The Regal nameplate got its start with Buick as the upmarket personal luxury coupe version of the Century, back in 1973. The second generation debuted in 1978, sharing a platform with the Monte Carlo, Grand Prix, and Cutlass Supreme.
The Regal was a popular coupe and although sedan and wagon variants were occasionally offered in the first and second generations, the coupes outsold them ten-to-one. The second generation Regal was best known for sending out the RWD era at Buick out with a bang in the form of fire-breathing turbocharged T-Types, Grand Nationals, and the ultimate GNX.
With the 1988 model year, the Regal became a front-wheel drive car on the new W-body, shared with the Grand Prix, Lumina, and Cutlass Supreme. The Regal version was initially available only as a coupe with the funky "beer tap" door handles in the B-pillars.
The only powertrain available in the debut year was the GM LB6, a 2.8L multiport fuel injected pushrod V-6 making 125 SAE net horsepower. Performance was a faint shadow of the Regal Grand National. For 1989 the Gran Sport package became an option and the 140hp 3.1L version of the corporate V-6 supplanted the 2.8L later in the model year.
1990 saw the Regal become the only one of the W-body coupes to offer the 3800 Tuned Port Injection 3.8L OHV V-6. The "Series I" 3800 made 170 SAE net ponies and managed to restore something approaching reasonable acceleration again.
When Car and Driver tested a 1992 Regal GS coupe not unlike the Arctic White one in the photos, they clocked a 9.2 second zero-to-sixty time and a 16.9 second quarter.
The one in the photo was snapped in October of 2025 using a Sony a77 and a Sony Zeiss 16-80mm f/3.5-4.5 Vario-Sonnar T* zoom lens.
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