What got you hooked on TR's, and why.

lifer

Doing new car preps at the local Buick dealer, part of the prep procedure was to fill the cars up with gas and road test them. I was always a V8 fan and was driving my bad a$$ 350 Cutlass.:rolleyes: Well I was road testing a GN, I already liked it, full frame rear wheel drive. I had the cruise control set for 26 mph and was coasting down a hill in this valley, as I was going up the other side the cruise kicked in and the car down shifted. This GN spun the tires with the cruise control and I didn't touch a thing:eek:
After work I was in the sales managers office filling out the order sheet for my T :smile:
Will never sell. :cool:
 
I grew up around big block fords and 351 windsors. Back in 1991 my brother finished building up a 351 for a 69 cougar that I thought was untouchable. He came home one night saying that a V6 buick regal with stickies cleaned his clock. I couldnt believe it and fell in love with them soon afterwards.
 
I have had a ton of cars so far including:
87 442
88 turbo RX7 w/13kmiles
87 Monte SS 560 rwhp
88 monte SS 50K mile Pro Touring
86 GN
3 very low mileage 87 GN's
86 T

and numerous other cars. I just turned 25 and cant believe it. It seems like yesturday I was grabbing my dads shirt from the backseat of his cavalier Z24 and telling him he missed a GN, or a Monte, or a Cutlass, or an RX7 that just passed us going the other way. He sais that I started point out G-Body cars and RX7's since I was 6 years old. It's kind of funny becuase if you look at my list of cars, I guess you could say it effected my future! I think I mostly started loving cars because my Uncle was a senior in High School and I was in kindergarden (which was at the high school), and he brought me to school every day in his 1970 Chevelle SS 454. Needless to say, he was my idle as a kid and I spent many nights with his buddies in my grandparents garage just watching them spin wrenches, drink beer, and spit!! Funny thing is, thats exactly what I love to do now!!! I cant exactly say what spiked my interests in G-Body cars but I have loved them my whole life!
 
My story..

I worked at Lynch Buick in the early 90s and at that time we would still get GNs in for service every once and a while. I always liked the styling and even got to drive a GNX that was brought in for service. That sealed the deal. However it wasnt till a few years ago that I bought an 87 Cutlass with the GN drivetrain that I really got the disease. Now Im outta control, and the wife is about to throw me and my Regal out.;) .
 
TR crazy....

I remember it like it was yesterday. I was young and my father was driving my grandfathers 75 malibu. We were comming from toyrus on metropolitan ave making a turn up 69 street (in queens) and I saw this all black car sitting there. I knew it wasnt a Monte but very similar.. As I got a little older a manager of a restaurant started talking bout cars and got into a car called a GN.. V6 turbo this and that and I was intigued. I explained what I saw years earlier and he confirmed it.. My family has always been a V8 family and I was skeptical of this mighty v6. I started to become a nut for this car; toys articles even race jackets.... My first 2 cars were impalas w sbc. The fastest thing drove was my brothers 66 327 chevelle.... Finally bought an NA regal dreaing of scoring a GN rivtraian.. Sure enough a guy on Li had a drivetrain for sale. checked it out motor nock.. One day I looked in the Ny Daily News and seen an ad for an 86 GN for 3200.00..... Im barely making ends meet and now I see this ad... I went to look at it and I tried to hold my expression but the guy saw it on my face.. I test drove it and shot a load.. I told him I would buy it. I got the $ and when we were transferring everything he had a tear in his eyes and said He only reason why I sold it to you bc I never seen anyone soo xcited about a car....

Ps the v6 is noooo Joke.....
 
i was riding in my friends T, i only had a slight clue about them at the time, was nice then he stopped jsut cruising around and spooled it up. Ive been hook since. I just laughed when he said it was a stock v6
 
TurboDave said:
As I recall, it was mid/late 86, and I was cruising Virginia Beach Blvd 2 years shy of retiring from the Navy and looking for a new ride. After all, my 84 Z28 was already 2 years old ;) At Newtown Rd. in Norfolk/Virginia Beach, happened upon the local Buick dealership with a truck unloading a fresh delivery. On that truck were two black Regals (that's all I knew about them at the time) that really looked cool. The next day I stopped in to snoop, and finally took them up on an offer to test drive one. Well, that's all it took!!!!!! I was hooked!!!!. That one was a stripped down model with few options. I asked to drive the other one which was a completely optioned model with every option They offered back then (except block heater).
For some reason that one was noticeably quicker/faster, and I was even more impressed. So I started the negotiation process. By the time we agreed on a price, the new car sales manager had pulled that car as his personal demo and had all his personal stuff in it.
He had to get all his stuff out of the car so I could take it. :)
One year later (87) I had to take it back for a complete repaint, it had already started "checking".
Had that car ever since, and still have it :biggrin:
180,000 miles now!!
Click to expand...

