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1978 Regal with 4 speed


JohnD1956

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Can anyone help me get information for a fellow regarding his former car? Several times he has written to me to ask if I can get any production details for him. Best I can do is determine there were several hundred of these cars produced but this gentleman seems obsessed with details. And just in case details do exist I'd like to help him out.

He writes about a 1978 Regal, 2 dr, with V6, 4 speed, bucket seats and a posi rear. And he is looking for details on how many were produced.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks

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The Sloan Museum has the Buick production records:

 

http://sloanlongway.org/buick-gallery/research/automotive-research

 

 

They charge $15 for 30 minutes of automotive research.  If you have a specific question about production numbers it usually doesn't take them very long to find the answer.  I've never been charged for more than an hour even when I had 30-40 items I was looking for.

Edited by sean1997 (see edit history)
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If you can find someone (automotive business or library) with the Ward's Yearbook (you would need the 1979 to get the 1978, figures.

Even if you find Ward's,  the information is not specific,   they will give the production by car model but not by body style.

It will tell you how many Regal V6 were made in all series (in percentage of total production),  and it will tell you how may 4 speed, but that will be all 4 speeds.

I have not been very successful in getting good info from Buick.

 

Try the GM Heritage Center..... Christo Datini helped me   (email Christo.datini@gm.com

Another contact is Greg Wallace    (email greg.wallace@gm.com)

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In that generation of Chevy Malibu, I know there was the possibility of getting a 305V-8 with 4-speed and I know you could get a Camaro (Buick) V-6 with a three-speed, but don't recall seeing a V-6 4-speed variation . . . at least in Chevrolet. Due to EPA powertrain certification costs, if they did it in Chevy, it would have been in other similar vehicles, too, I suspect.

After we got past the early-70s cars, there was not much interest in "how many with what" was produced, at least in "the hobby". Except for things like 1LE Camaros, that DID matter to the Camaro enthusiasts. BUT, that information should be somewhere . . . or was.

NTX5467

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Thanks Sean. I tried calling Sloan yesterday but no one answered the phone. Thanks to Barney too. I emailed one of your contacts but he is on vacation this week.

But the information from the Wards book is close enough. I will send that information to the gentleman and I will keep it for next year when he may write for it again.

What a great Forum Community!

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The Ward's numbers are good to have but not accurate down to an exact number.   In the case of the 78 Regal,  it shows 236,652 made.  Assuming that is accurate, they show that .2% had 4 speeds.

When you look at the rounding of .2% it could have been .15 to .24 and that equates to 355 on the low end up to 567 on the high end.  At least you get in the ballpark.

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Agree with Willis. 4-speed was available only behind the Chevy 305-4V in the downsized Oldsmobile A-body, so given emissions certs I'd think the Buick and Pontiac versions would be the same as Chevy and Olds.

 

I have seen a 1979 GMC Caballero with 305/4-speed (and waited too late to make my move on it truth be known).

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Attached are a couple of pages from the 1978 Buick Color/Trim and Selling Manual.

A good friend of mine was a mechanic for a Buick dealership at the time. He told me when a turbo charged '78 pulled into the shop, the mechanics would hide-they were that messed up- (the cars, not the mechanics) 

Edited by retirednow (see edit history)
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So the 4 speed was only available behind the V6 in the Buick. That means 272 were produced?

 

Depends on how you round it.  By conventional rounding rules 0.2% can be anywhere from 0.15% to 0.249%.  Making it between 204 and 339 of the 135,970 V6 Regal's built.

Edited by sean1997 (see edit history)
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Thanks for that information, Sean!  Neat stuff!

 

When the GNs were in production and were acknowledged to be "Corvette-snacking fast", I was at a Buick dealership and a GN was in for some issue.  When they put the car on a lift for inspection, that shop really came alive when they found the catalytic converter had been replaced by a Test Tube.  Service manager was quickly seeking a camera to get a picture, lest that car come back for warranty work later on.  Such a FREZY!!  As if that Test Tube was going to evaporate or something!  (Remember, this was in a prior time when cell phones came in bags and hadn't inter-bred with cameras yet, much less a Polaroid!).  And, of course, EVERYBODY had to see what all of the commotion was about, like they'd never seen a hot rod Buick before!

 

NTX5467

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More than likely the shop wanted to protect itself from claims that they removed the catalytic converter. When I took my 78 wagon for an exhaust system 4 years ago the shop I used refused to remove the converter even though NYS law specifically states cars as old as it are exempt. Said that Fed law still requires it and in their opinion the Fed Law trumps the State law. They would not even make me a test pipe, so the converter is still in my car.

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There used to be a website that would decode VIN's like this one for my Chevy SS. It closed and I haven't been able to find a similar one.

Vehicle VIN Decode.htm

 

Rarity...

 

There are 4 1994 CAPRICE CLASSIC 4 DR vehicles (0.004%) matching your exact options list. There are 27 (0.028%) with at least as many options.

 

Pretty neat stuff and you can verify the car is a Caprice with the SS option, not an SS stand alone model.

 

So there are details out there. It's just finding the database.

Bernie

 

 

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