Hogwash I say.
A Upscale Buick on an Alpha platform perhaps.
The picture as well as the basic Alpha platform is a 4 door.
Hardly keeping with any lineage to the T-Types or GN's.
I also saw the article describing GM's plans for a Grand National......SEDAN! LOL I spewed my coffee when I read that one.
And I love the way the rumor says it's not even going to be a REGAL.
I don't know about everyone else - but I'm a traditionlist.
Since 86, I've referred to my cars a REGALS and Buick Regal Grand National, Buick Grand Nationals when I'm lazy.
But - I also have a WE4 and I say - It's just a little ole Buick Regal.
And then there is all the whispering of a Holden based Coomodore or SS or whatever.
We now need Australia to show us how to build rear wheel drive performance cars.
Geesus.
If it isn't made in Flint or Pontiac (which it can't be since they destroyed those plants) it will never be a Grand National.
It will be just another badged up, All black; GM corporate product.
The Twin-Turbo V6 is referring to the LF3 powerplant that is hotly rumored destined for the ATS-V and the CTS-V.
And I'm sure lots of people wil run right out to buy a Buick GNX with a Chevy motor in it.
Hell, there are already lots of GNs running around where numbskulls have transplanted an LT1 into it, since they couldn't tune a LC2.
Much ado is made of Mark Reuss owning a GNX and that's fine.
But his father even admitted that going the perfomance route with the G-bodies and GN's was a waste of time and energy that should have been spent of improving Buick's standing with their traditional market and improving their basic platforms.
The same situation exisits today.
If they are going to offer an Alpha platformed Buick - that's a good bit of time and energy to blacken one up, do an interior, engineer the powerplant adaptation - for...what...maybe 20,000 units - tops?
I haven't heard what will make this so unique either - sharing the ATS platform, the same engine for the ATS - just different interior and a little firmer tweak on the suspension ?
Sounds like a black Cadillac ATS. With an ovalish grill.
The Grand National of old was unique.
You couldn't sashay over to a Cadillac dealer and buy the same car, but with more chrome.
Or to the Pontiac dealer and buy one with more plastic.
Or Chevy and buy one with more problems.
It was Buick or bust.
They might do this - there have been plenty of whispers and leaks about it.
But how many would they really sell?
Unless they plan to charge ultra premium prices for it, it won't make good sense.
And I have always maintained that even if they do - it will be priced outside of any sane person's budget.
Unless you like 72 months at $600 a month.
They never really sold all that many Grand Nationals, until the word got out that they were going to kill it, then the floodgates opened up.
But they'll be competing in a different world, against the BMW M3's, Audi's, MBs of the world, and that is an entirely different kind of customer.
And the guys that recall the Grand Nationals fondly mostly have grey hair now.
The baby boom demographics have moved on.
At the end of the day - no matter what they do - they won't be able to re-create that magic.
Remember, they made a LeSabre Grand National too - and that didn't work out too well.
I say; if you're into that rounded, sedany; unibody type thing - Go buy a clean; 2002 Regal GS for about 1/20th of the price.
Looks close enough to their new Alpha thing.
And watch it make most performance cars look silly.
We shall see.
But I gave up on Genius Motors a long time ago.
They screwed my once too many times.
Were it not for my TRs, I would not be driving one.
Well - Maybe a CTS-V, which shows how old I'm getting.