Did you ever hang out on 8th in VA Beach, with the Buick and Mustang crowd?? Or get out to Suffolk Raceway??
 
1986 I was out and about and in this parking lot was a '86 GN with 4 Navy guys in it. I had heard of the GNs so my bro and I were telling them to light 'em up. He power braked it and it barely peeled.

1987 my sister is a nurse married to a doctor and a year earlier he had bought a brand new '86 Vette with aluminum heads and a 5 speed stick w/OD button. (I told him to get one w/alum heads). This car was pretty fast. One day my sis pulls up in a Brand New '87 Silver T-type Limited with grey leather!

Now I'm not real impressed because of the Navy dudes.(not knowing how to drive) So my sis leaves with her husband in the Vette behind her. They get on the highway and the T flat out walks away from him. :eek:

HOOKED.

Didn't get one til '92. A GN. Drove it and beat the hell out of it everyday for 3 1/2 years and it never let me down. Sold it in 2000. Regretted it. Owned 3 since. :D
 
G body Slutt

My first car was a '79 Malibu, I've since owned a Monte Carlo SS and El Cameno. I've always loved the Gbody's. They got that sporty look to them but yet a very pratical car. The truth of the matter is I wanted a GN long before I ever knew it was a Turbocharged car. I knew they was quick but never knew any of the details. I simply fell in love with the way the car looks:cool: It's a bad ass looking car...exspecaily at night! Anyhow, it took some time to finnaly get to a point where I could aford one as well have a place for it. I ended up buying the T-type since it was cheaper. Dispite it not being a GN, I freaken love my T-type!! I'll get a GN one of these days but for now, I'm having a blast with the T-type:biggrin:
 
It's all my dad's fault:p . He bought an '84 GN new in late '83 (don't have to many recolections of that one), then traded it in on the '87 GN he has now. I remember him & one of my uncles (had a '80's V8 f-bird, & turbo t-bird) racing & my dad beating him all the time. Was always hooked on the all black styling, agressive lines, & lower stance (compared to the Montes), & then there was the power. Better yet, the sound of the power. As a kid they always sounded like a jet plane, & pulled like one too, to me at full song. Heck, I even learned to drive in the '87, & usally it's the car I get to barrow when my vehicles have been down. Been a boost junkie ever since:biggrin: .

The weird thing is, when I bought mine it wasn't even my first choice. I was looking for a '69 Camaro, until I saw the prices that absolute junk:eek: was going for. This was the very thing that had scared me away from the TR's in the past. Every time I would pick up a Auto Trader & skim through it, the few TR's in there would be way out of my price range (at least for a 18-20yr old with a modest job). But after I saw the Camaro prices, it hit me. Why not get what I've always wanted (since my finaces had finally caught up to my dreams). So I spent the next 1 1/2 months looking for one. Been a happy man :biggrin: ever since, well except the 18 months of down time because of the motor:mad: .
 
For me it started when my buddy Mike got a hold of the keys of his pop's brand new 1986 T-Type (silver w/ blackout) and we went out for a night of Mustang hunting. The car had literly 400+ miles and the last words of his pop's mouth before we left the house was "take it easy on her." We ran through a full tank of gas racing everything and anything that would run us; after this I had to have a TR. A few weeks later I was riding my mountain bike up this side street and a GN came rolling up to a stop sign...the driver saw me checking out his ride and got after it as he rolled out spinning the tires like made...I was sold on the GN at this point. I can remember how sinister that car looked and I had to have one. Having graduated high school in 1988 I was not in any financial position to buy a car that new, so I figured I'd own one sooner then later.

Fast foward to 1990-1991 when I was over in Saudi Arabia for Desert Shield/Storm. I was making real good money that was 100% tax free and all of it was going right to the bank. In 6 total months I was over there I only spent ~$20.00 on a few items...I was focused on what I wanted.

