I bumped into this faded glory recently and thought I might share. This is the second Buick Regal I’ve caught in this city, but this one is the genuine article, not some rebadged Century wagon. Even in its country of birth, this would be a true CC-worthy encounter.
On the other hand, this poor Buick could have been a lot better, condition-wise. It’s obviously not in current use, its tyres deflated and its body covered in dust. At least it’s protected from the elements, though it’s in danger of being overtaken by greenery. Such a shame for a turbocharged coupé. The taillights do look odd, but that could be a Japan-specific modification.
Buick T-Type advert, 1984
Truth be told, I was not overly aware of the scarcity of the beast I had caught here, half a world away from its Flint (I guess?) birthplace. We’ve had a look at other T-Types of the era – Riviera, Le Sabre, Skyhawk – and the mid-‘80s G-body Regal has been seen in genuine (as well as faux) Grand National trim, but strangely the Regal T-Type has not had its day on CC as of yet.
There’s a whole NASCAR backstory to the turbo Regals that I’m pretty unfamiliar with, but I do realize it means these Buicks are pretty highly sought after in the US. Didn’t expect that particular Regal-mania to extend all the way across the Pacific Ocean.
Buick Regal T-Type advert, 1983
Confusingly, not all T-Types were turbocharged, but the BOF / RWD Regal definitely was. The Regal T-Type and its Grand National derivative were made from MY 1983 to December 1987; Buick typically sold fewer than 5000 of these per year except for the extended 1987 model year, where they topped 20,000 units. That year also saw the even-spicier GNX and Turbo T variants, where the turbo spec could be mated to the Limited trim, so that last year was really the turbo Regal’s brightest. To add another T-based twist, these turbo T-Types could be ordered with a T-roof. T-rrific.
I have no idea when this one was made, but judging from a quick web photo search, the ‘87s had a painted grille, which this one does not have. There may be some way of telling these apart that I’m not aware of, which will undoubtedly be pointed out in the comments section.
The whole point of these cars was to show that high-performance cars didn’t have to have a V8. GM were successful in this endeavour: sequential fuel injection was added in 1984 and several other improvements (computerized ignition, higher turbocharger RPM) pushed the power output past the 200hp bar in 1985. Further tinkering and an intercooler brought the hp up to 235 by ’87, when the non-Turbo cars were still making do with 110hp. The engine’s displacement and aspiration are heavily advertised all over the place, because bragging rights. Initially, the 3.8 litre V6 could propel the T-Type to 60mph in 8 seconds; lighter and more powerful 1987 Grand Nationals / Turbo Ts / GNXs could bring that down to 6 seconds. Not too shabby for the times, and positively hair-raising for the somewhat geriatric Buick marque.
Inside, things are pretty standard for ‘80s GM, quite toned down. The one exception is the floor gearchange, which I guess was not super common, except on T-Types. The ’86 Pontiac 6000 wagon we had also had one, for some unfathomable reason, but it didn’t look as nice as this one, which seems like it came out of a ‘60s muscle car. The gray mouse fur on the doors of this Buick also looks very familiar to me.
It’s a pity that this Buick is not out and about. Hopefully, someone will resuscitate it, hopefully find some decent wheels and tyres for it and give it a deep clean. Finding dirty cars is almost shocking in this country – even more so when it’s a rare exotic like this one.
Plus it would be nice to be able to properly document this Regal. I couldn’t even take a profile shot of this one, not to mention the rear. There must be some sort of amber turn signals at the back, but I was unable to suss out where (the front ones are pretty obvious). Here’s hoping this T-Type gets the makeover it deserves someday.
Nice find the wheels look original but get rid of the TAs and put decsnt tyres on it that car has good export potential.
Those are not the original wheels, those appear to be Keystone Classics which were waning in popularity by the time these hit the streets.
That’s a great find indeed.
It very much reminds me of my father’s Regal (non turbo). That was a great car in some ways but so horrible in others it was a real disappointment overall 🙁 and the last GM car for our family.
Definitely somebody should pump up the tires and enjoy it !!
