My cousin bought one of these beauties right off of the showroom floor. With his crushed velvet pants, gold chains, and his *84' Buick, Regal T-Type* he was the coolest cat at the disco!
In July of 1987 Car and Driver took delivery of their prototype GNX press car and recorded an official 4.7 second 0 to 60 pass! Those 3.8's were no joke
They stuffed the 3800 Turbo in an 89 Trans Am and sold it as a limited edition car. That was around 4-4.5 seconds, and no speed limiter. I'm pretty sure the GNX was throttled at 127, I think. These motors were beasts. Even the Cyclone/Typhoon turbos were beasts. I don't know why GM stopped focusing on them.
No joke, but ridiculously hard to obtain. I forget what the GNX was supposed to sticker for, but i do remember that the father of one of my classmates who did buy one shelled out over 40 large for it. Well over twice the price of any other loaded G-body of that time.
Why to both. A Camry is faster in 0-60 and the quarter mile, and is more reliable. A Jaguar XJR from 2004-2009 is MUCH faster and better looking and cheap. If you want American, a Dodge Charger of any model is better in every way. There are some awesome 60s and early 70s cars but 80s cars were awful, a golf cart has more power due to the emission restrictions and they hadn't yet figured out how to output power under them. I think I'd die of depression (or rather trying to merge onto a hi-way) if it took me 8 seconds to get to 60.
I can't believe you sold it, my aunt bought one in the 80's when she sold it in the 90's she asked if i wanted it. I said Naaa, what a dumb ass i was in those days. She didn't want shit for it either. who knew it was such a gem i guess.
Cruor34 These cars had soul. Personality. You’re right a Camry V6 is faster and infinitely more reliable, but it lacks heart. It’s just an appliance. This car represents a passion that a Camry can’t deliver.
CB85 - I hear you. But today, a performance car that does 0-60 in 8 seconds would be considered molasses. Especially when a frigging Honda Pilot will do 0-60 in under 6 seconds and gets 23 mpg combined?!? A Honda Pilot? 🤔
@@McRocket with 100+hp and cost 3 times more, other example a 09 chevy cobalt with stage 1 can do 30mpg+ 300hp, 0-60 in 4.9, 1/4 in 13.2 and held the record of the fastest fwd on the nurburgring for 10 years and was priced less than 30k fully loaded, its still better than most 2021 cars
Just to make everyone aware that this 3.8 was NOT intercooled. This was the "hot air" version of the turbo 3.8. In 1986 they introduced the intercooled 3.8 which put out the big power numbers.
jmc6000 reading all the comments pisses me off. These people have no idea what the GNX was and how fast it is, even by today's standards. That motor was hitting 60 in under 5 seconds by the late 80s.
@@jamesp504 such a shame that they didnt continue the development of their turbo v-6. The 3.8 was a very good, and tough engine, in all of its forms. Its actually rather incredible that this type of technology never showed up in a Corvette, and only made it into the F-body in a short production run T/A in 89.
@@jamesp504 the GNX was a piece of bad ass steel..I’ve always said if I ever won the lottery 100K of it is set aside to buy one. There is usually at least one for sale somewhere every couple months
My friend had a GNX, the car was clicking off 13:20's in the quarter mile. In 1987 that was seriously fast. We had some good times cruising the strip in that car, many cars had a good look at our tail lights ! My friend nearly lost his driver's license with that car and he sold it around 1989.
Pretty modern EFi for a buick from the early 80's, electronic wastegate, proper sequential EFI, coil packs, not bad, once in a while the enthusiasts at GM made it past the bean counters
Eventually they added intercoolers, and the 1987 GNX was hitting 60 in under 5 seconds. Buick wasn't fucking around in the 80s. They weren't Grandma cars until GM ruined them in the 90s. However, a 1997 Regal was supercharged to 240hp/280 lb ft. So you could get a sleeper grandma car if you wanted.
Very modern for any car. But at this time only American 4 cylinders and the 'Vette had basic throttle body injection and pretty much all other V6s and V8s still had carbs. All foreign cars still had carbs. So this Buick was way ahead of the curve having Sequential Multi-Port injection.
That was a lot for back then, 200hp out of a v6. The technology has really advanced since 1984. When I was growing up, I read about the Grand National and how it was faster than the Chevy Corvette. I heard that engine has a lot more potential.
That's correct. For the 1987 model year the Buick Grand National was actually faster than the Corvette, which I'm sure made the GM executives cringe a bit at that fact.
Hardly overrated. They were the quickest american production car 86 and 87. That was proved numerous times by mags of the time including Cars Illustrated which ran a 13.85@99.75 with the 86 T-Type press car. The 87 GNX was the icing on the cake as stock ones ran 13.2-13.5 depending on conditions. I have a video of the GM boys at the track with a GNX and a Callaway TT Vette and the GNX beat every time. Having owned 5 of these turbo regals in all 3 flavors I can say they are not overrated. Even my 87 GN did 14.0 stock on crappy street tires
I had a silver '84 back in the day. I could coax it into the 14s with a chip, 100 octane unleaded race gas and grippy tires. Not too bad for no intercooler and basically stock. I got tired of the digital dash. I ran out of gas once because the fuel "gauge" was a little off and the speedo would blink after 99 mph - lol. But, it rode nice and turned heads.
