What Inspired You to Buy Your Turbo Buick ??

[1952ray]

This was easy for me, everyone and grandma too was buying Monte’s — oh it’s got a V8, well just kiss my ass. We all were big time NASCAR fans. So I’m the only one that got a Buick GN,And guess what none of my Monte friends could catch me to even try to kiss my ass

 

[salvageV6]

My 1969 GS400, I already knew Buicks were fast.

And of course all the Kenne Bell catalogs and magazine articles I had to read....

Only bought one brand new car in my life and it was my WE4.

Don't plan on buying anything else new, because there's nothing even close to that experience out there now.

 

[Safsbay]

Was living in L.A. in 1987 and a friend bought one. I had a '79 Trans Am which I "thought" was fast. We raced in Hollywood one night and of course it was no contest.

He then handed me the keys and said "take it for a spin." When I saw the spooling light bar driving at night and felt the rush, I was sold. My father always had Buicks so this seemed like the perfect car for me.

In 1992 I bought one from a dealership in North Hollywood with 19k miles for $13,000. Bone stock. Had it for 9 years and showed it often in L.A. - many GM shows and Buick Club shows...many trophies. Lots of cruise nights at Bob's Big Boy in Burbank. Also involved with BGNRA for a time.

Regret selling it but had to and it went to Kirban after I had shipped it east when I moved to PA in 2001. I WILL own another!

 

[dsa87gn]

Was first driving when GNs first hit the scene. Loved them but could no way afford it.
Took out a loan in '91 and got mine that I still have. Really couldn't afford it then either.

Boring story, no real inspiration, always liked the GBody cars in general. Had a 77 Cutlass Supreme, 80 & 85 Grand Prix all V8's.
None of them hold a candle to the GN.

 

[Marty Fairchild]

Buddy had a '70 GS455 convrt' back in early mid. '70's.
Gave my '70 Olds 442 fits!
Knew about turbo's and what they could do.
Started watching Buick turbo their little v6.
Built a n/a 231' odd Fire around '80/'81 with fun results.
Read in Hot Rod mag. what Buick was up to fall '85.
What I did is in my sig. ( see below ).
Late '80's into the '90's as you guy's well know, the car was an apex predator.
Have to be a little more careful now,modern muscle has upped their game!
Still get the opportunity to educate the uninformed from time to time.
The slack jawed wide eyed look of disbelief is still the same,only the cars have changed!

 

[John Larkin]

My first ride was in Detroit in 1991. Work buddy had owned several and took me for a ride. I remember the turbo lag and then it hit and hooked. Really put me back in the seat. At the time I was more fixated on classic Pontiacs. Finally got bored after redo-ing an El Camino as a Pontiac Grand Am, sold that, and called him to ask advice on buying a GN. He said he had two and might sell one as he needed some money. I flew up there, drove the car and asked for a little time to get the funds together. In a strange set of events he became more and more desperate to sell it to me and kept dropping the price even as I said ok to each drop. So I sent him 50%, he shipped the car to me, and I sent the other half upon receipt. This was December 1999. It needed a little cosmetic work but it was solid. Found this board somehow in early 2000 and with the help of many people and (good) friends through the years I still enjoy owning, modding and driving it. Every now and then I get a hankering for a Syclone or a TTA but I know I would regret selling the GN. I found out 5 years ago the guy I bought it from passed away due to alcoholism. That explained the single serving wine bottle I found under the driver seat when I got the car.

