys aren't handy. Also good for checking the time.
How nice you get a bag for each side. My '87 Iroc-Z gets one bag that serves a slightly greater hassle when getting the windows to sit evenly for zipping the bag shut while also keeping the dividing flap even so it doesn't get pinched.
YES UNNATURAL SELECTION. ALL OF THE LIKES FOR YOU SIR
Zach R Thanks!
can't believe my step dad gave me his grand national so I could restore now I have that and my datsun 280z (:
You must be rolling in happiness with those two fine ass cars.
the Audi B3 and 200/5000 had the Hydroboost system, it really doesn't make the power steering all that weak, the only issue is the Bomb (Hydraulic Pressure Accumulator) going out. That big black cylinder on the side of his booster system is the accumulator, but Audis used a remote accumulator.
The grill is spring like that because they were 5mph bumpers. 90s towncars were that way also
The AW11 MR2 T-Tops came with the bags
That thing looks pretty slick.
I spy Roadside America! It has been many years since I visited.
Great video too!
holy shit, a muse cover! not to mention this song doesn't get any airplay
Kevin Sortor What song is it? I like it
JMunn55 unnatural selection, off of their 2009 album the resistance. like I said, this particular song is a little more obscure, compared to uprising, resistance and undisclosed desires off of the same album. but yeah its a good song (all muse songs are) so go check it out!
Thanks!
I love the "Vader" on the console. This is literally "Father" in Dutch, which is where Lucas got it from, father-vader, mother-moeder. It's as if the car has a 'dad' tattoo. ;-)
Remember when the grand nationals came out they were bad ass us locals had some and would drag race em on the weekends back in the 80's
I have a 1988 Lincoln Mark VII, and it also has a spring loaded grille. It's meant for crash safety (i.e. protecting pedestrians).
Not a fan of RTV in the exhaust system BEFORE a turbo. The only place for it to go, is INTO the turbo.
Buick GN on my top 10 cars of the 80's list. But honestly, with that T-top I'd just wedge the panels in with marine grade silicon and be done with it.
I can't believe nobody noticed most 80's grills were sprung and were so surprised by this. Ford, GM and Chrysler did this and I'm sure some U.S. imports had them too.
More like this. So interesting.
Wow very clean!!!!
I did not know that about the header too head no gasket. . awesome
It takes 92 octane because, of course it does.
Brilliant lyricism.
I had a Regal, and many of it's clones (Monte, Cutlass, etc). I always loved those cars, but this vid reminded me of just how bad the fit/finish of the interior was. GM didn't really put much thought into stuff like that back then....their thinking was that if the panel covered what was underneath, job done.
Man, that's a beautiful car.
I use the copper header gaskets from GN1. They haven't blown out on me yet after 5 years and I have a big Turbonetics ball bearing turbo, about 24 psi of boost.
The reason the power trunk only works with the key on is so someone can't break a window to get in, press the button & get into your trunk without keys. it actually makes sense if u think about it. and the grill moves because of the 5 mph bumper law. if you bump into something lightly, the bumper which is mounted on 2 shock absorbers that compress during a light tap, and the grill moves with the bumper so it doesn't crack. also quite smart. Not like today, a 5 mph bump will cost $1k to fix.
Very clean 86 GN.
thanks for the cap wedge trick... I never knew that.
My first car had t-tops. They were the only reason I bought it. It also had bags.
My '70 Olds had a gas cap cover like that. Funny they still used it 26 years later.
I can't remember for sure, but here goes-the grill hinged to protect them in the five mile per hour crash the bumpers were designed to take without damage.
Very surprised about your front grille comment. I remember when this car came out that was a feature. It was collapsible, if you will, to save the front grille from damage in a minor crunch. In the day, it was mentioned. I also believe, not 100% on this, that Olds had it on the Cutlass of that era. Need to check into that.
The cutlass of those years also had the grills that moved!