Buick’s 1978 adoption of turbocharging offered V8 performance and V6 fuel economy and led the industrywide turbo revolution. This all original 1979 Regal Sport Coupe eventually led to the mighty 1987 Regal GNX.
I wouldn't say that without seeing the other side (the bottom)! It's amazing how clean a car can look while the chassis turns into dust, due to regular (quick) washes & salt on the road.
@@Iowa599 Good point. Did you notice how the front split bench seat was pushed up in the middle? That's because the FLOOR PAN IS ROTTEN and conforming to the shape of the ground below. This is an odd example, so clean in some areas yet so very rotten underneath. Thanks for watching and writing. -Steve Magnante
@@SteveMagnante I did not, just expected. i'm a mechanic in the rust belt, and I've seen planty of "sunday drivers that get washed every week" from a mechanics angle. Shiney on top, but leaving a trail after every bump.
@@Iowa599 I understand that the frame could be gone, Well that a Unibody, But everything is fixable, If you seen what my car looked like Believe me its fixable.
I love 80's G-Body cars. I'd be happy to have any of them. Monte Carlo, Grang Prix, Malibu, El Camino, Regal, whatever. But I think the Regal is my favorite.
No doubt the Decision Makers at Trend Motor Backwards say: "He'll never work in this town again" when my name comes up. Hello RU-vid! Thanks for watching and writing. -Steve Magnante
As the long time owner of a mint 16K mile all original 87 Grand National, I truly hope someone gives that cool 79 a second chance at life. That's a cool car!
I worked at a Buick Dealership in the late 80's when the GN & GNX came out. I got to used a GNX for a demo model for two weeks. Needless to say. The Goodyear Gatorback Tires that came on them from the factory cost me $230 per tire to replace on the rear. I took it to the drag strip and won the Hot Street class one weekend. My winnings was just enough to cover the cost of those tires and get me lunch. LOL. That car was a strong runner.
The '87 GNX was an engineer's delight at the time. The Buick guys knew what they were doing. There was FAR more than the "rated" 260 hp from the factory in those cars, LIke Steve said, 360? Either way, they blew the doors off then-current 1987 Corvettes. In bone stock setup. I think they were running 14 psi on the turbo with a very large intercooler. Do you see what they go for today in mint condition? Well into 6 figures.
@@runner3033 Yeah, me too. Leave it Steve Mags for mining every last nugget! Lol. Next thing you know we’ll find out a “Swiss Cheese” Catalina is actually made out of Swiss cheese. 😅
My mom bought a brand new 79 Regal Sport coupe Turbo in 1979. It was light blue on light blue sport interior, sport steering wheel, buckets and console ,T-tops, wire wheels and a sport vinyl half roof. It was absolutely loaded with every option possible. I have to correct you on the AC thing- it had AC with the turbo in 79. My older brothers and I would bag the crap out of that car and it was fast! Many great memories in that beautiful car. It was a real head turner, even after 15 years because we kept it in mint condition and spotless. It died a bad death though- my sister was driving it and a fuel leak started the car on fire in a mall parking lot 😞
I can remember I had a paper rought and one of my customers had one he was always washing it and I remember him showing me the car and I thought it was so cool I miss those days Steve. Katie is such a good dog.
Pace Cars - my old man was living in Indy at the time and bought himself a new Oldsmobile Delta 88 pace car for that year, back in 77. Sharp graphics made that car really stand out.
In 1987 my dad, right after a dump truck pushed the trunk of his 64½ Mustang into the back seat, asked me what he should buy. I told him to go get the GNX that was sitting at the dealer. He asked why and I told him he could daily drive it and then sell it for more than he bought it for at some point. _That will never happen_ he told me...🤣
Hind sight is 20/20, right? I remember in 1980, I was 16 and a local Mopar nut had a 1970 Superbird 440 / 4-speed / Dana for sale at $3,500. I said DAD....Please lend me the money to buy it". Like your Dad, he scolded me with: "cars are meant to be driven from Point A to Point B. NO!" Then again, if Dad did buy me that car my 16 year old mind and resources would NOT have been good to the car. Again, hindsight is 20/20! Thanks for watching and writing. -Steve Magnante
I never knew there were turbo cars in the 70’s. I love this body style & loved my 3.8v6 in my old Lesabre , never let me down & sold it after it had 200k miles. AC repair cost more than the car did. ( bought used ) good motors and it rode so smooth that I drove it long distance without apprehension of a break down.
This is the beginning. I remember seeing these cars on the road when they were new. When I had a Buick in high school I found one of these hoods. Back in the early 90s took a little bit of hunting to find. What a time machine.
