The GM pecking order historically has seated Buick in the second fiddle seat after the Cadillac luxury line, but above the Pontiac performance division and entry-level Chevrolet. It’s actually kind of no-man’s land because Buick has never really had a specialty other than nicer than some, but not the best. This identity crisis has, however, produced some seriously awesome rides like the Golden Age Gran Sport muscle cars, culminating with the unreal 1970 GSX. As blistering as their classic era muscle was, Buick was never able to establish itself as a performance brand, but it persisted.
The next push at street cred came in the 1980s, with the turbo-six Grand National, as well as the 1987 GNX, which was the baddest ride of the entire decade. Horsepower junkies and even some normies have heard of both of these cool Buicks but most people forget, or never knew, that they were preceded by a radical turbocharged sport coupe that had its roots in the late 1970s. Almost nobody thinks of the early ’80s as a kick-ass time for Buick performance, but the Regal T-Type was legitimately awesome and laid the groundwork for the Grand National as well as the GNX.
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1983-1987 Buick Regal T-Type
|
Engine |
Horsepower |
Torque |
0-60 Time |
|---|---|---|---|
|
3.8-liter turbo V-6 |
245 HP |
355 Lb-FT |
5.9 seconds |
1987 Regal T-Type Power and Performance
The turbocharged American V6 engine feels more like a late-1980s/early-1990s kind of thing, but Buick was doing it as early as 1978. In 1973, the Century replaced the Skylark as Buick’s intermediate car, with the Regal being the elite trim level, which is kind of ironic, as in 1976 the Regal would become its own nameplate, slotted below the Century.
The second-gen Regal hit in 1978, with the iconic notch-back two-door coupe design that everyone thinks of with this model. Though the styling and presentation were geared more towards the older car-buying segment, Buick was desperate to shake its luxury-adjacent fuddy-duddy reputation and created a high-performance package known as the Regal Sport Coupe.
The 1978 Sport Coupe came equipped with a 3.8-liter turbocharged V-6, tighter suspension, and wider tires mounted on sporty wheels. At the time, the only turbo cars available in the American market were imports from the likes of Mercedes and Porsche. In 1983, the Sport Coupe name was retired in favor of the Regal T-Type, but they were essentially the same vehicle. Actually, the Regal T-Type’s styling was made a little cooler, and its version of the turbo-six took output from a rather pedestrian 150 horsepower up to a respectable 180 ponies.
This bump in power was achieved with a new high-flow dual exhaust and stainless steel headers. The T-Type was produced from 1983-1987, when the third-gen Regal drove the nameplate back to the Realm of the Mundane.
Buick LD5 Turbocharged V-6
The first use of Buick’s 3.8-liter turbo six-cylinder engine came in 1976 for the Indy 500 pace car and a production version followed in 1978. Originally fed by a two or four-barrel carburetor, the V-6 got fuel-injected and the power really shot up. By 1986, the Buick LD5 engine was cranking out 245 horsepower, which isn’t mind-blowing by today’s standards, but it smoked anything under the hood of a Ford Mustang or Chevrolet Camaro.
In 1987, the GNX got a 300-horsepower version of the turbo-six, which made it a supercar killer, capable of dusting Ferraris and Porsches. This was such a ferocious engine that Pontiac requested it for their Trans Am 20th Anniversary Edition, which could also devour European sports cars.
Regal T-Type Luxury
Just because the Regal T-Type was a performance model didn’t mean that Buick stopped being an upscale brand, and it was loaded with luxury. The front bucket seats were available with “T6” embroidered backs, and a sweet T-shifter sitting between them. The standard sport steering wheel came with a badged “T” horn and a quicker steering ratio.
Though a manual was never offered, the T-Type got a smooth-shifting 200-4R four-speed upgrade over the three-speed of the Sport Coupe. A digital instrument cluster was optional from 1984-1987, but the pillar-mounted gauges were cooler. The ride was also improved with a thicker anti-roll bar, improved spring rates, and re-valved shocks, as well as Hydro-Boost II brakes.
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Buick’s Turbo-Six Killer App
The Buick LD5 Turbocharged V-6 engine was too much fun to contain within the Regal family, so it was deployed in many other models. In 1978, the same year as the Sport Coupe, the full-size Riviera S-Type got a turbo-six, which didn’t quite give it the acceleration as the Regal-based rides, but it was okay. In 1981, the S-Type was renamed the T-Type, two years before the Regal would gain the moniker, and was once again equipped with the 3.8-liter turbocharged V-6. The LeSaber, another land yacht, would also get the turbo-six in the Sport Coupe trim, as well as the Century, which was more or less the Regal, in the Turbo Coupe version.