I remember Car Craft magazine taking a couple of brand new '84 or '85 T-Types and hopping them up. They got them down into the 14's and were very impressed with the potential of these cars. Then 1986 rolled around and the GN/T-Type legend was born with the new intercooled motors.
Wow, $12k for such a bad ass car at the time. Also within 3 years, with the GNX the 0-60 time would decrease to 4.6s and the 1/4 mile to around 13.2s at 108mph. Of course the big improvement came with the 86 MY. The air 2 air IC was added as well as changes in the design of intake manifold. My 86 GN is a high 10s car all day long.
Just so everyone knows, the later models were faster. The 87-88 had an intercooler plus wider tires and better engine management. Those later cars were doing 0-60 between 5.6-60 seconds.
illstplaya: I would imagine that most people who are watching this, know that already. Awesome cars for their time. Still one of the meanest looking cars ever made!
The 87 Grand National had MUCH more upgrades than this car and hit 60 in the mid 5's. The GNX was a different story. Car and driver took a prototype in July of 1987 and got to 60 in 4.7 seconds
Just imagine if GM allowed Buick to keep this platform after 1987. The continual improvements Buick was making on the Grand National/T-Types would have made it's performance unbeatable.....This was an incredibly special time at Buick that will probably never be repeated.....I guess the closest thing to a modern version of the Grand National would be a Cadillac ATS V......
That was a great car. It boggles my mind how they developed a sequential fuel injection system for this car, and had "Crossfire" (dual opposing throttle body injection) on the 1984 Corvette (GMs halo car). Great video, keep releasing 'em!
Let’s not forget the fact that the 1989 TTA Trans Am with the same intercooled Buick 3.8 V6 engine went 0-60 in 4.5 seconds. Even going back to 400’s and 455 V8 engines, none of them could match it.
I watched this again the same day I watched the other Regal Limited with the T package video from 2019 from Motorweek. What a difference a few years made. I enjoyed watching this video again.
@@lancemannion4113 can’t argue with that. Different type of vehicle for sure. I liked the 5.0’s but really liked the body of the Nationals. Both really nice cars
If they had any clue as to how to drive the car (aka build boost) the car is so much more capable. My 84 T-Type with no mods aside from a conical K&N and very mild chip turned 14.0s at Bowling Green Dragway during the GS Nationals one year. If I could have left with just a slight amount more boost (maybe 1 or 2) the car would have easily went 13s in stock trim.
WTH Buick! You should be ashamed of yourselves! You used to produce really unique cars with incredible performance. Now you make FWD cars and crossovers that no one will care about or even remember 10 years from now. Keep it up Buick and soon you will be a China market only brand. What a waste of a once proud performance heritage.....
+buckets of rust you obviously don't know what your talking about......They "adjusted to the times"? LOL When Buick made this 1984 T-Type, they sold a little under 1 million cars. In 2017, Buick sold about 220,00. Wow Buick(G.M.) really make the right decision killing off their RWD sedans and performance heritage. The switch to all FWD sedans was such a great move(sarcasm off). So much for "learning how economics and demand work" Mr. Buckets of Rust! BTW Buick would have already been dead if they were a U.S. only brand. China's love for Buick heritage is the only reason why Buick made it through G.M. bankruptcy. If the Koreans can make a twin turbo RWD sedan(Kia Stinger), Buick has no excuse. Having said that, I do understand(and hate) the huge crossover demand, and the decrease in Americans buying sedans.....
I'm with you 100% Jason! Buick has forgotten about us and really only want to cater to the Chinese! GM could've made Buick a China/ East Asia brand, and kept Pontiac!
You are right! I read about the new Buick Regal GS with the 3.6 V6 and all wheel drive. It's a fast car and etc... But if Buick REALLY wanted to grab attention, they would turbocharge it (smile).
A 2018 Hyundai Elantra GT does 0-60 in 7.2 seconds, and it is a lot cheaper than a Buick T-type Regal ever was (adjusted for inflation.) A lot of four door sedans and crossovers get under 6.5 seconds to 60mph. I wouldn't call this incredible performance by today's standards, even though it was admittedly decent for its day. As for "unique", it looks like every other Regal from the period except for some blacked out trim and a small spoiler. It's a rarity to see one these days, so I totally understand the appeal, but what made this Regal special was the absence of look-at-me gimmickery...they left that to other GM divisions. I'm not trying to be argumentative but I'm not exactly sure what your point is. Maybe Buick will go the way of Pontiac and Olds, which would be incredibly sad, or be a "China market only brand", but they were never a marque known for their performance heritage. As far back as I can remember - and I am a child of the 70s/80s - Buicks were old, grandfatherly type cars. A safe bet for comfortable luxury cars. As examples, the A-car Centurys and late '80s LeSabres sold like hot cakes, but performance cars they were not, T-type or otherwise. If Buick still made cars like the Regal (i.e., big and RWD), they would have disappeared by the early 1990s, so buckets of rust is right: the market changes, they had to adjust. If anything, they were too late to the SUV game by about a decade. I agree that modern Buicks are too much like facsimiles of other vehicles these days, but they surely wouldn't have survived as a brand had they continued to make cars like the Turbo Regal. The best we can hope for is that GM has some surprises for us. Give us a Buick version of the old GTO (Holden) or some sort of sporty car that is not offered by Chevy or Cadillac. But I wouldn't bet on it, and it didn't work for Pontiac for that matter. Unfortunately, by appealing to mature buyers for such a long time, Buick is just not attractive to younger people (with money) the same way BMW, Audi and Lexus brands might be. (The best-selling Buick in 2016 was the small Encore SUV, but my guess is that even that will lose ground as Chevy introduces the cheaper and almost identical Trax.) In the USA, Buick find themselves in the same difficult position Lincoln and Cadillac find themselves in, no matter how good or competent the current cars and crossovers are...they are seen as an anachronistic brand from a different era. Don't be surprised if GM will just be selling the Chevrolet and GMC Truck brands in the USA soon.