During the last week I was in country my buddy sent me a "Deals on Wheels" that I fingered through and found a 1986 GN in Slidell, LA. for an asking price of $9500.00. During my 1 moral call for the week I called the owner and asked him a bunch of questions about the car. He was the original owner, the car had ~49k miles, he hand ordered the car as a lightweight with nearly no options and a divorce forced the sale. I can remember him saying to me "I can barely hear you, you sound like your half way around the world"...I told him I was calling from Saudi and he couldn't believe it. I told this guy Damian that was would be back in the US the next week and would like to come see the GN. Damian told me he would hold the car until then and have all interested parties come on 1 set day and look at the car.

I hitched a ride from some chick in my squadron and went to see the GN at this guys place of work. I was the only person out of 5 that had cash but I only had $8400 and that was it! I made him an offer of this and he passed. I flipped him my number and told him to call if he changed his mind. A few days later he called me back and told me to come by and talk to him. I drove back to Slidell and the deal was sealed. He gave me dealer receipts for everything done to the car...this car was serviced at a local Buick dealer since day #1. I remember him signing over the title and his eyes welling up with tears.

I drove the car back to base and started the modifications to where it ended up 13 years later as a 10 second car; it ran a 15.2X on it's first pass with a peg leg diff. I sold the car to a guy in FL. who kept it for a few years and it went back up for sale. A buddy of mine Bryan found it for sale and let me know. Unfortunately I didn't have the $$$ to buy it back however a buddy of mine that lives in TN. ended up buying the car and offer me first dibs should he decide to sell it.

This car was a hardtop with no power, aluminum bumper supports and drums, and was about the most rust free car I'd ever seen. Right before I sold it I left it out in my driveway on the trailer while I was doing some painting in the garage. That night while I was at work someone tried to steal the car but a $1 toggle switch attached to the fuel pump kept it from being taken. They keyed every body panel front to back out of spite so new paint was in order. I had the car stripped down to the bare metal and a $4000+ paint job went on...it looked amazing when I got it back!!

Sometimes I regret getting rid of that car and maybe one day I'll have it back...hint-hint Shandy? I bought a mint TTA after that car and have since sold the TTA and now own a light blue metalic TR w/ blackout, chrome bumpers, and the navy interior. I actually used to run around with the previous owner of this car and lost contact with him after 12 years or so. This guy called me one day out of the blue and told me this car was for sale. I passed but another buddy of mine bought it and had it sent right to my shop to be worked on...wasn't running right according to Scott. After a week or so of looking at how original this car was I offered to buy it from him and he sold it....the guy never even had the car in his garage.

After I got out of the service I packed my crap, threw the GN on a trailer and headed for Kansas where my family had recently relocated for my pops' job. I can remember my pop coming out to the driveway as I pulled up and him looking at the GN on the back. He asked me if he could take the GN to work for the night which became multiple nights. A week later he said "I have to have one of these, find me one." We searched high and low and drove all over God's green earth trying to find the "right" car for him. We finally found a 1986 GN that was actually a local car that had stayed in the area it's entire life. This GN has also transformed into a wicked ride and will hopefully stay in the family forever. What's crazy is all of the good friends I met because they also had a TR.

That's my story.
 
Walker231T said:
Did you ever hang out on 8th in VA Beach, with the Buick and Mustang crowd?? Or get out to Suffolk Raceway??
Click to expand...

As much as I could!!!!! :D There also was a huge gathering on Military Highway I still have a sign from at home, I'll get back with what they called it when I look at the sign.
Raced Suffolk all the time. Got my butt handed to me by Vic G. and his record setting T-type within weeks of getting my GN and taking it out for the first time.
 
What really got me started on GN's was the day I drove my fathers GNX. My dad had inherited his fathers gn when he died. I always really liked it because it looked awesome and was fast as hell, but I wasnt really in the market for one at that time. Fast forward about a year and my dad has got the GN bug real bad and HAS to have a GNX, so I start looking as does the rest of the family and we locate one in PA. I was stationed in Groton Ct at the time so it was my duty to go and check it out, my mother (the cash holder!) went with me to buy it if we liked it. Well after checking it out and talking to my dad we decided to buy it, I beleive we only paid around $26,000 for it in 2001! What a DEAL huh! Well i got to drive the GNX back to my home in CT and on the way back i called my father and told him i really needed to buy one of these and to help me locate one immediatly. It didnt take long to find one really but I ended up having to drive across the entire state of Pa to western pa to get it at JaysGn (he actually located it for me) and i went on Thanksgiving Day of 2001 and picked it up, what a long ride that was!
 
I have always loved the way the headlights look in my rearview mirror. They are just beautiful. Especially GN's. They are awesome.
 
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