Buick 3.8-liter Turbocharged V-6 Applications
- 1978–1987 Buick Regal Sport Coupe, T-Type, Grand National, and GNX
- 1978–1980 Buick LeSabre Sport Coupe
- 1979–1980 Buick Century Turbo Coupe and Sedan
- 1979–1985 Buick Riviera S-Type and T-Type
- 1980–1981 Chevrolet Monte Carlo Turbo
- 1989 Pontiac Trans Am Turbo 20th Anniversary Edition
GM’s divisions have long shared platforms, which is why the 1970 Buick Gran Sport, Chevrolet Chevelle, Oldsmobile 442, and Pontiac GTO are all basically the same car, with minor sheet metal variations. They, however, had their own engines with major differences between the classic Buick, Olds, and Pontiac 455 V-8s. That started to change in the 1980s, with Chevy demanding access to the awesome Buick turbo-six engine for the third-gen Monte Carlo. BTW, the 1980 Regal, Monte Carlo, Olds Cutlass Supreme, and Pontiac Grand Prix were all A-Body siblings, but only the Chevy was gifted with the Buick 3.8-liter turbo-six.
Buick Grand National
The Buick Grand National was introduced in 1982, which was one year before the Regal T-Type, but it initially had a naturally aspirated 125-horsepower 4.1-liter V-6. There were, however, 35 Grand National cars that came with the Regal Sport Coupe package, including the turbo-six engine, but that was the weak-sauce version.
There were no Grand Nationals in 1983, when the Regal T-Type became Buick’s performance ride, but it returned in 1984 with its signature all-black paint scheme. The Gran National was produced until 1987, when it went out in style with a solid 245 horsepower and the lightweight WE4 option package that gave it its best performance ever.
1987 Buick GNX
The 1987 GNX (Grand National eXperimental) was the glorious conclusion of the journey embarked on by the 1978 Sport Coupe, to create the ultimate performance Buick Regal. While it was equipped with the 3.8-liter turbo-six of the T-Type and Grand National, it was upgraded with a Garrett AiResearch T-3 turbocharger and larger intercooler that made the engine really scream.
Underrated by Buick at 276 ponies, the GNX was at least a 300-horsepower ride, and probably more. This bad boy could rip a 12.4-second quarter-mile and intermediate cars with less than 300 horsepower could never achieve a time like that. Known as the “Darth Vader” car for its blacked-out resemblance to the Sith Lord of Star Wars fame, the GNX was the baddest ride Buick ever made, including the ’70 GSX.
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Buick Regal T-Type Collector’s Market
With only 547 units produced, and its otherworldly performance, the 1987 Buick GNX is a prized collectible that regularly sells in the six-figures at auction. There have been 17 GNX sales in recent years for $200,000 or more, with a high mark of $308,000 at Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale 2022. There are literally no other American-made cars from the 1980s that command those kinds of prices.
The good news for fans of the Regal turbo-six is that Grand Nationals, T-Types, and even Sport Coupes are way more affordable. Grand Nationals from any year average less than $50,000 at auction and that is skewed higher because the last one ever built, with 33 miles on the odometer, and autographed by the head of GM, went for a half-million bucks.
1987 Buick Regal T-Type Prices And Values
- Original MSRP: $14,857
- J.D. Power High Retail: $37,700
- Hagerty Concours Condition Value: $48,600
- Average Auction Price: $33,908
- Bring a Trailer Best Deal: $14,350
The 1983-1987 Regal T-Types have a J.D. Power high-retail value between $15,800 and $37,700, with the ’87 being the money year. Still, that’s less than the price of a forgettable new car that will never bring as much joy as this ’80s classic. Hagerty puts the pedal-to-the-floor Concours perfect condition of the T-Type from $24,000 for an ’83 to under $50,000 for the more desirable ’87 models, which is, again, doable on most budgets. Bring a Trailer sold a 100k-mile T-Type for under $15,000, but that immaculate black beauty pictured above with less than 29,000 miles on it went for just $24,250, which is almost grand theft auto, especially since it is equipped with the WE4 Lightweight performance package.
Mission Statement Of The Buick Regal T-Type
The original mission of the 1978 Sport Coupe Turbo, and the subsequent T-Type, Grand National, and GNX was to break Buick out of their frumpy image, which they unfortunately didn’t do. Despite the inherent awesomeness of these Regal-based turbocharged rides, Buick was never viewed as a youthful brand, and they completely abandoned the idea in 1988, resigning themselves as the grandpa got-to car company. Where they went wrong was with the Regal car itself, which wasn’t the coolest-looking thing ever designed. It’s a scientific fact that adding things like spoilers, splitters, hood scoops, racing stripes, and sporty wheels can turn any dorkmobile into a fairly hot ride.
While the T-Type didn’t hit all of those elements, they added enough to radically improve the Regal’s style. It was, however, still a Regal and not nearly as appealing as a Fox Body Mustang or Camaro IROC-Z, which dominated the youth market in the ’80s. In retrospect, the Regal T-Type ain’t half-bad, but at the time it wasn’t pulling in the kids’ attention. Had Buick put their turbo-six into something as scorching as a third-gen Firebird, they may have had a hit that penetrated the youth market. Then again, the Buick name may have been so tied to an older demographic that no amount of style and performance was going to change public perceptions. It has, however, aged quite well and is cool today with the folks who were kids back then.