They got a lot faster from there.. My dad tried to order a GN in 1987. He was put on a waiting list, with $ down. A full yr later he got a letter from GM that the car was no longer in production, and they actually sent his check back, uncashed! I'm not even gonna say what he bought instead.. lol
I only checked the comments to see how far down I would have to go to get to a "My Honda's faster than that" comment. I didn't have to go far, it was the very first one lol
I had a '78 Regal with the Turbo V6 in it back in the day. When I sold it in the early '90s, it was just a clapped out used car. Wish I'd known how much interest it would be generating all these years later. LOL.
Back in the 90s, I was around 10 years old, i had this neighbour who had a cherry dark brown Regal garage queen.... He tricked all of us by stating it was a Grand National and replaced all the t-type emblems with Gran National.... I was smart enough as a kid back then to know GNs only came in Black.... Thanks to him though it was my first experience to the term Ricer..... His name was RAM... Forever known as a liar to the community
ur right young man Grand Nationals were black. but it didn't really matter because any Turbo Buick be it GN T type or Turbo Regals as long it was a 86 87. we're pretty quick stock they ran high 13 to low 14s especially when it was cold. but when you start bolting them by putting performance mods on them. like a computer chip ram air racing pulleys shift kit high flow in tank fuel pump turning up the fuel pressure. crank the boost up to 17 to 19 pounds. they could easily run the Quarter mile any where from low 13 to mid 11s that's with a stock motor. add some good flowing Heads, bigger Cam high flowing injectors. art car 9 inch stall converter. bigger intercooler two high flowing fuel pumps some C 16 blue racing gas turn the boost up between 21 to 25 pounds slap on some slicks those cars would mid to low tens at over 128 MPH in the Quarter mile. to this day it's hard to beat a well tuned Buick Turbo Regal and that's a hundred percent FACTS.
Back seat of my 84 regal T-Type was the first place I ever got laid😋 Edit- same black and gray color scheme as the one featured here also. Should have never gotten rid of that car....
I had one exactly like this back in the day. The interior was really cool but, yeah, the digital gages sucked. Had an aftermarket front mount intercooler, chip and other mods. When I wasn't chasing vacuum leaks, electrical gremlins, failing sensors and transmission issues, drove like a bat out of hell. Was a terrible car for a teenager/novice mechanic that needed reliable transportation for work and college. Still loved that car, though. 😂
My friend had a Monte Carlo of the same year with the same turbocharged engine as the Buick. At least, I believe it was the same engine. I know it's turbocharged and it was a dog. He got it from a junkyard for like 200 bucks. I bet it's pretty rare
@@-fuk57 naw young man back 85 86 87 the poor Monte Carlo came with a low output 305 motor it ran only mid to high 16s in the Quarter mile. the Grand national and Turbo Buick's had a a 3.8 L 231 cubic inch V6 motor with a turbo charger putting out 245 underrated horse power with 355 pounds of torque they ran the Quarter mile in high 13s to mid to low 14s especially when the weather was cold. 0 to 60 was high to mid 5 seconds when the weather was very cold 60 to 45 degrees the car ran a low 5 to high 4 seconds 0 to 60.
Check out that prototype hood at 2:15. I smashed my head off the bottom of my friend's Jeep that I was helping him with when I thought I heard an LC2 coming down the street in traffic the one day. Sure enough, a GN went whistling by. That is how much of an impression they leave.
You and me both. I owned 5 of these cars in all 3 flavors. My favorite was my 84 just like this one over my 87 GN. Same WH1 designers package and everything. The times here were a little slow as they didn't spool the turbo at the line. They will run mid 15's.
Why GM chose not to install the Buick Grand National's 1987 turbo/intercooled V6 in a Chevrolet Corvette, I'll never understand. It boggles the mind. Why GM discontinued the last of the rear-wheel-drive G-cars for 1988, while Ford enjoyed success for another decade with its upcoming 1989 MN12 Thunderbird/Cougar/Mark VIII, just blows my mind. The prevailing headline in the 1980s: "General Motors shoots foot!"
The regular Regals were so common back in the day, nice looking & could have that muscle car feeling with an engine swap. Did all these t types come with the 8.5 diff?
Its funny, 2 years later they moved the turbo to the front of the engine and added an air to air intercooler, knocked 3 seconds off the quarter, and we’re still talking about how awesome it was to this day.
Not "prototypes" but "precursors." First came the turbo Regals, then came the turbo Regal Grand Nationals, and as a "last hurrah" came the Regal Grand National eXperimental. TR-->GN-->GNX
I had a brand new 87 GN paid 17,000 drove it for 5 years sold it for $13,000 thought That was a good deal I'm still sick over getting rid of it 27 years later😢
I'm only here to read the comments from people who compare their modern, "NEVER WILL BE A CLASSIC" Honda to this old bad ass Buick from the power starved 80s.
