TURBO REGAL / GRAND NATIONAL REGISTRY :: HISTORY OF BUICK PERFORMANCE CARS.

Turbo Regal Registry

1987 Buick Regal Grand National.

History of Buick Performance Cars

GNregistry is devoted to becoming the standard for a classic and collector automobile registry in the age of the Internet. We are devoted to being the online registry of those who own the autos known as the Turbo Regals that were manufactured by Buick from 1978 through 1987. It is our hope that this registry will perform a valuable service for these owners as well as for any automotive enthusiast who admires and respects these historical cars.

The significance of the place of the Turbo Regals in automotive history is best understood by examining at least briefly the place of Buick automobiles in the US car industry, in particular, the company’s standing as a builder of high performance automobiles. This statement may come as a surprise to performance enthusiasts today but from the very beginnings of Buick’s history immediately before and after 1900, the name Buick came with a reputation as a builder of high performance cars (compared to its competition).

Essentially Buick’s history and its place in automotive history as a manufacturer of mass produced, high performance cars, can be looked at in three different periods:

1) from its very beginnings in 1903 until the beginnings of World War II (see “Beginnings of Buick
Performance”);
2) from 1950 through 1972 (see “Post World War II Performance Era”);
3) from 1976 through 1987 (see “The Beginnings of Buick’s Turbo V6 Performance Era").

Preface

From the very beginning of the company’s history, Buick enthusiasts could have been the ones that coined our modern slogan: "Go Fast with Class". One thing is undeniable from examining this history: until recently power and performance have always been major factors in cars made by Buick. And Buick’s dedication to high performance was known both by the public and throughout the auto industry itself. Historically, Buick management did not have any reluctance or aversion to being known by the public as a maker of high performance automobiles. This seems to have held true until just after the end of production of the Grand National in 1987. It might also appear, from examining this long history, that Buick’s modern image as a builder of plush, soft and, often, slow cars (Regal GS excepted .. to a degree) has not served it nearly as well as did its earlier one as a premium builder of high performance automobiles. And sales followed performance, always. It might serve Buick (and GM) well today to review a bit of its own history … right here, on GNregistry.

Sources

Standard Catalogue of Buick, 1903-1990; edited by Mary Sieber and Ken Buttolph; Published by Krause Publications, Iola Wisconsin, 1991, ISBN: 0-87341-173-0.

Mosher, Ken: “The Little Engine That Could”; not dated. http://www.gnttype.org/general/v6hist.html
Radigan, Jim: Buick Performance – A Brief history; not dated. http://www.gnttype.org/general/perfhistory.html

George, Rich: Before Black Website. Last updated 12/30/2001. http://home.flash.net/~rjgeorge/