The year was 1985, during an era of big hair, disposable music, poor fashion sense, and excess. There was an actor in the White House, a Delorean on the big screen, and more importantly, performance cars were finally becoming popular again after the long, and drawn-out “smog era” had finally come to a close.

Originally offered as a very limited production car in 1982 (available only in two-tone grey), the Buick Grand National returned for the 1984 model year in its now-infamous all-black attire and a much improved (over the old carbureted version) SFI turbocharged 3.8L V6. It was rated at 200hp/300ft.lbs and would tear through the quarter mile in the mid 15s. This of course sounds pretty lame by today’s standards, but for the mid-eighties, that was on par with that of a turbocharged import, TPI F-body or what the 5.0 Mustang would do.

As everyone now knows, the Grand National would go on to become an automotive legend with the introduction of intercooling and several other changes to the engine for the1986 model year. Power jumped up to 235hp/330lbft, and up again to 245hp/355lbft in 1987, resulting in quarter mile times of the high 13s/low 14s.

Below is the one and only commercial every shown for the Buick Grand National, which features a 1985 model. The soundtrack is a cover of George Thorogood and the Destroyer’s “Bad to the Bone,” which was a very popular song at the time. The song was so popular in fact, that it was featured in the opening of the automotive cult movie classic, Christine. Some might even argue that is where Buick came up with the idea to use the song in the first place. Either way, it never gets old to flashback to a bygone era, even if those times were more than a little cheesy.