My cousin bought one of these beauties right off of the showroom floor. With his crushed velvet pants, gold chains, and his *84' Buick, Regal T-Type* he was the coolest cat at the disco!
GM hit a HOME RUN with those cars, Chevy, Olds, Buick.
You Couldn't Go Wrong With Any G Body Cutlass Regal Monte Carlo Or Grand Prix I Wish GM Was Still Making Great Cars Like This
karl smith my brother has a 83 cutlass coupe & I have an 84 Regal limited 4 door...both are tire smoking, head turning daily drivers🤙
My brother still has an 86 Cutlass Supreme that he bought brand new. He put a 455 in it. Most badass ride to this day.
My ride was the malibu... 78 tbe...
do u have a mullet and smoke Marlboro reds?
I would love to have any of them!👌😎👍
In July of 1987 Car and Driver took delivery of their prototype GNX press car and recorded an official 4.7 second 0 to 60 pass! Those 3.8's were no joke
They stuffed the 3800 Turbo in an 89 Trans Am and sold it as a limited edition car. That was around 4-4.5 seconds, and no speed limiter. I'm pretty sure the GNX was throttled at 127, I think. These motors were beasts. Even the Cyclone/Typhoon turbos were beasts. I don't know why GM stopped focusing on them.
GNX's and all turbo regals were capped at 124 mph. Trust me with their suspension 120 is a white knuckle ride. Top Speed on the TTA I believe was 162.
No joke, but ridiculously hard to obtain. I forget what the GNX was supposed to sticker for, but i do remember that the father of one of my classmates who did buy one shelled out over 40 large for it. Well over twice the price of any other loaded G-body of that time.
Original MSRP was 29900
James P The Cyclone/Typhoon platform had Turbo 4.3 motors.
I owned an 86 T-Type, sold it for twice what I paid. And regret to this very day.
Why to both. A Camry is faster in 0-60 and the quarter mile, and is more reliable. A Jaguar XJR from 2004-2009 is MUCH faster and better looking and cheap. If you want American, a Dodge Charger of any model is better in every way. There are some awesome 60s and early 70s cars but 80s cars were awful, a golf cart has more power due to the emission restrictions and they hadn't yet figured out how to output power under them. I think I'd die of depression (or rather trying to merge onto a hi-way) if it took me 8 seconds to get to 60.
I can't believe you sold it, my aunt bought one in the 80's when she sold it in the 90's she asked if i wanted it. I said Naaa, what a dumb ass i was in those days. She didn't want shit for it either. who knew it was such a gem i guess.
Cruor34 These cars had soul. Personality. You’re right a Camry V6 is faster and infinitely more reliable, but it lacks heart. It’s just an appliance. This car represents a passion that a Camry can’t deliver.
@@Cruor34 Then the 1987 Buick Grand National is perfect for you then. 20k for a very nice example, and a 0-60 under 6 seconds.
@@Cruor34 : ....you don't understand nostalgia.
8 seconds to 60 and 24 MPG in a car that would be called full sized today. We'll take one please
There were a bunch of cars from the mid 80's to mid 90's that got great fuel numbers . But that's all swept under the rug now.
CB85 - I hear you.
But today, a performance car that does 0-60 in 8 seconds would be considered molasses.
Especially when a frigging Honda Pilot will do 0-60 in under 6 seconds and gets 23 mpg combined?!?
A Honda Pilot?
🤔
@@McRocket with 100+hp and cost 3 times more, other example a 09 chevy cobalt with stage 1 can do 30mpg+ 300hp, 0-60 in 4.9, 1/4 in 13.2 and held the record of the fastest fwd on the nurburgring for 10 years and was priced less than 30k fully loaded, its still better than most 2021 cars
@@retrocompaq5212 I am talking about stock cars. You can make almost any, used car go faster and cheaper than a new car with mods.
The 94-96 impala ss was 0-60 in 7.5 seconds and got 25 mph highway. And if you added a hitch or could tow 6500 lbs.
Just to make everyone aware that this 3.8 was NOT intercooled. This was the "hot air" version of the turbo 3.8. In 1986 they introduced the intercooled 3.8 which put out the big power numbers.
jmc6000 reading all the comments pisses me off. These people have no idea what the GNX was and how fast it is, even by today's standards. That motor was hitting 60 in under 5 seconds by the late 80s.
@@jamesp504 such a shame that they didnt continue the development of their turbo v-6. The 3.8 was a very good, and tough engine, in all of its forms. Its actually rather incredible that this type of technology never showed up in a Corvette, and only made it into the F-body in a short production run T/A in 89.
@@jamesp504 the GNX was a piece of bad ass steel..I’ve always said if I ever won the lottery 100K of it is set aside to buy one. There is usually at least one for sale somewhere every couple months
My friend had a GNX, the car was clicking off 13:20's in the quarter mile. In 1987 that was seriously fast. We had some good times cruising the strip in that car, many cars had a good look at our tail lights ! My friend nearly lost his driver's license with that car and he sold it around 1989.
@@ShyaMiss Although a great engine, I'm glad it didn't show up in a Corvette. V-8 only in a Vette, anything less, is sacrilegious!
