It's impossible to say if there was anything The Big Three and a Half could have done back in the 1980's to assuage the deluge of tony Germany makes and models coming ashore in the United States. I'm of the opinion that even if they matched what the imports offered, "Yuppies", or what were once known as "young-urban-professionals", would have still sought makes and models from Bavaria because they were flashier fashion statements than anything available domestically. Didn't stop Buick from trying and this 1989 Buick LeSabre "T-Type" was one of their attempts to appeal to younger buyers back then who were leaving, actually more like fleeing, domestic showrooms.
The LeSabre T-Type first appeared for 1981 but it wasn't an import fighter by any means. More in the spirt of the "sporting big car" that was the Buick Wildcat from the '60's, it was more of an appearance package than anything. Having what Buick referred to for years as their "Gran Touring" suspension and had some black out trim, it being the no-fun-allowed early 1980's it was saddled with a gaggle of smoggy motors and super high axle ratios. Being a fan of the "aero-kissed" 1980 GM B and C bodies, I'd love to get my hands on one of these and breathe some life into it. Giddy-up.
Fast-forward to 1987 and Buick firmed up the suspension on their 1986 vintage LeSabre coupe, beefed up the wheel and tire package, threw in buckets, a console with floor mounted shifter (!), black out treatment and their fetching leather wrapped steering wheel and, presto. LeSabre T-Type part deux. The whole thing was, admittedly, fairly incongruous and those with a proclivity for BMW and Mercedes makes and models couldn't be bothered. Buick's core-core whom wanted nothing to do with touring suspensions and facsimiles of bucket seats wanted nothing to do with them as well. Those that could do the mental gymnastics to get their arms around these cars, like me, where few and far between.
That was a shame since the "GM-70" or "H-body" chassis the T-Type LeSabre was based on was a watershed of domestic automobile engineering and the the suspension tuning on these cars did wonders for them. Problem was, again, the import makers were doing similar things already and doing them much better.
Fast-forward to 1987 and Buick firmed up the suspension on their 1986 vintage LeSabre coupe, beefed up the wheel and tire package, threw in buckets, a console with floor mounted shifter (!), black out treatment and their fetching leather wrapped steering wheel and, presto. LeSabre T-Type part deux. The whole thing was, admittedly, fairly incongruous and those with a proclivity for BMW and Mercedes makes and models couldn't be bothered. Buick's core-core whom wanted nothing to do with touring suspensions and facsimiles of bucket seats wanted nothing to do with them as well. Those that could do the mental gymnastics to get their arms around these cars, like me, where few and far between.
That was a shame since the "GM-70" or "H-body" chassis the T-Type LeSabre was based on was a watershed of domestic automobile engineering and the the suspension tuning on these cars did wonders for them. Problem was, again, the import makers were doing similar things already and doing them much better.
These "big" front wheel drive LeSabre's sold well enough for GM although the vast majority of them sold were four-door models. The coupes sold so poorly that GM dropped the line completely come 1991 when they redesigned the H-bodies. These "T-Types" sold even slower than the base coupes; just over twelve thousand of them were sold between 1987 and 1989.
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