Buick's Bold Boost: How Two Sleeper Coupes Dominated the 1978 Turbo Scene
In 1978, the global automotive market featured only four turbocharged production models, and remarkably, Buick produced half of them. The Regal Sport Coupe and LeSabre Sport Coupe stood alongside the Saab 99 Turbo and the Porsche 911 Turbo as the world's only boosted offerings that year. While Buick was not the first American brand to experiment with turbocharging—a title held by early 1960s icons like the Corvair and Oldsmobile Jetfire—their 1978 push marked a critical resurgence of forced induction. By pairing a 3.8-liter V6 with a Garrett turbocharger, Buick achieved V8-rivaling power while navigating stricter emissions standards, effectively laying the groundwork for the legendary high-performance Grand National models of the following decade.