Pretty modern EFi for a buick from the early 80's, electronic wastegate, proper sequential EFI, coil packs, not bad, once in a while the enthusiasts at GM made it past the bean counters
What do you mean "for a buick"? Buick made SFI a thing for the most part in american cars.
Eventually they added intercoolers, and the 1987 GNX was hitting 60 in under 5 seconds.
Buick wasn't fucking around in the 80s. They weren't Grandma cars until GM ruined them in the 90s. However, a 1997 Regal was supercharged to 240hp/280 lb ft. So you could get a sleeper grandma car if you wanted.
Very modern for any car. But at this time only American 4 cylinders and the 'Vette had basic throttle body injection and pretty much all other V6s and V8s still had carbs. All foreign cars still had carbs. So this Buick was way ahead of the curve having Sequential Multi-Port injection.
coil on plug too.
@@spazzman90 - Cadillac was using multi- port injected EFI Olds 350" in Sevilles starting in 1975... 10+ years earlier!
Nothing short of impressive for 1984, SFI Direct injection, electronic waste gate. Crank and cam signals for ignition. Just beautiful
That was a lot for back then, 200hp out of a v6. The technology has really advanced since 1984. When I was growing up, I read about the Grand National and how it was faster than the Chevy Corvette. I heard that engine has a lot more potential.
That's correct. For the 1987 model year the Buick Grand National was actually faster than the Corvette, which I'm sure made the GM executives cringe a bit at that fact.
86 and 87 faster than the Vettes of those years
Clinton Stubbs and yet Europeans were getting 200hp out of a 2.0 😂
Not in the 80’s unless a race car
Hardly overrated. They were the quickest american production car 86 and 87. That was proved numerous times by mags of the time including Cars Illustrated which ran a 13.85@99.75 with the 86 T-Type press car. The 87 GNX was the icing on the cake as stock ones ran 13.2-13.5 depending on conditions. I have a video of the GM boys at the track with a GNX and a Callaway TT Vette and the GNX beat every time. Having owned 5 of these turbo regals in all 3 flavors I can say they are not overrated. Even my 87 GN did 14.0 stock on crappy street tires
It’s 2018 and it’s still making headlines? Damn!
Q- Bert Not sure if you know a person with one. Drive one. It will put a great big grin on your face. Preferably '86-87 model year.
I have an '87 T-type. Still a beast to this day.
Keep it bud. I'm genuinely happy for whoever can have these cars, have fun with and take good care of them. Enjoy it 4 many more years to come
I had a silver '84 back in the day. I could coax it into the 14s with a chip, 100 octane unleaded race gas and grippy tires. Not too bad for no intercooler and basically stock. I got tired of the digital dash. I ran out of gas once because the fuel "gauge" was a little off and the speedo would blink after 99 mph - lol. But, it rode nice and turned heads.
I remember Car Craft magazine taking a couple of brand new '84 or '85 T-Types and hopping them up. They got them down into the 14's and were very impressed with the potential of these cars. Then 1986 rolled around and the GN/T-Type legend was born with the new intercooled motors.
Amazing for the time. Still cool today
I'd happily drive one of these today! If I could find one...
Wow, $12k for such a bad ass car at the time. Also within 3 years, with the GNX the 0-60 time would decrease to 4.6s and the 1/4 mile to around 13.2s at 108mph. Of course the big improvement came with the 86 MY. The air 2 air IC was added as well as changes in the design of intake manifold. My 86 GN is a high 10s car all day long.
The '86 and the '87 T -Type /GN's were the legends.
Don't forget the Limited w/WE4 code, chrome everthing and lots of luxury touches like Landau top and cornering lights...if you wanted it.
I love Buick Regal, GNX and Grand National
Awesome retro review! I love these RWD Turbo Buicks! Thanks for this blast from the past!
I love Buick Regal and Grand National
Literal BLAST from the last!
Just so everyone knows, the later models were faster. The 87-88 had an intercooler plus wider tires and better engine management. Those later cars were doing 0-60 between 5.6-60 seconds.
illstplaya: I would imagine that most people who are watching this, know that already. Awesome cars for their time. Still one of the meanest looking cars ever made!
86-87 model years. The 88+ switched to FWD.
The 87 Grand National had MUCH more upgrades than this car and hit 60 in the mid 5's. The GNX was a different story. Car and driver took a prototype in July of 1987 and got to 60 in 4.7 seconds
Also there was no 1988
No 1988 Buick Regal?
Just imagine if GM allowed Buick to keep this platform after 1987. The continual improvements Buick was making on the Grand National/T-Types would have made it's performance unbeatable.....This was an incredibly special time at Buick that will probably never be repeated.....I guess the closest thing to a modern version of the Grand National would be a Cadillac ATS V......
Jason Rogers you r right cadillac stole all of buicks heritage and have shelved the GN i will never buy one. NEVER
@@2007deadeye1 No worries. The good V cars are now officially dead anyway.
That was a great car. It boggles my mind how they developed a sequential fuel injection system for this car, and had "Crossfire" (dual opposing throttle body injection) on the 1984 Corvette (GMs halo car).
Great video, keep releasing 'em!
Cadillac was using multi-port injected EFI Olds 350" in Sevilles starting in 1975... 10+ years earlier!