I’m surprised that this vehicle has left hand steering, were domestic American cars not refitted with right hand steering? Does this factor have any in the seemingly low number of American vehicles in Japan?
As in most countries, wrong-hand-drive cars are permitted as long as the headlamps are for the correct side of the road (poorly enforced in some places, including Canada). A LHD car is a thing of pride and envy in Japan, even though a correct-hand-drive (RHD) car is safer and more practical.
It was down to being different by driving an imported car. The prestige factor. Rovers and Jags were supplied LHD from New!.
The Japanese are avid collectors of American cars. This one was undoubtedly bought and shipped over there in recent years, and not sold new there.
Nice find! Do the Japanese have the same interest in Buick’s like the Chinese?
I am surprised that this Buick doesn’t have the export taillamps with amber turn signal indicators as they were sold in Europe for a several years.
I bet this car was imported less than 20 years ago, well after those signal lenses were NLA. It might have some kind of add on orange out back.
The Japanese are avid collectors of certain American cars, like this one. This one was undoubtedly bought and shipped over there in recent years, and not sold new there. The odds of it being sold new there is close to zero. In the 1980s, the Japanese were very much not into American cars.
“The odds of it being sold new there is close to zero” LOL.
Notice the amber turn signals. That’s what export versions had. This doesn’t. That’s why I said the chances of it being sold new there was “close to zero”. Plus, these were sold in minute numbers there new. The T Type is a collectible. So even without the tail light issue, I’d still wager that it wasn’t sold there new.
No LOL from me, though.
I love non-black T-type examples! The early two tone these had was surprisingly handsome. Not a fan of the keystone wheels though, they look too much like run of the mill Buick road wheels relatively common on regular trim Regals, needs turbines!
The brochure is interesting, the Riviera is sharp and the dressed up little Skylark with its little road wheels is downright adorable. I’m certain the photo perspectives are way skewed but it does illustrate the confusion of GM lineups back then, in the picture the subcompact J body Skyhawk looks noticeably larger than the Compact X body Skylark. Even with scale adjusted the proportions make it look much smaller.
What oddness are you seeing in the taillights? To me they appear to be standard-issue US-spec items. Oliver has already posted this same pic I’ve got here, of the export-spec tails with the amber turn signals. Those would’ve been on a car sold new in Japan, where amber turn signals are required on ’73 and newer cars. The only lighting mods I see on this apparently US- or Canada-spec car are Japanese outboard headlamps and add-on side turn signal repeaters.
See comment below – taillights are off by a couple years, it seems (assuming the SFI badges reflect what is under the hood).
The grill looks like ’85-’86, but the tail lights look like ’81-’83, so something got replaced over the last 30 years.
It really isn’t unattractive, I have to admit, I much prefer this to the run of the mill Regal that used to be all over the place here. I can’t quite place why, perhaps the hood bump or the non-vinyl top. I think Bobby Allison was the Nascar driver that ran a Regal back then in Miller Beer colors, I may have even built a scale model of it for some reason or another…
Interesting find, I wonder what the reason is for it to have been laid up for what looks like some time now. It does seem like all the cars are clean and then all of a sudden there’ll be one interesting one that has a very thick layer of dust on it inside a parking garage making it stand out all the more.
And speaking of interesting, I’m intrigued by the “Woody” next to it!
I owned a 1978 Buick Regal Turbo Sport Coupe, bought new in the Summer of that year. Worst car I’ve ever owned and the last GM car I’ve purchased. I guess they worked the bugs out by the mid-80s?
The 1984 on up turbo Regals and Riviera’s were indeed the best as sequential injection is what these engines needed from the start along with full computer control and distributor-less ignition. In typical GM fashion they spent all this money updating and modernizing the turbo 3.8 in the RWD Buick line and the NA 3.0/3.8 engines but only in the FWD cars. The RWD vehicles were left with the same basic 3.8 liter 2BBL Buick V6 they had from back in 1977 all the way until 1987!
If they had upgraded to the SFI NA 3.8 V6’s in the G-body line from 1984 on up tied to the 4 speed automatic these would have been much better cars for it instead of just the turbo Regal/Riviera’s.