6 Fastest Buicks Ever Made, Ranked By Top Speed

Buick is one of the oldest automobile manufacturers in America. When you think about Buick, you probably picture luxury cars that are designed more for comfort than for speed, but that doesn't mean that it hasn't made a few performance-focused machines in its time. The company was founded in 1899, and it has managed to produce a wide range of different vehicles over the last 125 years. Its engineers have designed everything from some of the first buggies to be propelled by a gas-powered motor to the classics of the 50s and the cars and SUVs you see on the road today. Most of them aren't going to outstrip their contemporaries from Ferrari or Lamborghini any time soon, but you might be surprised at just how fast some of these cars actually are.

With so many vehicles in the company's repertoire, fans might be interested in learning which of them are the fastest. Speed is often measured in acceleration, by establishing how quickly a car can go from 0-60, but it's also worth considering the top speed that these cars are capable of under optimal conditions. In the interest of satisfying that curiosity, here are six of the fastest vehicles that Buick has ever made, ranked by their top speed.

The late '80s were a great time for Buick, as the manufacturer was on a course to take the top spot as the biggest automotive manufacturer in North America. It was during this time period that the company released the '87 GNX 3.8 V6 Turbo — a car that Buick made in partnership with Michigan-based Automobile Specialty Company and McLaren Engines. Together, these three companies pieced together a 231.3 cubic inch, 12 valve, V6 Turbo engine that could put out 276 horsepower and 360 lb-ft of torque. 

"ASC's modifications include a new valve body for the automatic transmission," Car and Driver's May 1987 issue reported. "It keeps the shift points at the redline and makes downshifts feel as if anvils were clanking together somewhere. In order to keep all the newfound power from torquing the live rear axle into new and exciting positions, ASC substituted a short torque arm and a Panhard rod for the Grand National's pair of diagonal locating links."

The GNX 3.8 V6 Turbo could go from 0-60 MPH in 5.3 seconds and had a top speed of 124 MPH. Not exactly a race car, but definitely one of the faster sedans on the road at the time. In fact, the car actually had the power to go faster, but Buick's engineers installed a circuit in the engine-control computer that shut off the fuel flow at 124 MPH to prevent damage to the chassis. It also just so happens to be Travis Barker's all-time favorite car.

Jumping up to a more modern car, we have the Buick LaCrosse CXS. This is a vehicle that's more in line with Buick's usual ethos to put luxury first, but this is one of the rare instances where opulence didn't mean a sacrifice in performance.

Doing away with the rectangular designs of the company's older, heavier vehicles, the LaCrosse has a sleeker, lighter, and more aerodynamic design. It's powered by a 217.5 cubic inch, 2.6 liter LLT V6 that can generate up to 280 horsepower at 6,300 RPM and 259 lb-ft of torque at 4,800 RPM. Similar variations of this engine could be found in the Cadillac CTS and the Chevrolet Camaro. So while the motor is smaller and has a bit less pickup off the starting line than the larger V6 in the GNX, it ultimately allows the CXS to reach higher overall power output and faster speeds.

The 2010 LaCrosse can get from 0-60 MPH in 6.6 seconds and can reach a maximum speed of 133 MPH. It's hard to deny that this is a powerful performance offering for a luxury car that's primary focus was quiet, comfort, and smooth handling.

Next up is the 1986 Buick Regal T-Type. This was a turbocharged vehicle that astonished drivers when it was first released. "Buick's intercooled 1986 Turbo Regal is the quickest and fastest production car built in America, and that includes the cream of domestic performance cars," said Hot Rod magazine (via MotorTrend) when the car first debuted. They went on to explain that this is a far cry from the usual luxury cars that the company is traditionally known for. "Any notion that this Turbo Regal is anything less than a total performance car is for the seriously misinformed."

This car was powered by a 3.8 liter V6 that could produce 110 horsepower on its own, but the attached intercooled turbocharger managed to push that all the way to 235 horsepower at 4,400 RPM and 330 lb-ft of torque at 2,800 RPM. This means that the T-Type chugged its way through its gas tank, but it also gave the car a 53% increase in power and a 42% increase in pickup, allowing the car to go from 0-60 MPH in 5.85 seconds and reach its considerable top speed of 136 MPH.

Muscle cars have been a mainstay in American automotive manufacturing for decades, but their heyday definitely started in the late '60s and early '70s. Mustangs, Chargers, and Barracudas might be among the first vehicles called to mind when you think about these monstrosities of engineering, but Buick made a few muscle cars that every enthusiast should know and the 1970 Buick GSX is a beast like few others.

Before this car was released, the vehicles produced by Buick and its subsidiary, General Motors, were capped at a maximum of 400 cubic inch displacement. This was plenty of juice for the average driver, but it wasn't nearly enough to compete with the muscle cars that were coming out from competitors. The GSX Stage 1 is a variant of the Buick 455 V8 engine. This 455.1 cubic inch engine granted 510 lb-ft of torque and more than a little speed. Only 400 of the GSX Stage 1 variant were ever produced. It was designed as a performance-focused alternative that has a hotter cam, increased compression ratio, 90-degrees of camshaft overlap, and 0.49 valve lift. All this added up to an engine that could produce up to 350 horsepower.

The GSX Stage 1 was able to reach a top speed of 145 mph, dominating the roadways and earning it the nickname, "The Hemi Killer."

The fastest street-legal car that Buick ever made is the 2012 Regal GS. Following the success of the LaCrosse CXS, Buick leaned heavily into performance in its redesign of the Regal line and decided to make a car that truly blended power and luxury into a single, harmonious whole.

This vehicle is powered by a turbocharged, direct-injected 2.0-liter inline-four engine, giving it 270 horsepower and 295 lb-ft of torque. You might be surprised to see a four-cylinder engine so high on this list, but the Regal GS is no ordinary car. It also made use of the LaCrosse's HiPer strut front suspension which helped the vehicle maintain control even during high-torque turns, two different sport modes

The Regal GS can go from 0-60 MPH in 6.3 seconds, which is impressive in and of itself, but its top speed is where it really shines: This car can get all the way up to 162 MPH.

This was publicly demonstrated during the 2012 Nevada Open Road Challenge. Driver William Rietow averaged 134.9770 across most of his runs, but he absolutely shattered the 135 MPH target speed with the fastest High Trap in the category when he hit 162 MPH, establishing the Regal GS as the fastest road vehicle Buick ever made.

Just because the Regal GS is the fastest production car that Buick ever made doesn't necessarily mean that there isn't a non-production model out there that can blow it out of the water, though. A lot of people forget that Buick has produced several racing cars, and it actually made a handful of pace cars for the Indy 500. They primarily did this using the same 231 cubic inch, 3.8-liter V-6 production engine that would later be modified for the GNX and the T-Type. Buick's Special Products Engineering group created turbocharged prototypes that were able to produce incredible speeds. In 1989, these cars netted an average four lap speed of 221.450 MPH. Buick stopped officially racing its cars in 1992, but that doesn't mean that was the last year that these racers were in competition.

Former racer Roger Penske commissioned Ilmor Engineering to make a modified pushrod engine from the Buick stock block that could go even faster, (without Buick's permission.) Eddie Cheever Jr. set the Indianapolis 500 lap speed record by hitting 236.103 MPH in one of these cars in 1996.