Let’s not forget the fact that the 1989 TTA Trans Am with the same intercooled Buick 3.8 V6 engine went 0-60 in 4.5 seconds. Even going back to 400’s and 455 V8 engines, none of them could match it.
Wish I still had mine. My second car straight out of high school in ''89.
Can't believe I was already in HS when these 'dinosaurs' were in production: 0-60 in 8 sec! ...was a Turbo HotRod ;-D
The 80’s Regal is an underrated overachievement.
boss12 my 1989 is fwd and 140 hp 3.1L v6. 2nd gen was way better.
Mr. Queasy I had a 92 with the 3800 and 170hp. And 4 doors‼️
lol
Whatever you do..to NOT have commercials on here, THANK YOU !!! So much more enjoyable to watch your videos
I was actually just thinking about this exact road test the other day & wondering if you were going to upload it soon, funnily enough!!!!!!
I watched this again the same day I watched the other Regal Limited with the T package video from 2019 from Motorweek. What a difference a few years made. I enjoyed watching this video again.
2 yrs later & this car was doing 0-60 in the 6 sec range & 1/4 mile runs in the 14 sec range. Impressive for a 1980’s vehicle
The Mustang LX 5.0 was doing it from 87 onwards for a lot less money. Plus it had the advantage of being able to take corners 😊
@@lancemannion4113 can’t argue with that. Different type of vehicle for sure. I liked the 5.0’s but really liked the body of the Nationals. Both really nice cars
(said in a Mr. Regular voice) NOT A FULL ANALOG GAUGE CLUSTER
To be fair, that’s a pretty awful digital display on this car.
If they had any clue as to how to drive the car (aka build boost) the car is so much more capable. My 84 T-Type with no mods aside from a conical K&N and very mild chip turned 14.0s at Bowling Green Dragway during the GS Nationals one year. If I could have left with just a slight amount more boost (maybe 1 or 2) the car would have easily went 13s in stock trim.
Finally someone that gets it. They could have shaved a few tenths off if they had run it up against the brake and got the turbo spooling a little
My stock 84 designer series ran 15.2 with the exhaust opened up behind the cat.
At the time the Buick Grand National was the fastest production car in the US and that include the Corvette.
WTH Buick! You should be ashamed of yourselves! You used to produce really unique cars with incredible performance. Now you make FWD cars and crossovers that no one will care about or even remember 10 years from now. Keep it up Buick and soon you will be a China market only brand. What a waste of a once proud performance heritage.....
+buckets of rust you obviously don't know what your talking about......They "adjusted to the times"? LOL When Buick made this 1984 T-Type, they sold a little under 1 million cars. In 2017, Buick sold about 220,00. Wow Buick(G.M.) really make the right decision killing off their RWD sedans and performance heritage. The switch to all FWD sedans was such a great move(sarcasm off).
So much for "learning how economics and demand work" Mr. Buckets of Rust! BTW Buick would have already been dead if they were a U.S. only brand. China's love for Buick heritage is the only reason why Buick made it through G.M. bankruptcy.
If the Koreans can make a twin turbo RWD sedan(Kia Stinger), Buick has no excuse. Having said that, I do understand(and hate) the huge crossover demand, and the decrease in Americans buying sedans.....
Jason Roberts Exactly mate.
I'm with you 100% Jason! Buick has forgotten about us and really only want to cater to the Chinese! GM could've made Buick a China/ East Asia brand, and kept Pontiac!
You are right! I read about the new Buick Regal GS with the 3.6 V6 and all wheel drive. It's a fast car and etc... But if Buick REALLY wanted to grab attention, they would turbocharge it (smile).
A 2018 Hyundai Elantra GT does 0-60 in 7.2 seconds, and it is a lot cheaper than a Buick T-type Regal ever was (adjusted for inflation.) A lot of four door sedans and crossovers get under 6.5 seconds to 60mph. I wouldn't call this incredible performance by today's standards, even though it was admittedly decent for its day. As for "unique", it looks like every other Regal from the period except for some blacked out trim and a small spoiler. It's a rarity to see one these days, so I totally understand the appeal, but what made this Regal special was the absence of look-at-me gimmickery...they left that to other GM divisions.
I'm not trying to be argumentative but I'm not exactly sure what your point is. Maybe Buick will go the way of Pontiac and Olds, which would be incredibly sad, or be a "China market only brand", but they were never a marque known for their performance heritage. As far back as I can remember - and I am a child of the 70s/80s - Buicks were old, grandfatherly type cars. A safe bet for comfortable luxury cars. As examples, the A-car Centurys and late '80s LeSabres sold like hot cakes, but performance cars they were not, T-type or otherwise. If Buick still made cars like the Regal (i.e., big and RWD), they would have disappeared by the early 1990s, so buckets of rust is right: the market changes, they had to adjust. If anything, they were too late to the SUV game by about a decade. I agree that modern Buicks are too much like facsimiles of other vehicles these days, but they surely wouldn't have survived as a brand had they continued to make cars like the Turbo Regal.
