15. Buick GNX
The story of this model is interesting. Back in 1982, Buick started experimenting with turbocharging its line of standard V6 engines. The results were satisfying, so the Buick engineers got permission to develop a performance version to deliver better acceleration figures. Soon, there was the Buick Grand National with 175 HP which wasn’t impressive, but it was a start. In the next couple of years, the Grand National got a bigger engine and more power, jumping from 175 HP to 200 HP, and finally to 235 HP. With those numbers came acceleration times of less than six seconds, making those black Grand Nationals seriously quick cars. But in 1987 came the ultimate version Buick named the GNX or Grand National Experimental. It featured the same 3.8-liter turbocharged V6 but with 275 HP and a 0 to 60 mph time of 4.7 seconds.
Nobody expected such a bold move from Buick. After all, Buick was a company for old people that produced boring cars. Suddenly, there was a turbocharged V6 coupe that broke every classic muscle car mold. In fact, it was faster than a Ferrari. At that moment, the Buick GNX was the fastest accelerating production model in the world. At $29,000 it was expensive, but there was a widespread legend that the owners paid the lease on these cars by street racing them for money. Unfortunately, the Buick GNX was a one-year-only model, so the company made just 547 of them. Today, those cars are as equally praised as they were in the late ’80s.