Buick launched the Regal in 1973 as something of a personal luxury coupe version of the Century. That was the beginning of the Colonnade body style that General Motors employed on its intermediates through 1977. This 1977 Regal S/R is in Farmington Hills, Michigan (near Detroit) and has been off the road for nearly 30 years. It needs work, but the parts needed to fix the problem that sidelined it are being provided. The car is available here on craigslist where $6,000 is the price to take it home.

After its debut in 1973, the Regal would have a role in the Buick line-up for the next 30 or so years. It started out just as a coupe but was offered later in sedan form as well. For much of its tenure, the Regal would share bodies and drivetrains with the Buick Century. The Regal would make a comeback as a mid-size model in 2011 but would be retired in 2020 as General Motors shifted much of its focus to the production of SUV’s and trucks.

The seller’s car originally hails from Montana but now calls Michigan home. When the Buick was first parked, a postage stamp still cost 29 cents (early ‘90s). Apparently, the timing jumped so it was put away until recently. The parts to fix it and give the car a tune-up are on hand, so the buyer will get everything for a DIY weekend of work. The car has a new battery to start it up when you’re done. The seller mentions more than once that this is a rare car because it has the S/R package. Buick made 175,000 Regal sport coupes for 1977, but we haven’t found any numbers connected to the S/R.

By the mid-1970s, what were once muscle cars were mostly trim packages. S/R on the Buick Regal reportedly stood for “Sport/Rally,” which meant the buyer got corduroy-covered bucket seats, a center console with gear lever, a three-spoke, Corvette-style sport steering wheel, a turn-signal mounted headlamp dimmer and whitewall radial tires.

The seller’s car is going to need a new paint job and there are a few rust bubbles to attend to before they get any worse. The color is said to be yellow, but it’s looks as though it has faded to almost white in the photos. The glass is pretty good, but the windshield will need replacing due to a crack. The interior is more than acceptable, although there are a couple of places where the stitching seems to have come loose on the bucket seats. The carpet has faded, and the dash pad is cracked. But otherwise pretty good for being in limbo for 25-30 years. It has the appearance of a car with 86,000 miles as the odometer attests.

Under the hood is a 350 cubic inch V-8, but in stock trim it was only good for 140 hp and 280 lbs.-ft of torque. So, for a car of this weight and size, it’s more of a cruiser than a rubber burner. We assume that fixing the timing will result in a running car once again, but long periods of inactivity are known to create another whole set of problems.

Resale value for these Regals seem to be more in the used car category rather than collector. NADA says it’s worth less than the seller’s “bargain” asking price, but a couple of these on the net are going for upwards of $10k. The seller could probably get his asking price if he’d fix the car before selling it. Non-running cars always cost more to fix than you think. What do you think?