1971 Buick Skylark Gs 455 on 2040-cars

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2013 Buick Verano Turbo vs. 2013 Acura ILX 2.4

Answering The $30,000 Entry-Level Luxury Question
Twenty years ago, a comparison between an entry-level Buick and Acura would have matched a Skylark against an Integra.
Twenty years ago, a comparison between an entry-level Buick and its Acura equivalent would have matched a Skylark against an Integra. The unfair battle would have resulted in the compact American's defeat in nearly every measurable category, as the Japanese competitor was arguably at the height of its powers.

1987 Buick Regal GNX driven just 54.8 miles heads to auction

The previously unimaginable prices for seemingly anything on any number of wheels continues to lure garage queens into the open. Here we have another Buick GNX headed to auction, this one Mecum's Summer Special in Orlando from July 6-9. Buick only made 547; it feels like half went to owners who never drove them. The last GNX auction we covered, in 2019 on Bring a Trailer, ended up grossing $200,000 for a model with 8.5 miles. This example has been driven much harder than that, praise be to enthusiasts, with 54.8 miles on the odometer. That means the original owner, who kept the coupe until 2017, got more than six times the use out of his GNX than the 2019 owner. Way to go. For those who haven't attended any classes on the Buick Regal GNX, allow us to summarize the subject matter. When Buick greenlit "a Grand National to end all Grand Nationals," out came the one-year-only 1987 GNX. A racier brand back then, it partnered with ASC/McLaren to work up the wheel lip flares, fender vents, 16-by-8-inch BBS rims, more aggressive tires, and the interior treatment. The Grand National trim used a 3.8-liter V6 making 245 horsepower and 355 pound-feet of torque hooked to a four-speed automatic. The GNX benefited from a larger Garrett T-3 turbocharger with a ceramic impeller, a larger intercooler, more aggressive fuel, spark, and waste gate tables, and a dual exhaust system that boosted output to what some say is an underrated 276 hp and 360 lb-ft.  This GNX headed to auction spices up the standard specs with the original order paperwork, window sticker, dealer invoice, ASC documentation, a GNX coffee table book, and a GNX jacket. That jacket could be the denim one or the high school varsity jacket with the cloth front and back and leather(ish) sleeves, which, sadly, didn't include Buick's attacking eagle logo of the time. We'd mention the black and sand gray cloth interior, power driver's seat and mirrors, and Delco Concert Sound stereo, but it's likely that the future owner won't spend much time with them. Likely fated to be a garage or show queen again, the jet black paint, "original parts stickers still affixed on suspension," and "original chalk markings throughout" will be the major points of interest. Mecum doesn't give a pre-sale estimate for this GNX, so we'll be waiting to find out if the 2019 sale price was an anomaly — well, more of an anomaly — or the new benchmark.

Buick resurrects the Electra nameplate on a science fiction-like electric concept

Buick plans to broaden its range of electric cars in the coming years, and it still owns the rights to the heritage-laced Electra nameplate, so it was only a matter of time before the past and the future met head-on. Buick resurrected the name it used between the 1959 and 1990 model years on a futuristic, battery-powered concept car. Created by a Shanghai-based design studio, the Electra concept takes the form of either a tall sedan or a low crossover, depending on your perspective. While it's not officially a preview of an upcoming production model, it ushers in a design language named Potential Energy that will permeate most of the electric cars the firm will release during the 2020s. It's inspired by a space capsule, according to Buick, so its greenhouse was drawn to resemble a glass pod. Its surfaces are sculpted but not chiseled, and its front fascia wears LED lights with a three-dimensional effect. Fear not: Stylists didn't forget the seemingly obligatory back-lit emblem. Butterfly doors provide access to the cabin, where the space capsule theme continues. Buick packed the Electra with cutting-edge technology features, but it concealed them rather well to avoid a tech overload. The driver faces a rectangular steering wheel that retracts when it's not needed, behind which is a wide, curved screen that replaces all of the buttons, knobs, and switches normally found in a car's interior. An electric motor is far more compact than a comparable four- or six-cylinder engine, so designers were able to carve out a generously sized interior. Engineers embedded technology into the Electra from the project's earliest stage. It's equipped with software named eConnect that supports over-the-air updates, provides on-demand information about a specific trip, and gives details about the various electronic driving aids. An artificial intelligence-powered assistant lets users perform various tasks, such as setting the air conditioning or controlling home devices, with voice commands. Buick noted the Electra offers about 410 miles of driving range thanks in part to the Ultium battery technology developed by General Motors to power a wide selection of electric models, including the Cadillac Lyriq, the GMC Hummer, and a pair of Honda-badged models scheduled to go on sale for the 2024 model year.