1999 Buick Park Avenue Base Sedan 4-door 3.8l on 2040-cars

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Junkyard Gem: 1990 Buick Reatta

General Motors built some interesting sporty cars during the late 1980s and early 1990s, as the company attempted to claw back market share from European manufacturers of high-end two-doors. There was the mean-looking Oldsmobile Trofeo, the Turin-to-Hamtramck Cadillac Allante, and the gadget-packed Buick Reatta. Here's an example of the latter car, wearing Maui Blue paint and residing in a Denver self-service wrecking yard. There was a lot to like about the Reatta, but the powertrain came as a disappointment: the ancient, rough-running pushrod Buick 3.8-liter V6 engine, driving the front wheels through a four-speed automatic transmission. The 3800 engine made 165 horses in 1990, which wasn't bad for that year, but Reatta money would have bought you a new 1990 BMW 3-Series with a tuneful 168-horse DOHC straight-six. The Buick V6 was something of an Albanian grain-thresher motor compared to the engines in the Reatta's European rivals' cars: rugged but crude. The pre-1990 Reattas came with Buick's amazing touchscreen computer interface, which may have scared off the most conservative Buick traditionalists. This car had more typical-for-1990 controls. Only 6,388 Reatta coupes were made for 1990, so we're looking at one rare Buick here. Handcrafted by these artisans in Lansing. Related Video: Featured Gallery Junked 1990 Buick Reatta View 15 Photos Auto News Buick Convertible Coupe Luxury

GM CEO to meet with U.S. lawmakers over job cuts

WASHINGTON — General Motors Co Chief Executive Mary Barra plans to visit Capitol Hill next week to discuss the company's plans to halt production at five plants in North America next year and cut up to 15,000 jobs, two congressional aides said on Friday. GM has come under harsh criticism from lawmakers from both major political parties, and from President Donald Trump, since Monday when it announced the biggest restructuring for the U.S. No. 1 carmaker since its bankruptcy a decade ago. Barra is expected to meet with lawmakers from Michigan and Ohio, where GM plans to shutter three plants, as well as senior leaders in Congress. GM did not immediately comment. Barra has been calling lawmakers this week to explain the decision to end production. Trump has threatened to revoke subsidies for GM. The Detroit automaker plans to halt production next year at three assembly plants: the Lordstown small-car factory near Youngstown, Ohio; the Detroit-Hamtramck complex in Detroit; and the Oshawa, Ontario, assembly complex near Toronto. It will also stop building several models now assembled at those plants, including the Chevrolet Cruze, the Chevrolet Volt hybrid, the Cadillac CT6 and the Buick LaCrosse. Additionally, GM plans to shutter the Warren transmission plant outside Detroit and a plant that makes electric motors and drivetrains outside Baltimore, Maryland. The Cruze compact car will be discontinued in the U.S. market in 2019, although GM may continue building it in Mexico for other markets, Barra said. Reporting by David Shepardson. Related Video:

Buick Regal lives on in China, gets visual and tech updates

Axed from the American market after the 2020 model year, the Buick Regal lives on in China. It's selling well enough across the Pacific for the General Motors-owned brand to justify investing in a round of updates that includes a new-look exterior design and more interior tech. Chinese buyers only have access to the sedan variant of the Regal; the TourX wagon briefly sold on our shores isn't available. The facelift includes sharper-looking headlights, a big grille that occupies most of the space on a redesigned front bumper, and Buick's new logo. Not much has changed when you look at the Regal from the side, it still features an upswept line that runs across the bottom of both doors, and Buick chose not to publish photos of the rear end which strongly suggests little has been updated. New wheel designs are available as well. Most of the changes made to the interior fall in the technology basket. Buick notably added its QuietTuning noise-cancelling function, which promises to make the cabin quieter, while shift-by-wire technology frees up space for two big cupholders on the center console. Connectivity is part of the package, too: Buick's eConnect infotainment system includes an artificial intelligence-powered Baidu voice assistant. Power for China's Regal comes from a turbocharged, 1.5-liter four-cylinder engine whose output hasn't been released. Alternatively, the list of options includes a 2.0-liter turbo-four rated at 233 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque. It spins the front wheels via a nine-speed automatic transmission. In contrast, the Regal sold here was available with anywhere from 250 to 310 horsepower depending on the trim. Pricing for the 2023 Buick Regal starts at 159,800 Chinese yuan, which represents around $22,400. China is the Regal's last bastion. Buick left the sedan segment in the United States after it swept the Regal out of its range in 2020, and no evidence credibly suggests that a successor for our market is in the pipeline. Opel — which General Motors sold to Peugeot in 2017 — developed the Regal and sold its own version of it called Insignia across Europe until 2022. Here again, the model won't be directly replaced. Continuing our global tour, Australia-based Holden tried to market a variant of the Insignia as a replacement for the rear-wheel-drive, V8-powered Commodore from 2018 to 2020. The model flopped and retired after a lackluster career, and Holden closed shortly after. Related video: