Buick

The Story Behind Kendrick Lamar’s Buick GNX for the Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show

Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl LIX halftime performance featured a prominent automotive centerpiece: a black 1987 Buick GNX. The vehicle, which played a key role in the show’s opening moments, holds significant personal and artistic meaning for the rapper. The GNX, or Grand National Experimental, was a limited-edition performance car produced by Buick in 1987. Only 547 units were manufactured, making it a rare and sought-after collector’s item. Lamar, born in 1987, has a personal connection to the vehicle. His father reportedly drove him home from the hospital in a Buick Regal, the base model for the GNX. The car’s appearance at the Super Bowl halftime show coincides with Lamar’s latest album, titled “GNX,” released in November 2024. Throughout the album,

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GM shocker: Here are the plants, cars destined for demise

It didn’t take long after GM announced its massive downsizing and demise of several vehicles to provide specific details of plant closings and the dates for production stoppages. The Chevrolet Volt, Chevrolet Cruze and Buick LaCrosse will stop being produced in March 2019. The Cadillac CT6 will end its production June 1, 2019, followed by the Chevy Impala and Cadillac XTS in the fourth quarter of 2019 — at least in the United States. GM announced November 26 its severe layoffs and its plans to close five North American manufacturing facilities. According to a report by Jalopnik, the global fate of the Cruze, CT6 and LaCrosse hasn’t been specified. Those vehicles are made in several countries, and GM is only expected to stop making the vehicles

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Episode 24, Eric Wohlberg: cycling champion, vintage Buick driver

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 22:37 — 31.1MB)Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | MoreEric Wohlberg spent more than a decade traveling around the world to compete on two wheels. He participated in three Summer Olympics for Canada and won multiple cycling national individual time trial titles and stage races. But Wohlberg, 53, of San Jose, in his sixth year as a director for the Rally Cycling Team, now prefers four-wheel transportation. He often travels to the team’s camp and its races in the United States and his native country while driving one of his two vintage cars. Since 1990, Wohlberg has owned a 1965 Mustang Fastback. For his 50th birthday, he purchased a 1964 Buick LeSabre estate

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2015 Buick LaCrosse: Flagship sedan a success

General Motors has a lot invested in the Buick LaCrosse. It’s the carmaker’s flagship, full-sized sedan, and it has replaced some well-established styles, the Buick Century, Buick Regal and Buick Lucerne. Now in the sixth year of its second generation, the 2015 Buick LaCrosse offers several updates as it advances steadily into its second decade. It’s the brand’s best-selling vehicle in North America. Advanced technology and additional comfort highlight the updates for the 2015 LaCrosse. With the exception of the base model, the Onstar system now offers 4G LTE and WiFi, there are a rearview camera and four-way adjustable headrests as standard equipment. Further new technology in the infotainment system now includes the ability to read text messages and Siri

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2014 Buick Regal: New worthy mix of U.S. and Euro design

Some American brand sports/luxury sedans are edging closer to costlier foreign rivals as the auto world shrinks. A few minutes at the wheel of the 2014 Buick Regal gave me the feeling I was driving a foreign luxury sports sedan. It sure handled and rode much like one. Buick has made lots of changes, but the Regal’s behavior puzzled me. I soon found the Regal is basically an Americanized version of the high-line German Opel Insignia. No wonder it felt as if it would be happy humming along a German autobahn at 100 m.p.h. It’s got a decent size, with a 107.8-inch wheelbase and 190.2 -inch overall length. The 2014 version of the Regal has new front and rear styling,

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NEW CAR REVIEW: 2014 Buick LaCrosse: Big sedan shines

Now in its 10th model year and fifth year of its second generation, the Buick Lacrosse is a large four-door luxury sedan. Like many of its competitors, the refreshed 2014 Buick LaCrosse provides a comfortable, smooth, spacious ride. Never a high volume seller (the best-selling year was 92,00 units in 2005), the LaCrosse nonetheless shouldn’t be overlooked. The dilemma for Buick is that the large sedan segment is ripe with fine choices. The new Kia Cadenza, the re-designed Chevrolet Impala and stalwarts like the Chrysler 300, Toyota Avalon and Lexus ES350 all have substantial new or sustained followings. With the 2014 Buick LaCrosse, the competition in theory should increase. Its refreshed edition includes adaptive cruise control, lane change alerts, rear

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Top art deco cars from The Great Gatsby era, Buick to Corsair

GearPatrol.com is a compelling website with a compelling motto: “Spirt of Adventure, Passion For Gear.” One recent post, Ten Great Art Deco Cars, features stunning images and succinct, informative descriptions of cars long gone and some that only existed as concepts. Two of the cars featured in post, a 1948 Timbs Buick Streamliner and the Phantom Corsair, a concept, were particularly stunning were included in a timely connection with the current movie The Great Gatsby starring Leonardo DiCaprio. Describing the Buick Streamliner, the site writes in part: A mechanical engineer named Norman E. Timbs designed and built this sleek number with mostly aluminum on top of a steel chassis. At a cost of $10,000, the Streamliner took more than two

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2013 Buick Encore: Versatile crossover joins crowded SUV field

The new 2013 Buick Encore is the automaker’s first small crossover vehicle. It comes with front-or all-wheel drive and has luxury, nimble handling, four-door hatchback versatility and decent fuel economy. The Encore also has just adequate open-road acceleration from its small, turbocharged and intercooled four-cylinder 1.4-liter engine. It’s fairly heavy at 3,180-3,309 pounds, so Encore buyers shouldn’t expect it to be a fireball with its 138-horsepower engine. Rather, it’s meant to give miles per gallon, not mph. Still, the Encore is fun to drive. It’s nimble, and my all-wheel-drive test Encore tenaciously gripped the road despite some body lean. The steering was quick, with decent road feel, and the turning circle was small. The ride was supple, and the brake

