I graduated in 87 so all the cars are embedded in my memory. I love the conquest, dreamed about the SVO and Grand National but ended up with a 86 Chrysler Laser. Joined the Army after HS, then stationed in Germany and eventually bought a 1990 Eagle Talon TSI. This was a drive down memory lane. Appreciate it from a semi-old man.
I graduated in 87 also, I did buy a grand national just before they announced they were stopping production so I paid the original 17k for it, dealers sold them for 25k after the announcement.
I’m in the same boat fellas. I got an 86 svo when I was a senior. My dad knew the owner of the dealership, so I got it making 18 psi. I don’t know how much hp it was making, but it was substantial… Good times!
Damn, that’s weird! Graduated in 1988. Had a 1984 Chrysler laser and then ended up getting a 1994 Eagle talon TSI. Thanks for your service! Edit: “your door is ajar.”😂
I remember very vividly as a kid visiting a Dodge dealership with my parents and seeing an '88 Conquest on the showroom floor. Usually trips to the car dealer were long and boring but I remember walking around that car and checking it out over and over again and literally being entertained just by doing that. One of the coolest designs I had ever seen and my opinion still hasn't changed decades later.
In late 80's one of my cousin had a Conquest, in white, gorgeous, I used to love it. He sold that, bought a dark blue Supra. I got myself a muscle car, but always wanted a white Conquest.
I still have my 88 Conquest TSI. But it has been heavily modified. Marnel head. Snyder cam and an 18g turbo. Walbro fuel pump 3” stainless steel down pipe and 3” exhaust. SPEC clutch. Runs pretty strong. But my son’s 86 Conquest is a beast. With a 2JZ engine and a single t77 turbo and 3” exhaust. It’s brutal. Fun cars. Thanks for the video.
Man. Your son's build is the way to go if the 2.6 gives out on ya. That straight 6t is no joke at all. Can get up on a lot of fast bikes and out run them. A sight to behold
I owned a 1987 Mitsubishi Conquest TSI; and I regret letting it go. It was red, black leather interior, 5 speed manual transmission and it was extremely fast and fun to drive, with beautiful lines.😭
I had a blue one with black leather and an automatic back in the early 90s. Like yours, it was stupidly fast. Also like you, I regret getting rid of it.
I wish you had included the 1989 Ford Probe GT with 2.2L intercooled turbo engine and 5-speed manual. My mom bought a white one brand new off the showroom floor in late '88 for around $16,000. Pretty fast for the time when that turbo kicked in. I eventually inherited it in '96 and drove it until '08. I loved that car, and miss it to this day.
I agree. The Conquest should not have been on this list. It's just a rebadged Starion. Nothing Anerican about it. And I love the Starion. I like the Probe, too.
Yup, they totally missed the 88-92 Mazda MX-6 GT turbo (Same as Probe GT). I had 4 of them, all modded and surprised many V8's and other sport cars. Still looking for a nice clean original one right now.
All of those cars are pretty cool. I have read through several forums that the Glhs was quick and turned well but the ownership experience was a special kind of awful which I thought surprising. Several referenced blowing it up (wishing they had)
Really? The first production turbocharged car was American... The Oldsmobile Jetfire. Long before BMW, Porsche, and Saab experimented with turbos in production vehicles GM was the first.
I still lust over those wide body Starquests like I did when they were new. A timeless design that still holds up today. I hope to add one to my collection someday.
If you thought the class 1 and class 2 was fast. I had a class 4. The 2.2 a 4 valve dohc hemi head, a bigger turbo, and bigger intercooler. It topped out about 200 bhp. I had a Shelby Z that we dropped a modified class 4 in. We Dyno'd it at 400 bhp at the front wheels. I could chase down Ferraris in that thing
When I was 18 I bought a new Shelby Charger GLHS. It was quick for it's day. I took it to Englishtown and ran a 14.79 best. Not bad for 13,500$. Was pretty reliable too.
I miss Englishtown. And Atco. And Island (only because I moved a few months ago, otherwise I'd still be going to the last strip standing). Sounds like the Charger GLHS was a riot to drive. Must've hurt a lot feelings back then!
They missed a few, the 80 and 81 turbo trans ams with the 4.9 Pontiac turbo motor and the 1989 turbo trans am with the Buick v 6 from the grand national.
I got to drive an Omni GLHS and lemme tell ya, it was raw and crude but fast as all get out. Torque steer was stupid and if you launched too hard, you had to turn the wheel to the left fairly far to keep it straight under full throttle. The surprising thing was, that if 1 drove it like a civilized human, it was very docile harking back to its econobox roots, even getting good mileage.
My buddy had an Omni, but not with a turbo. Boy howdy was that thing a nightmare to work on, and it needed constant work! There was an eclectic mish mash of standard and metric and they made like 75 different carbs for those damn things apparently and none of them worked very well!
I've owned (2) 80s Turbos. Bought an '86 Lebaron GTS Turbo in '92 for $1,500 from a gearhead. Discovered it was tricked out with a Shelby head & other goodies. It ran very strong & I buried the digital speedo to just 3 blinking lights on I-275 just outside of Detroit. The other was an '85 Platinum Riviera T-type that had the Grand National 3.8 turbo engine. Talk about a sleeper that was very quick. I got a deal on a set of tru-spoke fine wire wheels with Royal seal tires. It was flat out gorgeous. I put over 100k on the Riv without any issues & was very reliable.
