1990 Buick Reatta Base Coupe 2-door 3.8l on 2040-cars

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Buick's new logo ditches the ring, levels the shields

Buick's logo is about to receive a relatively major update. The new-look emblem appeared in a trademark filing in March 2022, and a leaked image posted on social media has given us a better look at the design that should appear on production cars in the not-too-distant future. Published on Instagram by an account called Buick_Saudi_Arabia, the photo shows what seems to be Buick's new logo on the middle of a steering wheel. The changes made aren't groundbreaking, but they're certainly noticeable. The ring is gone, and the red, white, and blue shields are separated from each other and positioned on the same level. As of writing, the shields are staggered and surrounded by a ring.           View this post on Instagram                       A post shared by Buick Saudi Arabia (@buick_saudi_arabia) One question that comes to mind is: why now? Buick has used its current logo for decades without significantly updating it, so what prompted the company to give the design a makeover? Several factors undoubtedly influenced this decision, but one that's worth shining light on is that the brand is no longer twinned with Germany-based Opel. For many years, some Opel-designed models made their way to the United States with Buick emblems on both ends. No one in Europe has heard of a Buick Regal; folks there know the sedan as the Opel Insignia. And, since the visual differences between these cars were often minor, using a Buick logo whose basic silhouette was similar to Opel's logo simplified the design process. Neatly integrating, say, Chevrolet's bowtie-shaped emblem into the Insignia's grille would have been harder, though more improbable acts of badge-engineering have been committed (the Ford Maverick was once a Nissan). General Motors sold Opel to PSA Peugeot-Citroen in 2017, and both carmakers are now part of Stellantis, so Buick's trans-Atlantic design ties have been cut. Losing the Opel connection gives Buick's design team more leeway to experiment with new ideas, like a revamped logo. Keep in mind that nothing is official yet. Full details and an explanation of what the new logo means should emerge soon. Why the shields? Buick isn't rooted in sword-fighting, so why have shields appeared on its cars for over 60 years? The answer, according to Buick, is relatively vague. What's certain is that the tri-shield logo didn't appear on Buick's early cars.

One of the world's largest muscle car museums is auctioning off its cars

Rick Treworgy's Muscle Car City is one of the biggest collections of high-performance American cars in the world. With over 200 cars of mostly GM makes, it's a mecca for fans of the golden age of Detroit iron. Unfortunately, the museum will be shutting its doors for good on Jan. 17 and auctioning off most of its assets with no reserve. The collection is, to put it bluntly, astounding. Advertised as a combined 65,000-plus horsepower, it occupies a 60,000-square-foot retail space in Punta Gorda, Fla., in a former Walmart store. It make sense when you learn that founder Rick Treworgy made his fortune in the commercial real estate business. As a hobby, he began to amass a truly jaw-dropping collection of muscle cars, filling out a collection that often has every year of a particular model represented, or a grouping of the rarest and highest-performance option packages of that year or model. Often, Treworgy bought placeholders while scouring the country for even rarer versions. It helps that Muscle Car City also houses a showroom where unwanted cars are sold, as well as its own speed shop that stocks plenty of parts. There's even a '50s-style diner called Stingray's Bar and Grill. According to a 2014 episode of Car Crazy, Treworgy has 80 Corvettes alone, more than the actual Corvette Museum. Among them are 20 models from 1967, one of Treworgy's favorites. The rest span the decades from 1954 (he once had a '53 but sold it) to a recently acquired 2020 C8, which, according to The Drive, has only 300 miles on the odometer. You like Impalas? There are models of every year from 1958 to 1969. El Caminos? He's got 'em from 1964 to 1972. Novas? Every year from 1963 to 1970 is represented. Most are the more desirable examples of each breed, with four-speed transmissions, the biggest blocks, and unicorn option packages like a factory 1965 Z16 SS396 Chevelle, one of 200 that were ordered off-menu at Chevy dealerships. And don't even get us started on the Camaros, which include not one, but two COPO 1969s. Treworgy even owns the only known surviving example of a 1936 Chevrolet Phaeton, of which only seven were built. On top of it all, many of these cars are concours quality and have won awards at prestigious car shows. While it's sad to see a collection like this broken up, Treworgy told The Drive that he'd been planning to retire next year anyway. However, the COVID-19 pandemic sped up those plans, greatly reducing the number of visitors to his museum.

GM delivers best Q3 sales since 1980, 2.4M vehicles sold

People are a weird sort. Even after registering over 70 recalls through the first three-quarters of 2014, General Motors saw its best Q3 results since Jimmy Carter was in the White House, registering over 2.4 million global sales between June and September on the back of strong results in the US and China.
US sales were marshaled by good results for GM's pickups, the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra, which bumped the manufacturer's truck market share to 35.6 percent, up nearly three points from Q1 2014. Buick has seen healthy growth as well, with the Encore dominating its segment for the sixth month running.
It was China, though, that really bolstered GM's sales, as the company's efforts to top last year's record-setting 3.16 million units continued apace. Small SUV sales saw massive growth, with Encore, Chevrolet Trax and Captiva figures jumping 90 percent in Q3. Brand-wise, Chevrolet, Cadillac and Buick all saw sales gains in the PRC, with each recording double-digit year-over-year jumps. Cadillac sales alone were up 63 percent compared to the first nine months of 2013.