What got you into Turbo Buicks??

[86brick]

My parents purchased an 87 GN brand new from Endicott Buick in Pompano back in 87. Originally they were looking at the Monte Carlo SS, but a friend of my dad's had purcashed an 87 GN and told him he needed to go test drive one before he made up his mind. My dad was pretty skeptical considering he had previously owned all V8 GM Muscle cars (68 327 Camaro SS, 69 427 Vette, and a 78 455 Trans Am) and he thought that there was no way a V6 car could make enough power for him. Well needless to say after test driving the GN with mom in the car as well as the salesman and having it almost sideways on Federal Highway he was sold on the GN!

From there he started modding it and picking up the little tricks that the other local Buick guys were doing that were running at the local drag strip which at that time was Moroso of Hollywood. My bro and I were always at the track watching (we were also the Pit Crew helping him change tires LOL) him beat up on the 5.0 Mustangs, Iroc Camaros, and of course the Monte Carlo SS that he almost purchased! If I remember correctly, he was running 12.70's at the time?? My mother also had her fair share of fun in the GN and had plenty of speeding tickets to prove it!

 

[sti/rosewoodT]

The previous owner Bernie,of my rosewoodT used to beat up on almost every car he street raced on those warm summer nights in 01-02.It was sunday church for me back then and i used to flag alot of those races...man i miss it!! But now i would rather have a stock low mile LC2 than a racer,because the local turbo buick mechanic is a crook,thief,and lower than the shrooms that grow under cow ****!! The rosewoodT is gone,but i will get another one

 

[ROYAL_6]

i was in high school, i believe i was around 16-17.... a good friend of mine, had introduced me into the hot rod world..V8's chevy's all the way..any ways, he had took me to the local street racing around town.. one night, an 87 GN showed up to the races... he was running high 12's flat 13's(later became good friends with the guy)... the GN only had a few bolt on's.. but he was out at the street races spanking everyone... to the poing he couldnt get any races... every one swore up and down he was sqeezing (NOS).... but he wasnt... i thought the car was a Regal with a Big Block Buick motor in it.. i asked my friend, he said it wasnt a regal, its called a Grand National, and its powered by a V6 Turbo,,, ,, i couldnt believe it. Fast forward about a year or 2, we became good friends with a guy that own a GN that ran 11.50's... he gave me a ride in it.... I fell in love, and never looked at another car again....:biggrin: ..i finish hight school, joined the military sold my 96 T/A with a six speed... deployed to Iraq, and when i came back about 2 years ago, that was the first thing i got myself. and 87 Limited... man i love it... Buick All Yhe Way......

 

[bradinwva]

Ive loved these cars since graduation in 86. I ended up into mustangs and still have 2 but finally after slobbering all over the computer for years my wife said "why dont you just go get one of those damn black cars!" Thats all it took and I LOVE IT! My wife calles it a dick magnet hahahah most girls dont pay too much attention to it but guys always stop us to look at it and give up the thumbs up.

 

["Turbo-T"]

When I was in high school back in 93, 94, 95....g body cars were popular cars. I did have a G body Cutlass in late 95 but it was wrecked 6 days after I got it.

I always liked the G body style and after the death of my Cutlass I wanted another one, but I felt the Regal was the best looking G body car. Problem was at the time I could not afford a Regal.

Then one day 11 years later I decided I wanted to try and find the Regal I always wanted in school. Found one for $2k it was a 72k Fl. 1 owner car and very solid, but it had the slow n/a 3.8 in it. I loved how the car drove and stopped but didn't like how slow it was.

I was going to turbo it but was told I'd be better off buying a turbo car to start with. So I had planned on dropping in a 400 V8. Then I had to sell it and missed it dearly and decided I'd own another one, but the next one would be a turbo car.

So after finding one 50 miles from me I sold my truck to buy it.

Also some influencing factors were I heard the TR's could pull down 17/26 mpg and still put a V8 at bay. That plus they were full framed cars with a triangulated rear axle fitting with a study ring and pinion....and I already knew how comfy these cars were after owning my first one.