Nice stretch on I-275 to open up and let lose. Unfortunately I opened up on I-75 between Big Beaver Rd (Exit 69) and 14 Mile Rd (Exit 64) and I left it in 3rd gear and spun the engine up to 5800 rpm, with valve springs that weren't designed to rev that high, and a lifter popped right out the bore and I lost all oil pressure and broke the rocker shaft. Very costly mistake.
@@markbrinton6790 Technically 547, but only 545 were available to the public. Buick owns GNX 001 anf GNX 500 as Buick had only planned on building 500, but over committed and only ended up with first GNX produced, but not the last as they has intended to do.
GM in the 80s also offered the Pontiac Sunbird and Buick Skyhawk in a turbo four in 1.8L SOHC and later 2.0L SOHC but no intercooler. Turbo lag and torque steer was horrible but acceleration times were very good for this class at the time.
Left out the Probe GT/Mazda MX-6 twins; that's a bummer. And of all the '89 Pontiacs to pick from you leave out the '20th anniversary Turbo Trans am that had the GNX motor dropped in it from the factory? That car was a corvette killer.
The Conquest/Starion were some really cool cars. At the time I owned a 1984 Toyota Celica GTS BLACK PACKAGE. THERE was a mutual respect going down the road. At the time I had a friend that was a TRD SPECIALIST as my Techcanic. Great guy mine was faster and handled better than the average Celica. A lady killed my car, and a very special part of me died too. My next car was an Acura Vigor. I still have it it still runs well and people actually look at it sitting still and while driving. Thanks for the memory. Means a lot to me.
No mention of the 1987 Motor Trend car of the year, Thunderbird Turbo Coupe. Ford was selling about 30,000 turbo cars per year, not 15 or 20 cars like some of those I've never seen before. But that Omni GHL must be a wonderful car, ha
I think the SVO was a car 25 years ahead of its time. Several of these other cars are in the same boat, but the SVO was one of the first American turbo performance cars…four wheel discs, aerodynamic considerations, etc. And then there’s the GNX…the sledgehammer among the ball peen hammers.
Ford screwed Shelby over and when his friend Iococa took over Chrysler Shelby jumped ship. Plus Shelby was granted free reign to experiment with the cars to make them faster and more fun to drive. Eventually the changes trickled down to the other cars. What they didn't talk about is that Shelby even stuck his turbo engine in the minivan. They were wild because you were banging gears with the turbo screaming in a soccer mom mobile
Here's one you REALLY forgot: the Vector W8 from 1989. This beast was a very low volume supercar meant as an American alternative to foreign supercars. Power came from a 6.0 liter twin-turbo V8 hooked through a modified Turbo-Hydromatic 425 three speed automatic transmission (that dated to the original Olds Toronado; it was the only transmission available that could handle the torque). The styling was angular and wedgy, reminiscent of Marcello Gandini's styling from the 70s. It was a thoroughly badass though flawed car, and it really should be here.
I have to say as a child of the 70s/80s pouring over road and track/C&D magazines Vectors were one of the most irritating cars in the world. It started as the w12 , they never could get it together. They would consistently put out press that the car was coming out. They just teased us. They are really cool. I’ve never seen one on the road but I have seen one at the Long Beach Grand Prix in 89.
@@christophersmatla1932 I think it was called the W2, not W12, but yeah, they were interesting. Gerald Wiegert had the original prototype built back in the 70s (hence the Gandini-inspired styling) and took fifteen years or so to ever sell a finished car. I'm frankly amazed that any of them ever got built at all, but those few that were made are strange and cool. I think Andre Agassi had one.
I was a high school kid working at a Chrysler dealer in Pennsylvania. I was working under the table washing cars. I remember the first time I sat in and moved a conquest from the garage to the lot. It felt like I was sitting in the latest fighter jet being tested at Area 51. Now we’re both museum pieces 😢
I haven't forgotten them, I just prefer the extra 2 cylinders naturally aspirated over a blowdryer on the engine. I also remember the ones that were missed: PONTIAC: 1980-81 Trans Am Turbo (Pontiac 301/4.9L V8T), 1989 20th Anniversary Trans Am with Buick GNX 3.8L V6T engine and no governor (1502 made; the F-body could handle the full power of the turbo, the G-body front end started lifting off the ground at about 140mph), Sunbird Turbo. BUICK: Buick Skyhawk with the same engine as the Sunbird, early 80's Riviera with 3.8L V6T. FORD/MERCURY: before SVO there was a 2.3L turbo option on many Fox platform cars: Mustang/Capri RS, Fairmont/Zephyr, and Thunderbird/Cougar, of which the Thunderbird Turbo Coupe and Cougar XR7 were best known, and the Merkur XR4Ti.
I had a 1986 Omni GLH Turbo. That car was a blast to drive! I smoked a lot of unsuspecting cars like a Porsche 944 Turbo and many others (much to their owners' dismay). The best was on a nearly deserted highway at 2 in the morning when I came across an IROC Z. We agreed to race, and I didn't beat him, but he couldn't get away from me either. I don't know how fast we were going because my speedo topped out at 85. What a great day that was. I finally had to sell because my wife didn't like it and I had a new baby. That car had so much torque and torque steer that you really had to pay attention at first.
I wish you had included the Chrysler Lebaron GTS Turbo. I had one it was a 4 door with the 2.2 4 and a small Garrett turbo. I owned it in 89 and regret letting it go. I was a teenager and only had it for 6 months. I also owned 3 Conquest TSIs , several RX7s an early FB, a Gsl-se and a 87 turbo 2. Lastly I also owned an Eagle Talon aka 1st gen awd eclipse . Currently keeping alive a N54 e90 . Can’t stay away from these turbo cars . Salute to your channel .