The best we can hope for is that GM has some surprises for us. Give us a Buick version of the old GTO (Holden) or some sort of sporty car that is not offered by Chevy or Cadillac. But I wouldn't bet on it, and it didn't work for Pontiac for that matter. Unfortunately, by appealing to mature buyers for such a long time, Buick is just not attractive to younger people (with money) the same way BMW, Audi and Lexus brands might be. (The best-selling Buick in 2016 was the small Encore SUV, but my guess is that even that will lose ground as Chevy introduces the cheaper and almost identical Trax.) In the USA, Buick find themselves in the same difficult position Lincoln and Cadillac find themselves in, no matter how good or competent the current cars and crossovers are...they are seen as an anachronistic brand from a different era. Don't be surprised if GM will just be selling the Chevrolet and GMC Truck brands in the USA soon.
The world famous V6, nobody did it better than the tri- shield division.❤❤❤❤❤ in the Grand tradition.
Never knew about this car, thank you motorweek!
That slalom looked surprisingly well composed!
They got a lot faster from there.. My dad tried to order a GN in 1987. He was put on a waiting list, with $ down. A full yr later he got a letter from GM that the car was no longer in production, and they actually sent his check back, uncashed! I'm not even gonna say what he bought instead.. lol
Adam Trombino what did he buy????? Gota tell us!
I only checked the comments to see how far down I would have to go to get to a "My Honda's faster than that" comment. I didn't have to go far, it was the very first one lol
Lol. You are so right. Isn't it funny how some people don't see the Beauty in this Beast.
Id trade all 4 of my Hondas for one.. Just classic badass
I had a '78 Regal with the Turbo V6 in it back in the day. When I sold it in the early '90s, it was just a clapped out used car. Wish I'd known how much interest it would be generating all these years later. LOL.
Back in the 90s, I was around 10 years old, i had this neighbour who had a cherry dark brown Regal garage queen.... He tricked all of us by stating it was a Grand National and replaced all the t-type emblems with Gran National.... I was smart enough as a kid back then to know GNs only came in Black.... Thanks to him though it was my first experience to the term Ricer..... His name was RAM... Forever known as a liar to the community
Pussaty early GNs were not black
Nicholas Rodrigues did they ever come in dark cherry red? His wheels were the same as the t-type
Pussaty I don't remember. I do know they came in a similar 2 tone grey that this T Type was in.
ur right young man Grand Nationals were black. but it didn't really matter because any Turbo Buick be it GN T type or Turbo Regals as long it was a 86 87. we're pretty quick stock they ran high 13 to low 14s especially when it was cold. but when you start bolting them by putting performance mods on them. like a computer chip ram air racing pulleys shift kit high flow in tank fuel pump turning up the fuel pressure. crank the boost up to 17 to 19 pounds. they could easily run the Quarter mile any where from low 13 to mid 11s that's with a stock motor. add some good flowing Heads, bigger Cam high flowing injectors. art car 9 inch stall converter. bigger intercooler two high flowing fuel pumps some C 16 blue racing gas turn the boost up between 21 to 25 pounds slap on some slicks those cars would mid to low tens at over 128 MPH in the Quarter mile. to this day it's hard to beat a well tuned Buick Turbo Regal and that's a hundred percent FACTS.
@@SantanKGhey1234 the official color would be called Dark Claret. I know. I owned an 87. Vin code 7 Buick. It looked very dark, but not black.
A blast from the past I love my 87
I had a Solid grey 85 T Type regal with bucket seats. Was a great car!
Back seat of my 84 regal T-Type was the first place I ever got laid😋
Edit- same black and gray color scheme as the one featured here also. Should have never gotten rid of that car....
I had the same car too.
Thanks for sharing this video.
I always loved those cars!
Nice. Don't remember ever seeing this one.
I had one exactly like this back in the day. The interior was really cool but, yeah, the digital gages sucked. Had an aftermarket front mount intercooler, chip and other mods. When I wasn't chasing vacuum leaks, electrical gremlins, failing sensors and transmission issues, drove like a bat out of hell. Was a terrible car for a teenager/novice mechanic that needed reliable transportation for work and college. Still loved that car, though. 😂
My mom used to have a 1983 Regal, it was a great car.
What a great use of torque!
Fun car to drive. Last of the GM rear wheel drive everyday drivers that were a kick to drive and didn't cost a fortune.
My dad had a 96 Buick Riviera. Buick used to put out some amazing cars..
@motorweek do you have a review for the Pontiac 6000s?
The advancements of today’s automobiles are amazing. A 2.0 turbo pushes 300 hp today and uses have the fuel.
True... Every 2.0 turbo today owes something to this 3.8 from Buick.
THIRTY FIVE years later, it better. And your 2.0 Turbo uses more than half the fuel.
Had a chance to buy a 1986 GN and passed on it, kicking myself to this day .......
haha! I was in the same boat back in the day. 1988 and a $17k car and I said no that it was overpriced. Duh!
Nice car. It will be nice if they make a 2019 model
outstanding !
Need to get my 87 Monte Carlo SS running again. Based off the same platform as the Regal/Grand National
Yup the good old G body!
My friend had a Monte Carlo of the same year with the same turbocharged engine as the Buick. At least, I believe it was the same engine. I know it's turbocharged and it was a dog. He got it from a junkyard for like 200 bucks. I bet it's pretty rare
Buddy had a monte ss with a 454, hoollyy sshhiitt!
