Barn Find - 1984 Buick T-Type

[mike343sharpstick]

Great car, better story!
Having been a teen in the 80's those turbo Buicks are one of my all-time favorites.
There was a white '86 T-type in my town with a bench seat, I LOVED that car, by the time it was for sale it was pretty beat and was not going to work out for me.
Sad to hear yet another story of a dead car culture.

[STINEY]

I had a 3-summer love affair with a baby-blue T-Type that was parked at the horse barns of our county fairgrounds........ I was only 12 at the time, but I can remember with clarity the seduction she wielded with that hood bump.

[38P]

Great car, better story!
Having been a teen in the 80's those turbo Buicks are one of my all-time favorites.
There was a white '86 T-type in my town with a bench seat, I LOVED that car . . . .

I remember studying one of those at the Auto Show . . . right after the "intercooled" mill came out.

It was before the big press in "Pop Rod" and HRM on how quick the Type-T/Grand National were. Which reminds me of a story I told back on the "train wreck" that is the infamous "Gromer v. Hunkins" thread . . . .

[Flashback]

After I read about the intercooled Grand National in PHR, I tried to test drive one at my local Buick dealer. He didn't have one in stock (of course, it was just halo vaporware for many dealers). The salesman pitched a horrible N-Body Somerset Regal FWD instead. Then when I didn't bite, the high-pressure sales manager came in and ripped me for "not being serious" and "wasting everyone's time."

He was an "ornery Buick guy" for sure.

Less than 72 hours later, I was driving my new 1986 Mustang SVO.

What if that Buick dealer had kept me in the GM fold? What if "Pop Rod" had never run the GN and SVO tests?

It's funny how life often turns on seemingly inconsequential events.

http://www.bangshift.com/forum/showthread.php/31173-Mopar-Action-Versus-Popular-Hot-Rodding-(Gromer-v.-Hunkins)/page19?highlight=Speedzzter+Grand+National+buick

[Turbo Regal]

Our local Buick dealer ordered as many GN's as they could before the production ended in December of 1987. At one point, there was a line of 20 GN's across the front of dealership parking lot and 2 GNX's in the showroom. I remember they were asking $75K for each GN with an extra window sticker calling the markup a "market demand adjustment". The sight of all of those Turbo cars made me save for 4 years to get my 87 Turbo T.

[Russell]

thanks for the long write up, it was a great read, glad to see it will be able to come out and play again. I hope you will take it to the track and get some numbers

[82z]

Dark blue, snorkel hood scoop

I think I know that car

[Toecutter]

thanks for the long write up, it was a great read, glad to see it will be able to come out and play again. I hope you will take it to the track and get some numbers

Thank you. Took it out tonight to a local cruise in. The wind was terrible today. And you know how hard it is to keep a black car clean. Hope to take it out tomorrow for a better photoshoot.