My 88 Turbocoupe with 5 speed smoked all those of weak Dodge products back in the day. Should have made this list. Grand National should have been number 1 in my opinion. Good video though.
I miss the 80s commercials even the call commercials soda commercials Doritos commercials Cindy Crawford getting gas in the Lamborghini Diablo when she's getting a Pepsi I never forget that the commercials back then was so much better the commercials now that we have are whack
My bud in college had his 65 GMC restored pickup stolen off the college lot !. They gave him one as a loner.I had a 65 T-Bird 390-4bBl with a C4X trani and it was the best cornering/riding 60's car I was ever in BUT I drove that new T'bird and I was totally impressed.
No one has forgotten about the Grand National/T-Type/Turbo T/GNX. Please search GNX vs Callaway C4. The Callaway C4 was a twin turbo I thought, but the GNX still spanked it in the quarter mile. The GNX could hit 0-60 anywhere from 4.4 to 4.7s, depending on outside air temperatures. In 85 or 86 Car and Driver was testing an 86 Grand National with an outside air temperature of a fridged 8 degrees farenheit and they recorded a 0 to 60 time of 4.6s. The turbo Regals of the 80's were never going to beat anything in top speed, because the aerodynamics of the vehicle sucked and when the speeds started to exceed 130mph the front end of the vehicle had a tendency to lift. In stock form the top speed was limited to 124 mph or 128mph. Anyway the Turbo Regals from the 80's have not been forgotten and I am not sure what order these cars were being ranked in, but the Turbo Regals were and still are the bad asses of the group.
I sold my 87 turbo Sprint I bought in 93 around 2012. Great little car. Plenty of power. Easy to park. Easy on the wallet. Bought it for $2150. Sold it for $5000. I took very good care of it. Videos on my channel.
I am the the original owner of a 28,000 mile 1987 Grand National bought aa a dealer leftover November 18th 1987, some engine bolt on's ,not afraid to run against the Fords and Dodges!! 2nd week after I bought the Buick some dude in a Black Conquest TSi wanted a run against the Buick and lost badly!!!
I think the SVO was a car 25 years ahead of its time. Several of these other cars are in the same boat, but the SVO was one of the first American turbo performance cars…four wheel discs, aerodynamic considerations, etc. And then there’s the GNX…the sledgehammer among the ball peen hammers.
Thanks for mentioning the GNX. Since the Grand National and T-Types (in 1987 Turbo T) didn't have ample development time and very limited resources, things like the brakes, suspension and instrument cluster suffered. All of the development time was spent on developing the Turbo v6 engine. I mean, even the transmission was subpar. If they would have been a need to change the design too much from the Base Regal, the Grand National and Regal Ts would not have existed. Had the GNX been designed and done in house at Buick it would've take something like 3 or 5 years according to GM's processes. Buick had a new FWD v6 starting in 86 that came stock with a roller cam, not a flat tappet cam. Because the zinc phosphate was taken out of motor oil starting the early 2000's Turbo Regals started wiping cam lobes because flat tappet cams require the zinc phosphate additive to keep the oil bound to the cam lobes when the engine was shutoff so it would remain properly lubricated when started again. The upper intake plenum that was part of the changes for the 86 and 87 model year didn't have enough development time and would cause some cylinders to lean out very badly. At stock boost levels it wasn't that big of an issue, but when people started turning up the boost and swapping in larger turbo chargers they were ending up with blown head gaskets, melted pistons and in some cases detonation so severe the block would get ruined or the crankshaft would snap into. Too bad there was more time and resoruces dedicated to the develpopment of the Turbo Regals.
I almost bought an 87 Conquest TSi but bought the Daytona Shelby Z instead, Black on gray cloth. Definitely a fun car. Later I looked at an 89 or 90 Grand Prix McLaren Turbo but bought a 90 TBird SC instead. I would love to find a nice Shelby CSX. My nephew has had a Grand National for like 20 years.
My friend had a 1988 I think Isuzu mark 2. A tiny hatchback with I think a 1.8 turbo. With suspension by lotus. It was a canyon carver. Or living in west Virginia straightening the curves like dukes lol.
Wow man that sounds awesome. Hey, did you know that chassis you mentioned is the exact same chassis as the Chevrolet Chevette? Crazy right? The Impulse was a nice ride.
It was the Isuzu Impulse Intercooled Turbo. Lotus tuned suspension was awesome. It was fast but maintenance was a pain. Mine ended up blowing the motor on the Autobahn at around 125 mph. Not bad for a little 2 liter motor in the mid 80s.
@stanlee7635 If I, born and raised in Western WA, buy an authentic Zimbabwean restaurant in downtown Harare, as per New ownership, does the menu suddenly on its own flash to hamburgers and fries? Just saying 😌
I had 5 Starion / Conquests.. a Palermo Grey, white, fiji blue (favorite), and 2 blacks. Love those cars but they did have a couple fallbacks. Seat didnt go back as far as I would like. The AC in those cars was terribly weak, and the turbos were small and it would fall on its face by about 4500 rpm. Still miss them though.
Missed the best of them all. DSM's were some of the best bang for your buck cars ever especially ehen it comes to modificstions. They were released at the every end of the decade but still available for a year in the 80s. The mitsubishi eclipse was the most popular of the 3 brands that made variations but the eagle talon looked the best to me. Of the 3 companies involved 2 were based in the US. Although the power plant was Japanese which is always best IMO for engines.
