I’ll always advocate an model that isn’t as popular as the typical selections here, mainly because I feel that a lot of good looking machines got overlooked simply because they were a victim of their times. A lot of 1970s and 1980s cars fall into that area…they look fine, but because of the issues of their times (some questionable quality issues and a very distinct lack of power) they get overlooked for more popular options like Fox bodies, third gen F-cars and trucks. And there is always the omnipresent opinion that anything made after about 1974 is junk and isn’t worth the effort. I beg to differ.
We’ve always advocated 1977-96 GM B-body cars. The General made some questionable decisions during the 1970s and 1980s, but the B-bodies were just fine by comparison. We always focus on the Chevrolet Caprice around here, but this 1978 LeSabre Sport Coupe is unique enough to do something with. Why? Well, besides being a nice car on it’s own merits, the LeSabre Sport Coupe was one of Buick’s early turbocharging efforts, and a well-hidden one at that. It only made 165 horsepower, but it did make 285 ft/lbs of torque. Yeah, those aren’t big-player numbers, but you know what we’d suggest, right? Grand National power. Fuel injected, intercooled, “respect my authority” power. In a big GM car, sounding like a V6 at idle is a great way to stay under the radar.
Or you could daily-drive it. For $4,500 we’d take it either way.
Facebook Marketplace link: 1978 Buick LeSabre Sport Coupe
I would agree with you on this one Bryan. So many directions you could take with the power department and come up a winner. Buick 455, 6.0 litre LS, (or LS with a turbo for big passing power), 3.8 supercharged with some updates. These old cars usually rode like a dream so the added power would make a great road trip machine.
swap in a warmed up 3.8 GN engine … this would be fun
Build the internals. Redo the blow threw carb. Bigger turbo. Then hunt down stock Regal Ttypes and GNs.