Cars that time forgot - The Buick Lesabre Grand National and T-type

"themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles" (themanwithsauce) 11/15/2020 at 22:50 • Filed to: Cars that time forgot, CTTF, Buick, Lesabre, T-type

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Well.....here it is. This is how this series ends. Not with a bang, but with a forward opening hood on a buick. A true tribute to American luxury and style, yet in defiance of tradition and expectations.As my final act on Oppo, I posit to you, the audience, that this is simultaneously the best and worst Buick that has ever existed.

What is it?

The Buick Lesabre of the early 1980s was a continuation of what was expected of a buick, and a staunch representative of the big 3 Bs - Big, Boxy, and BROOOOWWWWWWNNNNNNN!!!!! But you could see hints of the future creeping into the styling of the entire lineup. Headlights got slanted, edges got rounded, and new engines were introduced, including such oddities as a diesel engine. All of this was well intentioned, but it would take a radical redesign to get us past the 60s and 70s...

In 1985, Buck began rolling out the new, updated H-body sedan for the LeSabre nameplate. While the H-body would be shared as the Bonneville and the 88, for Buick, this was certainly a “bread and butter” type car. And, thankfully, they nailed it. Despite being the first year for FWD, and for V6s instead of V8s, it tested quite well and sold in great numbers to the expected audiences. At least, the *sedan* version did quite well.

See.....there was always a black sheep in the LeSabre family. And one we often fail to discuss. For a brief period, Buck not only had the Riviera, but also counted the LeSabre as one of its flag bearers of the 2-door luxury coupe. ANd to understand why, we need to look towards the success of Buick in NASCAR, of all places, as to why this practice had continued.

Why was it important?

The coupe version of the Buick Lesabre exists as a relic of a very specific form of homologation - The NASCAR Body Template. In a nutshell, each manufacturer that wishes to compete in NASCAR must not only provide basic specs for the “production” car such as wheelbase, suspension mounting points, etc.... But also provide a body template which basically acts as a giant outline for the car’s body line to follow. Basically, this keeps you form having a “buick sedan” entered that has a body shape strangely identical to that of a prototype ferrari race car.

Obviously, to enter your body template, you need to produce X number of cars that have the same body shape so you can pass tech inspections as a legitimate, production vehicle. This rule gave rise to cars like the old Pontiac Grand Prix Aerocoupe and the Monte Carlo SS with their very distinctive noses and back ends.

Buick sort of stumbled into this whole shebang accidentally in the early 80s but, keen to keep their success rolling forwards, continued to update and even celebrate this success through the Regal nameplate. If you went before or after the decade of the 80s and asked around, no one would believe you if you said that Buick was once one of the most dominant makes in NASCAR, if only for a brief period. And it was this flash of success that brough out some of the craziest buicks ever made.

Why should I remember it?

Before we go even one step further, you are going to see two badges get brought back - “Grand National” and “T-type”. The Regal versions of both of these have so much momentum and nostalgia that I simply cannot spare a further word for them on this article. This is about much more than an individual car - this is about Buick, fighting for its place and identity in an ever changing world.

We like to romanticize the 80s nowadays as the birthplace of “modern” cars. And honestly....it’s true. Everything from technologies to design ethos that we use to this day found its start in the 1980s. It is with this mindset that I ask you to consider: mid to late 1980s GM. The C4 Corvette, the Pontiac Fiero, the Monte Carlo SS, Pontiac 6000 STE, Camaro IROC, Trans-AM Turbo, Buick Reatta, Chevrolet Astro, Oldsmobile Toronado and Cutlass, Buick Riviera.....All of these cars were sucking down some serious R&D bucks and resources in the ever increasing fight to be relevant and “futuristic” in the eyes of the consumer. And to GM, it was all horribly unsustainable. Some models, and eventually brands, would need to be cut. And so, GM opened up not only the sales books, but the publicity books, to sort things out.....

It is here, that we see what Buick did. A luxury brand, not known for performance outside of the old 455 GS, did something a bit bold - they took their NASCAR success, and ran with it. A turbocharged 3,8 V6 that was kicked around in their old Century coupe got upgraded, and wedged into the Regal and became the “T-Type”. A graphics and paint package to celebrate their success on the NASCAR surface became the “Grand National”. But by the mid to late 80s, Buick wanted to let GM know - Oh sure, the monte carlo and grand prix were nice and all.....but it was Buick, who won them all those races earlier in the decade!It was a bit of a chicken shit move, but alkso perhaps, one of desperation and even a hint of acceptance. Like a blaze of glory to go out on. Yeah, sure, the Camaro has IROC. The corvette has SCCA and IMSA. The Trans-Am has.....not Trans-AM but also SCCA and IMSA. Maybe. Just maybe. This one time....Buick can have NASCAR.....

What exactly am I looking at?

Buick made a coupe version of the LeSabre, despite poor sales and the already existing Riviera and Regal coupes eating into the market. But I posit to you that they did so to have something to ocmpete in NASCAR and other oval circuits. And to that, we just hae to look to the very limited edition, 1986 only Grand National Lesabre:

With a tightened up body appearance including front and rear aero as well as a tidied up rear window area, the GN Lesabre was another body template that was eligible for NASCAR. Remember - these are Body templates, not Chassis templates. So given a bit of time and trickery, you could convert a regal, pontiac, or chevrolet chassis into a monte carlo, regal, grand prix, lesabre, or whatever else you had access to, so long as it fit the body and wheelbase templates. So Buick, keen to continue success from the regal, continued to homologate the lesabre coupe as a potential option for NASCAR.

