Kevin Hart’s “Dark Knight” Grand National is a subtle twist on turbo Buick muscle

Comedian and actor Kevin Hart has proven once again that he has great taste in cars. Several of his previous Mopar restomods have garnered magazine features and drawn the eyes of the muscle car world. His latest build, revealed at the 2022 SEMA show, is finished to the same high quality as his previous builds but this one is a bit more restrained, fitting the source material, a 1987 Buick Grand National.

Hart once again tapped Salvaggio Designs for the total transformation of this build, as his relationship with company owner Dave Salvaggio goes back several years and involves several cars. Hart already had a limited-production 1987 GNX in his collection, so he wanted this sinister Buick to be even more subdued—all of the added performance under wraps and all of the rubber tucked in under factory-looking fenders. (No GNX-style flares allowed!)

The team at Salvaggio Design was, however, permitted to flex its muscle a bit on the front bumper; the subtle details of the Sean Smith rendering were turned into full-size 3D-printed versions that were then used by Brothers Composites to create the actual part in carbon fiber. Most of the carbon fiber is hidden under the black paint, but if you look carefully you’ll spot the hood blister, mirrors, and rear spoiler all show off the composite weave.

If you’ve seen any of Hart’s other builds, you’ll notice that they always bear a name and an associated theme. Going with the Grand National’s blacked-out exterior, Hart dubbed this project “Dark Knight” in honor of the famous caped crusader. Rather than any overt callouts to Batman lore, the car uses a grey and blue interior that evoke his costume, while several bronze accents are nods to the myriad gadgets on his utility belt. The interior redesign was conceived by Salvaggio Design and Sean Smith to match the subtle exterior mods. Gabe’s Custom Interiors upholstered the seats in dark blue and grey leather with contrasting bronze stitching and also built new door skins with carbon-fiber inlays.

Like his brutal Mopars, this Buick got a serious dose of modern horsepower. While a late-model Hemi is a great choice for a classic Plymouth, the logical choice to replace the Grand National’s pushrod 3.8-liter turbocharged V-6 was the LF4 3.6-liter twin-turbo V-6 engine from the Cadillac ATS-V.

Mario Abascal from Gearhead Fabrications was enlisted to swap the direct-injected V-6 and eight-speed automatic into the Buick G-body.  “It was the obvious choice for what Buick might have installed if the Grand National GNX were around today!” said Abascal.

Of course, just because it was the right choice didn’t mean it was the easy choice. Abascal found a donor ATS-V powertrain with all of its associated computers and wiring and went through the lengthy process of chasing wires to determine which parts were needed and which parts could be omitted. After shedding all the unnecessary wiring and extending the new harness to mount the powertrain control module out of sight, Abascal plumbed in a single 67mm Boost Labs BL67R ball-bearing turbo with a billet compressor wheel, ditching the Cadillac’s twin-turbo system for a more Grand-National-appropriate single turbo mounted prominently up front. Just look at the engine bay: it absolutely looks like that engine belongs there.

Of course, both Hart and Abascal were also concerned with performance, so you’ll be glad to hear that the LF4, which was originally rated for 464 hp at the crankshaft, was dyno-tuned to produce 650 hp at the rear wheels while feeding on 103-octane fuel.

Salvaggio Design built a custom chassis for the G-body to handle all of its newfound power. The front suspension uses a Detroit Speed X-Gen 595 subframe, while the rear uses a Detroit Speed four-link and Panhard bar that can handle the additional stress of the new powerplant. There is also plenty of rubber to get the power to the ground thanks to 325/30R19 Toyo Proxes R888R tires mounted to 19×11-inch HRE 501 wheels. Up front, 19×9-inch wheels use 265/30 rubber. While the front wheels and tires are a bit smaller, they get the big end of the brake package with Brembo GT six-piston calipers.

Even with the added challenge of a difficult engine swap, this Grand National can easily stand as one of the top Grand National restomods we’ve ever seen. The LF4 engine may be hard to come by, but we bet that Hart’s latest build has plenty of turbo V-6 fans greedily eying their local salvage yard.

This Dark Knight will surely be an inspiration for others.

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