1966 Buick 310 on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Junkyard Gem: 1983 Buick LeSabre Estate Station Wagon, Rocky Mountain High Edition

If you live in Colorado and want an affordable chariot to haul you and your snowboarding droogs to the slopes, you could get one of the obvious cheapskate choices, e.g., a Tercel 4WD, a Corolla All-Trac, or an 80s 4WD Subaru wagon. However, if you want to channel the spiritual forefathers of early-1980s punk rock (and you do), you'll need a big, battered, Detroit bomb. This '83 LeSabre, spotted in a Denver self-service wrecking yard, is such a car. As you can see in 1984's Suburbia, you're pretty much halfway to being a member of The Vandals when you drive a couple of tons of once-luxurious Detroit Iron. 1983 was the final year of the Malaise Era, and so you didn't get much power from the V8s back then. The standard engine for the LeSabre that year was an Olds 307 generating a mere 140 horsepower. The only way to get a burnout out of this setup was to pour a case of Lucky Lager over the right rear tire, then neutral-drop the transmission while floating the valves. Chrysler and Nissan dominated the Whorehouse Red car interiors during the 1980s, but GM made a respectable showing with this scratchy, velour-influenced stuff. When you know you're a car's last owner, nothing holds you back from decorating it to suit your tastes. Ron Paul, the Snowboarders + Skiers For Christ, and many other icons of Buick-driving snow enthusiasts are represented upon the ample flanks of this wagon. How many miles are on it? With a five-digit odometer, there's no telling. The Colorado sun is rough on interiors, but this car may have spent its first couple of decades parking in a garage, or maybe it came from cloudy Oregon. Advertising for this generation of LeSabre emphasized fuel economy, which may have been a less-than-convincing approach. Related Video:

Buick shows off Wildcat EV in gold, debuts new brand tagline

Buick keeps putting the gorgeous Wildcat EV concept back in front of our faces, and it’s just not fair. GMÂ’s premium brand released a new tagline today, “Exceptional by design,” and the Wildcat EV is the face of the companyÂ’s new motto. Check out the video above to see what all the fuss is about. There are a lot of glamor shots showing beautiful Buicks of the past before it cuts to the also-glamorous Wildcat EV concept. ThereÂ’s even a shot of a slight variation of the Wildcat EV dipped in a flashy orange-gold paint color. GM showed off this version of the Wildcat EV in an Instagram post last year, but now weÂ’re seeing the electric two-door coupe in yet another promotional piece. It differs from the final show car in its grille design, headlights, wheels, badging, color and more. Take a look at the side-by-side comparison below. Of course, Buick doesnÂ’t actually make products nearly as exciting as the Wildcat EV, but it does like to show its Encore GX and Envista sharing some design elements with the Wildcat EVÂ’s front end. A jump cut to those crossovers quickly follows our glimpse of the colorful Wildcat EV, though we canÂ’t help but be a little sad that this is all that will come of the stunning concept. Per usual (at least when we get the chance), we asked Buick if it had any updates or things to share about the Wildcat EV now that itÂ’s trotting this concept out to us in a brand campaign. HereÂ’s what the company had to say in response: "The Wildcat EV concept is still our blueprint for Buick design and youÂ’ll see Wildcat inspiration throughout our lineup, starting with the current Encore GX and Envista, and it will eventually extend to the 24MY Envision and 25MY Enclave. We still donÂ’t have any plans to bring that vehicle into production, itÂ’s strictly a concept." Basically, nothing's changed, and there are still no plans to turn the Wildcat EV into a production car. There wasnÂ’t much in the way of news today from Buick, but we can at least say this latest ad campaign is a clear step up over the “ThatÂ’s not a Buick” commercials seen years ago. Related video:

Chicago Auto Show: The really big reveals from shows past

The 2024 Chicago Auto Show may seem like a shell of its former self, but it still holds the title of the largest consumer auto show in the United States. It didn't get that reputation simply by being efficiently produced or convenient for locals desperate for something to do in February — it earned it over decades of breaking automotive news and powerhouse reveals, eventually earning an informal designation as America's truck show.  2024 may be a down year for Chicago, but let's not forget all of the great things that have come out of it, historically. Here's a look at some of our staff favorites. Bet you didn't know about a few of these cars that were first revealed in the Windy City.    2008 Dodge Challenger SRT-8  I didn't just pick this one as a former Challenger owner, but instead to illustrate just how many cool Chicago debuts we take for granted. Chrysler often chose its home turf to debut new cars, so the few times its unveilings happened elsewhere tend to stick in our minds. The first Challenger SRT-8 was kind of garbage, if we're being honest. I mean, who buys a race-bred, V8-powered muscle car without a limited-slip differential? But the SRT-8 formula evolved over time into something truly special, and what we saw in Chicago was essentially the early version of the Scat Pack, which was ultimately very successful for Dodge. And who would have thought we'd be here, 15 years later, still talking about that debut? And still loving these big Mopars, flaws and all. — Associate Editor Byron Hurd SHO time in Chicago IÂ’ll always have a certain fondness for the return of the Taurus SHO at the 2009 Chicago Auto Show. Chicago has always leaned truck and van heavy for press reveals, but every now and then, as this list illustrates, something spicy would appear. The return of the SHO as a high-powered successor to the original that ran from 1989-1999 gave enthusiasts hope for FordÂ’s performance business, especially for sedans. With a 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6 packing 365 hp, all-wheel drive and five-spoke wheels, the SHO was a nice upgrade from the lower-rung Taurus models. It was a bit more sedate than the original SHOÂ’s Yamaha-sourced V6 that teamed with a five-speed manual transmission, but still a worthy response to the Chrysler 300, Dodge Charger and later the Chevy SS. The SHO — Super High Output — begat things like the Fusion ST and gave Ford solid four-door performance for the rest of the decade.