1971 Buick Riviera Base 7.5l on 2040-cars

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Buick will go sedan-free by killing the Regal after 2020

Pour one out for the Buick Regal. Citing a growing lack of demand, the firm announced it will deep-six its last remaining sedan and its only station wagon after the 2020 model year. Buick spokesman Stuart Fowle told Motor Authority that buyers clearly prefer crossovers and SUVs; so far, nearly 90 percent of the company's 2019 sales have come from high-riding models. In other words, the company's decision to send the Regal to the pantheon of automotive history is business, not personal. "Buick continues to be ahead of the consumer shift towards SUVs," Fowle explained. Autoblog confirmed the decision applies to the sedan, which is available in a sporty GS configuration (pictured) that we praised as "the coolest car Buick has made in years," and the TourX wagon, which attracted Buick's wealthiest buyers and sold far better than the company expected. Its retirement underlines the colossal difficulty of selling a wagon that's not a Subaru Outback in America. View 46 Photos Buick didn't loudly announce its exit from the passenger car market, but it's beating Ford to the punch. The last Cascada rolled off the assembly line earlier in 2019, and the bigger Lacrosse is one of six cars whose retirement was announced by General Motors in 2018. Neither will be replaced, and the odds of seeing another Regal are extremely low. The company's message is clear: Buyers want crossovers and SUVs, so that's what they'll get. As a bonus, axing the Regal will finally allow Buick to end its reliance on former sister company Opel, which General Motors sold to Paris-based Peugeot in 2017. It developed the Regal, and manufactures it in a factory located next to Opel headquarters in Russelsheim, Germany. The Regal will live on elsewhere in the world. Buick will continue to sell it in the Chinese market because motorists there still buy sedans, and Opel/Vauxhall will keep offering its version of the car (called the Insignia) across Europe. The model recently received minor updates inside and out to remain fresh, but it competes in a segment that's free-falling and its days are likely numbered.

Best and Worst GM Cars

Oh yes, because we just love receiving angry letters from devoted Pontiac Grand Am enthusiasts, we have decided to go there. Based on a heated group Slack conversation, the topic came up about the best and worst GM cars. First of all time, and then those currently on sale, and then just mostly a rambling discussion of Oldsmobiles our parents and grandparents owned (or engineered). Eventually, three of us made the video above. Like it? Maybe we can make more. Many awesome GM cars are definitely going unmentioned here, so please let us know your bests and worsts in the comments below. Mostly, it's important to note that this post largely exists as a vehicle for delivering the above video that dives far deeper into GM's greatest hits and biggest flops, specifically those from the 1980s and 1990s. What you'll find below is a collection of our editors identifying a best current and best-of-all-time choice, plus a worst current and worst-of-all-time choice. Comprehensive it is not, but again, comments. -Senior Editor James Riswick Best Current GM Vehicle Chevrolet Corvette We were flying by the seats of our pants a bit in this first outing and my notes were similarly extemporaneous. When it came time to tie it all together on camera, I failed spectacularly. Thank the maker for text, because this gives me the opportunity to perhaps slightly better explain my convoluted reasoning. I chose the C8 Corvette because it's simply overwhelmingly good, and it's merely the baseline from which this generation of Corvette will be expanded.  While the Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing (more on that in a minute) is an amazing snapshot of GM's current performance standing and its little sibling so enraptured me that I went out and bought one, their existence is fleeting. Corvette will live on; forced-induction Cadillac sport sedans, not so much. So while all three are amazing machines when viewed in a vacuum, the Corvette stands above them as both a reflection of GM's current performance credentials and a signpost of what is to come. So, given the choice between the C8 and the 5V-Blackwing right now, I'd choose the C8. In 10 years, when the Blackwing is no longer in production and Corvette is in its 9th generation? Well, that might be a different story. Now, just pretend I said something even remotely that coherent when we get to the part of the video where I try to make an argument for the 5-V Blackwing as best GM car I've ever driven. Or just laugh at me while I ramble incoherently.

Two nearly new 1987 Buick Grand National 'twins' found in garage after 30 years

Back in the '80s, a Buick Grand National could leave a lot of vehicles in its dust. The final, 1987 version of the menacingly styled performance coupe produced 245 horsepower and 355 pound feet of torque, and it was never designed to sit still, let alone for 30 years. But two low-mile Grand Nationals did just that. At the time, it was widely known that nothing like the Grand National would be built again, as the Regal platform would be moving to front-wheel drive. So a lot of buyers stockpiled Grand Nationals and rarer GNX versions with the idea of making a buck on them when they gained value. Some people even bought several. That's what happened to these two cars, recently unearthed from their slumber. Thirty years of storage has turned them into barn finds instead of showroom beauties, and they haven't exactly been flawlessly preserved. A story reported on gm-efi.com shows the cars – the "Twins," as they're called – parked side to side, the way they were laid to rest decades ago, with thick dust on them. Two enthusiasts, Shawn Matthews and William Avila, originally contacted the owner, who had posted them for sale on Facebook with a staggering $200,000 asking price. After inspecting the cars and confirming they were legit, the prospective buyers managed to strike a deal for an undisclosed sum. The story does say the seller was a bit eccentric, demanding money in hand before the cars could be touched at all, but the cars were eventually acquired and transported to a shop for desperately needed refurbishing. Time has caused the headliners on both cars to droop, and it's obvious all gaskets and fluids will need to be addressed, but both cars have extremely low odometer readings: One has 807 miles on the clock, while the other hasn't even reached 600. The car with a more miles was moved "once in a while," so clearly the original owner couldn't resist giving it a go while the other one slept. We couldn't've, either. Related Video: Featured Gallery Two Old Buick Grand Nationals View 12 Photos News Source: gm-efi.com via BarnFinds Auto News Buick Classics buick grand national grand national