Ringbrothers’ 1987 Buick Grand National Is a V-6 Muscle Car Missile

• Ringbrothers just debuted Invadr, a 1987 Buick Grand National Restomod.
• Its twin-turbo V-6 makes 1,246 horsepower, about 1,001 more than the original.
• Invadr rides on a custom chassis and gets all sorts of carbon-fiber trim.

Wisconsin-based Ringbrothers always brings incredible builds to the SEMA show, and this year, it’s got a different sort of muscle car among its debuts. This is Invadr, a 1987 Buick Regal Grand National sporting a 1,246-horsepower 3.8-liter twin-turbo V-6, a custom chassis, and cosmetic upgrades that take enhance the original’s subtle good looks. Yes, that’s 1,001 more hp than the 1987 original.

The engine comes from Duttweiler Performance, a longtime California builder of ultra-high-horsepower engines, including monster Buick V-6s. In its current state, this engine produces 1,246 hp and 1,000 pound-feet of torque running 32 psi of boost, but Ringbrothers says that if you turn the turbos up to 50 psi, the V-6 is good for 2,000 horsepower. Ringbrothers co-owner Mike Ring says “[t]his may well be the fastest car we’ve built to date,” which, uh, yeah. All that power heads to a modified Ford 9-inch rear end via a Tremec T56 six-speed manual transmission.

Underneath there’s a custom chassis from Roadster Shop complete with three-way adjustable Penske shocks. There are huge Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires on custom HRE wheels, naturally, and carbon-ceramic brakes from a C6 Corvette ZR1. All of this resides under very subtly tweaked bodywork. Ringbrothers replaced the front and rear bumpers with custom stainless steel pieces, and tweaked the front fenders and side skirts, too. There’s some carbon-fiber trim, too, like a hood vent and rear spoiler. But, this very much looks like a Grand National. Another lovely touch—the paint color is called Dark Vader Gray. What else?

The interior features a roll cage and carbon fiber as far as the eye can see, and custom trim on just about everything. There’s even a button for a parachute, but Ringbrothers doesn’t say whether it’s functional. With this much power, it wouldn’t be a bad addition. 

Photo by: CenterScene | Ringbrothers

In its day, the Grand National was a huge deal. The mid-1980s saw something of an American muscle car renaissance, with power figures climbing from their malaise-era lows. Buick bucked the norm and showed that a turbo ‘six could give the classic V-8 a run for its money. That, plus the Darth Vader, any-color-as-long-as-it’s-black aesthetic of the Grand National made for a classic in its own time. With the Invadr, Ringbrothers seems to understand what made the original so appealing, and amped everything up.

Apparently there are 4,900 hours in this build. Appears like time well spent. 

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