1987 Buick Regal

The Regal nameplate was introduced by Buick in 1973 as a mid-priced, personal luxury coupe. In 1974, a sedan was added to the lineup and it soon became one of Buick's best-selling vehicles. The car's first re-design occurred for the 1978 model year. The 1978 Regal was offered as a two-door coupe which was slightly smaller and lighter.

The rear-wheel-drive 1987 Regal was available in three versions including the base Regal, Limited, and Grand National. The Regal Grand National had a turbocharger and intercooler equipped with sequential-port fuel injection (SFI) and it was one of the fastest cars built in the United States. The Grand Nationals also had a blacked-out exterior, Gran Touring suspension, power steering, power-assisted low-drag disc brakes in the front, and a four-speed automatic transmission with overdrive. The SFI engine produced 245 horsepower.

Other than the Grand National, the Regal could be purchased with the T-Package as well as an Exterior Sport Package which included aluminum-alloy wheels and Eagle GT blackwall tires. The Turbo Package was also available on any Regal coupe.

The turbocharged SFI engine was developed by Buick and the Bosch firm of Germany. The system injected a precisely timed and metered amount of fuel directly into the cylinders. The intercooler system helped cool the pressurized air charge from the turbocharger to the engine.

1987 was the final year for the Grand National. The 245 horsepower Grand National could race from 0-60 in just 6.1 seconds with a 13.85 quarter-mile time at 99.2 mph.

by Daniel Vaughan | Jul 2014