My family had plenty of experience with these turbo cars. My uncle had a GLH which was a fun car. My grandmother had a mustang SVO and she had the speeding tickets to go along with it. My mother had a CSX and it was the car I learned to drive in. But I had the king of the Chrysler turbos. I had a Shelby Z. We turned it into a fire breathing street legal (sorta) race car. We put a modified 2.2 turbo class 4 with a rebuilt 5 speed. Then we put the car on a diet and shed as much weight as possible. We also rebuilt the suspension for even better handling. It became a Ferrari killer. We were curious and had it Dyno'd. It topped out at 400bhp at the front wheels. Still would have it if weren't for the soar loser in the svt mustang that hit my car with his tow vehicle. The woosie was a cop and got away with it. I pulled the engine and sold it to a racer who put it in a 4 door Sundance. A few years ago I found another Shelby Z and rebuilt it for my daughter. After college she gave it back to me to hold on to. She drives a turbo dart now
How about the turbo Sunbird's ? I had an '86 turbo convertible with the Brazilian 1.8 litre engine, ridiculous torque steer but a decent performing car for it's time. really liked that car.
While i owned a pinto i put a 2.3 turbo into, and my buddy owned an 85 GLH turbo an i later had a sunbird 3.1 v6 5 speed, i was really disappointed none of the firebird turbos made the list.
I miss my 86 Thunderbird Turbo coupe. 2.3 l 4cyl 5sp track loc rearend. 4bar link rear 1.3in front sway bar Goodyear Eagle VRs stock. .86 g's on a 90 ft skid pad
I drove a spoiled rich kid's Daytona Shelby that was modded. It produced 18psi of boost and was VERY fast for a 4 cylinder car in the late 80s. That engine only lived 6 months after modded.
I graduated in 87 so all the cars are embedded in my memory. I love the conquest, dreamed about the SVO and Grand National but ended up with a 86 Chrysler Laser. Joined the Army after HS, then stationed in Germany and eventually bought a 1990 Eagle Talon TSI. This was a drive down memory lane. Appreciate it from a semi-old man.
I graduated in 87 also, I did buy a grand national just before they announced they were stopping production so I paid the original 17k for it, dealers sold them for 25k after the announcement.
I’m in the same boat fellas. I got an 86 svo when I was a senior. My dad knew the owner of the dealership, so I got it making 18 psi. I don’t know how much hp it was making, but it was substantial…
Good times!
Damn, that’s weird! Graduated in 1988. Had a 1984 Chrysler laser and then ended up getting a 1994 Eagle talon TSI.
Thanks for your service!
Edit: “your door is ajar.”😂
@@up0820 Wise. I still own an 86 GN 44k original mis 😉 & 04 SVT Cobra 4900orig mis. 💯 🇺🇸 -NW Ohio
The Conquest/Starion were beautiful cars. Still are in my option.
I remember very vividly as a kid visiting a Dodge dealership with my parents and seeing an '88 Conquest on the showroom floor. Usually trips to the car dealer were long and boring but I remember walking around that car and checking it out over and over again and literally being entertained just by doing that. One of the coolest designs I had ever seen and my opinion still hasn't changed decades later.
In late 80's one of my cousin had a Conquest, in white, gorgeous, I used to love it.
He sold that, bought a dark blue Supra.
I got myself a muscle car, but always wanted a white Conquest.
I think they look similar to a Porche 944. A friend's father had a red one. Beautiful to look at and a performer!
I still have my 88 Conquest TSI. But it has been heavily modified. Marnel head. Snyder cam and an 18g turbo. Walbro fuel pump 3” stainless steel down pipe and 3” exhaust. SPEC clutch. Runs pretty strong. But my son’s 86 Conquest is a beast. With a 2JZ engine and a single t77 turbo and 3” exhaust. It’s brutal. Fun cars. Thanks for the video.
Man. Your son's build is the way to go if the 2.6 gives out on ya. That straight 6t is no joke at all. Can get up on a lot of fast bikes and out run them. A sight to behold
I owned a 1987 Mitsubishi Conquest TSI; and I regret letting it go. It was red, black leather interior, 5 speed manual transmission and it was extremely fast and fun to drive, with beautiful lines.😭
Good times. My brother had one in blue. I always thought i was the coolest kid in middle school whenever he would pick me up after school.
BEAUTIFUL car
I had a black 1988 conquest tsi.Great car
Those cars were awesome.
I had a blue one with black leather and an automatic back in the early 90s. Like yours, it was stupidly fast. Also like you, I regret getting rid of it.
I wish you had included the 1989 Ford Probe GT with 2.2L intercooled turbo engine and 5-speed manual. My mom bought a white one brand new off the showroom floor in late '88 for around $16,000. Pretty fast for the time when that turbo kicked in. I eventually inherited it in '96 and drove it until '08. I loved that car, and miss it to this day.
I agree.
The Conquest should not have been on this list. It's just a rebadged Starion. Nothing Anerican about it.
And I love the Starion.
I like the Probe, too.
Yup, they totally missed the 88-92 Mazda MX-6 GT turbo (Same as Probe GT). I had 4 of them, all modded and surprised many V8's and other sport cars. Still looking for a nice clean original one right now.
All of those cars are pretty cool. I have read through several forums that the Glhs was quick and turned well but the ownership experience was a special kind of awful which I thought surprising. Several referenced blowing it up (wishing they had)
They didn't even include the eagle talon. Insane.
In the early 90’s I had an ‘86 SVO Mustang. It was a blast to drive.
I miss my Dodge Daytona Z , Car was a blast to drive. First car I ever seen over 100MPH in.
Buick's Grand National was a home run....those things were everywhere when I was a kid.
