I must admit, I HATED the Buick 231 back in the day! I started turning wrenches professionally in the late 80's and every one I worked on was an oil leaking, powerless, vacuum leaking pig. I was one of those v8 guys, but after attending several GM classes on fuel injection, I started to see the light. Then the F.I. cars started showing up at independent shops and my opinion was changed, especially after working on my first GN in 1990.
Who remembers when our little turbo cars were not well liked?
- Thread starter fastblackracing
- Start date
Welcome!
By registering with us, you'll be able to discuss, share and private message with other members of our community.
I truly think the GN / TR was THE car that is responsible for the technology revolution in the horsepower realm. The other cars of the era were in no doubt cool and quick, but in all honesty they were really just novelty cars. Nobody was scared of the SVO, Eclipse, Starion, turbo K cars, 300ZX, 3000GT, etc. Nobody with a real musclecar that is. But they were all scared shitless of the turbo Buick. To this day, people are still scared of us. NOBODY wants to mess with me on the street.
- Joined
- May 26, 2001
- Messages
- 9,208
I do not know what planet you were on in the 80's and 90's, and now, but the little shit-box turbo cars were no threat to the turbo Buick performance into the early 2000's. and neither was anything else being produced during those years.
Gas was $1 a gallon, so no one gave a crap about gas mileage then except a few nuts.
We would drive a GN to the track and hand the ass to many towed-in 10, 11 and 12 sec. race cars, and we were even able to enjoy AC on the drive there, as well as in the staging lanes.
It took 15 years before mainstream racers and performance people got a handle how to "control" the turbo and start to be competitive?
In the early 2000's we set a NHRA record at 8.02 with a GN, and there was also a Hemi Shootout taking place so then many of those drivers and crew came by and were amazed at 1300+ HP out of a small Buick V-6!
Our cars today still have the respect of most car enthusiasts on the street and strip. They never know for sure is it grandma's or a 9 sec. one that will "kill" them!
novaderrik
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- May 12, 2004
- Messages
- 8,076
I do not know what planet you were on in the 80's and 90's, and now, but the little shit-box turbo cars were no threat to the turbo Buick performance into the early 2000's. and neither was anything else being produced during those years.
Gas was $1 a gallon, so no one gave a crap about gas mileage then except a few nuts.
We would drive a GN to the track and hand the ass to many towed-in 10, 11 and 12 sec. race cars, and we were even able to enjoy AC on the drive there, as well as in the staging lanes.
It took 15 years before mainstream racers and performance people got a handle how to "control" the turbo and start to be competitive?
In the early 2000's we set a NHRA record at 8.02 with a GN, and there was also a Hemi Shootout taking place so then many of those drivers and crew came by and were amazed at 1300+ HP out of a small Buick V-6!
Our cars today still have the respect of most car enthusiasts on the street and strip. They never know for sure is it grandma's or a 9 sec. one that will "kill" them!
there are other forms of racing besides going in a straight line for 1320 feet at a time.
any legendary turbo Buick powered road racers? how about rally cars?
hang out on a site dedicated to that stuff, and they will know more about the Mustang SVO and Thunderbird Turbocoupe- or even the Merkur XR4Ti that they shared an engine with- and every Japanese 4 and 6 cylinder cylinder that ever got a turbo than they will know about a GN and they will rattle off a dozen "revolutionary" cars before they even think of the GN, and even then they will only really know about it because of the connection that it shares with the turbo Buick powered Indy cars of the 80's.
not saying they weren't revolutionary for their time- what other mass produced car had sequential efi and distributorless ignition in 1984?- but in the overall scheme of things they really didn't have an effect on any form of racing other than drag racing.
Who on here has had there turbo regal long enough to remember back when people at the track really did not like our "funny little turbos" that made strange noises? And if you happened to hand them an azz whippen they really did not like it. I remember one time I ran a guy with your typical big block camaro that ran mid 11 seconds, got so upset that he went to the tower to try and have us kicked out for not having a roll bar after we went faster/beat him and this was in time trials to boot! Nowadays everybody out there has to have a turbo or two on there car and its all the rage. I cant help but think that Our little turbo buicks pretty much single handidly revolutionlized the way people thought about turbos here in the US and led to the awesome cars and power levels that are being achieved today. Like larsons truck making 3000 or whatever and all the street outlaw guys, just my opinion and wondered if anyone else felt the same way.
