Buick does not build many cars like the Buick Regal: a 2-door coupe / 4-door sedan with 231 cuin Buick V6 engine#231, built from 1973 to 2020 as the oil crises and the first emissions rules rewired the industry.
How it came about
The Buick Regal is a line of mid-size cars marketed by Buick since 1973. Serving as the premium mid-size/intermediate car of the Buick product range for nearly its entire production, the Regal initially served as the divisional counterpart of the Pontiac Grand Prix and Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme; since the late 2000s, the model line has been derived from the European Opel Insignia. The Regal also serves as the basis of the high-performance Grand National, Gran Sport (GS), and Buick GNX coupes. Through its production, the Regal has been marketed under a wide variety of body styles, including two-door coupes and four-door sedans (currently in production), along with a 5-door liftback sedan and a 5-door station wagon; the latter (the 2018–2020 Regal TourX) was the first Buick station wagon marketed since the retirement of both the Century and Roadmaster Estates after 1996.
The turbocharged LD5 3.8L V6 used in the second generation was used to showcase the motorsports presence of the brand; though offered with other vehicles (including Chevrolets and Pontiacs), the turbocharged engine is most commonly associated with the Regal. During the 1990s, the V6 regained forced induction, with a supercharger replacing the turbocharger. In 1999, General Motors commenced sales of its vehicles in China, with the Buick Regal serving as its introductory model of the joint venture SAIC-GM. After 2004, Buick retired the model line in North America, as it replaced both the Regal and the Century with the Buick LaCrosse. Following the introduction of the second-generation Regal for China for
The hardware
Under the skin sits 231 cuin Buick V6 engine#231; other versions carried different engines, listed in the specification table below. The gearbox is a 3-speed Turbo-Hydramatic Turbo-Hydramatic#THM350 / 350 automatic / 3-speed Turbo-Hydramatic Turbo-Hydramatic#Super Turbine 400 .2F THM400 .2F THM375 .2F 3L80 .2F 3L80HD / 400 autom. The layout matters: a front engine drives the rear wheels, the classic proportion — long bonnet, cabin set back — that most people picture when they picture a sports saloon or a grand tourer. The wheelbase is 112 in (coupe). These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Family and rivals
Where it sits in Buick's history is not in doubt: the Buick Skylark (2nd generation) / Buick Century came before it; the Buick LaCrosse followed it; it was built at Flint, Michigan. On a showroom list of its day it stood against the Volkswagen Passat, the Lancia Stratos, the Mitsubishi Lancer. Its Buick stablemates include the Buick First Call and the Buick Funeral Car.
The money
On the used market today a Buick Regal typically changes hands for $7,300–$23,400, and running it — fuel and maintenance at its age — costs about $3,734–$6,428 a year. Insurance sits around $1,050–$2,000 a year. The figures are class-level estimates from the federal record, with the formula on the methodology page; the model-year pages carry complaints, recalls and repair costs year by year.