@@-fuk57 naw young man back 85 86 87 the poor Monte Carlo came with a low output 305 motor it ran only mid to high 16s in the Quarter mile. the Grand national and Turbo Buick's had a a 3.8 L 231 cubic inch V6 motor with a turbo charger putting out 245 underrated horse power with 355 pounds of torque they ran the Quarter mile in high 13s to mid to low 14s especially when the weather was cold. 0 to 60 was high to mid 5 seconds when the weather was very cold 60 to 45 degrees the car ran a low 5 to high 4 seconds 0 to 60.
@@stanleyposey362 But THIS Monte had a turbo v-6. I'm pretty sure it was Factory. It had Factory turbo badges on the fenders.
I want one NOW !!!
I want a Regal T-type from the '80s right now.
sick ride
The turbo trans am was faster then the gn
Just imagine what this car could be today
I'm glad I'm not the only one who finds this car really sexy for some reason.
Awesome!
I always thought they had faster 0-60 times, but that was later with the Grand National I suppose.
Check out that prototype hood at 2:15. I smashed my head off the bottom of my friend's Jeep that I was helping him with when I thought I heard an LC2 coming down the street in traffic the one day. Sure enough, a GN went whistling by. That is how much of an impression they leave.
Fast as a 2008-2015 Scion xB. Only 158hp. My how times have changed.
Back when 3350 pounds was considered a heavy car.
I get the differences in regulations, but I miss light cars. Even the MX-5 feels heavy these days.
Exactly, The New C8 Corvette weight about 3500 hundred pounds, yike!
I hope they bring it back
Should’ve never sold my GN. Damn that car was awesome extremely easy to work on too. I regret that decision often
You and me both. I owned 5 of these cars in all 3 flavors. My favorite was my 84 just like this one over my 87 GN. Same WH1 designers package and everything. The times here were a little slow as they didn't spool the turbo at the line. They will run mid 15's.
Spectator drag monster !
my favorite car from the 80s 87 buick grand national 3.8 nick name the dark vater car and F B I used that to
Why GM chose not to install the Buick Grand National's 1987 turbo/intercooled V6 in a Chevrolet Corvette, I'll never understand. It boggles the mind. Why GM discontinued the last of the rear-wheel-drive G-cars for 1988, while Ford enjoyed success for another decade with its upcoming 1989 MN12 Thunderbird/Cougar/Mark VIII, just blows my mind. The prevailing headline in the 1980s: "General Motors shoots foot!"
GM should bring this and Pontiac back.
Way ahead of it’s time.
The regular Regals were so common back in the day, nice looking & could have that muscle car feeling with an engine swap. Did all these t types come with the 8.5 diff?
I wonder the same. heard 87 did
The coolest car GM made…along with the grand National and GNX…
Buick please bring back the Grand national.
Ohhhhhh yeahhhh
Its funny, 2 years later they moved the turbo to the front of the engine and added an air to air intercooler, knocked 3 seconds off the quarter, and we’re still talking about how awesome it was to this day.
More like 2 seconds for the standard TR. 3 if you include the GNX
I owned a 1984 Buick Grand national. As stated it was not intercooled. I believe they only made 2000 84 Grand Nationals.
Still a collector car, inspite of the fact it didn't wow the critters,/critics.
So these were the GNX prototypes?
Not "prototypes" but "precursors."
First came the turbo Regals, then came the turbo Regal Grand Nationals, and as a "last hurrah" came the Regal Grand National eXperimental.
TR-->GN-->GNX
That is a nice evolution. Wish I had the GNX myself.
Oh it did....It did finish the job a few years later. GN
I had a brand new 87 GN paid 17,000 drove it for 5 years sold it for $13,000 thought
That was a good deal I'm still sick over getting rid of it 27 years later😢
Gawd I want one.....
1:41 The T-Type did not run full boost in 1st. gear.
2:38 You can see the engine shake; a victim of its 90 degree V (uneven firing) and no balance shaft. You'd have to wait until 1988 to get those.
Hot air car,86 and 87 intercooled cars were the shit
My friend had one stock went 15.5 looked just like this one
hey do you have a 1987-1991 F150 review??
There's a 1991 F150 test, search for it
Are the Buick Regal, Oldsmobile Cutlass, Cadillac Eldorado, Chevrolet Montecarlo on the same platform?
The Eldorado was the 'E' platform. The other cars you mentioned were the 'G' platform. Eldorado was FWD.
Regal, Cutlass and Monte Carlo were the same body along with the Grand Prix.
Eldorado, Toronado and Riviera were the same body along with the Seville.
Precioso
I love mine but Gta never fixed the bug so it flips when I hit a curb😂
Stuart oliver ??????
Crazy my 84 Maxima sedan could have beaten this if they even matched them up back then. I still love the Regal.
ArchetypeDatsun You're delusional 😆
Big block 472 lop
I'm guessing the wet track affected the acceleration time.
SFI Injection & Electronic ignition coil, That's amazing for an 1984
It was ahead of its time!
I think this engine was the first distributorless engine of its type, but I could be wrong.
I'm only here to read the comments from people who compare their modern, "NEVER WILL BE A CLASSIC" Honda to this old bad ass Buick from the power starved 80s.
What about the 1988 Buick LeSabre T-Type??? =)
That's awesome! Does he have a RUclips?
No turbo, but front wheel drive. More flash than go. Still a nice Buick
I remembered I wanted one at 10 years old lol. My pops drove buicks and every time he got it service, I remembered sitting in them in the showroom.