Absolutely and the GNX was a Grand Slam
It's the first time I've seen a USA turbocharged car, it's absolutely amazing.
Really? The first production turbocharged car was American... The Oldsmobile Jetfire. Long before BMW, Porsche, and Saab experimented with turbos in production vehicles GM was the first.
@@ragingbull94mtx dont forget the 1962 Corvair & then a couple of years later the International Harvester Scout✌💖☮
@@SquirminHermanthe1eyedGerman Indeed, thank you for sharing! ☮
@@ragingbull94mtx
I would say most of these weren't forgotten. One that may be forgotten is the Ford EXP Turbo.
I still lust over those wide body Starquests like I did when they were new.
A timeless design that still holds up today.
I hope to add one to my collection someday.
lots of cars had turbos during the time, Thunderbird Turbo Coupe/Cougar XR7, among others from Chrysler and the 1.8/2.0 Turbo J cars
87 Thunderbird Turbo was awesome!
I've owned an '87 ES, an '88 ESi Starion , and a '89 TSi Conquest. I miss them.
The Starion was called ESIR, not ESI. It stood for Eurosport intercooled rally.
Dad had a Dodge 600 turbo 2.2 litre.
Once you hit 10 mph the turbo kicked in & pinned you your seat!!
Its the same motor as in the GLH!
If you thought the class 1 and class 2 was fast. I had a class 4. The 2.2 a 4 valve dohc hemi head, a bigger turbo, and bigger intercooler. It topped out about 200 bhp. I had a Shelby Z that we dropped a modified class 4 in. We Dyno'd it at 400 bhp at the front wheels. I could chase down Ferraris in that thing
Owned an 85 Shelby Dodge Charger. They were FUN cars!
When I was 18 I bought a new Shelby Charger GLHS. It was quick for it's day. I took it to Englishtown and ran a 14.79 best. Not bad for 13,500$. Was pretty reliable too.
I miss Englishtown. And Atco. And Island (only because I moved a few months ago, otherwise I'd still be going to the last strip standing). Sounds like the Charger GLHS was a riot to drive. Must've hurt a lot feelings back then!
I loved my 86 SVO so much I bought another one.
The 4 cylinder turbo cars of the 1980's also got excellent gas mileage when equipped with manual overdrive transmissions.
They missed a few, the 80 and 81 turbo trans ams with the 4.9 Pontiac turbo motor and the 1989 turbo trans am with the Buick v 6 from the grand national.
Sorry but they were dogs ,that's why they were forgotten
Had a 87' Dodge Daytona Shelby Z back in the 90's. It was my daily drive for 9 years. It was a great car while I had it.
I had a Dodge Daytona. Little turbo four banger moved pretty good.
Yeah they didn't mention the 84 to 88 t-bird turbo coupe
My uncle owned a 1989 Chrysler conquest tsi. Had a 2.5 turbo. That little thing would fly..
Nope. It had a 2.6 litre motor. The largest four banger of its day.
I got to drive an Omni GLHS and lemme tell ya, it was raw and crude but fast as all get out. Torque steer was stupid and if you launched too hard, you had to turn the wheel to the left fairly far to keep it straight under full throttle. The surprising thing was, that if 1 drove it like a civilized human, it was very docile harking back to its econobox roots, even getting good mileage.
I had a Daytona and really liked it. I would have loved it if it weren't for overheating problems. Not enough front end venting for Phoenix summers!
My buddy had an Omni, but not with a turbo. Boy howdy was that thing a nightmare to work on, and it needed constant work! There was an eclectic mish mash of standard and metric and they made like 75 different carbs for those damn things apparently and none of them worked very well!
I've owned (2) 80s Turbos. Bought an '86 Lebaron GTS Turbo in '92 for $1,500 from a gearhead. Discovered it was tricked out with a Shelby head & other goodies. It ran very strong & I buried the digital speedo to just 3 blinking lights on I-275 just outside of Detroit. The other was an '85 Platinum Riviera T-type that had the Grand National 3.8 turbo engine. Talk about a sleeper that was very quick. I got a deal on a set of tru-spoke fine wire wheels with Royal seal tires. It was flat out gorgeous. I put over 100k on the Riv without any issues & was very reliable.
Nice stretch on I-275 to open up and let lose. Unfortunately I opened up on I-75 between Big Beaver Rd (Exit 69) and 14 Mile Rd (Exit 64) and I left it in 3rd gear and spun the engine up to 5800 rpm, with valve springs that weren't designed to rev that high, and a lifter popped right out the bore and I lost all oil pressure and broke the rocker shaft. Very costly mistake.
Had a 1990 Mazda MX6 GT turbo, upped the boost to 14 pounds and it was very fun fast.
I've owned 3 Mustangs, so I'd go with the IROC Daytona hands down! Always wanted one.
That 87 GNX was the fastest production car in the world that year. Damned shame they only made 546 of them.
547
@@markbrinton6790 Technically 547, but only 545 were available to the public. Buick owns GNX 001 anf GNX 500 as Buick had only planned on building 500, but over committed and only ended up with first GNX produced, but not the last as they has intended to do.
@charleslowe522 not technically, that is the number of GNX produced.
Wasn't the fastest. It was the quickest. But every video featuring the GN-X gets it wrong.
Glad someone knows what they're talking about.
GM in the 80s also offered the Pontiac Sunbird and Buick Skyhawk in a turbo four in 1.8L SOHC and later 2.0L SOHC but no intercooler. Turbo lag and torque steer was horrible but acceleration times were very good for this class at the time.
