Background Story...
I am the third owner of TTA #1456. I purchased the car in May of 2002 from a long-time friend. The first owner lived in Washington, and at this point I am unaware of his identity. Back in early 1990, my friend received the TTA + cash as payment for a motor built for the first owner (Pro-Mod I believe). My friend assumed ownership of the car with 250 miles showing on the odometer. He drove the car stock for about a year then took the car to ATR in 1991 where they installed their Minikit (advertised as "12's for $1000") -- this consisted of a fuelpump hotwire setup (if you could call their hackjob a hotwire!), adjustable wastegate actuator, 8mm plug wires, 8" K&N, Pitbull chip, test pipe, Flowmaster muffler and bumping up the boost from the stock 16.5 psi to 18.5 psi. My friend took the car to the strip occasionally from 1991-1995 where the car ran mid to high 12's on 110 leaded. I had my very first quarter mile ride in this car back in 1992 (I was 13 at the time) so the car was kind of special to me even though it wasn't mine. I've always had a soft spot for the car because of my experiences with it, and after that first ride 10 years ago I've always wanted a Turbo Buick powered car, ideally a TTA. Only fitting I should end up with this car!
The car had lived in my friend's climate controlled shop under a cover for 99% of it's life. It was driven fairly often from 1990-1995, but remained parked from 1995-2002. From 1995 on he would start it only occasionally and drive it a few miles about once or twice a year. One day in early May after dropping nearly 7 big ones on 17" Torq-Thrust IIs, huge Baer brakes and full Global West suspension parts for my 1969 Chevelle my friend said "why don't you stop spending money on your Chevelle and buy another car, like my Trans Am." I didn't think he was serious-- he hardly ever parts with any of his cars. I went home and stayed up all night researching the car on the internet. I came back the next day and asked if he was serious about selling, and he named his price, which I initially thought was high. Still, that didn't discourage me. I went over to his shop to look at the car again-- I hadn't seen it since 1995 and my memories of it were a bit fuzzy, all I remembered is that it was white with gold wheels and ran mid 12's. When I took the cover off and saw the cloth seats, hardtops, and 2513 miles on the odometer my thoughts about the price changed from "a little high" to "a very good buy." He knew the car was a limited edition and they only made 1555, but what he didn't know was how rare his combination was. He knew his hardtop was rarer than the T-top cars, but he didn't know they had only made 14 other cars like this one. I told him that I would take it and be back in a few days after I talked to the bank. I had to try REALLY hard not to have a huge stupid smile on my face when I came back 3 days later with the cash to take it off his hands.
I picked the car up with 2513 miles showing on the odometer. I had to change the hood and decklid struts and the battery at his shop and it started right up. I took it home and immediately changed the oil and filter, brake fluid, tranny fluid, coolant, and rear end fluid. I had to change the O2 sensor because the steady diet of 110 leaded from 250 miles on up had fouled it. I got a flat in the original Gatorbacks on my first day out driving it (doh) so rather than repair them (they were rock hard and flatspotted from sitting) I stored them and bought new tires for the car. Due to sitting for so long without really being driven, the car did have problems, but not as many as I expected. The only real problems I've encountered due to the storage was that the A/C had leaked enough to trip the low pressure switch, the muffler had rust holes in it from water puddling inside, and the rear main leaked badly because it had shrunk. The A/C stopped working again in a matter of two weeks-- initially I thought it had leaked again but it turned out to be a sticky compressor cycling switch. I have fixed all of the problems myself with the aid of the FAQ's at www.gnttype.org and the great group of people over at the www.turbobuick.com forums. While the car might be near new, that doesn't exclude it from Quality Control oversights back in 1989-- when I removed the wheels to have new tires put on and flush the brake system I found that 4 of the 5 lugnuts were cross threaded and stripped from the factory on the driver's side front wheel, yet they still sported the aqua stripe of paint indicating that they had been torqued. That's right, one wheel with 4 cross threaded and stripped lugnuts. The only survivor was the wheel lock. I love late 80's GM quality control! It's a miracle the wheel never departed the car at the fast end of the 1/4 mile.
I do have the owners kit (complete and everything sealed) and all the original parts with the exception of the original muffler (ATR threw it away) came with the car.
I drive the car at least once a week, and because I drive it I have elected not to leave it stock because in my opinion the factory did a few things wrong. Well, not necessarily wrong, but these cars do have a few shortcomings that I have tried to correct (crankcase ventilation and pressure buildup under boost, oil buildup in intercooler because of PCV system, etc.) I have done a few basic/easy bolt on mods and I am thoroughly enjoying the car. I take it out at least once a week and go to local carshows and the like, where it usually gets ignored because no one knows what it is. (Their loss!) Everytime I take it out I have a blast, especially when the boost gauge is up near the top...
A couple of pictures from the first day I brought it home...
