1986 Buick Century Gran Sport

This is the ultimate and rarest of the FWD A-body Buick Century (1982-1996)

For one year only in 1986, Buick offered a Gran Sport built off their 2-door Century Coupe. At $4000.00, it was a very expensive option (especially in 1986 dollars) and only 1029 were made. Why this package was only available for 1 year is unknown to us, as the 1987-88 were essentially carryover models and virtually identical the 1986 model. It may have just been too costly and volumes were too low.

Offered only on this Gran Sport package are:
* 15" 10 spoke aluminum wheels with GS center caps.
* All red V6 logo emblems.
* BUICK outlined decals used on lower doors and spoiler (shipped in trunk for dealer installation).
* Blacked-out grille, headlight bezels, black moldings.
* Grounds effects, Front/rear spoiler
* Reclining bucket seats with red "power-6" logo.
* Custom Black/Grey interior with leather shifter & boot
* Custom Black leather GS steering wheel
* Performance tuned exhaust for "distinctive growl"

The Powertrain

Standard powertrain for the Century GS (standard on Century T-type as well)and optional on other Century models: (Note: this photo is a very nice example of the LG3 3.8 from an '86 Century T-Type and not this Century GS, but they're identical - this one's just immaculate.)

* LG3 3.8 SFI V6 (NA) 150 HP / 200 Ft-Lbs torque
* 4 speed overdrive TH-440T transaxle with perf gear ratio
* GT suspension / LA2 brakes (5x115mm bolt pattern hubs)

The 3.8L (231 ci) produced the most torque of all engines available for GM A-bodies of this era (1982-1996), and was only available on the Buick Century and Oldsmobile Ciera. This engine was a 90 degree V6 Buick design from the Flint Engineering Center and Engine plant in Flint, MI and was not an option for it's GM A-body cousins - the Chevrolet Celebrity or Pontiac 6000, which had to settle for the less powerful Chevrolet designed 60 degree 2.8L V6. After 1989, the largest engine available in the A-bodies would be the Buick 3300 (little brother to the 3.8 with lower deck height) with a slightly different cam profile which shifted the powerband up in RPM, thus offering more HP (160) but less torque (185) by spinning the engine a bit faster.

The LG3 gave the Century spirited performance in this relatively lightweight vehicle (2940 lbs), although it is definately modest by today's standard. Although powerful for its time, the 150 HP LG3 pales in comparison to what it would eventually become as the GM Flint engineers kept squeezing more and more power from those 3.8 litres.

The Century GS's cousin - The Century T-Type

This photo is an outstanding example of a 1986 Century T-Type. Although not quite as rare as the Century GS, (5286 were made in 1986) they're quite unique as well.

Differences from the Century T-Type:
* Century T-Types were all 4-door sedans
* Century T-Type did not have a special interior (they were available with any style seating, any color. All had floor shifters but lacked the leather shifter & boot.
* Century T-Type steering wheel was similar but had T-Type horn
* Different wheels (14" turbine style)
* No ground effects or spoilers
* No "Power 6" logos
* Standard LG3 exhaust

(We've previously owned a few '86 Century T-Types)

Century Gran Sport - The Interior

The interior was almost identical to the Regal Grand National except the "Power 6" logo was all red instead of orange and red to identify it as a normally aspirated 3.8L V6 (non-turbo) as all the turbo cars had the dual colors.

Century Gran Sport - Before Restoration

This is the Gran Sport as it sits. It doesn't look too bad in the photo, but the rust is much worse up close in reality. New doors, fenders, deck lid and rear quarters are probably the way to go, and unfortunately, donor vehicle 2-door coupes are getting hard to find!

Now who said FWD cars can't do burnouts? Yeah we know, this isn't our Gran Sport - that 150 HP LG3 can only dream of doing a burnout like this! But for it's grandson - a modified L67 - it's just a matter of putting the pedal to the metal. This is our friend Mike Dye doing a burnout in his GTP. We just thought you'd like to see the pics.

Here's something you won't find anywhere else - a Century GS on a dyno! So how much power did she put to the ground? About what we'd expected - just a bit over 110.