Ringbrothers’ 1246bhp Buick Grand National Goes Truly Mad With Power

Spring Green, Wisconsin is a sleepy little midwestern town of around 1500, sitting around 150 miles northwest of Chicago. It also happens to be the home of Ringbrothers, the power-crazed American tuning shop that, without fail, brings a few incredible builds to the SEMA show each year. 2024 is no different, with the small company’s lineup led by this ludicrously powerful 1987 Buick Grand National.

The original Grand National was a very ’80s take on a muscle car, eschewing the usual big ol’ V8 for a 3.8-litre turbocharged V6 which, at its peak, made 245bhp. That, by the standards of ’80s American cars, may as well have been 1245bhp, which by happy coincidence, is almost exactly what Ringbrothers’ take on the Grand National produces.

The V6 has been fully rebuilt by Duttweiler Performance, one of the most revered specialists in the world of turbocharged Buicks, with features like a billet crankshaft and ported aluminium cylinder heads. Oh, and it now has two turbos instead of one.

Supposedly, with the turbos running a full 50lbs of boost, the engine will churn out up to 2000bhp – y’know, about 500 more than a Bugatti Chiron. However, for “daily driving” (no, seriously), it’s running 32lbs of boost, so is making ‘only’ 1246bhp.

Just to make it even busier to drive, the Grand National’s standard, extra-slushy four-speed automatic has been ditched in favour of a Tremec six-speed manual to really put your clutch control to the test.

Underpinning it all is a custom chassis with four-link rear suspension and three-way adjustable shocks on every corner. Six-pot Brembo brake callipers gripping 394mm carbon-ceramic discs help rein in all that power, while there’s a set of inbuilt air jacks to facilitate quick wheel changes.

With its boxy body and all-black aesthetic, the Grand National was often likened to a certain caped, mouth-breathing Star Wars character, something Ringbrothers has leaned into with this car. It calls it the Invadr, and, just about skirting around Disney’s undoubtedly litigation-happy legal teams, it’s finished in a colour called ‘Dark Vader Grey’.

It’s not Ringbrothers’ only offering at SEMA this year. There’s also ‘Infected’, a hot pink 1970 Plymouth ’Cuda with an 807bhp Hemi ‘Hellcrate’ V8, and ‘Tuka’, a restomodded 1972 Chevrolet Blazer powered by a 525bhp LS3 V8.