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2013 Buick Verano: Turbo sedan blends luxury, performance

Things sure are changing. For instance, here we have the new compact, turbocharged 2013 Buick Verano sedan with an available six-speed manual transmission. Buick is after a younger crowd with the front-drive Verano Turbo, which also comes with a six-speed automatic transmission at no extra charge. It reached for a younger group with its 1960s muscle cars and 1980s Grand National models. In fact, the 1987 Grand National GNX Coupe could blow off a 1987 Chevy Corvette. But those cars, including Buick’s 1980s-1990s Reatta two-seater, just weren’t quite right for the times. Now, anything goes. And so we have the Verano Turbo’s smooth 2-liter turbocharged four-cylinder 250-horsepower engine. It kicks out 260 pound/feet of torque at only 2,000 rpm. The

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Barnfinds.com: Auto site for owners and dreamers, Bugatti to Buick

Amid all of the fine automotive sites, Edmunds to Car and Driver, Kelley Blue Book to Motortrend, one new unheralded site has joined best-of-the-best car sites list. It's only slightly more than one-year-old, but it's developed a strong following. It doesn't give tips to find the best prices for a new car or tips for negotiating with salesmen or getting the best insurance prices. Barnfinds.com is the site for anyone who has the same fantasy as car enthusiasts everywhere — finding a classic. Its sub-title is perfect, "Barn Finds, Survivors and Unique Collector Cars For Sale." According the site, based in Wyoming: "Every auto enthusiast knows what a barn find is and we all dream about finding one. Not every

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Buick Verano joins rest of family as top safety pick

The 2012 Buick Verano has been selected as a Top Safety Pick by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. It joins the rest of Buick lineup with the top rating in the testing program that determines occupant protection in front, side, and rollover crashes, and specifically tests seats and head restraints for neck protection in rear impact crashes. To earn a 2012 Top Safety Pick designation, a vehicle must be rated “good” in all four tests. The Verano has 10 standard air bags and the security of OnStar. In the event of a rollover crash, sensors in the vehicle deploy standard head curtain air bags prior to impact and leave them inflated for an extended period. Verano’s body structure is

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Will Tiger Woods soon be driving a free Buick Enclave — again?

In the aftermath of Tiger Woods' recent first PGA Tour victory since 2009, what comes to mind for the automotive world is how long will it take before the famed golfer is once again driving a free Buick? Or this time time around will it be a Ford, Chevy, Hyundai, Lexus or Mercedes-Benz? Although it seems longer ago than 2009, Woods was once a spokeseman for General Motors, via his contract with Buick. Woods fiilmed commercials driving a Buick Enclave, the luxury SUV. Despite its rather hefty presence, the Enclave was largely unheralded. But GM decided Woods was an ideal representative for the manufacturer. The Enclave quickly became known as the "Tiger Woods car." One prime example occurred in 2006.

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Buick Verano, 2012: Luxury sedan with good looks, value price

The Chevrolet Cruze is an unqualified hit on several levels. But can the 2012 Buick Verano, which shares the same platform with the Cruze, be more than a rebadged GM project? For readers who like jumping to the last chapter before reading the whole book, I am not going to spoil the ending, just read on. The Verano is neither a rebadged Euro-market sedan (like the Regal) nor a “pure” Buick design like the LaCrosse. It splits the difference between the two designs, marrying a conservative design with a few discrete Buick cues such as the signature waterfall grille and the silly do-nothing portholes on the hood. The overall impression is of a clean, classy car with signature Buick styling

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Buick LaCrosse, 2012: supple ride, precise steering for new look in old brand

The full-size Buicks sedans of the 1950s through the early 1970s were stylish, comfortable and had powerful V-8s. They were well-suited to older drivers who bought most of them and mainly drove them on America’s ruler-straight roads. The 2012 LaCrosse sedan is now the largest Buick, although it’s smaller and lighter than those old gas-thirsty Buick land yachts. It comes with front-or all-wheel drive, whereas the old large Buicks had rear-wheel drive. Prices for the new LaCrosse range from $29,960 to $38,270, with all-wheel-drive models starting at $34,070. Even the base LaCrosse is fairly well equipped with comfort, convenience and safety features. A long options list contains a $1,195 power sunroof. The auto world is changing fast, but it still

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Buick Regal eAssist mild hybrid, standard engine for 2013

The Buick Regal will come with eAssist hybrid technology in 2013 as standard equipment. A system that provides a light, but effective, secondary electric motor that assists to either motivate the car during slow traffic or to provide an additional boost to the engine, eAssist was initially a $2,000 option for Regals equipped with the Ecotec 2.4 liter engine. According to EPA ratings, the eAssist Regal reaches 25 mpg city and 36 mpg highway. GM will phase out the base 2.4-liter engine which delivers 19 mpg city and 31 mpg highway. No word yet on the 2013 Regal eAssist pricing, but the 2012 model starts at $28,490 excluding an $885 destination charge. If the thought of conservation takes away the

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Buick Regal GS, 2012: Fast, handsome competition for Audi, Acura

Buick’s fast 1965-74 GS (Gran Sport) muscle cars were far more luxurious than some rivals. The 2012 Buick Regal GS revives the “GS” name in fine style. This time around, though, the mid-size GS is a fast, handsome rival to foreign sedans from Audi and Acura. The new Regal GS has a decidedly European feel because it was largely engineered by General Motors’ Opel unit in Germany. It thus has a taut, supple ride, confident handling and a refined demeanor. The 2012 Regal also is offered with an 182-horsepower four-cylinder, which makes it feel a little underpowered, and a turbocharged 220-horsepower four-cylinder. The GS has an advanced engine that easily outdoes those motors. The old GS models had big V-8s,

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