1983 Buick T-Types Manufacturer Promo
For a good many years, they asked the question, “wouldn’t you really rather have a Buick?” And for a good many years, the answer was a resounding, “NO!” There was simply nothing in the Buick line that had any lasting appeal for an enthusiast driver. There was an occasional ray of hope like the factory hot rod GS400 and GS455 models with the Stage I and Stage II engine packages back in the 70’s, but by and large, Buick’s were family cars.
In the middle 70s though, the stodgy image started coming around, with the advent of the 231ci turbocharged V6 engine and an aggressive Indianapolis 500 pace car program concocted by aggressive management. At one point, with turbocharged Rivieras, LeSabres, and Regals, Buick by itself was producing half the turboed modes on the US market, relying more on the magic of the word than the actual performance of the cars to provide the division with an image vastly different from what it had had for decades. The slippery Regal body found a home I many of the leading NASCAR team garages, dominating the racing for several seasons, and the Special Products Engineering office at Buick began to market the V6 engine idea to high performance enthusiasts with a strong list of heavy duty replacement parts for competition applications.
In February 1981, Buick management, headed by former Chevrolet and Buick engineer Lloyd Reuss, determined that all these moves were in the right direction, but that a still more aggressive posture would be needed in the 80s if the Buick image was to be changed permanently from stodge to strength. That series of meetings was the genesis of a whole new family of Buick products that debuted in California as the 1983 Buick T-Types, on all but the LeSabre and Electra B/C car lines.
Although the T-Types were available nationally later on in 1983, the Buick sales and marketing groups chose to kick the T program off in a market where it had already seen substantial sales gains and image improvement. That meant import dominated California, where Buick in 1981 increased its market share more than any other manufacturer. The California market is huge, diverse, and import oriented, and its demographics line up nicely with what Buick had in mind: conquest sales in a young, affluent market that had set national automotive trends for decades. Its a big expensive program, and the advent of the T-Types marked the first time in General Motors history that a division had been given the go-head to debut five specialty cars all at once.
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OH YEAH I LIKE BUICK RIVIERA T-TYPE 1981 TO 1985 3.8L TURBO V6 1981 TO 83 190 HP AND 1984 TO 85 200 HP MODERN MUSCLE CAR LUXURY FRONT WHEEL DRIVE “SON OF BOATTAIL” 😀
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