Mysticism. It's a key component of making a car cool. All throughout history, carmakers have baked it into their best and most captivating models. While there are a ton of amazing examples of cars that have it in spaces, none had more packed into their DNA than the Buick Grand National GNX. Built onto the regular Grand National platform, these cars were worked over by ASC McLaren with a few secret ingredients. The result is a monster that captivated the world with its brutal and elusive nature. All these years later, muscle car savant Steve Magnate found one in pieces and gave the world a look under the skin to see what makes these machines so special. Buick Grand National GNX DNA Steve Magnante, YouTubeSteve Magnante is most well-known for his recent Junkyard Gold series, but has made a career of traveling the country, finding forgotten gems, and relaying to the audience what makes them unique. His wealth of knowledge of vintage machines is something every gearhead marvels at. In his latest adventure, he stumbled upon a GNX and filled us in on some of the lesser-known details about everyone's favorite black brick. The Buick Grand National GNX is exploding in popularity and needs very little introduction. It was the downright meanest G-body GM ever built in terms of performance and looks. Everyone wants to own one, but not everyone knows exactly what Buick and ASC McLaren put into them. Magnante found one in project form at Restorations by Rich, in Massacheussettes, that gives a look behind the curtain. Steve Magnante, YouTubeAs Magnante walks around the car, he shares some factoids about the manufacturing details of these cars, starting with this machine being number 322 of the 547 built in '87. He also shares that they were advertised to produce 276 horsepower, but realistically produced something in the neighborhood of 330 horsepower. While most of us know that the GNX was outfitted with a bigger turbo and intercooler to help it make more power, the fact that different cylinder heads were used for the 3.8-liter V6 is often forgotten. The GNX, featuring a true dual exhaust, is also frequently left out of the conversation. All of which Magnante talks about in this clip. Another interesting thing Magnante shows the audience is how ASC McLaren attached the fender flares to make this a widebody car. Rather than simply gluing them to the body, the wheel arches were trimmed back, and pop rivets were installed to fix the flares in place. Crude by some standards, but it got the job done, offering coverage to the wider 16 by eight-inch wheels these cars came standard with. Time To Get To Work Bring A TrailerBefore your heart breaks, this isn't some abandoned car. It's actually undergoing restoration and will be for sale. Magnante shares the seller's number in the video if you're interested in buying it. That said, this video mostly serves as a great piece of reference material for Buick fans interested in building a clone or tribute to the coveted Grand National GNX.