2012 Regal Cxl.no Reserve.leather/onstar/heated/alloys/bose/salvage/rebuilt on 2040-cars

Auto blog

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

Automakers' sound systems: Crank it, don't yank it

Years ago, one of the first things most music lovers did after buying a new vehicle was drive to an aftermarket stereo shop to get the crappy stock components swapped for better gear. And you'd typically get not only better sound but also more bang (and boom) for your buck. But in the past decade or so, the overall quality of OEM audio has dramatically increased, while car electronics became more complex, removing the incentive for most new vehicle owners — and all but the most hardcore DIYer — to start from scratch. In 2010, I did a comparison of the average costs for OEM electronics vs. similar offerings from the aftermarket, and back then automakers' stock premium systems were by far the best bargain — and are probably an even better value now. The premium 14-speaker, 1,200-watt JBL system in the all-new 2019 Toyota Avalon is a prime example of this trend. It's standard on the top two Limited and Touring trims and is available as a $680 audio upgrade on the XLE and XSE. I doubt you can even buy 14 speakers and 1,200 watts of amplification from the aftermarket for 700 bucks, much less have it all installed. And because the system is bundled with Toyota's Entune infotainment system, Apple CarPlay and a surround-view camera, removing the head unit means you would likely lose these features. Another advantage of OEMs and their audio partners is they can design the car around the audio system. In the past, automakers would typically place speakers where convenient for packaging, not for optimal sound reproduction, and audio engineers were forced to compromise. But as with the Avalon's premium JBL audio system, this is starting to change. At a recent behind-the-scenes peek for media into the process of developing the system, Toyota and Harman engineers delved into the minutia of sealing the inner panel of the front doors to create an enclosure for 6x8-inch woofers, making space in the pillars for JBL horn tweeters and extensively measuring the acoustic properties of the interior to tune the sound to the space. I'm met some creative and skilled car stereo installers, but none with a degree in psychoacoustics. The system is also the first to feature Quantum Logic Surround that creates a multi-channel listening experience from two-channel sources. And it includes Harman's Clari-Fi processing that "rebuilds key details lost" in compressed audio formats used by streaming music services and MP3s.

Buick Regal GS and troupe of basketball dribblers make great beats

The 166 videos posted by YouTube music video maestro Kurt Hugo Schneider have been watched almost half a billion times. When Coke wanted to do something musically inclined and a little different, it called KHS, and the result was the video Little Talks.
Buick appears to be the next blue chip in line, and KHS' melodic celebration of the 259-horsepower Regal GS is called Epic Basketball + Car Beat. In it, a red Regal sits at center court in Venice Beach, California while a cast of ridiculous dribblers make music with and around the sedan.
We'll let the music speak for itself, which it does quite well in the video below.