Posts Tagged ‘turbo’

Projekt Saab – 1978 Saab 99 Turbo

May 28, 2014

Many people will have you believe that shortly after today’s featured Buick was built, everything went downhill. The feds forced big bumpers, impact bars, smog equipment and retarded timing on cars and made them into shriveled up versions of their former selves. But that’s not entirely true, as some interesting solutions came out of those difficult times, including one of the first truly successful applications of turbocharging to a passenger car (yes anoraks, Corvairs and BMW 2002 turbos came first). Have a look at this 1978 Saab 99 turbo, for sale for $900 in Portland, OR.

1978 Saab 99 Turbo right front

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Not a GTI – 1989 Plymouth Colt GT Turbo

March 7, 2014

Before many manufacturers happened on the clever idea of throwing a turbo on their hot hatch engines, Mitsubishi (and by extension, Dodge/Plymouth) were doing it. Starting in 1984, they put the 4G32T turbo four in the fourth generation Colt GT (with the famous twin stick transmission), and by 1989, the sixth generation Colt GT received the 135hp 4G61T. With the turbo lag of the day, this must have been really fun, and this version of Colt GT has become something of a cult favorite with tuners, who modify the factory engine or slip in a 4G63T engine from the DSM Eclipse/Talon/Laser. Unfortunately, the combination of tuning and the cars’ cheap-speed mean that many have been lost to attrition, and the remainder are hard to find for sale. You can find this 1989 Plymouth Colt GT Turbo for sale for C$3200 in Mission, BC.

1989 Plymouth Colt GT right side

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1980s Sport Coupes – 1988 Pontiac Sunbird GT Turbo vs. 1987 Renault GTA

March 4, 2014

Quick! Think of an affordable 1980s sports coupe! Scirocco…. Impulse…. Celica…. 200SX…. Corolla GT-S…. Camaro…. Sunbird…. wait, what? Back in the 1980s, when everything was getting a turbo – heck, Buick put a turbo in their Regal, for god’s sakes – Pontiac turbocharged their Sunbird. Blowing out GM Brazil’s 1.8-liter four to two liters and hanging a turbo off the side brought a total of 165hp and probably a good time with torque steer. To put that in context, at the same time, Audi’s 2.2-liter I5 turbo was putting out 162hp, and Saab’s 2-liter I4 turbo was making 160hp, both to motivate ostensibly heavier cars. You can find this 1988 Pontiac Sunbird GT Turbo for sale for C$1600 in east Vancouver, BC.

1988 Pontiac Sunbird GT Turbo right front

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