Hi Everybody and happy 4th omg I got a story for y’all.

87WE4!!

Active Member
Joined
Jul 2, 2018
Hello Men and Women out there,
My name is William but I prefer to be called bill. I’m new to this forum but I’m the owner of 2 Regals. One being a used beater 86 Grand National that is a work in process that is me mod and fool around with car. But someday guys,,,,someday I’m gunna finish this car into a fast (I’d be happy with 9.9 seconds) 1/4 mike track car.
My other Regal being a very special car to me. Which is a 1987 WE4 Blackout that I purchased brand new off the dealer floor when I was only 17 years old. Which I was my very first car and I never did anything to like mods or anything and only managed to rack on 59k miles before I stuck it in my sisters garage on Long Island ny back in 1998 when she bought a house. My family and I grew up in Brooklyn New York where all of our parking was done on the street. So unfortunately from day one my Turbo T was exposed to weather but I was smart enough to keep it under a cover and one of my neighbors in the house down the street used to let me store it in his garage during the winter months because he and his wife were “Snowbirds” so I had access to his garage when he was in Florida every year. So as or right now the car has some very minor surface rust on the hood and roof. Absolutely zero rot on the frame, floorboards, trunk, or body panels with the exception of a 1” bubble on the passenger side door. So anyway I think I was pretty lucky considering what I’ve seen out there when I was shopping for my other GN.
So anyway to have this story make sense I’m gunna have to backtrack to my wild angry because I lost my dad as a child teenage years. I was a wise ass little POS who was very disrespectful to my mom. I got into so many fights that nyc shipped me off to automotive HS in Greenpoint Brooklyn (almost a 2 hour commute yea right. I was ready to drop out which was exactly what they wanted me to do). So I was 17 and I did have my regular unrestricted drivers license because I completed drivers ED through high school so I was Eligible for a regular drivers license at eligible for regular drivers license at 17. I was working part time in waldbaums supermarket and saving up for a cheap 82-83 Regal that I was gunna sand by hand and spray paint black and make it look like my dream car which was none other then a Grand National I didn’t care what year it was hot air/cold air I honestly didn’t care. It was that body and that power 6 symbol OMG I used to dream about having it. While most kids my age were talking about Corvettes and Lamborghinis my dream car was a Buick lol.
So my mom made me an offer that I still to this day cannot believe happened. My sister and I talk about this all the time. My mom (who wasn’t rich she was a nyc worker civil servant for 30 years behind a desk) offered to lend me the money that I needed in cash to purchase my dream car. If I agreed to finish HS at automotive (I had one year left). And agreed to accept monthly payments without a dime of interest and no lien, no promise to pay her document just my word was all she wanted. So we went to a few dealerships on Long Island and in February of 1987 they said they were sold out of Grand Nationals and they weren’t being produced anymore and tried talking me into a N/A Regal so I left in disgust. Now that I look back. How the hell did Buick sell all 27 thousand grand Nationals by February of 1987? I felt something wasn’t right. Well I still stuck to my deal because my word is all I got. Someone’s word in my book is better then their credit score. So we waited and gave all the dealers our phone number Incase one floats in as a trade or anything.
February 26th 1987 we get a call from one of the dealers in Hempstead NY asking us to come any take a look at this “T” I wasn’t having it. If I was going into the biggest commitment of my life at the time then I wanted the car I wanted which was the Grand National but we took a ride out there anyway. We get there and there it was my grand national without the badges (from a distance that’s how it looked) and the dealer explained how it’s not an actual grand national, it’s a “Turbo T” WE4 blackout package which I had no idea what that meant. I do now but had no clue back then. But I looked at that engine and was like SOLD!!!! Turns out someone ordered it and had to back out at the last minute. Not because I was only 17 my mom had to be listed on the bill of sale and was “supposed” to be the one the car was titled to but I caught a break they titled it to me because my mom told them that I am paying for it. They said it may not go though but it did and the car was titled to me. Honestly I think it was titled to my dad who shares the same exact name as me. So the next day I drive my 87 WE4 home still having no idea how rare it really was.
This car actually saved my life and brought my mom and myself much closer together because she actually gave me a huge loan and let me pay it off without being a lein holder or co owner. No paperwork just trust that I honestly didn’t deserve from her. Now even tho this was only a loan from mommy. I literally treated it like it was a real car note. I paid this monthly payment back because my rent was paid that month. I graduated from HS became very good with cars from what I learned at automotive HS. Went to a private anger management therapist ditched then drug dealer friends I grew up with and went to Kingsborough community college and studied Broadcasting communications and radio personalities. If anyone is from any area in south Brooklyn Ny and ever listened to 90.9 FM ,B91 (the rhythm of the city) sone of the Freestyle music from the late 80s early 90s was me on the turntables. So after I graduated I was hired to start the nyc transit police academy (back when transit police had their own agency and academy on Gold st in Brooklyn). I worked as a transit police officer for 2 years. It really wasn’t for me. For most cops it’s a lifestyle. For me it was just 8 hours of my life to pay my bills. I never carried a gun off duty. I left all of that at work in my locker. After 2 years I rolled over to FDNY to start probie school to be a firefighter where I did the remaining years of my career unitl my retirement after 22 years of service. After I retired I moved to Florida to try to enjoy my life a little.
I left out. Unfortunately in 1997 my beautiful mom passed away at the age of 56 from an unexpected heart attack. Needless to say I was crushed. By then I knew everything about my car. I knew what it was worth and how rare it is. After she died it wasn’t the same anymore. Even tho I finished paying her back in 1992 she always loved to ride in it. She was always amazed how a 6 cylinder could make evough power the literally slam her into her seat. Long story short I couldn’t drive it anymore. I couldn’t even look at it anymore without crying for 20 years I felt like riding knowing she couldn’t anymore wasn’t right. And get this my mom was very big on documents. I was about to throw the window sticker away. My mother stopped me and said she wanted it. Every oil change, service, tires, warranty recalls, she wanted everything made from paper that came with the car. I had no idea why over the years nor did I care. After she passes away my sister and I were cleaning out her desk and she had a file cabinet. And my sister pulled out this big huge bible size folder. Guys/Girls I kid you not she kept everything made of paper that I ever got with this car. From the bill of sale, window sticker, receipt for the warranty, pre delivery inspection paperwork, warranty booklet, savings coupon checkbook that I used for oil changes, even the thank you letter from Buick. She literally added value to my car If I ever wanted to sell it.
So my sister is getting ready to retire and move down to Florida so she was like “what do you want to do with your car?” And I was like I don’t know. I always feel like that car changed my life or even saved my life because of the path I was headed as a kid. So she shipped it to me in Florida so it sat in my garage till I was like “mom wouldn’t want this car to just sit and rot away” so I decided to bring it back to car show condition and be proud to own it. So I bought a brand new gas tank,walbro fuel pump, front bumper fillers, and 4 new tires. I’m not interested in cleaning gasoline from 1997 so I will just figure out a was to recycle or dispose of the tank and pump. I will need the sender. I will replace all of that as well as a full spring cleaning and go from there. As far as paint I’m not sure who I’m gunna give that job to. I really don’t know anyone in Florida who is known for painting GNs. Mechanic work I can do myself. Also a few years after I got it I got rear ended and the body shop replaced the entire trunk lid even tho the trunk was only creased and nothing else was damaged except one tail light assembly. So they replaced it with some aftermarket lid and didn’t transfer my RPO sticker over and to be honest until about a year or 2 ago I had no idea what an RPO sticker was. As or right now the only proof I have that it’s a Genuine WE4 is the original (not a copy) window sakes sticker. And the build and broadcast sheets. So I know all the codes that belong there. I just need to find someone who is willing to make me one. I did the whole calling a dealer thing and got nowhere.
 
