Another day of my sickness over Buick Reattas has led me to this gem from MotorWeek, one that showcased just how much of an identity crisis that Buick was having with itself. Buick, much like Mercury and Pontiac, all suffered from a strange “middle brand” syndrome: the line between luxury car and performance nameplate tended to be blurred and often came and went in waves. Buick’s typical buyers were traditionalists and fairly conservative in choice, which is why the 1980s rocket known as the Grand National was such a kick in the ass…nobody ever expected it to happen, yet Buick immediately made the jump from frumpy psuedo-luxury to tech performance leader almost overnight. T-type, Grand National, and “turbocharged V6” immediately became words to fear for good reason: Buick had built the David, the giant-killer to V8s everywhere, and in the hands of gearheads, a new appreciation for sixes blossomed.

By 1987 that party was dying down, even with Buick’s last hurrah of the fun with the GNX, a 276-horsepower psycho-Regal that was a worthy heir to the GSX nameplate of the 1970s. But after that? Well…look at the models that came afterwards and you can see a power struggle between “comfort” and “performance”. The W-body ushered in front-drive platforms everywhere. Outside of the Roadmaster line, every other Buick would drive from the front…except a couple of mules that came out for testing. One Reatta and one Regal, both of which seem to date to about 1989, were converted to rear-drive and were fitted with updated turbocharged and intercooled 3.8L V6s. Rumor has it that more cars were converted than just the two front-drivers you’ll see here and that one, a highly-boosted example, got totaled during a press drive. Hm.

The third car is an Electra Estate wagon that was fitted with the same powertrain and, judging from the way it’s handling itself on the course, probably a bunch of parts from the Chevrolet 9C1 suspension parts bin. Remember, about this time frame there was quite a bit of speculation about the death of the V8 powerplant as a whole and V6 testing was common at GM. The Grand National had been a hit with the engine at the center of the show. Capitalizing on that program would’ve given the General an edge, and would’ve kept Buick firmly in the performance corner. With the giant-killer V6 up front, a Corvette-style IRS out back, and a smaller footprint compared to other performance models, these two ex-front drivers would’ve been a bitchin’ way to start the 1990s, don’t you think?