What I didn't know at the time was how much thieves like them. Because with gas at $2.50 a gallon (at the time) I wanted something that didn't suck dry my wallet at the pump (like my 396 Chevelle did) that I could use as a daily driver. Plus I wanted something that was practical enough to drive across country. Because had it not been for my TR I probably would have ended up buying an LS1 Camaro, which was my other "hit list" car.

I look at the TR as the muscle car of my generation. I hope to be driving it when I'm 50 and reflecting on great memories much like how all the baby boomers are flaunting around in their muscle cars now.

 

[scot w.]

Well iv'e seen them since they came out and always thought they were cool. I remember being at a 4-lane stop light right next to one and a older guy was diving it, I was in my 1972 chevelle malibu and I jumped off the line and he flew past me before I even got through the intersection! :biggrin: So from that moment on every time I seen one I would pretend to want to race just to see them nail it.
Years and years had passed and I really never thought twice of them and pretty much forgot about them untill 6yrs ago or more we went to visit family and my buddy for 20yrs (Two T's) had a beautifull 87' white limited T-type, He asked if I was intrested in heading up to the local hang out. I said "sure why not!" So we went out and stoped at the local Ice-cream & burger joint and ended up having to help change my first o2 sensor in the parking lot!! Well we went out driving around, full of race gas and No Takers! It was about 2:30 in the morning and while driving home on the interstate Tom looks over at me and say's "look at whats coming up fast behind us, Watch this!" at 60mph here comes this new Z06 corrvette with two younger guy's in it and they pulled right up next to us on my side and they were laughing at us! Well Tom was all ready for them and I motioned "Let's Go" and they droped a gear, I heard loud exhaust and we pulled away from them as if they had a rope tied around there rear axle! As we pulled away from them I simply looked at the driver and waved politely "bye". We killed that poor car by atleast 8-10 cars lengths, we slowed down to let them catch up and they drove past us this time they wern't laughing, The driver flipped us off and I couldn't stop laughing! I WAS HOOKED!!!!!

Now i'm on my third one iv'e owned and since then Tom is on his second one...

Scot W.

 

[aminga]

Indy 1985 when Pancho Carter and Scotty Brayton sat on the front row at Indy in a stock block car. A march buick. At or about the same time buick and later chevy were running in the GTP circuits with stock block cars. Same story in both series Fast but unreliable. Still for a stock block car to lay down that Much HP and speed. Pretty impressive.

I had been watching the Turbo V6 develop with CCCI and get more powerful and reliable and in 86 I had the opportunity to buy one that I still have.

 

[jdpolzin]

I had 6 Monte SS's that I did everything i could to as a poor guy to make them fast and look cool. Still like the look of them actually. But, the Grand National was always this misterious super fast car that only people with money could afford so I never really thought about ever owning one. Then after I started working more and more, I saved up about $5000. I sold my last Monte for $7000 and just so happened a GN popped up for $13K that had low mileage so I went to the bank and got a loan for $1500. Drove 9 hrs and picked it up!

 

[turbowannabe]

Freshman year of highschool I started to really get into cars. What I really thought I wanted was a Monte SS. Did a lot of researching on the net and ran across these mid 80's buicks with a fuel injected v6 and a turbocharger WTF!?!? Joined this board and got hooked after I saw how much HP these cars can make.

 

[regal-nut]

Well it was the summer of 92.( my last year for school):biggrin: I got my hands on an olds 88 (1980) 2 door. I had my problems with it after 2 moters and 3 trannys i scraped it. It was not a Regal but it put a small damper on me wanting a Regal. I have just plan loved the Regals when one of the teachers had bought a GN when i was in elementry school and the next door neiboer bought a Regal also. So the olds didnt do the trick very well but it did teach me to love more then just the Regal. Then in 97 a girl that i worked with was selling an 82 regal but i passed on it to let a coworker have it. He was going thrugh a divorse. Well dont you know about 8 mounths latter the 231 tied up in it. He told me if i want the car pay the $53.00 and a trip to Datyon and it is mine. You KNOW it i was on the road. Then in 2001 i got the 2nd one (still agin not a t or a gn ) but the one that i am working on now. The 82 left my hands back just this spring I cryied when it left but i have to say that i have a good wife. She gave me a hug and told me to get the one i have done and once she gets done with collage and we move to the country and up on our feet better then we are now I can have a GN and keep the one I have too. Da_n I am a lucky man!!

