Today’s Nice Price or No Dice Buick Regal offers an odd mix of performance upgrades and factory fashion designer (Joseph Abboud) style. Let’s see what this supercharged sedan is all about.
Centurion was the name adopted by officers in the Roman army during the early era of the Roman Republic. It was taken from the Latin word “Centurio,” meaning hundred, denoting the typical size of the squad the officers commanded. Not all Centurions were equal; positions were determined by role and societal status. All, however, ranked lower than the Legion’s horse-mounted equestrian order.
The 1926 Ford Model T pickup we looked at last Friday is almost a century old, and when new, it was designed to appeal to far greater numbers than just 100. Today, Model Ts represent a budget brass-era classic for the masses. Our car, at $19,500, sits at the top of that market; however, its need for new top fabric and wood for the bed calls its value proposition into question. Ultimately, it pulled out a squeaker 52% ‘Nice Price’ win.
Car of the century
Speaking of Centuries, that’s the model from which today’s 2002 Buick Regal GS originally sprouted. In the early 1970s, Buick applied the Regal name as an upscale trim level on the brand’s A-body Century coupes. These cars shared a roofline and entire underpinnings with other A-body two-doors, including the Chevy Monte Carlo and Olds Cutlass Supreme.
Shift forward two decades and three model revisions later, and nothing had changed, while everything had changed. With the introduction of the fourth-generation model in 1997, Buick kept the Regal in the family, sharing its unibody architecture with its General Motors bandmates, Chevy, Pontiac, and Oldsmobile, but whittled down the available bodystyles to a single four-door sedan. This generation of Regal, like its immediate predecessor, is FWD, offering a small spate of V6 engines and automatic transmissions as its drivetrain options. Also, like the earlier car, it shares its body with the Century, but it’s a distinct, separate model rather than a simple trim-level upgrade.
Gran Sport
That’s not to say there isn’t some trim-level shenanigans to be had with this Regal. It is the desirable GS (Gran Sport) edition, which means it has the awesome supercharged L67 3800 V6 under its hood. That makes it the quickest Regal since the Grand Nationals of the 1980s. In this model, the blown pushrod 3800 was rated by Buick to be good for a strong 240 horsepower and an even healthier 280 pound-feet of torque. Backing that up is a four-speed automatic operated via a sporty console-mounted shifter.
This car has a mere 81,000 miles on the clock and, according to the seller, has benefited from over $4,000 in recent maintenance and upgrades. Those make it even more unique a proposition. That work includes new brakes and tires at all four corners, upgraded anti-sway bars and trailing arms, and a strut tower brace under the hood. And that’s all been done on a Buick! All the original parts will come with the sale, the seller says, just in case the next owner wants to retrograde the Regal.
All aboard the Abboud
The car’s aesthetic aspects balance all that mechanical mischief. This is a Joseph Abboud edition, an added-cost trim level offered by Buick on the LS and GS models, and designed by the American fashionista. Changes to the car for the Abboud edition include two-tone chestnut over taupe upholstery, leather seating surfaces, special 15-inch alloy wheels, and Joseph Abboud signature badging all over the place.
Being top of the line of the top of the line, this Regal GS Abboud edition also features such niceties as a moonroof, a Monsoon sound system with both cassette and CD player, and dual-zone automatic climate control. The latter has never even had the protective plastic peeled off its LED display, which shows an unbelievable level of restraint for anyone who has ever ridden in the car.
According to the ad, this Regal has enjoyed a pampered life, kept in a garage and used only sparingly as a weekend car. Overall, it looks to be in great shape, with no rust, no noticeable wear and tear, and clear, clean headlamp lenses, giving it an almost-as-new appearance.
Cheap thrills?
A clean title cherry-drops the sundae on this Buick, which leads us now having to consider its $8,500 asking price. That price gets the next owner the car, the original parts, and a get-out-of-jail-free card from the smog tester. It should be noted, as well, that these cars are well-known for being dead reliable and could be considered daily drivers even now, nearly a quarter century (there’s that word again) from new.
What do you think? Is this seemingly well-kept, and remarkably for a Buick, upgraded, designer-edition Regal GS, a deal at that $8,500 price tag? Or is it too much of a throwback to throw down that much?
You decide!
San Francisco Bay Area, California, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to Don R. for the hookup!
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