Buick Regal Celebrates 40th Birthday
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40 years ago, Buick introduced the first car bearing the Regal nameplate, the 1973 Century Regal. The long two-door served as an upmarket model in the brand’s luxury Century line, marketed as one of the companies “personal luxury cars”.
Back then, the most common power plant for the Regal was Buick’s standard 350 V8, though the bigger 455 V8 was available for order too. In reaction to the initial Arab oil embargo in 1975, the Regal’s standard engine was downsized to Buick’s 231 V6, the same year, the Century nameplate was dropped from the car.
In 1978, the second generation of Regal was introduced, marking the first, but not the last time turbocharging would be used on a Regal to achieve better fuel economy. This car utilized a similar 3.8L turbo V6 that would later find its way into the famed and now highly sought after Buick Grand National’s of the 80’s.
The Regal name has lived on through 4 generations, except for a brief hiatus from 2004-2009 before it entered its 5th generation. In 2013, 40 years later, the Regal has changed a lot, though it still holds onto the sleek looks and dynamic driving experience of those that came before it. And although GM doesn’t offer a performance version to quite match that of the Grand National, the 2014 Regal GS is one solid sports sedan. Seriously, take our word for it, we were just driving it.
So happy birthday Buick Regal from GM Authority. Here’s to 40 more years of approachable luxury.
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So would you all say that the Buick Regal GS competes with performance versions of the Volvo S60?
The Regal GS is a smart choice for a more budget minded shopper, looking to get a similar package as whats offered in the S60. Whereas a Regal GS will fetch near as makes no difference $40,000, the S60 starts at that price, and will go for well over $42,000 in R Design trim.
Try hard as I can, I cant think of a single genration of Regal that I ever considered attractive let alone personally desired. The newest iteration is very nice, but we didnt get the AWD, so just like the rest; I’ll pass.
Yeah, no AWD, no, country-tourer, no hatch-back, no V6 twin turbo! Why do the Europeans have all the fun, whilst we’re relegated to the second division? If Buick expanded the Regal range to include these variants, they’d double sales for sure!
And it doesn’t stop there. The Chevy SS is a very tame take on the Holden and Vauxhall on which it’s based, just as the G8 GXP was before it. Jeez even in the UK, the mighty VXR8 GTS is available as a wagon and a pick-up too, despite gas being around $10/gal. Those guys know how to have fun. Where is our Nomad? Where is our El Camino? Thank-you GM … Once again, well and truly shafted!
Happy Birthday Regal!!! This brings back memories since I worked at a Buick dealership at that time. I also remember the switch to the 231 V6 since I drove one for a while until Buick recalled this setup since the engine couldn’t garner enough vacuum to make the power brakes work. The car was a serious danger to drive and I avoided several near accidents. Talk among Buick reps was the turbocharged version came about because the Regal was chosen as the Indy pace car but the 231 V6 didn’t have enough power and speed to lead the race cars during pace laps. I logged a lot of time with the Indy pace car replica furnished to the dealerships but it wasn’t the turbocharged version. I also drove the Stage One version with the 455 for a while and it was a tire smoking beast. We’ve come a long way baby!
Happy birthday, Buick, and happy birthday, Regal! Mr. David Buick would be proud!
I have a stock 1995 Buick Regal Limited sedan with a normally aspirated 231 CI (3.8 L) V6 and with 146,000 miles on it. It still runs like new. The V6 engine was giving me only 18 MPG, but after swapping out the AC spark plugs for a set of E3 Diamond Fire plugs, and swapping the stock paper air filter for a K&E oiled filter, I get 20 MPG and sometimes I get up to 22 MPG. The engine oil is Mobil 1 since 1997, and the only major repair was a new radiator in 2008. I can still squeal the tires from a stop!!
I love it, but I need to replace it with a hybrid or electric. I wish GM would had produced the Buick Electra based on the Chevy Volt!
I remember being young and our neighbors has a brand new Buick Regal circa 1975. I loved the Buicks of the sixties thru the eighties – sporty, understated near-luxury cars that still had style.
Would be great to assemble pics of Buicks through the years…
I’m a big fan of Full size Buick coupes from the late 40s through the very early 70s. But with exception of the GS and GNX of the late 60s-1970 the Regal was never a real contender for style or performance. Now the Wildcat, or Riviera, or even a Deuce and a Quarter (225 Electra), was a Buick worth bragging about. The Regal was always a car that fell far short of it’s name.