What Inspired You to Buy Your Turbo Buick ??

[jemook]

What made you buy the "cooler" GN, if you don't mind my asking? Did I miss a different story?

After owning the '86 T for 9 years, I had a chance to buy my '87 GN from a friend in our car club (for a ridiculously low price). It was very nice and did not have the dealer installed Astro Roof that my T had. Since I liked the hardtop better, I sold the T and bought the GN. It is getting some upgrades right now, new front bumper fillers, new fuel pr. reg., new radiator and lines w/ new dual SPALS, headlight upgrade kit and some brake stuff. New chip and LT-1 MAF and hopefully a new set of injectors very soon. Also, I am converting it back to R12 as the R-134A sucks. A lot of things that won't be seen, but should make it safer, more reliable and comfortable.

 

[captflash]

A friend of mine took me for a ride in his and after 1 minute I knew I had to have one. It was 12 years before I finally bought my first one which was stolen a week later!!! Then eight months later I bought "Goldy" and it's been game on ever since.

 

[dynoman]

With all this down time we have right now , I was looking through some old threads and thought I would bring this one back with all the "new" Turbo Buick owners out there .

 

[grass doctor]

mid life crisis ...LOL...and wanting to grow my mullet back in from high school...tru story ... I got picked up for a party one night in high school ... it was a t -top car with Kenne bell mods ..and I was hooked for life

 

[Pronto]

After my friend let me drive his GN, I was hooked!

 

[dynoman]

When I got mine in March 1986 these cars were pretty much unknown for their incredible stock performance . I just wanted a performance car I could put my kids in and a GN filled the bill and boy was I pleasantly surprised !! It was like you were on another level back then looking down on all of the " fast cars " of the day . what a blast !! Anyone who was looking to buy a car , bought a GN or T-type after a ride in mine ! I ordered a 1986 GN , astro roof , touch climate control , ALL options (except power antenna) ...$14900 , Thanks GM discount !!

 

[HotAirWH1]

With all this down time we have right now , I was looking through some old threads and thought I would bring this one back with all the "new" Turbo Buick owners out there .

I was looking for a sporty car that I could fit my 3 kids in and came across this article in a November 1985 issue of Popular Hot Rodding " Hot Cars For 86 " . The GN was listed with " Corvette-level HP & torque out of a mere 231 cubic inches " . They had the 0-60 times of 6.7 sec & 1/4 mile times of high 14 sec. I had a feeling it would be faster because it was listed as 200 lbs lighter than the Corvette with the same HP & torque. I was sold and ordered one that week . It arrived in March of 86 and was an absolute blast all summer because no one would believe how fast they really were until it was too late .
I happened to find the Magazine that started it all for me , and I had to have it !!


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Could you re-post the article in the Magazine. Love to read it.

 

[Nigel]

My old man got a company car every three years. As a youngster I kept up with the cars coming out and had been familiar with the turbo regal since 82. So by mid 85 when he was due for a car, I recommended the turbo regal. He said, "don't we want the V8", I said no "the turbo 6 makes plenty of horse power", I said you want the "T type", he said "this Grand National package has all the options", I said "you are correct". So late 85 he ordered an 86 Grand National. I remember the Feb 86 "Car and Driver" review, it was like holy shit. I remember taking the car out at 18 years old in May of 86 when he took delivery. Very cool time, the revival of muscle. I was hooked on turbo buicks ever since.

 

[HotAirWH1]

I was born and raised in Flint, Mi. home to GM. A lot of my family and friends were employed by Buick and I vowed to never work in the shop. I owned several regal's while growing up and beat the shit out of them. Youth is a wonderful thing. Well, eventually I got a respectable job and was able to buy my first car. I purchased an 81 Regal from one of my best friends whose dad owned a dealership in Davison Michigan, Belford Motors. They sold Buick, Pontiac & Cadillac. In the Summer of 1984, I was working on a large sewer project doing tunneling under the Flint River at Hamilton & Industrial Ave, which is where the Buick Engineering Division was located. Well, I would see these Buick Brass coming out of the parking lot smoking the tires in these sinister black Regal's and knew I had to have one. That fall, I ask my buddy Brian Belford to order me a new 1985 WH1 Designer Package. I got a call from Brian Belford in mid-October 1984. He asks if I could get off work early. He had a surprise for me. He had made arrangements with someone at Buick Management to get us into Fisher Body #1 – Final Assembly (In 1984, Fisher #1 became BOC Flint Body Assembly, still producing the regal until changeover in November 1984 - BOC Flint Body Assembly earned a reprieve by building bodies which were shipped to GM assembly operations in Pontiac, Michigan until that plant closed in December 1987). I dropped everything. I met Brian at Fisher #1 and we were escorted into the plant. As we were watching the cars coming down the line the Plant Foreman said to me, see that one, that’s yours. I’ll never forget that day. Brian called me in late October and said come to the dealership to pick up my new Buick T-Type. I’ve had it ever since. I tried to research what was the last Buick Grand National or T-Type to come off the Flint Fisher Body #1 Assembly Line before they went to Pontiac Assembly in 1985 without any luck. I have yet to check with the Sloan Museum in Flint. They may have more information on production numbers from Fisher Body #1. I have to believe my WH1 could have been one of the last Turbo “Hot Air” Buick's produced from that historical plant.

