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Junkyard Gem: 1997 Oldsmobile Eighty-Eight LSS Supercharged

Oldsmobile got terminated by The General in 2005, in part because the marketing suits decided that the first three letters of the marque's name made the cars undesirable to the under-75 set (never mind that 21st-century rappers continue to venerate Oldsmobiles). Not long before the demise of Olds, though, you could buy an Eighty-Eight with the supercharged L67 V6, known as the Luxury Sports Sedan or LSS. These cars are very rare today, but I spotted this '97 in a Denver self-service wrecking yard. These Eaton blowers are now so easy to find in wrecking yards that most of them go unpicked by customers. The going rate for this supercharger is about 50 bucks, because everyone who wants one already has a big hoard of the things. If you have ever wanted to drop a supercharger onto your crapcan race car's engine, now is the time. Performance was respectable for the era, with output of 240 hp and 280 lb-ft. The 3800 was the descendant of the ancient Buick V6, which debuted way back in 1962, so GM had had many decades in which to make it a dependable (though not very smooth-running) powerplant. Yes, you could still buy big ol' sedans with rear drums at the dawn of the 21st century. Did the LSS steal any sales from potential BMW or Mercedes-Benz buyers? Probably not many, though its $27,695 price tag must have looked pretty tempting when compared to that of the much slower $32,960 Lexus ES 300 in 1997. Right now is the best time to make a resolution you'll enjoy sticking with. The reviewers at Popular Mechanics were unable to break the first-year LSS. Related Video: Featured Gallery Junked 1997 Oldsmobile Eighty-Eight LSS View 12 Photos Auto News Buick Economy Cars Classics Sedan supercharger

Opel Insignia wagon would make a mighty fine Buick Regal

Once again, the Buick Regal's European stablemate will be getting a long-roof iteration, and our spy photographers have caught it out testing. Normally we wouldn't be overly concerned about the new Opel Insignia wagon, but considering the rumors surrounding a Regal wagon, we have reason to pay attention. Like the next-generation Insignia sedan that we've previously seen, this wagon adopts a much longer and wider look compared with the current model. The nose is also noticeably more upright than the gently sloping iteration of its predecessor. These changes are accompanied by more slender lights and a generally more broad-shouldered look. It's difficult to discern much else, though. As for the odds of this wagon appearing in the States, they look decent, but far from guaranteed. The next Regal sedan will probably continue as a rebadged Insignia, and may be built in Germany. Rumors of a wagon have persisted, supported by word of focus group testing with other wagons and the registration of a trademark for "Tourx." If Opel produces another high-riding, plastic-clad Country Tourer model, we could see it come here with the Tourx name to challenge the Subaru Outback, Audi Allroad, Volvo Cross Country models and, most recently, the Mercedes E-Class All-Terrain. It would also provide the company with another crossover-esque model for little extra development cost. We've also heard a report that a Regal wagon of some sort was confirmed at a dealer meeting. Related Video:

Opel Insignia OPC Sports Tourer shows its fresh face ahead of Frankfurt debut

Drive down the Autobahn and there's any number of vehicles likely to pass you, and most of them are produced locally. But if you're wondering how that Opel left you in its dust, look closely (and quickly) enough and you might make out the letters OPC on the back.
They stand for Opel Performance Center (the German counterpart to Vauxhall's VXR line) and they adorn performance versions of the Corsa, Astra and Insignia. The latter is undergoing a bit of a refresh and is expected to debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show in a couple of weeks, but you don't have to wait that long as our intrepid spy photographers have caught it in the flesh outside an Opel facility in Germany.
Spied here completely undisguised in Sports Tourer (read: wagon) form, the Insignia has had a few nips and tucks performed, but we'll be more intrigued to see what it's got under the hood. The current model packs a 2.8-liter twin-turbo V6 driving 325 horsepower to all four wheels, but rumors suggest that the OPC (yeah you know me!) could have as much as 400 hp up its sleeve. That would make this one heck of a sleeper - especially in wagon form - and only make us pine for a more potent version of its twin Buick Regal to roam our highways, too.