89 regal limited with grond effects

potlicker

03-24-2005, 01:27 PM

Back in the fall of 1988 i bought a new 1989 regal with a nice ground effect package from Sonny king buick in orlando florida. (buick marked at bottom of the doors and at the airram) the car has went thru every one in the family and is currently residing in the barn, while it is showing signs of its age. the little 2.8 still runs great after 250000 miles and 15+ years, all I have ever had to fix on it, was the altenator and the power sterring pump, the kids gave it some abuse back in the late 90"s and it could stand a new coat of paint.
Before the warranty on the car ran out i had some problems with paint blistering on the ground effects package, and took it to my local dealer in alabama to have it repainted, he stated that it was aftermarket and not covered by the warranty, but when i had him check with his buick rep, the rep said it was a special package offered by buick and that it was covered under the warranty.
I have never seen any other car with this appearance package other than the sister to it, at the Orlando dealer.
I did not keep any of the original paperwork from when I bought the car, SO I AM WONDERING IS THEIR ANY WAY TO FIND OUT THE FACTORY SHIPPING RECORDS AND WHETER IT WOULD BE WORTH THE RESTORATION. I HAVE OWNED MANY NEW AND NICE CARS THROUGH OUT THE YEARS BUT NONE THAT WAS AS, EYE CATCHING, AS THIS WAS, WHEN IT WAS NEW.
In 1996 I bought my wife a new Impalla SS, but she preferred the old buick,
I have since traded off several new cars and trucks, but i cant seem to let this old girl go.

tman

03-24-2005, 03:40 PM

Do you have any pictures of this car, I'd like to see it if you don't mind.

PFJ5K

03-25-2005, 01:25 PM

I think 1989 was the first year of the Buick regal gs which came from the factory with plastic ground effect style pieces attached to the doors and bumpers. But you said in the title of your post that your car is a regal limited and not a gs.

The fact that the only other car you have seen with this package was at the same dealership you bought your car from leads me to believe that this is one of those dealer prepared specialty cars that were so popular in the 80s (remember the bandit II firebird built on the 3rd gen chassis with the fake shaker hood scoop or the g body grand prix gt).

I know that there was a company that made a buick lesabre with ground effects called the GST (not to be confused with the lesabre t-type made by the factory during the same time). If you have any pictures of your car, please let us see.

GM does have some sort of historical service where you can order paperwork for old muscle cars and classics. Try calling buick's customer assistance number, they can probably help you out.

potlicker

03-25-2005, 01:47 PM

PFJ5K

03-29-2005, 09:11 PM

I did a little research. Apparently for the 1988 model year, you could order factory ground effects on any model regal. In 1989 the ground effects were only available as part of the GS package which was added sometime during the 89 model year. All of the GS options (wheels, suspension, ground effects, etc...) were available in 88, you just had to purchase them individually.

Since you bought your car at the very end of 1988 and it was titled as an 89, it is probably one of the last cars built with ground effects that was not also badged as a GS. I think a regal limited with ground effects would be a particularly rare car.

Very interesting !! :grinyes:

glade8r

06-01-2005, 09:18 PM

I have one of these cars. 1989. white with red interior. 2.8 ltr., very different looking. it's labeled a regal custom. Ive been trying to find any info on it since I got it 1 yr. ago, with not much luck til now, thanx. this is definitely not grandpas buick. I love the buckets and floor shift/console. 4-wheel discs, 4-wheel indep. susp., 15 in. low profiles on alloys. my car has a dark tinted strip across the top of the windshield, with TRI-STAR written in 4 in. white letters, which is molded into the windshield. haven't been able to find anything on that either, anybody? my car also has one querk that has me baffled - if I don't let the car warm up for at least 15 min. before moving it, it will not shift out of first gear. after 15- no problem, shifts like a new car. anybody got any idea?

tomogchi

06-14-2005, 10:17 PM

PFJ5K

06-15-2005, 05:28 PM

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