Nothing better on a hump day then waking up before work and catching one of Steve's videos! I can only wish they were longer! Between Steve and Katie and lockjaw and hopefully the Red flannel jacket it's like comfort food to start the day! Thank you for the free knowledge! Steve is a national treasure!!!
Friends mom had one, maroon with white interior with buckets and a console with "sport" steering wheel.. great looking car.. somebody needs to drag this one out and put it back on the road !!
Back in the early 80s a young coworker had a turbo Regal Sport Coupe. He decided to pull out that perfectly good running engine and put in a 350 V8 because he wanted to go (ahem...) "faster". Then, he gave me the 3.8 ....for free. Yeah, he was one smart cookie (insert rolling eyes emoji here ---> ). So, he ends up with a dog of a car. I send the Buick V6 out, give it the Jim Ruggles and MacFarland treatment and I lived happily ever after. The end of another glory days story...thank you Bruce Springsteen.
Mr. B. Here ! Morning to all ! ☕️🥐☕️ these vehicles were nice to drive ! A bit of a pain to work on , miss those G body’s. Thanks Steve taken us back in time !
Nah, there's nothing that's really hard to do on these. The emissions under the hood scared some because they were new at the time and could be pesky in the wrong hands.
@@googleusergp Mr. B. Here ! You miss what I said , Emissions was not head aches 😫 ! I worked on them when they were new B.O.P if you were tech your hands 🙌 and tools 🧰🔧🛠️🪛 had a hard time in the engine compartment that never chained , they are still a pain to work on ! ☕️☕️☕️
@@debbiebermudez5890 Nah. I owned several 231 V6 engines and parted out plenty of them in the day. Not hard to work on. You have to work smarter, not harder.
@@googleusergp 😂😂😂 I was trained by GM at the time and they ( they ) toll us GM trained these technicians who were making a living, ( New ) product is not the same as product that has history, the unknowns on (New) is not the same . Over time you get information to improve. One more thing guys in age group work on last of ( Points) vehicles and start of the computer 🖥️ systems today , we had 12 circuits then today well over 500 circuits ! ( Keep it simple s#### ) was the way we would think 🤔.
Back in 1978, my buddy and I went to the Buick dealer and test drove a Turbo Regal. Both of us were Corvair fanatics, so we had already dealt with turbos a lot. The test drive was amazing! The car was fast, smooth, and quiet, with instantaneous response from the Turbo350 trans. We weren't actually interested in buying one at the time, but I kinda wish I had. Side note: in the late 90's I bought a Corvair that had this engine installed midships. Sadly, it was a total restoration candidate. I got it running only to find that the turbo was shot. And it was missing the electronic control box. I ended up selling it at a monster loss, but was just glad to get rid of it. Sigh...
I had a high school buddy who's hot mom drove one of these cars back in the early 80s and it was definitely an eye catcher, especially with her in it. 😂
I had a Buick Regal just like that one. It came with one of those V6 engines that you were lucky to get 50,000 miles out of. My local junkyard set me up with a Chevy 350 engine and a turbo-350 transmission, and a radiator to match. Front springs are coils, so they also supplied the springs to support the weight. They knew what fit, and what worked, They dropped everything in my driveway for $450 in 1987. I fkn loved that car. Drove it for years in the late 80's and early 90's. It was pretty zippy with just a Rochester quadrajet.
I'm Australian but I always enjoy watching your junkyard tours. The glovebox series is going to be eye opening. It's a shame that a lot of the ephemera in those glove boxes will be weather damaged. Love this car. Definitely saveable.
I had a 79 and 82 T Type Regals back in the days. Picked both up as fixer uppers, the 1982 was a really nice cruising car. the 79 was for the girlfriend to drive because her Mustang was always giving her fits, she bought a junker LOL. Not bagging Mustang people. The Regal was a extremely nice driving and running car for I guess what you call midsize cars. I never had issues with the early carb/turbo set up. Yes, the were not bad to the bone Grand Nationals but still fun to own. Nice basic drivers. with typical Buick comfort.
i dont watch tv. But i do watch U-tube & Steves channel i watch far more than any other except Doug Demuros channel & Rare & classic cars is a great channel. Yes i like cars. i like anything with an engine whether it be electric or internal combustion. Hello everybody!!✌️
dad went from a morris minor to several vw bugs to a 65, then 72 polara. then it was demonstrator 78 century lo option 305 2bbl car. when he went on to a pontiac 6000, i got the century and drove the snot out of it, but it gave good service the whole time. sold to a young family man. i bet it lasted awhile.