 

[Turbo Keith]

I rode in my first GN back in 89 when I was in the MS National Guard . A friend had just got one and I laughed at him saying " Its only a V6 " and almost 25 years later I got my first GN , Then last year we got an 86 T Type . I truly love these cars . Not for all the power but it was the car to have back in 1987 when I was 17 and wasn't no way my parents could afford one .

 

[KC87]

Ha, why did I buy one, I'm a masochist!

 

[TurboTGuy]

Ha, why did I buy one, I'm a masochist!

Scardy cat.

 

[dynoman]

Could you re-post the article in the Magazine. Love to read it.

I'll get the mag out and take a few pics of the article . Here is the cover .

 

[TacticalGN]

Back in 91 my brother-in-law bought a 86 light blue T-Type hardtop. He called me and said he picked up a cool 'performance car' and he was heading over. Anyways, he pulls up my driveway with the Regal and I was like seriously, you must be kidding me. I knew nothing about these cars and all I saw was "Buick" on it and laughed. He popped the hood and there sat the 231 V6, key word here being 'V6'. After my joking with him he said lets go for a ride, I said why not. Well, you all know the huge surprise I was in for and after returning back to my place I WANTED ONE. Did some research (which wasn't as easy as it is now with the net) and decided I wanted a T-Type of my own as GN's were way out of my price range at the time. Ended up buying a 87 Turbo T with 78k miles. Had that car until 2001, and bought my present car, an 87 GN which I will NEVER sell. Oh, the weekend he bought his T-Type he ran my 14.2-14.4 second 79 T/A and crushed me about 6 times. Roll, dig, didn't matter. His car was bone stock except for a K&N filter and Hyper something chip. FUN times and now I don't see these cars on the road anymore. I think I saw 2 on the road all last summer............

 

[dynoman]

Here are the articles that started it all for me !! Notice the HP & torque #'s for both ....

 

[6gunn]

My story goes back to childhood. Our family car was a silver '84 Buick Regal with what I distinctly remember had the round dome light(looked up at it every time I got in the car) and the little square blue/gray logo on the 1/4 panel near the window. I think it's the "limited" symbol?. Just a n/a 3.8 and I think blue or red interior. I use to think it was neat when mom shifted into drive and the little needle behind the clear plastic moved to D and such. Bench seat and I use to fold down the center arm rest and sit there...I wasn't even in Kindergarten yet. It was south Florida(Hobe Sound) in the 80s and we went everywhere in that car.

FFWD to 2003 when I got a job at a Jiffy Lube type place. Under a carport next to the building sat a Buick Regal just like I remember the family car from my childhood. It was dirty from sitting, but still a sight to see. This one was black though, and as I found out later...was a Buick Grand National. When we weren't busy in the shop, I would stand outside and just stare at that car. I was captivated to say the least...and reminiscent all at the same time. That's all I could do though...as I quickly found out that my 8.25/hr job wasn't going to cut it.

Then, FFWD to August 2013 when I decided not to buy a house in the area I was in so...I threw caution to the wind and decided I was going to get the only car on my bucket list. A Buick Grand National! Paid cash for it($13,500) and drove home almost feeling like this wasn't happening. The car that I thought was out of reach was suddenly in my hands. Surreal.

Then...FFWD to August 2019 when I bought my 2nd Grand National. Never planned on getting a 2nd one, but the stars aligned once again and I couldn't pass it up. What a ride it's been so far. Experiences like this are truly life changing.

