The 1985-87 Buick Somerset was a turd. It just was. Based on the N-body, which gave up such favorites as the Pontiac Grand Am and the Oldsmobile Calais, the Somerset was a car best known for it’s party trick: because the alternator didn’t have the oats to keep up with the demands of all of the electronic doo-dads, including the digital gauge cluster, every now and then the entire electrical system would simply die. It was badge-engineering at it’s most cynical, an overstuffed and overfluffed little Micro Machine that not many will miss when they finally locate the last few stragglers and crush them into a brick.
But for some reason, the Somerset made one seriously bitchin’ Trans Am racer. Look at this thing! What the listing lacks in details, it makes up for in simplicity. There is a rear-drive, full-race Buick Somerset up for grabs. This will never be a street car…if you can figure out how to make that happen, you are a god among men. But as a track terror, you can’t lose. These were raced with both V6 and V8 power, the latter you will receive if you fork over the cash. There can’t be too many of them out and about, so unless we missed a ton of these machines when we perused old Trans-Am footage, this might be one of maybe three or four in existence. Don’t squish these. Just the street cars.
(Car for sale in photo above. Video below may or may not be same car, just used to show potential!)
Whereas its a GM product its still cool and could easily be modified to be streetable. Just install softer suspension, a better interior and you’ll have unique car which will stand out amongst all those pro touring cars.
Getting plates for that wouldn’t be terribly difficult if it still has a VIN, at least in Georgia where it is currently located. Since it’s old enough to not require a title or emissions, and Georgia doesn’t require any other sort of inspection, you could get a registration and plate with a bill of sale, no questions asked. It would need lights and mufflers, but it doesn’t seem too difficult to put it on the street.
If I had the money to buy it, though, I’d keep it exactly as is so I could use it for historic Trans Am events. Unless I could make the street car conversion parts easily swapped back so the car can be returned to its glorious Trans Am time capsule configuration.