This year marks the 40th anniversary of the introduction of the Buick Regal, which was introduced in 1973 as the Century Regal.
This year marks the 40th anniversary of the introduction of the Buick Regal, which was introduced in 1973 as the Century Regal. Back in 1973 the Century Regal served as an upmarket model in the Century line and one of GM’s first “personal luxury” cars.
Four decades later the Regal is now in its fifth generation.
Buick Regal Timeline:
Generation 1 – 1973-1977
Large swooping body lines and opera windows were among Regal’s fashion cues at the start of the personal luxury era. The 1975 Regal was the only mid-size car in the United States to come standard with an efficient V-6 engine while maintaining comparable V-8 performance.
Generation 2 – 1978-1987
Downsized from the previous generation, the 1978 Regal offered a 3.8-liter turbocharged V-6, making Buick the first mainstream brand to offer a turbocharged engine. This ingenuity would pave the way for iconic Buick’s of the 80s including the highly desired Grand National and legendary GNX.
Generation 3 – 1988-1996
Continuing the trend of scaled down cars in the U.S., the Regal’s third generation was again smaller and would usher in front wheel drive. Power would come from an all six-cylinder engine lineup including the award-winning 3800 V-6 engine.
Generation 4 – 1997-2004
Back to its roots, the 1997 Regal again became an upmarket version of the Buick Century. The ’97 Buick Regal GS debuted with the brand’s first supercharged V-6, rated at 240 hp and 280 lb-ft of torque.
Generation 5 – 2009-2014
After a brief hiatus, the Regal would first return to the Chinese market for 2009, following a year later in the U.S. A high-output, dynamically optimized GS model would return for 2012. Introduced in 2013, the 2014 model is the first Regal to offer all-wheel-drive. Combining sport sedan handling with some of the most power-dense and technically advanced engines in the brand’s history, the Regal is helping to attract younger, new buyers to Buick.
Source: GM