I had a 79' Turbo 4bbl Sport Coupe Burgundy great power & handling, bought in in 93' kept for 3 yrs sold to a bud that wanted it bad, and I think he still has it
14:13 I owned an '83 while I was going to college in the early '00s. That blank square on the right is for the optional clock in case anyone was wondering. I managed to find one in a junkyard and installed it on my car. After spraying some WD-40 in the components, it ticked! THANKS SO MUCH for talking about the Regal!
Hi Steve Straight from Google....Buick had stated its goal was to build the fast GM production car and “to create a limited-production Buick Grand National that achieves a memorable place in the history of high-performance automobiles, one that car collectors will want to own and that automotive writers will never forget.” McLaren and ASC got to work ... That car needs rescuing i wish i was there to do it. I thank you for raising my interest in car kits again and to this end and a little off your spectrum i have just purchased a vintage 1965 Pyro kit of a 1932 Lincoln KB dual cowl phaeton. Since following your channel i have purchased 3 FROG kits made in the UK in the early 1960's, one kit made in Ukraine (Donetsk) which is where FROG sold the moulds to. Although these kits are examples of 1960's British cars, FROG stands for Flies Right Off the Ground (the company began making model aeroplanes). I am well into obtaining AMT and Revell kits too now! All the best Nick Jervis UK 🇬🇧
I had a `78 Le Sabre Sport Coupe w/4bbl Turbo. By 1980 the Buick Turbo V6 including hood bulge was available in Chevy Malibu and El Camino. 1975-76 Buick V6 was still odd fire. They used a V8 HEI distributor and cap but eliminated two plug wires. Under the cap the terminal was extended radially to pickup the spark at the right time. Most Pace Cars came with 350 Buick Engines. Regals with the 301 Pontiac engine used an aluminum radiator support which was a popular swap to shave a few lbs. The original Grand National in '83 or '84 used a normally aspirated 252 cid V6.
My dad had a 79 Eldorado that was constantly in the shop. On one occasion the dealer gave hime a turbo Monte Carlo as a loaner. I drove it and was pretty impressed with it's power.
In around 86 I purchased a 78 Regal Ltd with Chev 305 2 Barrel. It was babied by the original owner and was a very strong car. That little beast would consistently snap 2nd gear rubber at around 55 Mph! It handled and drove amazing ly well now that I think about it - I liked that one the most of the 78 - 84 G / A body cars of the era, I owned several.
@gt-37guy6 The 305 is really nothing to brag about, but I'm a cruiser, so it does me just fine, lol. The 2 that's not all original, I put crate 350's in'em. But still, I don't race, but it's good to have some get up and go. I love the Grand Prix of that era also.
Steve, I want to thank you for my interest in old vehicles. I watched a program years ago where you refurbished a 62 Thunderbird in your driveway. I wish that I had that program saved. Thanks again for your enthusiasm and passion for older vehicles.
I still remember those Buick regal V6 turbos , from the mid 70 s . Then the GM metrics in 78 . Odd , that one is still there 🤔 Cool too see one , complete intact . Rare treat , indeed . Love seeing Katie 💖🐶
It is a private collection/junkyard. Buck V6 is the most produced/ popular engine at 27,000,000 made 1961-2009 ending with the 1 st generation LaCrosse 231ci
I was an 2nd owner of an 78 turbo regal..great car..it also had the tuned suspension that would take banked curves with out holding the wheel..rhe best rhing was the power..an to see the turbo lights activate when hard on the gas
When the kids were little, our family car was a '79 Regal for about 6 years (it was about 7 years old when we got it). Soooooooo comfortable, quiet and great on the road, with the 301 V8. Decent economy too, we traveled many trips over the Continental Divide through the Rockies on vacation. NEVER any problems, only regular maintenance items. Had 165,000 miles on the clock when we sold it. Excellent car!!!
@@vannjunkin8041 Excellent engine! Ran great, plenty of power, good mpg, and like you said, bullet proof basic design. Unlike today's cars that yes, run good, but are so complicated with overhead cams, variable valve timing, so much electronic crap, it's ridiculous. A timing chain job on my daughter's Infinity V8 recently was $2,860.00, with the dual overhead cams and crap. It's just stupid. A timing chain on that Grand Prix 301 V8 could have been done for maybe a $100 tops.
