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Buick shows off Wildcat EV in gold, debuts new brand tagline

Buick keeps putting the gorgeous Wildcat EV concept back in front of our faces, and it’s just not fair. GMÂ’s premium brand released a new tagline today, “Exceptional by design,” and the Wildcat EV is the face of the companyÂ’s new motto. Check out the video above to see what all the fuss is about. There are a lot of glamor shots showing beautiful Buicks of the past before it cuts to the also-glamorous Wildcat EV concept. ThereÂ’s even a shot of a slight variation of the Wildcat EV dipped in a flashy orange-gold paint color. GM showed off this version of the Wildcat EV in an Instagram post last year, but now weÂ’re seeing the electric two-door coupe in yet another promotional piece. It differs from the final show car in its grille design, headlights, wheels, badging, color and more. Take a look at the side-by-side comparison below. Of course, Buick doesnÂ’t actually make products nearly as exciting as the Wildcat EV, but it does like to show its Encore GX and Envista sharing some design elements with the Wildcat EVÂ’s front end. A jump cut to those crossovers quickly follows our glimpse of the colorful Wildcat EV, though we canÂ’t help but be a little sad that this is all that will come of the stunning concept. Per usual (at least when we get the chance), we asked Buick if it had any updates or things to share about the Wildcat EV now that itÂ’s trotting this concept out to us in a brand campaign. HereÂ’s what the company had to say in response: "The Wildcat EV concept is still our blueprint for Buick design and youÂ’ll see Wildcat inspiration throughout our lineup, starting with the current Encore GX and Envista, and it will eventually extend to the 24MY Envision and 25MY Enclave. We still donÂ’t have any plans to bring that vehicle into production, itÂ’s strictly a concept." Basically, nothing's changed, and there are still no plans to turn the Wildcat EV into a production car. There wasnÂ’t much in the way of news today from Buick, but we can at least say this latest ad campaign is a clear step up over the “ThatÂ’s not a Buick” commercials seen years ago. Related video:

1987 Buick Grand National was made to be Kevin Hart's 'Dark Knight'

The Meguiar's booth at the SEMA show isn't the only place comedian and actor Kevin Hart is combining cars and cinema, his "Michael Myers" 1969 Plymouth Road Runner brooding in the car care products pen, while his SpeedKore "Hellraiser" 1970 Dodge Charger also menaces. Hart bought a 1987 Buick GNX last year and put it on Instagram with the caption, "Sundays are perfect for old school drives…. If you know you know." Looks like old G-Bodies are perfect for restomod builds, too, which we all already knew, but this car isn't the GNX that featured on social media. This is the 1987 Buick Grand National, one step below the GNX and half the price at the time. It's nicknamed "Dark Knight" and it's one of the stars of the Magnaflow exhaust booth at SEMA. Going back to work with regular collaborators Dave Salvaggio of Salvaggio Design and Sean Smith, of course there's a lot involved in the overhaul. Still, we appreciate how the team stayed true to the ethos of the Grand National in ways that made the build more complicated than it already was. Take the engine. The original came with a 3.8-liter V6 wearing a single turbocharger to register an official output of 245 horsepower and 355 pound-feet of torque compared to the GNX's 276 hp and 320 lb-ft. Instead of swapping it for a V8, it's been replaced with the 3.6-liter twin-turbo V6 from the Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing. And instead of leaving both turbos on, the engine junkies plumbed a single turbo in a layout recalling the 1987 engine even as it cleans up the original Chutes 'n' Ladders mess of tubes. We didn't get an output rating for the setup. The Cadillac's twin-turbo mill makes 472 hp and 445 lb-ft. in the CT4-V Blackwing. We would bet Dark Knight's engine's pretty close to that with the single large turbo at the prow, plenty of juice for a car weighing 3,545 pounds. Exterior upgrades include a custom front fascia with a carbon fiber hood and splitter. The interior shows the same tasteful restraint, polished design and nicer materials draped over the stock 1980s layout. That shifter controls GM's 8L90 eight-speed automatic instead of the original four-speed auto.  Elsewhere, Salvaggio did the same here as with the Michael Myers Road Runner, creating a custom frame to increase rigidity and get the car closer to the ground on its 19-inch HRE wheels in the Buick's original weave look.

The Chevrolet Bolt is headed to China as a Buick SUV

When spy photos of what appeared to be Chevrolet Bolt EV with some minor front- and rear-end updates circulated last week, Autoblog surmised that GM was working on some sort of Bolt-based vehicle — potentially a crossover — to be sold in China as a Buick. We may just have corroboration for that theory. On Thursday, Motor1.com spotted a story published earlier this week on the Chinese site Auto Home which claims that GM has applied to sell an all-electric SUV under the Velite 7 nameplate in China.  There's little differentiating the Velite 7's exterior from the Bolt EV's, apart from bumpers, badges, and a little extra ground clearance. Up front, the bowtie is replaced by a round Buick badge, and the bumper picks up an almost Prius-like appearance thanks to contrasting vertical elements and a thin grille bleeding into the head lights to give it a full-width appearance. Chevy Bolt-based prototype View 16 Photos If the Chinese report is accurate, there is one significant difference under the skin. Per the application, the Buick crossover variant is to be powered by a 174-horsepower electric powertrain. That's down 26 horsepower from the Bolt EV's powertrain, and we can't help but think that a lifted Buick variant might just need every pony it can get.  The needs of the Chinese market are unique, and we're certain GM knows what it's doing if these figures are accurate. We have no reason to believe Buick plans to sell the Velite 7 EV here in the States, though we expect an updated Chevy Bolt eventually, and we wouldn't be surprised if Buick brings something along shortly to fill the void left by the departure of the Regal sedan and its variants.  Related Video: