Everyone remembers the Grand National, but the Buick Regal turbo-T was even faster
In the 1980s, the Buick Regal Grand National captured muscle car enthusiasts’ attention with a quarter-mile time that beat a Camaro, multiple NASCAR wins, and an affordable purchase price. Yet, despite all the buzz the Grand National created, the often-forgotten turbo-T model was even lighter and faster. It was built during the last hurrah for Buick muscle cars, and taking a ride in 2018 proves these cars are just as good as fans remember.
Heading north out of Torrington, Wyoming, Pat Lenhart, a former rancher and Vietnam vet, finds an open stretch of road and puts his foot to the floor of his 1987 Buick Regal turbo-T. The 245-hp, 3.8-liter turbocharged V-6, known as the “little V-6,” pauses momentarily allowing the turbo to charge and then unleashes a torrent of power. Screaming along, the speedometer needle rattles against the edge of the horizontal cluster desperately trying to show the true speed. It reads just over 85 mph, but it is lying. The blurring, rapidly disappearing country landscape reveals the truth. With a big grin on his face, he slows down the car and it proceeds to ride like grandma’s big Buick from years ago. For a 1987 model, the speed, ride comfort and quietness of the cabin is simply remarkable.
“It rides like a Buick, is really responsive with the little 3.8-liter, good on gas mileage and will blow the doors of most cars,” Lenhart said. “They were way ahead of themselves and were called the ‘Vette getters’ because they would beat the Corvettes. The Corvette owners were quite upset back then, since they paid twice the money for their car compared to the Buicks.”
Being such a powerful car that was cheaper than a Corvette, the Buick Grand National seemed a big winner for the brand. But however incredible it might seem to car fans today, Buick was more than a little reluctant to build it in the first place.
In 1987, the lightweight WE4 (turbo-T) option arrived. The turbo-T slotted between the Grand National and the famous GNX (Grand National Experimental) in the Regal lineup. The differences between the cars amount to interior styling, wheels, exterior badging, aluminum bumper supports, and aluminum rear drum brakes. But swapping in the aluminum for the heavier cast iron made the WE4 turbo-T lighter and faster.
It had no electric windows or seats, just power locks and—surprisingly—air conditioning.
Buick produced 1547 turbo-T models, 20,193 Grand Nationals and 547 GNXs, and the turbo-T is the lightest one of the bunch. The limited-production car was faster in the both 0-60 sprint and quarter-mile than the Grand National, but still behind the mighty GNX.
Like its performance on the drag strip, the turbo-T was gone from showrooms sooner than you’d think. In 1988, Buick changed the Regal to a new body style, opted for a front-wheel drive configuration, and killed the performance models. The Grand National was no more.
SOURCE: https://www.hagerty.com/media/car-profiles/buick-regal-turbo-t-was-fast/