Ah yes! What I remember about these cars! The rear sections of the frame rotted away in the rust belt, the integral oil pump built into the aluminum timing cover would wear and oil pressure would drop. GM held the rear wheel cylinders in place with a metal clip. The clip would rust and the wheel cylinder would come loose and lock up the brakes. (The replacements bolted in.)
I remember all those problems also, they had a campaign to put clamps on the wheel cylinders what were they thinking i don't remember them ever bolting in though, i use to just replace the wheel cylinder and backing plates they had redesigned wheel cylinders with a bracket that rested against the axle tube
@@michaelstrafello7346 Yes, you're right, the retaining brackets had to be added and THEY bolted in, after drilling the backing plates for the holes. Besides GM maybe Raybestos made clamps also? Here in the rust belt these cars are long gone. But if any one owns this era of GM cars, please check to see if your rear wheel cylinders are loose!
I remember in the early 1980's there was a lot of talk ' even in HOT ROD magazine and others ' about how street rodders were going to forget about their beloved V8's ' and the powerplants of choice going forward were going to be Buick and Chevy V6's ' that didnt really work out did it?. Having said that I've got a car (2001 Commodore)that has the later fuel injected Buick V6' and I'm very impressed with it 'plenty of power ' runs like a swiss watch ' easy on fuel' it's in the league of a slant 6.
Remember how hard Pontiac tried to push its Iron Duke / Super Duty four banger parts and race programs in the 1980's? As if it was "The Next Big Thing". I fell for it and really figured the party was over by 1985. Then along comes the TPI 350, Ford 5.0 H.O. EFI, Chrysler Magnum series small blocks and these led to the LS1, Ford Mod V8, Gen III Hemi and all of the great V8's that grew out of them. I don't dislike electric cars but can't help but believe there's a similar batch of HYPE behind the so-called electric car revolution happening. I think HISTORY will show electric cars to become just another leg under the table and NOT the whole table. And lets not forget...the words Edsel and Electric Car both begin with the letter "E". Electrics could just as easily turn out to be A Great Blunder of Edsel proportions. Just sayin'. Thanks for watching and writing. -Steve Magnante
@@SteveMagnante I have no knowledge of those super duty pontiac fours ' but It doesnt sound very appealing . The original muscle car's were frowned upon because they had maybe 425 horsepower and then later on they're more like 700 to 900 ish and nobody has an issue with it ??? All this stuff about going entirely electric with cars is wearing really thin with me 'to say the least ' it's unviable for a whole lot of reasons that I'm sure you will be aware of .The crazies obviously want ordinary citizens to give up their fuel vehicles for the sake of cutting emissions ' but they know that there are still going to be jet planes (and ships etc ) burning mega tons of fuel worldwide 24/7' because there is no alternative. Rather than worry about the world using fossil fuels ' anybody who appreciates the benefits of modern civilization should have a think about the dire situation w'ed be in if (or when) we ever run out of fossil fuels .I heard Mr Trump say the other day that if he's elected he'll see to it that Americans can drive whatever vehicle makes them happy .👍👍👍
i used to work in a salvage yard and we got at least 100 calls a day for rear frame rails . They rotted out left and right . Regals , Cutlass , Monte Carlo , Grand Prix all the same .
Hi Steve Hope Your getting Better, Let me tell you what I did with That same turbo set up from a Buick , I put it on my engine stand with a 4 bolt main 350, Modified manifold mount to take the small pipe from the Buick Manifold, Long story short, I was banging 21 pounds of Boost into my motor,, The motor was about 300 hp my engine builder figured motor was making 450-500 hp, I was blown away when I seen the boost gauge showing 21 Pounds from that little Turbo, I sold that setup to a rat rodder who put it on a 41 ford with straight 6 it was and is to day ,making 15 pounds, That turbo was making 11 pounds in the Buick it came off of.The engine Builder came to my house to pickup His 650 double pumper I just rebuilt, and seen the motor with turbo, said he would have never believed it if not seen it for him self. well Thought you would like to hear this story. Get well Steve.
Almost picked this instead I went with the 84 cutlass which I still have yah I've protected this car for 32 years lmao 🤣 and those movable grills work lol
I am always torn on which iteration of this car I like better - the styling on all four (C, P, O, B) was so attractive over the years that it’s hard to choose a favorite!
I love Buicks…low key bad ass rides.. I had a 65 2door LeSabre.. 300 ci aluminum heads.. always thirsty for octane booster.. my daughter is on her 2nd LeSabre.. and I’m on the lookout for a 1964 4door post. My dad had a 68 special..Buicks are cool!! ( btw.. I think jimmy hoffa is buried under the 50 yard line on a football field in New Jersey.🙄)
