Pontiac fans love to hate the Turbo Trans Am, which used a 210-horsepower 301ci V8 and a turbocharger to replace the glorious 220-horse 400 used in the previous year. Though horsepower was almost comparable, performance was not. It would take a few more years for an American car to demonstrate the turbo’s strengths.
After 1981, Pontiac ditched the turbo 301, but a turbo-powered Trans Am would reappear for 1989, this one also pacing the races at Indy. This special model gave the Buick turbo 231ci V6 a reprieve after being laid to rest one year earlier. The 250-horsepower six, offering 5 to 15 more horses than the 1986-87 Grand National, may come off as practically identical aside of horsepower rating, but it featured several different components—stuff like heads, intercooler, computer chip, and pistons, among others.
The 1989 Turbo Trans Am is a car that almost seems unloved: Pontiac people aren’t into cars powered by a Buick, and Buick folks aren’t interested in driving a Pontiac. Buick folks should embrace the new life that this engine was given because there was no Buick model capable of handling this new-age muscle engine. It’s possibly the sleeper of the turbo Buick world—a car that goes like stink yet handles like a Trans Am.
Join Muscle Car Campy as he goes on a ride with owner Tony Palese and discusses what makes the engine in a Turbo Trans Am different from those in the Grand National and GNX.
If you enjoy this video, be sure to check out other Muscle Car Campy histories.