Attached is a pic of the GN I use to stare at, at my Jiffy Lube type job. Pic taken in June 2005. Notice what I titled the pics.

 

[williamsGN]

Grew up with Cutlass Supremes in the family... Junior year in high school, looking out a third floor window.... "Damn what is that sweet "cutlass" over there. 7 years later I had a pristine 56k '87 owned by a car detailer for $8700.. drove it for 5 years to over a 100k and sold it for 12k

 

[Hunter Dog]

My first new car was an 87GN purchased as a single 24 year old. I brought it home on Halloween that year after a test drive and due to the good advice I received from a friend who worked at GM and told me this was a car I really needed to consider as my first new muscle car. He was spot on about it being limited, a big hit at the time and something if taken care of would be a good investment. He was spot on !! I had to put more miles on it than I would have liked as a 20 and 30 something back in those days going to and from work and it now has over 110,000 miles on it. However, I began to purchase new parts for it 20-25 years ago before they went bad as I knew I would have the car a long time and in the last ten years it has been repainted and had a number of things done to keep it running and as much stock-appearing as possible. I was fortunate not to be in any wrecks and to meet Bill Thompson a few years ago who gave me some great mechanical help and advice as the car had some issues from age and sitting ten years prior. I was fortunate to learn of the GN Nationals a few years ago and have been able to attend the last four of them. Like many on this board we are disappointed not to be able to attend the 2020 meet.

Forward to October 2019 when my wife and I celebrated our 25 year anniversary we ran into someone who wanted to sell their non-running 1986 GN. We purchased it vs taking a trip (or buying something less interesting) for our anniversary as a "project car." It now sits in HER SPOT in the garage since this "may be, I say may" be HER car and with all the time on our hands we are working on it (together, no arguments or accidents so far). We are having a lot of fun taking it apart and praying we paid enough attention to be able to put the items back together. Searching for the correct parts, the best deal and so on is certainly an education and process. (We still have some on our list so message me if you have some parts you want to unload) lol

I want to say we feel very blessed to have met all the terrific people since we learned about this site, started to attend local car shows, the GS Nationals in Bowling Green and so on. We also feel blessed to have found the 86GN prior to this challenging time in all our lives as it gives us something to do while practicing the social distancing and not being able to go to work.

Best wishes to everyone and be safe.

 

[Pronto]

That's cool, his and hers. I like that. Wish my wife was interested in cars but at least she tolerates my T.

 

[KC87]

My first new car was an 87GN purchased as a single 24 year old. I brought it home on Halloween that year after a test drive and due to the good advice I received from a friend who worked at GM and told me this was a car I really needed to consider as my first new muscle car. He was spot on about it being limited, a big hit at the time and something if taken care of would be a good investment. He was spot on !! I had to put more miles on it than I would have liked as a 20 and 30 something back in those days going to and from work and it now has over 110,000 miles on it. However, I began to purchase new parts for it 20-25 years ago before they went bad as I knew I would have the car a long time and in the last ten years it has been repainted and had a number of things done to keep it running and as much stock-appearing as possible. I was fortunate not to be in any wrecks and to meet Bill Thompson a few years ago who gave me some great mechanical help and advice as the car had some issues from age and sitting ten years prior. I was fortunate to learn of the GN Nationals a few years ago and have been able to attend the last four of them. Like many on this board we are disappointed not to be able to attend the 2020 meet.

Forward to October 2019 when my wife and I celebrated our 25 year anniversary we ran into someone who wanted to sell their non-running 1986 GN. We purchased it vs taking a trip (or buying something less interesting) for our anniversary as a "project car." It now sits in HER SPOT in the garage since this "may be, I say may" be HER car and with all the time on our hands we are working on it (together, no arguments or accidents so far). We are having a lot of fun taking it apart and praying we paid enough attention to be able to put the items back together. Searching for the correct parts, the best deal and so on is certainly an education and process. (We still have some on our list so message me if you have some parts you want to unload) lol

I want to say we feel very blessed to have met all the terrific people since we learned about this site, started to attend local car shows, the GS Nationals in Bowling Green and so on. We also feel blessed to have found the 86GN prior to this challenging time in all our lives as it gives us something to do while practicing the social distancing and not being able to go to work.

Best wishes to everyone and be safe.

That's great you and the Mrs. are working on it together. Bet it will bring you even closer together.