12. Buick GNX
Back in 1982, Buick started experimenting with turbocharging its line of standard V6 engines. The results were intriguing, so Buick engineers developed a performance version with better acceleration figures. Soon, there was the Buick Grand National with 175 HP. The number wasn’t impressive, but it was a start. In the next couple of years, the Grand National got a bigger engine with more power, jumping from 175 HP to 200 HP and finally to 235 HP. With those numbers came 0-60 acceleration times of less than six seconds, making the black Grand Nationals seriously quick cars. In 1987 came the ultimate version called the Grand National Experimental (GNX).
It featured the same 3.8-liter turbocharged V6 but pumped out 275 HP with a 0 to 60 mph time of 4.7 seconds. Suddenly, Buick’s turbocharged V6 coupe broke every classic muscle car mold. It was even faster than a Ferrari. At that time, the Buick GNX was the fastest-accelerating production vehicle in the world. At $29,000, it was expensive. However, legend says some GNX owners paid for their cars by street racing them. Unfortunately, the Buick GNX was a one-year-only model and the company made 547 of them. Today, those cars are as equally praised as they were in the late ’80s.