 

[xpander343]

I always loved the cars growing up. My brother had a model GNX that he had his room that he'd cut the side out that explained the specs of the vehicle. I remember reading that car 100's of times, Fastest US production car in 1987, and getting excited everytime I used to see one. 3 years ago, one of my fathers friend's has a GNX clone, and asks if I want to go for a ride in it. It was pretty mild, bigger turbo and alchy, I think he said it went like mid 12's. After getting thrown back in the seat, I was like thats it. I have to buy one. Sold my s10 xtreme, and bought an 87 limited.

 

[KevinB]

An uncle and I were sitting in traffic before a NASCAR race when I was 15 and a GN was next to us for about an hour. My uncle worked at a Buick dealership when he was a teen and got to drive a couple of them when they were new. He kept telling me how badazz they are. For that whole hour, I just stared at the car.
That same year, I learned that a buddy of mine had one in the family. Got to ride in it a few times. I knew then I had to have one! My senior year of high school (1997) I saw a TType for sale. Didn't know much about them, but bought it for $5500. A couple of weeks later I found out the difference between a hot-air and an intercooled TR. I was pissed because my new car was the hot-air. In '98 I swapped to an '87 drivetrain...it's been all down hill from there lol.

 

[rag231]

let me tell you a funny story......

Well back in 86 when my parents asked what kind of car I wanted for my 16th birthday. I knew that they were partial to the GM muscle cars. I said camaro or cutlass, I dont care. Well I ended up getting the 87 cutlass Gt. Dad and I test drove the 87 Gn and he couldnt get over the "funny" v6 sound and I agreed. Deep down inside I really wanted an 86 Mustang Svo. Fast forward a few military years and a couple of IRocs later and I still wanted the SVO because none of my buddies had one. They "all" and I mean all had mustangs. A friend of a friend had a twin turbo gn that he couldnt get to run worth crap so he took out the stage 2 and put the modded stock motor in and couldnt get it to run at all. He threw in the towel. He told me if I bought it all for 7 grand that he would put me in touch with ESP and that they could help me. I bought it. Put the twin turbo back in and had very little money in it. I can creep up on any car and wax them at will. We are talking a twin turboed ( 60 Hi fi's) stage 2 headed monster. He paid more for the 2 turbos than he did for the whole motor, 9:1 pistons, and reassembly in 1997. I still have that and 2 others and all 3 are identical.

 

[JST A 6]

My first exposure to a GN didn't really count since I wasn't into cars much at that age (about 10 yrs. old or so) but my mother's boyfriend's brother-in-law (still with me???:biggrin had one and we went for a ride in it. I don't remember it being particularly fast because he didn't get on it much, and I have no idea what year it was. Only thing I remember was thinking about how cool I thought the digital climate control and digital dash was because I'd never seen anything like it at the time.

The next time I saw one I was hooked. It was the summer of '94, and I had just graduated from HS a couple of months prior and I was at my buddy Ted's house on the day before I was to leave for boot camp (Navy). His friend Chuck showed up in a WE4 but I had no idea that it was anything other than a very sharp looking Regal that for some odd reason had slicks on it (I had forgotten about the GN I had already ridden in several years before). Ted told Chuck (whom I'd never met before that day) that I was leaving for the military the next day, and Chuck suggested we go to the store to get some steaks to throw on the grill for my "Last Supper".:biggrin: So the three of us pile in with me in the back seat, and Chuck turned around and said "so you really don't know anything about this car?" and snickering ensued between the two of them. Chuck pulled out into the road and started to powerbrake it. I heard the whistle but had no idea... I leaned forward and said "Dude, there's traffic coming up behind us, what are you doing?" and he released the brake, and that thing slammed me back in the seat so hard I hit my head on the rear window!!! 4 years passed and I got out of the military and came home, and Chuck had started a stage motor buildup and I was at his house a bunch watching and starting to learn a bit. Then Chuck got married and eventually the WE4 ended up just sitting which it still is to this day (8 years or so later), and I forgot again about TRs until my neighbor across the street bought his '86 T Type last summer--then I got bit by the bug again and bought my GN 2 weeks later! Now I frequently go to Chuck's house and let him drive my GN hoping to get him to catch the fever again and get his azz in gear to get his car out of storage and do something with it!!!

