Looks like someone traded in Grand Pa's old, mint condition 1986 Buick Regal Limited and the dealership is trying to make a handsome profit on it. Quick check of NADA and J.D. Power and these things, in theory at least, can sell for as high as $15,000 in pristine condition. This just in,that's what this is pegged at right now.
I don't care if you've got Bill Gates cabbage, fifteen-thousand-dollars is a lot of money, and I find it vexing anyone would spend it on such a yawner of a garden variety car. Just because a car is old, doesn't mean it's worth anything. At most, this is a $7,500 car I hope someone gets for closer to $5,000. Seeing this thing is stuck at a dealership, that's not likely to happen. No doubt this will get wholesaled and sold to car lot\financing front after car lot\financing front until someone bites on it. Someone will but, again, it's got to be at the right price. And 15G ain't the right price.
This car is not without its merits as it's the last of its kind in many ways. It's a rear-wheel-drive, body on a framer that has a big engine room so it's appealing to hot-rodders. The idea of turning this into the sleeper of Grand Pa's dreams, make that nightmares, is alluring. Given the cost of admission to this retro '80's party, however, coupled with what it would cost to get you there, personally, I could never get the numbers to work.
However, if you're looking for the most "1980's car" you can buy, forget DeLorean's, Mustang GT's, Trans Am's and GNX', this is your ride. Muted hues, soft interior. squishy suspension, flaccid engine, fake wire wheel covers. At least the original buyer had the good sense to skip the vinyl top option.
Buick built these cars from 1978 through 1987 on General Motor's downsized for 1978 intermediate chassis and shares much mechanically and structurally with quite similar offerings from Chevrolet, Pontiac, and Oldsmobile from the same time period. Oldsmobile actually built a Cutlass on this platform halfway into the 1988 model year. Cadillac never got what are referred to in certain circles as a "G-body".
As someone who came of age in the 1980's and had a front seat for all the shenanigans that went on from 1980 through 1989, trust me, it wasn't always the frothy, neon-glow joyride it's made out to be these days. You want to experience what the '80's were really like firsthand? Take a ride in a grocery getter like Grand Pa's old Buick here. It'll have you throwing your Wham! cassette out the window quicker than this thing can go from zero-to-sixty.
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