1996 Buick Roadmaster Limited Series Collectors Edition 64k One Family Owned on 2040-cars

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Junkyard Gem: 1978 Buick Skylark Sedan

Around the time that OPEC shut off the oil taps, The General realized that it was time to sell more small cars from GM divisions not previously known for such machines. The logical candidate for this project was the Chevrolet Nova, a rear-wheel-drive compact that shared much of its chassis design with the Chevrolet Camaro and Pontiac Firebird. The Nova-based Pontiac Ventura came out in the 1971 model year, and the Buick and Oldsmobile Divisions began producing their own badge-engineered Nova siblings for 1973 (Cadillac was late to the party, but eventually created the Nova-based Seville for 1976). At first, the Buickized Nova got Apollo badges, but the better-known Skylark name was applied to these cars for the 1975 through 1979 model years. Today's Junkyard Gem is one of those Nova-based Skylarks, found in a Denver self-serve yard. From the 1964 through 1972 model years, the Skylark lived on the A-Body chassis and was sibling to the Chevrolet Chevelle/Malibu, Pontiac LeMans/Tempest/GTO, and Oldsmobile Cutlass/442. After the 1975-1979 rear-wheel-drive X-Body phase, the Skylark name then went onto the unrelated front-wheel-dive X-Body chassis developed for the Chevrolet Citation. It's a Nova, sure, but Buick made sure that it had a bit more swank than its Chevy counterpart. Checked seat fabric with big square buttons! The base engine in the '78 Skylark was the 3.8-liter Buick V6, rated at 110 horsepower. GM had invested in a new crankshaft design for this engine the year before, so it no longer had the "odd-fire" cut-down V8 crankshaft that shook the fillings out of so many drivers' teeth in earlier years. An assortment of low-compression V8s from Oldsmobile, Chevrolet, Pontiac, and Buick were available as optional equipment as well, eventually leading to the "Chevymobile" lawsuits of a few years later. The base transmission in this car was a three-speed manual (I'm not sure if you could still get a three-on-the-tree column-shift manual Skylark in 1978, but a three-on-the-floor manual was available for sure). The very last three-on-the-tree car Americans could buy was the '79 Nova and its Olds Omega/Pontiac Phoenix siblings, while the final three-on-the-floor cars were the '81 Malibu and siblings. This car has the optional three-speed automatic.

Buick Cascada convertible likely dead after 2019

Opel announced it was discontinuing a few cars today, but the one that got our attention was the Cascada. The plan is to let the Opel Cascada live out its life until the end of 2019, with no replacement in the works. This brings into question the future of the Buick Cascada sold in the United States, since it's basically the same car and produced by Opel in the same factory in Poland. The Cascada has been on sale in other markets since 2012 badged as either an Opel or Vauxhall, but the Buick-badged car was only introduced in North America for the 2016 model year. Of course, Buick could decide to build the model beyond 2019, but it would need to find a new manufacturing location, convertibles aren't exactly popular, and the car would be egregiously old at that point. In other words, it looks like the Cascada is dead after 2019. We asked Buick what the game plan might be, and were told that there is nothing official to say at the moment. That's par for the course for something a manufacturer doesn't want to talk about yet, but it's also possible the announcement came as a surprise. Opel is no longer owned by GM, so the announcement actually came from the brand's new PSA ownership (the same French company that owns Peugeot and Citroen). As for the rationale behind the decision, that was a head scratcher, too. Opel/PSA said it was discontinuing the Cascada, as well as the subcompact Adam and Karl, in order to meet increasingly stringent emissions requirements and produce crossovers instead. This seems contradictory. Replacing a low-selling convertible and a pair of low-profit subcompacts with high-selling, high-profit crossovers sure seems like a solid business decision more than an emissions requirement one. Indeed, the Buick Cascada has never been a raging success in the United States either, with only 5,595 leaving the lots in 2017. It helped bring in some different kinds of customers to the Buick brand, but the impact is minute compared to a vehicle like the hot-selling Buick Encore. Related video: Featured Gallery 2019 Buick Cascada View 17 Photos Rumormill Buick Opel Convertible buick cascada

GM seeks national mandate for zero-emissions cars

DETROIT — General Motors says it will ask the federal government for one national gas mileage standard, including a requirement that a percentage of auto companies' sales be zero-emissions vehicles. Mark Reuss, GM's executive vice president of product development, said the company will propose that a certain percentage of nationwide sales be made up of vehicles that run on electricity or hydrogen fuel cells. GM says a nationwide program modeled on such a requirement in California could result in 7 million electric vehicles, or EVs, on U.S. roads by 2030. California wants 15.4 percent of vehicle sales by 2025 to be EVs or other zero emission vehicles. Nine other states, including Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York, have adopted those requirements. In January, California Governor Jerry Brown set a target of 5 million zero-emission vehicles in California by 2030. The Trump administration criticizes California's ZEV mandate, saying it requires automakers to spend tens of billions of dollars developing vehicles that most consumers do not want, only to sell them at a loss. Reuss told reporters that governments and industries in Asia and Europe "are working together to enact policies now to hasten the shift to an all-electric future. It's very simple: America has the opportunity to lead in the technologies of the future." A national mandate also would create jobs and reduce fuel consumption, CO2 emissions and "make EVs more affordable," Reuss added. GM, the nation's largest automaker, will spell out the request Friday in written comments on a Trump administration proposal to roll back Obama-era fuel economy and emissions standards, freezing them at 2020 levels instead of gradually making them tougher. Under a regulation finalized by the Environmental Protection Agency at the end of the Obama administration, the fleet of new automobiles would have to get 36 miles per gallon by 2025, 10 mpg higher than the current requirement. But the Trump administration's preferred plan is to freeze the standards starting in 2021. Administration officials say waiving the tougher fuel efficiency requirements would make vehicles more affordable, which would get safer cars into consumer hands more quickly. GM on Thursday said it doesn't support the freeze, but wants flexibility to deal with consumers' shift from cars to less-efficient SUVs and trucks.