Today we live in a world where minivans can lay down quarter-mile times that would embarrass some of the sixties’ most highly regarded muscle cars.  People forget that the muscle car era went on life support in the early seventies.  After wandering through a decade of Japanese econoboxes, personal luxury coupes, and custom vans, a light appeared at the end of the tunnel as a Buick Regal.  That Regal had under its hood a turbocharged V-6 that muscle car lovers fell in love with.  The engine’s tire melting power also caused many to wonder why it wasn’t rumbling under the hood of a more capable car.  Finally, when that question was answered, only 1,555 examples were built.  If you are looking for a sporty car with a more than capable powerplant, this 1989 Pontiac Trans Am Indy Pace car for sale on Craigslist in Albuquerque, New Mexico is just the ticket.  The only issue is that the ticket will run you $49,500.  Is that too much, even for this beast?  Thanks to Rocco B. for this awesome find!

General Motors had a dizzying number of engines across its many makes in the early eighties.  From wheezing four-cylinder engines and poorly regarded diesels to the ubiquitous small-block Chevrolet V-8, these engines found their way under the hoods of many different vehicles.  While everyone knew that the small block V-8 was a winner, Buick’s 3.8 liter V-6 was also an under-the-radar success story.  For whatever reason, the development of this engine took off in the late seventies.  A turbocharged version of this engine paced Indy in 1977 and wound up in Buick’s Regal in 1978.  It wasn’t long before the engine was under the hood of other Buicks.  However, in the Regal it shined.  In 1981,  the Buick Regal T-Type debuted with a sporty look and a powerful for the time 180-horsepower and 290 lb-ft of torque coming from those six turbocharged cylinders.

In 1984, Buick introduced a version called the Grand National.  In this iteration, the Regal was murdered out in all black with a grey interior and packed an even more powerful turbocharged V-6 under the hood.  While the car’s performance in anything other than a straight line wasn’t very sporty, it completely curb-stomped every other American car from 0-60 MPH.  The Grand National quickly became a legend on the street and in the pages of the magazines of the day.  When the party finally stopped in 1987, Buick dropped the GNX on the market.  This was the swan song of the rear wheel drive Regal and it packed 276 horsepower and 360 lb-ft of torque thanks to an improved turbocharger and a big fat intercooler among other modifications.

While everyone absolutely loved these sinister black Buicks, enthusiasts were screaming for this killer engine to be dropped into a more capable chassis.  The Corvette was out of the question, but the Camaro and Firebird were highly regarded for their handling and good looks.  So, in one of the biggest cases of better late than never in automotive history, it was decided that a Trans Am would pace the Indianapolis 500 in 1989 with the Buick turbo V-6 under the hood.  While the seller of the Indy Pace Car seen here advertises that the car was equipped with the GNX engine, that isn’t entirely correct.  The engine required a different and much better-flowing set of cylinder heads to clear the Trans Am’s shock towers.  It also benefitted from beefed-up internals to handle the extra horsepower.  Advertised as having 250 horsepower and 340 lb-ft of torque, cars that went straight from the showroom to the dynamometer put out 240 horsepower at the rear wheels.  Actual horsepower was probably around 300.  This was enough to make 13-second quarter mile times a boringly regular occurrence for the few owners who drove the cars.  In all, 1555 of these beastly Trans Ams were built.  All of them were fully optioned out except for 18 of them.  Those cars the factory with cloth seats and without T-tops.  It would be interesting to find out who ordered each one of those cars, as the lack of T-tops made these cars much more structurally rigid.

The 1989 Pontiac Trans Am Indy Pace Car you see here is an exceptionally well-cared-for example that has just 19,100 miles on the odometer.  According to the seller, everything works on the car.  That is pretty amazing given how many different switches and gadgets are built into these cars.  Among the most recent improvements are new rotors and pads on all four corners and a brand-new set of B. F. Goodrich Comp T/A tires (although one picture clearly shows Kuhmo written on the tire).  The pictures show a car that has been babied its entire life.  From the shiny, well-polished paint to the unblemished interior, this Trans Am has been the seller’s pride and joy for quite some time.

Today, these turbo Trans Ams are seldom seen.  Like many other special edition cars made during that time, the vast majority are sitting in a dark garage waiting to be sold off when the price is right.  That is a shame for probably the best-performing car of the late eighties.  It is also a genuine tragedy that General Motors never offered this engine in lighter versions like the Firebird Formula with perhaps a manual transmission.  Regardless, if you want one of these monsters, this is your chance.  The $49,500 price tag is pretty high.  However, only 1,555 were built and eighties cars don’t get much more collectible or capable than this.  Make a call and see if they are flexible on the amount of dirty, sweaty money you need to plunk down.  You never know until you ask.

If you owned this pristine Trans Am, would you store it away or drive the wheels off of it?  Do you have any interesting stories about the turbocharged Buick 3.8 liter V-6 in any car?  If so, please share your thoughts or reminisces in the comments.