I was 13 when a relative of mine bought an 87 GN - brand new. I loved (and still do) the 60's cars - but the GN was like nothing else I had seen. He had taken his son and I to the races at Mid America Raceway and on the trip home an early 70's Camaro challenged him to an "acceleration test". The Camaro was jacked up in the back, very loud, was a 4-speed and had the typical 80's tunnel ram on the hood. He took off first --- then we hit it and just blew by him with that jet engine sound of the turbo! I never forgot that experience. Fast forward about 5 years. I had a fox body Mustang (5.0 5-speed) - it was a fun car and could be purchased for about half the price of a GN (early 1990's). We would go to the Saturday night drags and race - the Turbo Buicks were just unbelieveable! They had a reputation almost instantly of something that you don't mess with. I believe that reputation still exists today - but with legend and myth mixed in. When I was in my Mustang and a turbo Buick came up along side on the street - I just wanted to exit stage left as soon a possible. I never even attempted to run against one of those cars on the street - I didn't want to get crushed! I still have a fox body Mustang - it's a fun little car, but I now have a turbo Buick as well and it is a monster compared to that 5.0. I don't know how many times I've been at a car cruise with the Buick and I overhear a guy telling his buddy "this is probably the fastest car on the lot". Now we all know that this is not really true anymore with the vehicles that are now being produced - but the reputation/folklore still exists and just like some "fish stories" the reputation gets embellished some as the years go by.
Totally agree. We all know there are better forms of racing than quarter mile and I'm sure plenty of cool stuff came out in that arena, but horsepower is for sure not the determining factor in a road race, auto x, etc. I think where we are all coming from here is that the turbo Buick broke the mold when it came to producing big horsepower and that is what opened a lot of minds.
deezdad
Jackie's cashing in on your wretched disfigurement
- Joined
- Mar 25, 2005
- Messages
- 1,337
My friends father bought a new gn in 86, took his wife out for a ride she came home a scared crying mess, friends older brother almost kicked the guys ass, the family did not like that car lol
fastblackracing
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Apr 7, 2009
- Messages
- 1,022
This is exactly what I am getting at Buickmike, sure a lot of the other brand loyalists know the turbo regals rep for being a force to be reckoned with but they wont give us the credit for leading the way for there high powered turbo cars they drive today. I still feel the T/R plowed the path for it to be ok to venture outside the norm that people were stuck in at the time.
fastblackracing
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Apr 7, 2009
- Messages
- 1,022
Do you even like Turbo Regals novaderrik?
I remember in high school a friend of mine claiming how bad ass these new Buicks were, i had a 79 Z28 that had the motor built for roughly 300hp. One night on the local cruising strip we pulled up next to a girl in a GN, and wanted to see if these Buicks he talked about were so bad. ....as you know... She smoked me! Fast forward about 4 years later I bought one and still have it to this day some 24 yrs later and smokin everything on the road usually....
and still have it to this day some 24 yrs later and smokin everything on the road usually....As a Buick guy since about 1980 (18 yrs old) I knew about the TR's but I was into and driving GS" up until '96 when I purchased my first GN and only one I have ever owned. In and around '99 or so I was out at the TX Motorplex for street night they were not showing any ET's but you did get a slip for your car only. I actually had a hard time getting someone to line up with me, I made two passes by myself. After the 2nd pass I had a crowd around the car in the pits with everyone asking questions and what not. Wanting to know about the car. One question what size V8 does it have? How much NOS was I using? I was laughing. Count the plug wires it's a V6 and it's turbo no NOS. I finally did get a couple of cars to run a LT1 Camaro and a Import something don't remember now but I destroyed both. Now the crowd is getting bigger everyone wants to know how much HP how fast did you run? I was running 12.0's @ 110-112mph but I never told anyone.
There was one Stang there that was advertised at 500+ HP but he was only watching and a Truck that looked like a ProStreet Truck a BBC on NOS this is who everyone wanted me to race. I thought hell no it was probably at least a 10 sec truck maybe faster? It was a good night of racing, some of the best fun I ever had at a track.
I'm itching to get back to the track and have some more fun. This time though in the 10's
There was one Stang there that was advertised at 500+ HP but he was only watching and a Truck that looked like a ProStreet Truck a BBC on NOS this is who everyone wanted me to race. I thought hell no it was probably at least a 10 sec truck maybe faster? It was a good night of racing, some of the best fun I ever had at a track.
I'm itching to get back to the track and have some more fun. This time though in the 10's
- Joined
- Jan 18, 2011
- Messages
- 2,328
Back in 88 I got my ass kicked by a Dodge Omni Glh on the street, I had a Trans am Gta that I "thought" was real quick back then, that was my introduction to the turbo world lol, their was only one guy at that time that had a GN and he wouldn't beat on it for shit, he use to wash it in his driveway with a diaper.....By 1990 Gn's started popping up allover fully modified guess once they got a little older people didn't feel so bad ripping off parts..
Countless times I was the first at a red light on a highway and lined up next to a mustang gt, camaro ss, and a few others after leaving Whiskey Cafe. Only the passenger looked over and if the driver did, he quickly turned away never to be seen looking over at me again. And off the light they lagged as if they were sleeping at the wheel. The look and sound (that is if you have an obnoxious loud exhaust like me) of our cars scares people.