 

[detaildave]

When I was 20 yrs old ,we had a Buick Dealer here in Las Vegas,the entire front line was all Buick GN'S.I was caught by the sinister look of the GN, of course I couldn't afford one ,but always wanted one,well in 1991 I stopped into a body shop,and was talking with the owner, he was showing me some pictures of some classic cars he had,and in the background of one of the pictures was a GN,I said I've always wanted one of those .He said it has 234 miles on it and he would let if go for 10k, at that point I had a little bit of money ,so I went out and took it for a drive.I was hooked .so I bought it .it was my daily driver until 1998 ,with 34k on the clock.I hada guy make me an offer of 17k so I sold it.Being a Die Hard Chevy guy ,I had my eye on a 87 Monte SS,so I bought that.a couple years had passed and I had worked on the MC SS ,got it to my liking ,howvery it just didn't have the power and ride of the GN .So I started looking for another GN .I found one at a tow auction, and picked it up for 2200.This was a T TOP,I restored the car over the course of 2 yrs and after investing close to 20k ,it turned out beautiful. I drive her on weekends however it's only got 1600 miles on it after a frame off. I Love the car and have had numerous offers in the range of 40k but I just can't bring myself to sell it .Everytime I drive it ,it's like the first time.People are drawn to these at car shows and the constant compliments,on the car .this car is a icon,it's part of me I cannot find myself parting with it .

 

[TurboTGuy]

When I was 20 yrs old ,we had a Buick Dealer here in Las Vegas,the entire front line was all Buick GN'S.

Nice looking car! Was that dealer in Las Vegas Warthen Buick on Sahara?

 

[Chuck Leeper]

Excessive funds in my retirement acct.....

 

[stage1gn]

It was 1987 in high school , saw a magazine with the GN , fell in love with the blacked out look ( not yet knowing the potential of them ) and knew had to have one . We used to hang out on weekends , drove by the Buick dealer to see a row of GN's lined up ( looked awesome !, and a GNX in the front window of showroom !!!!!) , but only wished as in high school you could not afford one . 1992 bought my 87 GN , T-top loaded car with 49k on it , still have it today 83k on it now . GNX my ultimate dream , but very far out of reach for me .
Had an 87 T in 97-98 , sold it . 2012 got the itch for a TTA , so picked up a 15k mile orig one . Same year found a truly time capsule brand new 1,400 orig mile T-top loaded GN twin to my orig one ,since I could not buy one new , decided this was the next best thing , bought it and never really drove it .
2015 rolls around , the TTA was nice , had my fun with it , sold it . The 1,400 mile GN , pretty much you're not going to drive a car like that , had my fun owning it , sold it . Sold these to obtain my bucket list , a real GNX .
April 2015 bought a 13k mile GNX , one owned by TurboLou , # 176 . Couldn't be happier with it , perfect miles , low enough to be a nice clean orig , but not to low where you are scared to drive it . As far as TB's now , I'm all set . Forgot to mention in 2003 was extremely close to buying GNX 219 , 9k miles on it . Kicked myself for years for not buying it after the prices soared from 2005 on up !!!!

 

[TR Custom Parts]

This pic was my inspiration to buy a GN but didn't happen until about 17 years after this was taken. My 66 Chevelle at the Car Craft Street Machine Nationals East when they had it at Englishtown NJ track in I believe 1988. All of us muscle car owners were pissed because these brand new modern muscle cars with a puny V-6 were beating up on our big block cars. In my memory I did win this race. After this I tubbed the Chevelle, changed the color and went with a supercharged 454 instead of the 427 tunnel ram with nitrous I had when it was red.

Years passed and with a baby on the way I had visions of going to car shows and cruises with a baby but the Chevelle had no back seat, just a roll cage. Didn't feel like going thru the car again and did not feel like building another car so wanted to pick up something fast but with all the creature comforts and thought back to the day in the pic. A GN it was going to be. Found mine ironically at a swap meet at Englishtown! 4700 miles for $17K in 1995. Have had it ever since.

