Model History: Buick Regal

A look at the progression of the Buick Regal from 1973 to 2024.

[@wmalden]

2018 Regal TourX owner here. I love wagons and it is a great one!

[@thehopelesscarguy]

Agreed. I currently have 3 wagons.

[@pdennis93]

My dad had an 82 regal 4 door. As a 6 year old in 1985, I opened the wing window on a hot day and it fell out. I was holding it by the handle yelling for my mom to stop the car.

[@Primus54]

I own an AWD TourX wagon identical to the one pictured in your video, HCG, which was built in Germany. It provides the roominess and utility of an SUV while having the ride and handling of a sedan… plus it is uniquely stylish amid a sea of look-alike crossovers. Great video as always! 👍👍👍

[@thehopelesscarguy]

Thanks. I prefer wagons to SUVs. Particularly Cross Overs, or pretend SUVs.

[@andregonsalvez9244]

Cool my grand parents had a 82 Buick Regal sedan, it was a good car and served them well .😊

[@stevespatola763]

I had a 94 Regal Custom California Special. A special package with leather, power, everything, and a 3.8 liter engine. Great value at $19950. Also owned a 78 Buick Century Custom coupe with the 231 V6. This was a Regal with a different roofline, Aeroback, 9:42 and grill. Thx to an illegal hitting my 18 TourX head on, I found another. That turbo 4 gets great mpg with power.

[@petertornabeni602]

Thank you hopeless car guy

[@thehopelesscarguy]

Glad you enjoyed.

[@colibri1]

My mother had a midnight blue 1983 Regal sedan with velour interior and a thickly padded vinyl roof, a very plush car that she replaced with an equally plush 1988 Lesabre sedan. And I was a little taken aback when you said that Regal became its own line in 1976 because I had remembered it as occurring with the downsizing of 1978. I thought I had misremembered it, but then I looked at the Buick dealership brochure for '76 and they did group Regal under the Century heading, though it was a little confusing. I do know that back at that time we did call them Century Regals.

[@thehopelesscarguy]

Sometimes the way manufacturers separate models from packages is pretty meaningless.

[@courtneypuzzo2502]

the first used car my dad had when I was toddler was a red 1976 Buick Regal sedan that had been my mums uncle Rico's and then her cousin Tony's before dad had it then we had Uncle Rico's Chevrolet Caprice Classic sedan from October 1993 to May 2000

[@thehopelesscarguy]

Cool.

[@jamesdaniels3699]

I took driver's Ed driving one of these, that or a cutlass. Think it was 1977or 78 I think Dad had one for a while

[@madmike2624]

It all went to hell in 1988. GM never fails to screw up a good thing!!!

[@carlover9548]

I'm surprised that you didn't got AWD in the first Opel Insignia based GS or the 2.8 Turbo

[@anastassiosperakis2869]

Are you surprised that GM lost TWENTY BILLION US DOllars by propping up that loser OPEL all these years? One more reason it went broke in 2008. AND it does not seem to have learned a god damned thing from their bankruptcy 1.0. they seem ready for 2.0. Just wait couple years.

[@ponchoman49]

Buick lost their minds from 1982 to 1985 with the Regal line killing off a gas V8 option and only offering the 110 HP 231 V6 and optional 125 horse 4.1 liter version up to 1984 and then only the 231 for 1985 unless one opted for the turbo coupe which was not what your average Buick buyer would have purchased at the time or the severally underpowered 85 HP 4.3 V6 diesel! Finally in 1986 they ushered in the Olds 307 as an option to the weak 231 base engine and that engine was a popular option until 1987. The weird thing is that Chevy, Pontiac and Olds all offered 5 liter 4 BBL V8 engine options from 1983 right to the end of their model runs in 1987 to 1988. That was always odd to me considering Buick was supposed to be top of the line.

[@thehopelesscarguy]

That is an oddity.

[@stevespatola763]

Another Rehal TpurX owner. Ruby red Essence.

[@madmike2624]

My first car in 1982 was a 73 and it had 37k and being a dumb ass kid beat the crap out of it and it was the most reliable car I have ever owned to this day!!!

[@thehopelesscarguy]

I can relate.

[@WAYUPDUDE1382]

[@thehopelesscarguy]

Glad you enjoyed.

[@8corymix8]

Beautiful cars

[@anastassiosperakis2869]

in this case, beauty sure is NOT in the eye of this beholder they were GOD AWFUL, Unattractive, overpriced CHEVYS, and CHICK CARS by design.

[@thehopelesscarguy]

Some were better looking than others.

[@OLDS98]

Excellent. Excellent. I liked the images used. I liked how you covered the changes over the years. I like how you mentioned the Buick China connection and the ties to Opel when GM owned the brand. You covered it so well. I say thank you and thank you for doing a great job. The last version was sold as Holden Commodore as well.. I leave you with this commercial: kzbin.info/www/bejne/e4TMpYutm9SibdU

[@thehopelesscarguy]

My former mother-in-law traded in her 79 Malibu for an '81 Regal that felt was the best car she ever owned and regretted getting rid of. So she got an '88 Regal that was eventually passed to one of my sons.

[@OLDS98]

@@thehopelesscarguy The Regal really means something to you. You have a long history with the car. Does you son still have the Regal or there are no more Regals in the family.

[@thehopelesscarguy]

@@OLDS98 No, he sold it.

[@OLDS98]

@@thehopelesscarguy Oh okay... I was just asking. Thank you for sharing any way. The video was still excellent.

[@thehopelesscarguy]

@@OLDS98 Thanks, again.

[@stevespatola763]

The Olds 307 is a better engine than the Chevy 305. Puny valves in the Chevy. My 84 Olds Custom Cruiser has a rebuilt 307 with Edelbrock intake, roller rockers, and RV cam and shaved heads. It does pass Kommiefornia smog. This is the 2d rebuild because of poor quality parts in the aftermarket. I hope I did better this time.

[@digitalwitness77]

My 87 Regal was a better car than what's being built today.

[@anastassiosperakis2869]

None of the cars you showed was attractive. It was a sucker's car all the way. But I remember family when I was a grad student at MIT, who lived in Newton, the father was a Harvard Biochemistry prof, the wife (from Mobile, AL) basically a housewife with musical and choir interests, a former singer, and I was quite close with their beautiful and athletic daughter Anna, since she was 20 and I 25. The WIFE got one of these POS in 1980-81. brand new, or more upscale Buick model, fully optioned. I Did like the color combination, of a deep maroon exterior and a brilliant white leather interior. The models you show here, even as late in the 2000s, have HORRIBLE interiors, especially the gray plastic dashes and gauges. The above wife paid more than $11k for the Regal or better buick then, A HUGE amount, compared with a colleague who got a new VOLVO for only $9,300 in Fall 1979. But those were years of Carter Malaise and Huge Inflation.

[@kylejuve5494]

Proof that 60s 70s cool 80s tried harder and 90s sucked