I don’t think anyone who’s into 80’s cars forgot about the Grand National/GNX
Left out the Probe GT/Mazda MX-6 twins; that's a bummer. And of all the '89 Pontiacs to pick from you leave out the '20th anniversary Turbo Trans am that had the GNX motor dropped in it from the factory? That car was a corvette killer.
Not sure those were forgotten, not by us gear heads anyway !
The Conquest/Starion were some really cool cars. At the time I owned a 1984 Toyota Celica GTS BLACK PACKAGE. THERE was a mutual respect going down the road. At the time I had a friend that was a TRD SPECIALIST as my Techcanic. Great guy mine was faster and handled better than the average Celica. A lady killed my car, and a very special part of me died too. My next car was an Acura Vigor. I still have it it still runs well and people actually look at it sitting still and while driving. Thanks for the memory. Means a lot to me.
I was the Conquest tech at a new Chrysler dealer, was a good car but challenging to work on.
No mention of the 1987 Motor Trend car of the year, Thunderbird Turbo Coupe. Ford was selling about 30,000 turbo cars per year, not 15 or 20 cars like some of those I've never seen before. But that Omni GHL must be a wonderful car, ha
Such a crying shame that the Pontiac Grand Prix McLaren wasn’t RWD or AWD.
Remember, that same turbo V6 was also available in the 1990 Grand Prix STE sedan. I want that car.
It would of been amazing
Neither was the first generation Taurus SHO, but it did a pretty good job as a super sport sedan.
I think the SVO was a car 25 years ahead of its time. Several of these other cars are in the same boat, but the SVO was one of the first American turbo performance cars…four wheel discs, aerodynamic considerations, etc.
And then there’s the GNX…the sledgehammer among the ball peen hammers.
The conquest was really Japanese it had the Mitsubishi engine in it
What about the Ford Thunderbird Turbocoupe?
You omitted the king of them all; the 1984 through 1988 Ford Thunderbird Turbo Coupe with the 5-speed.
What about the Thunderbird turbo coupe or 85-89 Merkur XR4Ti
I didn't notice it at the time, and I'm not even sure why, but Carroll Shelby had a shitload of irons in the Chrysler fire back then.
Ford screwed Shelby over and when his friend Iococa took over Chrysler Shelby jumped ship. Plus Shelby was granted free reign to experiment with the cars to make them faster and more fun to drive. Eventually the changes trickled down to the other cars. What they didn't talk about is that Shelby even stuck his turbo engine in the minivan. They were wild because you were banging gears with the turbo screaming in a soccer mom mobile
@@hellhound1389 yea ford is good at screwing folks over & they lost out when they screwed Shelby but being a MOPAR guy I was happy
Man, I miss my 1987, Mitsubishi Conquest TSI. One of the biggest regrets in my life.
Here's one you REALLY forgot: the Vector W8 from 1989. This beast was a very low volume supercar meant as an American alternative to foreign supercars. Power came from a 6.0 liter twin-turbo V8 hooked through a modified Turbo-Hydromatic 425 three speed automatic transmission (that dated to the original Olds Toronado; it was the only transmission available that could handle the torque). The styling was angular and wedgy, reminiscent of Marcello Gandini's styling from the 70s. It was a thoroughly badass though flawed car, and it really should be here.
I have to say as a child of the 70s/80s pouring over road and track/C&D magazines Vectors were one of the most irritating cars in the world. It started as the w12 , they never could get it together. They would consistently put out press that the car was coming out. They just teased us. They are really cool. I’ve never seen one on the road but I have seen one at the Long Beach Grand Prix in 89.
@@christophersmatla1932 I think it was called the W2, not W12, but yeah, they were interesting. Gerald Wiegert had the original prototype built back in the 70s (hence the Gandini-inspired styling) and took fifteen years or so to ever sell a finished car. I'm frankly amazed that any of them ever got built at all, but those few that were made are strange and cool. I think Andre Agassi had one.
I was a high school kid working at a Chrysler dealer in Pennsylvania. I was working under the table washing cars. I remember the first time I sat in and moved a conquest from the garage to the lot. It felt like I was sitting in the latest fighter jet being tested at Area 51. Now we’re both museum pieces 😢
Aren't we all now. Those were far better days compared to now in 2023.
Did you ever start working "over the table" or "on the table"? HA, HA
Love the 80s styling
I love turbos !!!
I haven't forgotten them, I just prefer the extra 2 cylinders naturally aspirated over a blowdryer on the engine. I also remember the ones that were missed: PONTIAC: 1980-81 Trans Am Turbo (Pontiac 301/4.9L V8T), 1989 20th Anniversary Trans Am with Buick GNX 3.8L V6T engine and no governor (1502 made; the F-body could handle the full power of the turbo, the G-body front end started lifting off the ground at about 140mph), Sunbird Turbo. BUICK: Buick Skyhawk with the same engine as the Sunbird, early 80's Riviera with 3.8L V6T. FORD/MERCURY: before SVO there was a 2.3L turbo option on many Fox platform cars: Mustang/Capri RS, Fairmont/Zephyr, and Thunderbird/Cougar, of which the Thunderbird Turbo Coupe and Cougar XR7 were best known, and the Merkur XR4Ti.
I had a 1986 Omni GLH Turbo. That car was a blast to drive! I smoked a lot of unsuspecting cars like a Porsche 944 Turbo and many others (much to their owners' dismay). The best was on a nearly deserted highway at 2 in the morning when I came across an IROC Z. We agreed to race, and I didn't beat him, but he couldn't get away from me either. I don't know how fast we were going because my speedo topped out at 85. What a great day that was. I finally had to sell because my wife didn't like it and I had a new baby. That car had so much torque and torque steer that you really had to pay attention at first.