Well I definitely thank all of you for reading about me and my story. It’s still close to the date that we lost hey June 4,1997. But hey I promised a joke and you will laugh your ass off after you hear this.
So since I’m the only owner I still have the original title from 1987 that says “new” on it. And it has strong sentimental value as does the entire car and all the documents she saved for me. So I needed to surrender that title to Florida tag office along with proof that a police officer verified the vin number and mileage Which I already had. So July 3rd was the day I transferred everything over to Florida and get my Antique license plate. So I stopped my office max print shop because I wanted a nice laminated color copy of MY TITLE or MY CAR that has MY NAME as the owner of the car since February of 1987. So I told the man at the counter exactly what I wanted and handed him my title. He was like “wow, we can’t copy this for you that’s illegal” so he checks with his supervisor I’m guessing and comes back like “no, you can copy anything but that” and I’m like “but this is me!!!!” So he walked away. So I went over to the self service machine and made my own copies. Came out beautifully. This was before all that watermark stuff was added to titles. Do you know they called the police on me saying I was using their copy machine to counterfeit. So when I went to pay they were like “we won’t accept money for illegal activities but you can tell it all to the police when they get here” and I was like “how do you know what I was copying? Were you spying on my personal documents with your security cameras?” The manager said “you’re in my house and you have no right to privacy” which if I remember from criminal law and social science at the police academy that they aren’t allowed to examine exactly what personal documents you are copying but hey this is Florida and that was NY back in 1995. So anybody who knows me knows that I never run from anything of anyone so I sit outside for an hour until the cops arrived. It just so happened that they met me first and I already know how to speak to police officers when the first encounter you and how to make them comfortable with you. So I told them what happened and they both laughed out loud and while one went inside to speak with the manager the other one was telling me about some kind of G body club thats I’m orlando I think he said. So anyway the manager is following the other cop outside yelling at him how what I did was illegal. And both officers had about enough of him and started screaming at him and was about to arrest him for abuse of the 911 emergency service. So it was a fun day. I got my copies before unfortunately I had to give up that title for a new Florida title and new registration. So I do apologize for the long story but I thought the end was funny.
But the truth is this WE4 really means a lot to me and my wife and I am ready to put whatever it takes to get it show car condition or at least like it was when I bought it. I will post pics when I at least get it in halfway decent shape

