1970 Buick Skylark Custom Hardtop 2-door on 2040-cars

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Junkyard Gem: 1978 Buick Electra 225

The Buick Electra was a big, plush, dignified land yacht for the 1959 through 1976 model years, but certain events in the middle 1970s, coupled with increasing sales of imported cars, convinced The General that a weight-loss program would help Electra sales. For the 1977 model year, the big Buick became 11 inches shorter and shed close to 900 pounds. Sales took off. Most of these cars are gone now, but I was able to find this faded '78 in a San Francisco Bay Area self-service yard a few weeks back. Just to be clear, the Buick Electra in the iconic Sir Mix-a-Lot video, My Hooptie, is a 1969 model. That car was much bigger and more powerful than today's Junkyard Gem. This car has the optional Oldsmobile 403-cubic-inch V8 engine under the hood, which was good for 185 horsepower and 320 pound-feet of torque. This is the same type of engine that was badged as a 6.6-liter plant in the Pontiac Firebird Trans Am of Smokey and the Bandit fame, and GM's mix-and-match games with engines from different divisions went on to cause great disgruntlement among buyers who wanted a Buick engine in a Buick. The silver-faced gauges were pretty cool-looking by late-1970s standards. The interior is standard-issue Detroit luxury car for the era: much vinyl, many molded-in fake stitches, plenty of not-trying-very-hard-to-look-real "wood." These cars rode very comfortably and looked sharp, so who cared if the interiors were plasticky? According to Glenn Ford, the '78 Electra carried on an ancient tradition of Buick luxury. Related Video:

2019 Volvo V60 vs. wagon competitors: How they compare on paper

The next-gen Volvo V60 was finally revealed this week. The outgoing model has been on sale since 2011, getting a few minor updates along the way. The new model is based off Volvo's Scalable Platform Architecture that underpins other models like the XC90 and XC60 crossovers and V90 wagon. The V60 will launch with two engines, with a powerful hybrid coming sometime down the line. Since the last V60 hit the market, Audi, Buick and BMW have all released their own flavor of wagon. Like Volvo, BMW sells a traditional sedan-based model. Audi and Buick's wagons are both high-riding models with some very slight off-road pretense, much like Volvo's Cross Country models. We don't have details on the upcoming V60 Cross Country, but, even when accounting for ground clearance, the V60, BMW 3 Series Sport Wagon, A4 Allroad and Buick Regal TourX have a lot of overlap. Check out the specs breakdown below. Discover and compare other wagons and crossovers with our Car Finder and Compare tools. Engines, transmissions and drivetrains Out of the four wagons, the new V60 is the only one that offers two-wheel drive and a hybrid variant. The base V60 T5 uses a 250-horsepower turbocharged 2.0-liter inline four and sends power to the front wheels. Stepping up to the V60 T6 nets buyers an additional 66 horsepower thanks to a twincharged — supercharged and turbocharged — 2.0-liter and all-wheel drive. A T8 model that uses a 390-horsepower plug-in hybrid powertrain will be available soon. All V60s use an eight-speed automatic. The Audi, BMW and Buick are all powered by 2.0-liter turbocharged inline-fours. Additionally, the 3 Series has a 2.0-liter turbo diesel. All three wagons have standard all-wheel drive. The BMW and Buick use an eight-speed automatic, while the Audi sends power through a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. As base engines go, there's a four-horsepower difference between the most and least powerful models, though the Buick wins out on torque. The V60 T6 matches the Regal TourX's torque figure and trounces every competitor's horsepower rating. The V60 T8 packs more power and torque than any of the competition. Cargo and interior space The outgoing V60 was on the small side for a wagon. This new model rectifies that a bit, though its 48.2 cubic-feet of cargo space with the second-row folded is still substantially smaller than the competition.

Buick Envision crossover to premiere in China

Buick currently offers two crossovers: the compact Encore and the extra-large Enclave, leaving plenty of room to slot a mid-size crossover in between. And that's just what Buick is planning on doing. In China, anyway.
Previewed in the teaser above, Buick's upcoming new crossover is cloaked and nestled in between its aforementioned stablemates-to-be. Set to be unveiled in China sometime later this year, the model has been confirmed to wear the name Envision - at least in that market. That's the name which the concept version wore three years ago, but we're still waiting on word over whether that name will carry over to the US version or whether we should expect something different like Anthem. But we have to admit that Envision fits better in the brand's crossover naming scheme.
Shanghai GM isn't saying much about the Envision in the press release below, aside from it having "dynamic and assertive styling" backed by all-wheel drive and stop/start ignition. The last time Buick offered a mid-size crossover in North America was with the Pontiac Aztek-based Rendezvous that was discontinued seven years ago.