I wish you had included the Chrysler Lebaron GTS Turbo. I had one it was a 4 door with the 2.2 4 and a small Garrett turbo. I owned it in 89 and regret letting it go. I was a teenager and only had it for 6 months. I also owned 3 Conquest TSIs , several RX7s an early FB, a Gsl-se and a 87 turbo 2. Lastly I also owned an Eagle Talon aka 1st gen awd eclipse . Currently keeping alive a N54 e90 . Can’t stay away from these turbo cars . Salute to your channel .
That gnx is just absolutely incredible my all time favorite
My 88 Turbocoupe with 5 speed smoked all those of weak Dodge products back in the day. Should have made this list. Grand National should have been number 1 in my opinion.
Good video though.
I miss the 80s commercials even the call commercials soda commercials Doritos commercials Cindy Crawford getting gas in the Lamborghini Diablo when she's getting a Pepsi I never forget that the commercials back then was so much better the commercials now that we have are whack
A Shelby Lancer with a 174hp turbo four and an automatic? I'll take that any day.
I did NOT forget the Conquest TSI as it was the precursor of my My Eclipse
Sledgehammer kicked butt" GNX" oh yeah" but no 280,300 zx turbo ? Mo factory than the callaway":?
Nice to see the Shelby Lancer getting some love!
My buddy had a Conquest TSI.. thing was soo cool! I’d love to have one today
Awesome cars indeed!👌 Callaway Sledgehammer is the absolute king💪💪💪
I know its not a turbo car but the 89-95 Thunderbird SC 3.8 v6 supercharged car was pretty fast with a 5 speed manual.
My bud in college had his 65 GMC restored pickup stolen off the college lot !. They gave him one as a loner.I had a 65 T-Bird 390-4bBl with a C4X trani and it was the best cornering/riding 60's car I was ever in BUT I drove that new T'bird and I was totally impressed.
The sledgehammer, what a name and what a car that was for its time.
I’ve owned a turbo Pontiac grand prix, an svo mustang and a conquest
I still have an 86 Dodge Daytona Turbo Z. My all time favorite car.
GLH- Goes Like Hell ♥️ that is tremendous! Love it
Hi please make video on Hyundai Tucson evolution
THANKS for the memories.
How do you do this list including the gnx but not the 89 Trans Am ??
1988 Ford Thunderbird Turbo Coupe,it should have been on this list.
No one has forgotten about the Grand National/T-Type/Turbo T/GNX. Please search GNX vs Callaway C4. The Callaway C4 was a twin turbo I thought, but the GNX still spanked it in the quarter mile. The GNX could hit 0-60 anywhere from 4.4 to 4.7s, depending on outside air temperatures. In 85 or 86 Car and Driver was testing an 86 Grand National with an outside air temperature of a fridged 8 degrees farenheit and they recorded a 0 to 60 time of 4.6s. The turbo Regals of the 80's were never going to beat anything in top speed, because the aerodynamics of the vehicle sucked and when the speeds started to exceed 130mph the front end of the vehicle had a tendency to lift. In stock form the top speed was limited to 124 mph or 128mph. Anyway the Turbo Regals from the 80's have not been forgotten and I am not sure what order these cars were being ranked in, but the Turbo Regals were and still are the bad asses of the group.
I sold my 87 turbo Sprint I bought in 93 around 2012. Great little car. Plenty of power. Easy to park. Easy on the wallet. Bought it for $2150. Sold it for $5000. I took very good care of it. Videos on my channel.
My brother's dad had a GN and it was fun and beautiful car.
The Dodge Daytona was a beast.
I would be more than happy to own any one of these cars
I am the the original owner of a 28,000 mile 1987 Grand National bought aa a dealer leftover November 18th 1987, some engine bolt on's ,not afraid to run against the Fords and Dodges!! 2nd week after I bought the Buick some dude in a Black Conquest TSi wanted a run against the Buick and lost badly!!!
the mustang killa . Loved the Dodge Conquest aka Mitsubishi Starion.
Between the Mustang SVO and the Mitsubishi Starion Turbo TSI, my HS mind was blown.
You forgot a few but good list.
Ford EXP is one i expected to see
So what about the 1980 turbo trans Am and the 1989 Pontiac trans Am turbo trans Am
When they got the number one, first thing I said was turbo trans am!!!!.....NO!?!?! WTF!?!
What, no thunderbird turbo coupe… ion think this official
I think the SVO was a car 25 years ahead of its time. Several of these other cars are in the same boat, but the SVO was one of the first American turbo performance cars…four wheel discs, aerodynamic considerations, etc.
And then there’s the GNX…the sledgehammer among the ball peen hammers.
Thanks for mentioning the GNX. Since the Grand National and T-Types (in 1987 Turbo T) didn't have ample development time and very limited resources, things like the brakes, suspension and instrument cluster suffered. All of the development time was spent on developing the Turbo v6 engine. I mean, even the transmission was subpar. If they would have been a need to change the design too much from the Base Regal, the Grand National and Regal Ts would not have existed. Had the GNX been designed and done in house at Buick it would've take something like 3 or 5 years according to GM's processes. Buick had a new FWD v6 starting in 86 that came stock with a roller cam, not a flat tappet cam. Because the zinc phosphate was taken out of motor oil starting the early 2000's Turbo Regals started wiping cam lobes because flat tappet cams require the zinc phosphate additive to keep the oil bound to the cam lobes when the engine was shutoff so it would remain properly lubricated when started again. The upper intake plenum that was part of the changes for the 86 and 87 model year didn't have enough development time and would cause some cylinders to lean out very badly. At stock boost levels it wasn't that big of an issue, but when people started turning up the boost and swapping in larger turbo chargers they were ending up with blown head gaskets, melted pistons and in some cases detonation so severe the block would get ruined or the crankshaft would snap into. Too bad there was more time and resoruces dedicated to the develpopment of the Turbo Regals.