Rip mom 1940-1997 I’m sorry for the way I treated you growing up.
 
Great story!!!! I believe if you contact Dennis Kirban at Kirbans Performance, he will be able to steer you into the right direction to get a replacement RPO sticker.
Hope you can find a worthy painter to bring her back to life, Shop, investigate, and search, do not settle for anything less the Perfect painter!!!!!!
Good luck, welcome to the board, and back to the “Darkside”
Hope to see some pics when you get her repainted!!!!!
 
Great story. When I bought my 1990 GT a couple of years my tag office made me a copy of the original title. I bought it from my coworker who bought it new. They had no issue at all.
 
Honestly I’m sure my tag office would have done the same thing for me. But I figured I’d make a nice color copy front and back (which I did) and have it laminated.
I didn’t know if that had color copiers at my tag office.
The funny part is the police was about to arrest the store manager for disorderly conduct and making a false 911 call for a non emergency situation. Because he was taking cheap shots at my weight problem which isn’t my fault I’m on Beta blockers and opioid pain medication from a injury I sustained in the collapse of the south tower on 9/11/01. I didn’t know I was injured and kept working till January by then hip surgery wasn’t an option anymore so I’ve been on pain medication and working inside unitl I retired. Sorry I got side tracked. Both medications make me hungry as hell.
And he was using profanity within 20 feet of children. He was literally about to be cuffed. And he called the police. It was really funny.
 
I really enjoyed your story!!! Great to hear you held on to your WE4. Its well worth bring it up to showroom condition & keep enjoying it for many more years to come.
On Dec 12 1986 I was 15 when picking options at the Buick dealership ;)
 
Really good story and I'm glad you'r still loving your mother's present and hope you cherish the we4 forever. Real bummer you didn't know about the rpo but then again you never going to sell it or it doesn't matter to you. Your mom's sitting back thinking how lucky she was to have changed your future.
 
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