Part 2 from The Story of the 1980s Quickest Muscle Cars:

• Part 1 – Pontiac Trans Am – Redesigning the Modern Muscle Car
• Part 2 – Buick Grand National – Finding a Replacement for Displacement
• Part 3 – The Most Badass 80s Performance Cars

In parallel to Pontiac and Chevrolet, Buick was also working on downsizing and lightweighting.

Way back in the ’60s, in an effort to cut production cost, Buick downsized its aluminum V8 – a novelty at the time – into a cast-iron V6. The engine was actually good, but not very popular with consumers.

Eventually, the V6 and its entire tooling and manufacturing equipment were sold to Kaiser-Jeep, who used it in their Jeep CJ.

Well, the 1973 Oil Crisis came knocking and the Buick realized they had made a terrible mistake. Their glory V8 days were over and the company drastically needed a smaller engine.

Thankfully, when AMC purchased Kaiser-Jeep, they opted for their own inline-6 engine and the V6 was made obsolete once again.

In 1974, Buick bought back its own engine, tooling and all, and re-equipped the old engine assembly plant in Flint, Michigan. The move was so quick that by next year, when CAFE standards were introduced, Buick was already offering the 3.8-liter V6 on some of its cars.

GM liked the new-old engine and put it in 20 different cars in the late 70s and early 80s. However, it was still only considered as an economy option and V8 remained the engine of choice when it came to power and performance.

Buick decided to see what can be done efficiency-wise so that more power can be obtained from their smaller engine.

The return of turbocharging in America

The company was onto something.

In 1978, the Buick Regal Sport Coupe came out with a turbocharged, 4-barrel carburetor, 3.8-liter V6. It had 165 horsepower and thanks to its firm handling, the coupe left many V8-equipped cars in the dust.

In 1982, after winning two NASCAR seasons, as well as the manufacturer’s title, Buick wanted to capitalize and introduced the Regal Grand National. Well, the first edition was a flop – it had the looks, but not the turbo V6 engine everybody expected.

Buick did not release a Grand National in 1983 but returned next year with a car that would change the auto industry.

Full black, totally badass, with 200 horsepower from a turbo V6 engine, the 1984 Buick Regal took the performance scene by storm.

The only American car with more power in 1984 was the Corvette with its 5.7-liter Crossfire V8. It had 33.3% more displacement and just 5 more horsepower.

It was an immediate success.

Buick had realized a turbocharger can only go so far. In order to produce more power from their V6, they had to figure out this computer engine management thing. And they did.

Efficiency was the name of the game

For the 1984 Turbo V6, Buick ditched the antiquated carburetors and pushed forward with a state of the art, sequential port fuel injection.

Two fuel rails supply 6 electronically-controlled injectors, which spray gasoline directly into the intake port of each cylinder as the intake valve opens.

This system is more responsive, supplies consistent air to fuel ratio, and ensures even mixing of the gasses in the combustion chamber. The resulting burn is more efficient, extracting the most power while producing fewer emissions.

Buick also ditched the distributor, opting for a computer-controlled wasted spark ignition system. Now ignition timing could be controlled more precisely, further improving efficiency.

And this was just the beginning. Buick continued to pioneer new forced induction technologies.

In 1986, the Turbo V6 received an air-to-air Garrett intercooler, revised intake and new free-flow dual exhaust system. Power grew to 235 hp and 330 lb-ft of torque.

Car and Driver tested the 1986 Grand National and got a 0-60 time in 4.9 seconds and a ¼ mile in 13.4 seconds.

There were no American and very few high-end European vehicles that matched this performance. So far living in the shadow of well-known performance cars like the Mustang, Camaro, and Corvette, the Grand National blew everyone out of the water.

Buick proved that there is, in fact,6 a replacement for displacement and it’s called a turbo. The turbocharged 3.8-liter SFI V6 engine came in various Regal models who dominated the scene. V8 engines were simply out of breath.

In 1987, the Grand National got even more power – 245hp and 355 lb-ft of torque, but the accepted opinion is Buick did not advertise the engine’s full potential.

I can only imagine how dumbfounded performance enthusiasts were at the time.

Photos of the Buick Grand National are sourced from Mecum Auctions.