A little slice of FWD Turbo nostalgia, circa 1988:

 

Nice bill, what does she make as far as power? BTW, i am keeping the kit and the car, love it too much

 

You know, believe it or not, dyno's weren't very common back in 1988, but neither were wideband AFR setups...we pretty much tuned by feel and track times combined with plug readings, and an occasional EGT gauge tossed on to prevent meltdowns. This car wasn't powerful by today's standards, but it was four seconds quicker in the 1/4 mile than stock, and that's all we cared!

Glad to hear you're still in the turbo club, brother!

 

One of the best GNs I have seen.

 

Im confused.... arent grand nationals RWD? Is that a regal? lol

 

87 Was the last year of the RWD G-bodies(88 had a few) That was the first year of the FWD regal.

 

BUSTED!

Well, heh...let's just say this is what we thought the '88 Grand National WOULD have looked like...had they ever made one! 1988 was the year GM dropped RWD across many models, debuting its new 3800 engine FWD platform. It was a very effective move...these new engines were aces from the get-go, and GM would go on to sell millions of them.

So what this car is wearing is the world's first Hahn RaceCraft turbosystem, designed and built in 1988, our first year of business!



And the car? It's a 1988 Buick LeSabre T-Type. We made the T stand for Turbo

 

I was about ready to say, aint no way in hell thats a GN let alone an 88. Dads gotta 87 mint with 20k miles. And I knew 88 and Grand National didn't mix...

08 and Grand National... different story, they should bring the GN back...

LMAO, not a GN, but thats ok you got another post for being a moron.

 

Heh, you'd be surprised how many people it fooled back THEN too. We always had people with puzzled looks when we told them what it really was. Its styling was identical to the GN, with blacked out everything. The family resemblance, while slight, was there.




This early FWD was brutal. Torque steer was very evident...when you went to pass sombody, you could not even CONSIDER going to full throttle until you had it pointed straight up the oncoming lane...if ya got on it during the lane change it would get dangerous hairy fast! Keep in mind, this is a 4000-pound Big 2-door. no sport compact!

A 17 second car stock, we got it down into the 13's, but traction was ever an issue...tires and tracks weren't all that hot back then either!

 

I love old rides like that. You did a great job on the turbo setup. Do you still own that car?

 

Thanks! As a turbo car, very rare in that era, it was all so fun and new. I'd been racing turbocharged bikes for a number of years by then, and working with them for years before that at my Dad's turbo company in the 1970's. I grew up around some pretty cool stuff, and I was fortunate to have been in that environment. But this was the first true Hahn RaceCraft TurboSystem.

I am not the owner, as it belongs to a friend I used to race bikes with. He's local to the area, and still has the car. It's like a time capsule, very treasured.

 

Welp. That's 1 post I have of being a moron.

 

ahhhhhhhh the ole t-type's

 

damn that thing ain't half bad. I actually liked those car too.

 

if you want a real sleeper. go find one of the 3.8 turbo rivera's from the 80's

 

This isn't the same car, but the same year and model; gives you an idea of the look up front. Super clean! (apparently it was also raining that day, lol)

 

after the move I'm planning on building up a little sleeper project since the cobalt's spo has been blown. Still haven't decided on what, but it will be a gm product and probably pretty old

 

if you have a weird thing for building cars. i might be selling the 240

 

hmm, well obviously I do lol. I'm on my 27th vehicle now, just got a 2000 cherokee sport for free, so yeah, umm it's black, and it's tinted, powder coating the rims black, 31" tires and 3" lift (more free parts lol)

 

it won't be free by any means. just kinda feelin around right now.

 

well of course. I can;t pick up anything for a while man. I have to move in 2 weeks and somehow find a house and get a mortgage as fast as possible. Maybe a few months down the line

 

you need to slap on the old Grand Prix crosslace wheels and paint them black with a chrome outer and inner

 

With a 3 inch and 31's you can have a lot of fun...thats all my 92 has and I go through things that a wrangler with 4-5" of lift and 33-35's get stuck in.


Didnt Buick make a lesabre t-type? (minus the turbo of course)

 

yeah, they made a LeSabre T-Type...isn't that what Hahn posted?

 

Yep, that's what she is. What with the Regals and Grand Nationals, stodgy old Buick actaully had a performance thing going back then! So in 1988, when RWD went away in their midsized cars, they had to do something, so they did this.