 

[ChrisChow]

Generally been in the GM family. We had a 74 lemans with a 350, then an 81 Coupe deVille, an 84 5 liter HO trans Am. No freakin internet so
I had Car and Driver magazine to follow. Not happy with the fact that the 84 Mustang was generally the quickest on the street in stock format. The ta had 3.73 gears and factory cold air kit and still couldn’t take out the stang. Was going to add a quadrajet nos plate and then an C and D issue came out titled “Speed is a gunslinger in Black”. Knowing Buick is second to Cadillac in GMs pecking order, I knew this would be a reliable and quick street car. We kept an eye out for an 86 model but when the 87 models came out it seemed to look cleaner with the lack of chrome on the grill. We shopped around the Bay Area dealers and the lay were all asking for msrp or over. Two took us for a test drive and we were hooked. It would be just a meat fed of when. The white turbo T with blackout trim and the sunlight gently lighting up my dad with T tops is an image I will never forget. It was Herrera Buick in SF on Geary street in May of 1987 where we met up with Alberto Palacios. This dealership had three floors of new cars and took up 1/2 a city block. So we saw a few on the ground floor when he said to feel free and go up there the private garage where we should be able to find something we like. We were floored with a sea of turbo Ts and GNs. Must have been 50 or so. Including turbos in Limiteds with cornering lights and opera lamps. All were unlocked so we had a pick of the litter. We settled on a max- optioned we-4 with ttops and the msrp was in the 18 to 19 k range. It had every option except for the engine heater. I will post the trunk sticker. He let us take it and it for a test drive in SF we racked up 30 miles) and we fell in love with it. We concurred on a deal and sent many Mustangs to the glue factory since then. I’ve owned as many as two GN’s and three turbo Ts. I still have one to this day.


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[detaildave]

Nice looking car! Was that dealer in Las Vegas Warthen Buick on Sahara?

Yes .when they closed I bought every possible GN part on the shelves

 

[ChrisChow]

Generally been in the GM family. We had a 74 lemans with a 350, then an 81 Coupe deVille, an 84 5 liter HO trans Am. No freakin internet so
I had Car and Driver magazine to follow. Not happy with the fact that the 84 Mustang was generally the quickest on the street in stock format. The ta had 3.73 gears and factory cold air kit and still couldn’t take out the stang. Was going to add a quadrajet nos plate and then an C and D issue came out titled “Speed is a gunslinger in Black”. Knowing Buick is second to Cadillac in GMs pecking order, I knew this would be a reliable and quick street car. We kept an eye out for an 86 model but when the 87 models came out it seemed to look cleaner with the lack of chrome on the grill. We shopped around the Bay Area dealers and the lay were all asking for msrp or over. Two took us for a test drive and we were hooked. It would be just a meat fed of when. The white turbo T with blackout trim and the sunlight gently lighting up my dad with T tops is an image I will never forget. It was Herrera Buick in SF on Geary street in May of 1987 where we met up with Alberto Palacios. This dealership had three floors of new cars and took up 1/2 a city block. So we saw a few on the ground floor when he said to feel free and go up there the private garage where we should be able to find something we like. We were floored with a sea of turbo Ts and GNs. Must have been 50 or so. Including turbos in Limiteds with cornering lights and opera lamps. All were unlocked so we had a pick of the litter. We settled on a max- optioned we-4 with ttops and the msrp was in the 18 to 19 k range. It had every option except for the engine heater. I will post the trunk sticker. He let us take it and it for a test drive in SF we racked up 30 miles) and we fell in love with it. We concurred on a deal and sent many Mustangs to the glue factory since then. I’ve owned as many as two GN’s and three turbo Ts. I still have one to this day.


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[dank GN]

Well I was discussing cars with a co worker . I was looking at the syclone,the typhoon and a Evo . Then I went to this local auto fair and saw the car of my dreams lol jk . There it was a 87 GN with 68,000 miles on her . This was 10 years ago . I bought it for $ 6,800 and have been addicted/obsessed with them ever since . It’s the whole thing of being different. When u go to a car show u will see muiltable Camaros and mustangs but never see a GN unless you are there with your Buick buddies.

 

[SpeedRacerX]

Well I was discussing cars with a co worker . I was looking at the syclone,the typhoon and a Evo . Then I went to this local auto fair and saw the car of my dreams lol jk . There it was a 87 GN with 68,000 miles on her . This was 10 years ago . I bought it for $ 6,800 and have been addicted/obsessed with them ever since . It’s the whole thing of being different. When u go to a car show u will see muiltable Camaros and mustangs but never see a GN unless you are there with your Buick buddies.

