If you’ve been here for a while now, you’ve inevitably heard me use the term “period modifications.” This is more or less how I describe cars and trucks that show signs of being modified at the peak of whatever era they come from. The upgrades are usually the kinds of items we would have pulled off the shelf of our local hot rod shop or out of a performance parts catalog at the time, and this 1987 Buick Regal Turbo-T listed here on craigslist is clearly a former show-stopper from a bygone era. The seller is asking $30,000.
Buick was once a very savvy car company, especially when it came to performance vehicles. It knew the Grand National and GNX were absolute home runs, and they didn’t have to do much to convince car enthusiasts to line up for the limited inventory of vehicles. But the top brass also knew they could offer the same performance in a more conventional wrapper, creating a bit of a sleeper in the process. Buick sold the T-Type and later models like this one – changed to the Turbo-T for 1987 – to allow car shoppers to have their GN-grade performance in whatever color and trim they wanted. Key indicators like the iconic logo were still present on the floor mats and steering wheel, reminding you this grandma car was still quite potent. Note this one also has the desirable digital gauge cluster.
Now, back to period modifications: the seller shares photos from old car shows with the bikini-clad model leaning on the Buick, and this old-school amplifier set up shows you that the “…award-winning Clarion sound system” was an impressive as the factory performance numbers. The old-school Champ 500 wheels are a treat as well, and this Buick looks like it’s been lowered a touch based on how close it sits to the ground. Chrome pieces on the edge of the doors and quarter panels were all the rage back in the 90s car show days, especially if you happened to get a spot in the conventional hall where you could park over strategically-placed mirrors.
The seller reports that the Buick is equipped with a Flowmaster exhaust system, and that the suspension bushings have been upgraded to polyurethane. The engine bay appears mostly stock, but I’m sure there are some changes that an eagle-eyed Buick enthusiast will flag. Out of the box, the turbocharged 3.8L V6 was good for a healthy 245 b.h.p. and 355 lb-ft of torque, leaving little doubt as to why this car is as legendary as it is – even today. The seller notes that this Buick has been in storage for 15 years and shows just 45,000 miles, making it worthy of the asking price. Thanks to Barn Finds reader Curvette for the find.
Pretty cool car from the factory, has been modified in ways that I would feel obliged to fix. Something looks off, with the wheels and tires – are the sidewalls skinnier than stock maybe? The power-sucking stereo belongs in a clapped out Tercel, as far as I’m concerned. Give me that sweet, sweet engine song instead.
It’s probably got one-note bass speakers too.
Somewhere under all that bric-a-brac, there has to be an engine, isn’t there? While I generally like these cars, this one’s a little over the top. If it was stock I’d probably give it a look.
My wife’s Uncle had a Regal T-Type. Great sleeper car! His was all stock, no mods.
Awful mods on a pretty cool ride. I’d scrap all that junk and return the car to stock. From there you’d have a pretty nice original, not-so-common car. Really a head turner, imo.
Man, what a sweet looking clean install- looks like a really well designed slot-loaded isobaric clamshell, or maybe a couple separate 4th order bandpass boxes built together? Looks like a whole lot of time and work and money went into that install, bet that dude was stoked back in the day! The Bel Express built into the dash is a nice touch. That’d be awesome to rock up to a Cars and Coffee in, pop open the trunk and prop up the ole Boomer Board showing step by step pics of the rad system install and just wait for all the chicks to start showing up!
Nice ride- yes, prob better to leave stock. The wheels are Centerlines but not Champ 500s. Close but think these models were called Champ 900s and they look better in the machined finish and slightly deeper. Wanted a set so bad for my 84 Z28!
The guy couldn’t figure out what to do with the leftover body side molding. So he did the worst, put it on ahead of the front wheel openings. Not a tough fix….if you’re careful.
That’s actually just a Buick Regal with the T package and turbo package.
The only true “Turbo T” is the 1987 WE4.
Turbo Ts and WE4s are different cars. Regals with the T pkg and the LC2 motor are all Turbo Ts. This being a Limited is a rare car, in fact more rare than a WE4.
Jeff, the digital dash is aftermarket. The factory digital dash was a totally different layout with far fewer gauges. Additionally, the digital color was a green.
there were not many of these plain jane regals with turbos. real shame this 1 was clowned up like this. i would rip out all that s**t and put it back to stock. looks like it was lowered as well. the factory wheels were so much better looking than what they put on there. easier to buy 1 stock than to go through all that especially for 30k.
Buy this Turbo Regal and reverse some of the add ons..
The stereo… who knows. If it sounds excellent, leave it alone.
This is a rare Limited Turbo T as indicated by the leather interior and lower side molding. I have a blue on blue one myself that is one of 1035 made in 87. 30k is not bad once you get it back to stock.
A waste of money those amps alone are going to have you going to AUTO ZONE every 6months to get a new battery
Interesting car…The engine compartment appears to be all stock, down to the original air cleaner. The bumper fillers seem to have issues, but they all did. The ad says Centerline Champ 500 wheels, but every set I’ve ever seen were more cone-shaped to the center cap area, where these are flat. $30k “seems” to be optimistic to me. Stock wheels, the original dash and a stereo delete would make that price seem somewhat reasonable.
Loose the wheels does not do it justice!!!
Lowered also. Ugh.