Of course, we know that this story ends with Buick never again becoming a NASCAR superpower.

We know that the Grand National GNX becomes the high performance Buick of the 1980s.

We also know that Buick is basically hamstrung from here on out and told to make nice, friendly cars like the Reatta rather than barn burners like the Regal GN/GNX.

But for one brief, wild period in the late 1980s.....Buick didn’t get that memo.

The power of “T”

Here we sit, the year is 1987, and in the showroom, sits a collection of Buicks that look.....different. Lowered chin spoilers and blackout trim hint at something different. New words like “turbocharger” adorn even such humble vehicles as the Skylark. And in the back sits Darth Vader’s personal chariot. Grand National side, the rest of this motley crew bare the emblem of Buick’s “New” personality - the T-type. A promise of what’s to come. Despite the engineers themselves knowing otherwise.

Buick performance is effectively dead. They know that GM brass will limit them to only having burly engines in the full sizers from here on out. Oh sure, you can have a beefy Riviera to compete against the Lincoln, but no more turbocharged compacts to harass the chevys! So they decide to go out with that ifnal bang - EVeryone gets spoilers! Everyone gets blackout trim! YOU get a turbo, and YOU get a turbo and YOU get a turbo.... Lowered suspension? EVERYONE GETS THREE! Why? Because the world is ending.....Or rather, the world is changing.
Even if it makes sense, you don’t have to accept it....

The LeSabre was one of the few Buicks to never get a turbo with its T-type. But frankly.....that’s part of why I like it. It was a middle finger to the top management, and a declaration of independent thought in a company that valued yes-men over dreamers. What started as a legitimate attempt to carve out a niche became a black-flag waving of defiance in the face of corporate meddling. And I want one more than I want a regal grand national....

Why does this matter?

Look, normally I post performance specs or notable race wins or something here, but this just isn’t that kind of car. I’m posting this because I think Oppo, as a community, is a bit like this car. This was the dying gasp of a group of engineers trying desperately to find meaning in abandonment. To take one brief moment of glory and use it to establish themselves despite a suite of revolving door execs acting as if the story could not be changed from the one they held in their heads.

In my eyes, WE are the LeSabre Coupe of the automotive media world. Seen by some as a vestigial limb, by others as a money and timesink, and by those who are part of it as.....home. As the place where we belong. And no matter where we end up next, whether guided by corporate hands above or by circumstance and happenstance, it will never be quite the same.

You never forget where you came from. So to all out there, stay safe, stay active, and I hope to see you all somewhere else soon. But never forget - You are a LeSabre T-type!

Tohru > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles 11/15/2020 at 22:56

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The story also ends with Buick surviving, while Oldsmobile and Pontiac die.
Buick kept on while the Camaro died as well, then brought back, now rumored to be discontinued again.
Buick kept on when Chevrolet decided to stop selling regular cars.
Heck, Buick even makes a Regal T-Type again, though a shadow of the old legend.
Buick is also outliving Oppo.

ranwhenparked > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles 11/15/2020 at 22:57

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The T-Type is a nice reminder of just how good a job GM designers could do with taking a pretty pedestrian, forgettable design and preforming a few fairly subtle and probably inexpensive tweaks to make it look surprisingly aggressive and sporty.

The Oldsmobile Touring Sedan from the same era is another example.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > Tohru 11/15/2020 at 22:59

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To be clear, oppo is more like the badge than the brand.

The t-type died for a few decades while buick itself lived on, much as Oppo is dying whole Jalopnik and G/O live on. Gawker is dead, deadspin has one foot in the grave, and who knows which branch is next....

So if Jalopnik in 2040 decides to bring back opposite lock, I won't be surprised.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > ranwhenparked 11/15/2020 at 23:00

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Tbe old quad-4 grand and looked downright mean!

wafflesnfalafel > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles 11/15/2020 at 23:01

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knew a guy in highschool whose dad had a type T - it was cool, great looking car.  Except it had some GM issues, and the windshield leaked badly...

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > wafflesnfalafel 11/15/2020 at 23:07

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Not at all surprised. My dad had a Beretta Z26 which was a great little car....until the door handle broke with him inside it which meant the passenger door was the only way in or out for the last few months he owned it. He fixed it and sold it to some high school kid on our street. Honestly, I k inda wanted it to be my first car, but if he got rid of it, I underst an d it probably wasn’t meant to be....

Tohru > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles 11/16/2020 at 02:37

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the revived oppo, instead of being a brown body-on-frame manual diesel wagon, would be a unibody plug-in hybrid crossover

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > Tohru 11/16/2020 at 03:14

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Lies. Revived oppo will be a diesel miata with a rumble seat.

You take this talk of crossovers and hybrids and you kindly see yourself back to the FP, dear sir!

Tohru > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles 11/16/2020 at 03:27

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diesel miata

pass

and what do you mean, see myself to the FP? I’ve been here longer than you :p

Stef Schrader > ranwhenparked 11/18/2020 at 22:08

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Hey, now, I loved that era Ninety-Eight! (An ‘88 Regency Brougham was the first car I ever got to drive. SEW FAUNCEH.)

Stef Schrader > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles 11/18/2020 at 22:09

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Late to the party and responding through an open tab, but great story. Oppo will survive, somehow, I hope. Don’t be a stranger on the various oppositelock.com pages. Like the Y ellow P ages, except maybe the Brown Pages. ( I like brown.)

Stef Schrader > Tohru 11/18/2020 at 22:10

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Nah. I vote Tesla-swapped ZiL.