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Junkyard Gem: 1985 Buick Somerset Regal Limited

The Oldsmobile, Buick and Cadillac divisions of The General's mighty army got serious about their attempts to compete with futuristic and stylish German and Japanese coupes during the second half of the 1980s, with cars such as the Cadillac Allante, Oldsmobile Toronado Trofeo, and Buick Reatta. They featured edgy styling, wild digital dashes, and other interesting gadgetry. Before them, however, came the Buick Somerset. Built for the 1985 through 1987 model years, only the '85s were badged as Somerset Regals. Here's one of those ultra-rare cars, spotted in a San Francisco Bay Area self-service wrecking yard. This badging confused many Buick shoppers at the time, because the 1985 Regal was a "traditional" midsize rear-wheel-drive car, based on the increasingly antiquated G-Body platform, and the Somerset Regal was an N-Body front-wheel-drive compact. For 1985 and 1986, the car became the Buick Somerset. The interior is your standard Whorehouse Red velour, a theme used by everybody from Nissan to Chrysler during the 1985-1995 period. This cloth looks pretty nice for a car from sunny California. Digital dashes became very trendy during this period, with Mitsubishi, Subaru, Nissan, and even Toyota getting into the act during the first part of the decade, and everyone else jumping on the bandwagon a bit later. The radio face went into this weird pod perched over the HVAC controls, which looked like something from the Mars Base and made aftermarket audio-system installation nearly impossible. The factory cassette deck, if desired, had to go elsewhere in the console. The base engine in the Somerset Regal was the decidedly un-European Iron Duke four-cylinder with 92 horsepower, but this car has the optional 120-horse 3.0-liter V6. In theory, a 5-speed manual transmission was available, but I'm guessing that the quantity of so-equipped Somerset Regals was numbered in the high dozens. There's plenty of hard red plastic and fake wood inside, of course. Base price on a V6 Somerset Regal Limited came to $10,026 (about $24,000 in 2018 dollars). Meanwhile, a Pontiac Grand Am LE with the 3.0 V6 was nearly the same car and listed at $8,970. If you wanted even crazier electronics and an interior that looked like something out of a jet fighter, the 1985 Subaru XT GL had a $9,899 price tag. Give me savvy. Give me cool. Give me a car that breaks all the rules. Give me the look. Give me the feel. Give me the magic. Give me the wheel.

2019 Buick Envision starts just under $33,000

Buick has announced that prices for its new 2019 Envision will start at $33,985 (including destination), positioning the refreshed compact SUV right between its best-selling Encore entry-level crossover and more upmarket Enclave and taking aim at competitors including the Lincoln MKC and Acura RDX. The Envision will be offered in five trim levels — Envision, Preferred, Essence, Premium and Premium II, which starts at $45,590 — when the crossover goes on sale this spring. Prices exclude tax, title, license, dealer fees and optional equipment. We told you recently about the optional new nine-speed Hydra-Matic 9T50 automatic transmission and 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder on the top two trim levels. The upgraded engine offers 252 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque. The standard setup remains the 197-hp 2.5-liter inline four-cylinder engine making 147 lb-ft of torque and mated to a six-speed automatic, offered in front- or all-wheel drive. The crossover gets a new winged Buick emblem on the grille, new headlamps and newly sculpted front and rear facias, plus optional 19-inch wheels. It also gets a Buick-first tire-fill alert that signals when a tire has reached the recommended pressure level. Standard technology features include an in-vehicle air ionizer to eliminate odors, a switch to turn off its fuel-saving engine stop feature, rear-park assist, an 8-inch diagonal infotainment system and 4G LTE WiFi hotspot. By dropping the starting MSRP by nearly $1,000, GM says the Envision is now better positioned against its top-selling Encore (starting MSRP $22,990), for which nearly 60 percent of buyers come from outside the automaker's stable of brands. Related Video:

Spy photos of the upcoming Buick Regal wagon, via the Opel Insignia

We're pretty sure Buick is working on a Regal wagon. And because the Regal is the Opel Insignia on the other side of the pond, these spy photos show us what's in store when it eventually turns into a Buick. The rakish wagon was lightly camouflaged, giving us our best look at the upcoming vehicle. The wagon shares a lot of the same design cues as the Insignia sedan that we spotted earlier. The bottom of the front end is covered in heavy camouflage, masking the wagon's grille. It's unsure to tell whether the black nostril-like pieces sitting above the grille are vents or just tape. The prototype still shares the same upright nose as the model we spotted earlier, giving the wagon a wider stance than its predecessor. The side profile of the wagon is sleeker, thanks to the extra four inches between the axles, than the current model is, with the design mimicking that of a shooting brake instead of a traditional wagon. The rear end of the wagon is also more upright with the taillights and bottom part of the fender jutting out beyond the glass. The boxy design sitting atop of the rear end doesn't match the rest of the vehicle and appears to be a part of the car's camouflage. With the tunnel-like design at the top gone, the rear end would have a more streamlined design. With the next Regal expected to continue on as a rebadged Insignia, the likelihood of a Regal Wagon in the US look good, but aren't set in stone. Late last year, Buick filed two trademarks for "Tourx" and "Regal Tourx," pointing towards a high-riding wagon with all-wheel drive. Imagine these spy shots with a taller suspension and some crossover-inspired trim pieces and you have a wagon that could take on the likes of the Subaru Outback and Audi Allroad. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2018 Opel Insignia Grand Sport Tourer Spy Shots View 10 Photos Image Credit: CarPix Design/Style Spy Photos Buick GM Opel Wagon Luxury opel insignia