It's almost unfair going to a car show with a decent GN. Pretty much guaranteed to take home a trophy.

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[gsgnnut]

Got schooled by an 1987 gn on the street in my 1970 gs back in 1990. Was surprised by its performance. Had opportunity in 1993 to test drive a low mile 1 owner 87 gn and I was blown away by the performance so I had to have it. Still have the same one. Today and with a little help from this forum it runs better than ever. Has 75k on it now. It gets driven and saw daily duty for a while. Its a great complement to my 1970 gs 455 . The best of both worlds.

 

[gn87man]

When I was 17 years old in 1994, the 40 year old guy across the street from me had an 87 GN and I had never seen one before. My dad had a 1967 GTO (400 Big Block with 365 hp) at the time and it was the fastest car I had ever ridden in. I thought to myself "this guy's black sedan does not look very fast". I went over a few times to look at the car and discuss it with the owner and I was in awe at the beautiful and unique engine and I loved the G-Body style. He asked if I wanted to take a ride in it. I said "hell yeah" and he gave me a 1/8 mile drive on the street. Damn! I was blown away. His car was running high 11"s in the 1/4 mile at the time. The rest is history. I bought my first 87 GN in 1995. I had to sell it in 1997 because I blew the engine and could not afford to repair it. I finally bought my 2nd 87 GN in 2016. It was stock. I really wanted one that had already been modified for performance. So I sold the stock GN in 2016 (only had it about 4 months) when I found the exact one (modified performance 87 GN from a member on this board) that I wanted. This is my 3rd GN and I love it! These cars are incredible! I will be keeping this one for a very long time.

Very interesting topic. Thank you OP for posting it.

 

[1986 Buick GX1]

In May of '86 I was driving a '75 Ford 3/4 ton high boy since high school. Always wanting a monster truck, I put 14" of lift on it with 40" Monster Mudders. I transplanted a Chevy 400 small block from an old pulling tractor and a th 400 trans as well.
It was a fun truck as it ran high 15's at almost 80 mph @ 4000 rpm in 2nd gear with the factory 4.10 diff gears.

Looking for a more fuel friendly "car" to drive I was talking to my dad about a Volkswagen rabbit a co-worker was selling. He said "if you buy a foreign car you're out of my will"!
He said "its tough enough to make payments on a car you really like, let alone one you don't".
He asked, seriously, what car would you really like? Since I'd seen an '84 GN I said "I would really like one of those Grand Nationals".
So we went and checked them out at a small multi-brand dealership (no TR's on the lot).
The salesman said "you want to price a what kind of car"? So we delt with the general manager, made a list of options and prices, got a loan and ordered a minimally options '86 GN that I'd only seen in in the literature.
Being I was ordering it within the last two days of the cutoff to get an '86 I thought about waiting and getting an '87, but wasn't sure if I'd like the design changes, so I got the '86.
From being in the tractor pulling sport (mini-rods) I had heard of turbos, but with the lack luster performance thus far in the automotive industry I didn't expect much.
It wasn't until I checked on the car order two weeks later when the general manager gave me all the magazine reprints and pamphlets that I realized what I'd gotten my self into.
I picked the car up July 10 and I've had the car ever since.

Thank you for starting the thread dynoman, great stories.

Cheers, George

 

[Chuck Leeper]

Actually, my first one was an 86T Type. It was nice, since it was a sure nuf' "company car".
The company allowed us to drive most anything, and charged only 1%/mo, above a certain limit. They also pd the maintenance, TIRES, etc.
We got a new car at about 60,000 mi. After the TR, it was a Ford dually, to pull my race car with. A ft engine alky rail....
In all, I've had about 6 Tr's and GN's....
The 86 black out T Type, the LST, is going to be the last. At my age, the accel forces are playing havoc w/ my vision.