Nasty Wendy
Perverted Lurker
- Joined
- May 24, 2001
- Messages
- 2,203
I left the Omni Goes Like Hell off of my list because I knew that the cars I'd already listed were going to get the shady eye. LOL. No one wants to give any credit to a Dodge Omni. Its kind of hard to be proud of your car after it loses to a Dodge Omni huh?
I never raced one but those little f**kers were pretty fast in their day. Pretty rare to see a GLHS on the street now days. I'm sure they couldn't have made very many?
The GLH was badass for the time. Ran high 14's - low 15's in stock form and that would surprise just about anything in the 80's. Definitely impressive, but again you didn't see guys running these into the 11's with bolt-ons only like the turbo buicks did back in the day. Just imagine in the early 90's what it took to get a classic V8 musclecar into the 11's back then. Low 12's / high -mid 11's was a HUGE deal. Then comes along some guy who DRIVES his v6 Regal to the track with AC running, swaps gas, tires, chip, adjusts boost, hands your ass to you, puts it back in 30min, and drives home. I remember back around 1990 or so I was riding along with a friend of my sister's in his 1st gen Camaro. We were cruising down Hawthorne Ave in Lawndale / Torrance area and a GN rolled up next to him at a light. He was infuriated. He loathed those new V6 cars.
You said the magic word....revolutionary. Without the TR, none of those other cars would have caught on in America. In America, the 1/4 mile is where it's at....and the TR was KING in the mid to late 80s. It opened the door to the fast foreign cars of the 90s. Few care about the Mark III turbo Supra because it was slow. The Mark IV turbo car is a legend because first and foremost, it was freakin fast.
Speed is what sells in America. The handling guys are not the mainstream. No one bought the 5.0 Fox body Mustang because of its handling prowess...they bought it cause for the price, it was the fastest thing they could get their butts in. And who did they all want to beat? The KING...the TR.
Pontiac combined speed and handling with the 1989 Turbo TA. Pontiac provided the recipe for the fast and good handling cars of today....but it couldn't have done it without Buick.
I solely credit Buick with bringing back the muscle car....and unlike the original muscle car era from 1964-1974, which would have been long forgotten if it weren't for nostalgia, today's muscle car era has been going strong for nearly 30 years due to the technology brought forth when Buick engineered the TR.
All should bow down to the KING....the Buick TR!!!
PS: there was one other car that could do what the TR did and more in 1986....the Porsche 930. I remember racing one back in 1988 on Hempstead Tpke on Long Island and he mopped me up. But the 930 was an anomaly and a tiny blip on the American car buyer's radar. You wouldn't see old ladies driving one but you did see the occasional older lady driving a TR. 
I've got some old drag racing videos. One of them was from 1986-1987. Lawrence Conley has his 86 GN black running 13 teens and it's not far from stock. In the videos Theres a bunch of late 60's and early 70's muscle cars. A lot of four speeds and a lot of f'ing slow ass cars. There were a couple cars that broke into the 12's. A few low 13 sec cars and a lot of 14-16 second turds. If your street driven non nitrous car ran anywhere near a 12 sec pass you were cleaning house back in those days. Id bet Conleys car back then was almost 100% stock. Probably had a cat delete and maybe a compressed fp regulator and adjustable wastegate actuator and open air filter with air box removal. I remember them putting a big fan in front of it between rounds. It was fun to listen to the idiots in the crowd boo when that Regal with AC and overdrive would spank the opposition almost every time. Usually by several bus lengths. The untapped potential of the standard LC2 layout is unparalleled by any engine in its nearly stock layout. We have seen full weight stock suspension stock block turbo Regals make 4 times the power they came with. Nearly 100lbs per min of air on an engine that was never designed to be over 40lbs/min. The only other engine that ranks up there is the 2jZ but usually in single turbo configuration. Huge untapped potential. The 86-87 turbo regals without a doubt were a large contributor to the turbocharged movement into the millennium. Many top dogs got their hands dirty wrenching and tuning turbo regals back in the day. When they applied the same technology to larger race oriented engines the impact on racing was astounding. Plenty of bitching and crying from the opposition. Go back as far as the mid 80's and look at Buddy Ingersols car. It was light years ahead of the whiney bitch competition that bitched and pissed and moaned to NHRA and got the car outlawed. If social media was back then what it was today the turbocharged engine would have had a much quicker run into high performance. Even in the 90's turbos were a little voodoo. Plenty of guys told me there was no replacing their big ci engines, turbos were cheating, what the hell is methanol injection. It doesn't work. Blah, blah, blah. A lot of them kept saying that to themselves but many of the same guys own turbo regals or turbocharged high performance cars today. I went to a track rental with a good friend last spring and it was fun to watch his GN clean house against his friends and family's muscle cars of the 60's. Most of them were a little skeptical but when the GN was driven there and running mid 11's on partial passes and most of them couldn't crack into the 11's with full hits on slicks off the trailer they were owned.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Similar threads
- Sticky