 

[Whut]

Back in 1992 I was still in highschool and driving a beat to hell 1979 Cutlass Supreme that was a theft recovery and the suspension was bottomed out so it would drag on the ground when I turned corners.

With that said my parents struck a deal with me to give me what I wanted for my birthday and to help me get responsible. Without going into all the little details it was now up to me to find a car. I wanted a Monte SS, it was fast because it had a 4-barrel V8 right? I caught a glimpse of a maroon g-body at a dealer and told my dad thats where it was. He bought the car and gave it to me on my 17th birthday. It wasnt a Monte SS, its was a Ttype Regal. I was PISSED because it had a V6 but my father made a valid point, it was cheaper on insurance and he said "its no slouch". After apologizing for sounding like a spoiled brat I thanked them and took the keys to my Regal. When I got in I saw the 3.8Litre Turbo on the dashboard and the Turbo Boost gauge in the cluster. I was puzzled and slowly drove away until I was out of the view of my parents. I then slammed the pedal to the floor and the car sideways and that was it, I have been addicted ever since.

 

[Louie L.]

I always wanted one. I would be in awe when one drove by. I think I was just 15yoa. In 1998 I met Cal Hartline , who gav me a ride on his GN which at te time was a 109 10 sec GN. I knew I was hooked! Later I met a GN owner from the WPB wlllington area of Florida.He owned a show car GN, this car was beautiful and would get 1st place at just about every show. He told me about a GN for sale and to come down a look at it. The rest is history.

 

[BuckeyeTroop]

It was 1988 and I just bought my first car, a black Z28 and I thought it was fast. I got my a** handed to me badly by a car I had only read about, hadn't seen. It took me two years to get one. Now i'm on my third one. I even hooked my dad on them. He has a garage queen with 15k miles mint. I'm going to take it off his hands one day.

 

[ChavoLC2]

Nascar + Indy

Always liked the Buick Regals in NASCAR back in the early 80's before they switched to Monte's then in the mid 80's Indy allowed this small Buick V6 that I remember going over 200mph during qualifing, think Pancho Carter drove the car for a season or 2 then Buick was gone from racing both NASCAR and INDY by the end of the 80's. Always thought it would be cool to have that lil INDY V6 in a Regal. Even though I always wanted a torque monster 455 SkyLark /GS/GSX of the 1970-1972 era. Infact that's what I was looking for then I ran across a video of a GNX beating a think it was a twin turbo Callaway Corvette. Thought it was amazing that a V6 could beat a V8 plus this new Buick GNX/GN had torque numbers close to a BBB. So it was cool to learn that this Turbocharged V6 Regal come out of the BUICK MotorSports wood-work . There hadn't been anything in over a decade coming from GM that one could consider peformance wise even coming close to a 60's-70's"MuscleCar" for lack of a better word. The mid 70's was a shame to watch the MuscleCar go the way of the dinosaur. Then all of a sudden the Buick GN/GNX/T-Type rises up from the MuscleCar ashes to spank Chevrolet's mighty Corvette...

 

[Little6pack]

Watching them Kick BUTT at New england dragway. I remember going up against Grumpys daughter. I had an 81 TA with pontiac 400 transplant I ran 15.3 Grumps daughter 12.7. I was whipped! Then I went to GTO still got whipped. Gave up on v-8's been a TB fan since.

 

[88ZNX]

Watching my brother sink thousands of dollars into his 88 IROC-Z L98 350 Tuned Port engine, then building a 406, topped with all the $$$$ Lingenfelter go-fast goodies, AFR heads, roller cam, $500 chip, headers, etc..

Best was a 12.19 @ 108

Then watching his best friend Andre buys a 86 T-Type really cheap, spends about $500 on used downpipe, chip, K&N filter and a old used TE.44 Turbo.

First time out...12.05 @ 112

now we ALL have them!

Jason