I almost bought an 87 Conquest TSi but bought the Daytona Shelby Z instead, Black on gray cloth. Definitely a fun car. Later I looked at an 89 or 90 Grand Prix McLaren Turbo but bought a 90 TBird SC instead. I would love to find a nice Shelby CSX. My nephew has had a Grand National for like 20 years.
4 cars on the list were basically the same car
I will have one each please. My highschool sweethearts parents had an 83, 280 ZX turbo. I loved driving it.
The conquest was a Mitsubishi starion, the only collaboration with Dodge , was it’s Badges
So true. Nothing else american about it.
My friend had a 1988 I think Isuzu mark 2. A tiny hatchback with I think a 1.8 turbo. With suspension by lotus. It was a canyon carver. Or living in west Virginia straightening the curves like dukes lol.
Wow man that sounds awesome. Hey, did you know that chassis you mentioned is the exact same chassis as the Chevrolet Chevette?
Crazy right? The Impulse was a nice ride.
It was the Isuzu Impulse Intercooled Turbo. Lotus tuned suspension was awesome. It was fast but maintenance was a pain. Mine ended up blowing the motor on the Autobahn at around 125 mph. Not bad for a little 2 liter motor in the mid 80s.
Heard of all of them. I will take one of each please!
Love the Conquest
But its about as American as Soukiyaki
Dodge owned Mitsubishi at the time so all depends how you look at it.
It’s Mitsubishi no matter how you look at it. These cars were as Japanese as Hiroshima & Nagasaki!
@@JT-sl3ui Your opinion, the fact is it was owned by Chrysler until 1992.
@stanlee7635 If I, born and raised in Western WA, buy an authentic Zimbabwean restaurant in downtown Harare, as per New ownership, does the menu suddenly on its own flash to hamburgers and fries?
Just saying 😌
Just like most of the cars in GM's lineup during the mid 90s to today. And don't even get me started on Ford
The game Vette! was the shiznit. This reminds me of playing that game racing F40s and Porsche with the Sledgehammer.
I had 5 Starion / Conquests.. a Palermo Grey, white, fiji blue (favorite), and 2 blacks. Love those cars but they did have a couple fallbacks. Seat didnt go back as far as I would like. The AC in those cars was terribly weak, and the turbos were small and it would fall on its face by about 4500 rpm. Still miss them though.
I Never forgot the TSI .One of the few 80's cars the tripped my trigger. Where's the Celica ?
Missed the best of them all. DSM's were some of the best bang for your buck cars ever especially ehen it comes to modificstions. They were released at the every end of the decade but still available for a year in the 80s. The mitsubishi eclipse was the most popular of the 3 brands that made variations but the eagle talon looked the best to me. Of the 3 companies involved 2 were based in the US. Although the power plant was Japanese which is always best IMO for engines.
I would love to have the 88 CSX . To me theses cars were pocket rockets
My family had plenty of experience with these turbo cars. My uncle had a GLH which was a fun car. My grandmother had a mustang SVO and she had the speeding tickets to go along with it. My mother had a CSX and it was the car I learned to drive in. But I had the king of the Chrysler turbos. I had a Shelby Z. We turned it into a fire breathing street legal (sorta) race car. We put a modified 2.2 turbo class 4 with a rebuilt 5 speed. Then we put the car on a diet and shed as much weight as possible. We also rebuilt the suspension for even better handling. It became a Ferrari killer. We were curious and had it Dyno'd. It topped out at 400bhp at the front wheels. Still would have it if weren't for the soar loser in the svt mustang that hit my car with his tow vehicle. The woosie was a cop and got away with it. I pulled the engine and sold it to a racer who put it in a 4 door Sundance. A few years ago I found another Shelby Z and rebuilt it for my daughter. After college she gave it back to me to hold on to. She drives a turbo dart now
Looks like the Grand Prix also came with a Ham radio in the dashboard
How about the turbo Sunbird's ? I had an '86 turbo convertible with the Brazilian 1.8 litre engine, ridiculous torque steer but a decent performing car for it's time. really liked that car.
If they made that Starion today, I would be the first one in line....!!
You forgot the Turbo Sunbird GT. Very quick
I worked with a guy that had one. He said it was quick! I was like.....my dad and I only drive Pontiacs, how did I miss that these existed. ?
While i owned a pinto i put a 2.3 turbo into, and my buddy owned an 85 GLH turbo an i later had a sunbird 3.1 v6 5 speed, i was really disappointed none of the firebird turbos made the list.
I miss my 86 Thunderbird Turbo coupe. 2.3 l 4cyl 5sp track loc rearend. 4bar link rear 1.3in front sway bar Goodyear Eagle VRs stock. .86 g's on a 90 ft skid pad
Had the Shelby Charger Turbo. Quick little car.
I think that Grand National commercial had Marina Sirtis (Dianna Troy from Star Trek TNG) as the ballerina.
I drove a spoiled rich kid's Daytona Shelby that was modded. It produced 18psi of boost and was VERY fast for a 4 cylinder car in the late 80s. That engine only lived 6 months after modded.