The Grand National was a wicked little piece: all-black, turbocharged V6 power that was a sincere threat to the “no replacement for displacement” crowd, one of the baddest cars of the 1980s, no doubt. Buick isn’t quite the performance brand, but when they dabble in hot-rodding, they make magic. See also the Grand National’s psychotic variation, the GNX, and the grand-daddy Gran Sport/GSX units from the 1970s. Then there’s the Turbo-T Regal…all of the fun of the Grand National, but in a wrapper that was more like the pedestrian G-body Regal coupes than the other. The only real tells that something was special? The domed hood, the “3.8 SFI Turbo” badges on the hood and trunk, the tiny “T” badges on the fenders, wheels and the sport steering wheel. The end. The chrome bumpers, the fluffier seats, the benign color choices all gave off an odor of “nothing to see here, move along”.
This Dark Chestnut Turbo-T demands that second or third glance for the tells. If you got rid of the turbine wheels for steel wheels with wire covers, you’d eliminate suspicion from at least half of your prey, and if you debadged the car…oh, it’d be a riot. Convince people that you simply had a domed hood paint-matched for your otherwise super-clean Regal and you’d be golden. But where’s the fun in that? Honestly, we wouldn’t recommend doing anything to this car that’s unnecessary. Leave it stock, keep it clean, and enjoy the fact that you aren’t one of the All Black Buick Brigade’s members. The color alone makes this a no-brainer choice.
Thank GOD it’s being sold. DUB wheels? SERIOUSLY? “Yeech!” as Alfred E. Neuman used to say…
Those wheels are a crime against mankind. Whoever put them on should only be allowed to drive 15 year old kias from now on.
I had an 82 cutlass the same color with a 403 that was a gear change away from brawler but still held its own w/ 2.7? gears. Didn’t put any work into it since it was a placeholder for my next Ford but in hindsight I missed a real opportunity for a killer sleeper.
As for the wheels all I see is GN turbines ….don’t know what you are seeing
Thanks for the de-hooptie. Phew!
Click the eBay link and 5 pics in you will see the stupid wheels. GNs are badass and Regal T Types are badass sleepers as well . On the want list!
Ahh, didn’t think the wheels were bad at all until I Clicked the link