Sadly, A New Buick Regal Grand National Is Not Coming
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Gather around, everyone. Have a seat. Hunker down for this storm of sadness.
It pains us to say that a Buick Regal Grand National (or a GNX) isn’t going to happen for the foreseeable future, as GM Authority has come to learn exclusively. This is also to say that a rear-wheel-drive sport sedan or coupe based on GM’s Alpha Platform won’t appear into the Buick family.
The rumor mill has spun with stories that a Buick Regal Grand National or GNX would resurface for a few years now, and it’s likely that somewhere down the road the project was at least on the drawing board, but didn’t really move past it. We expected a Grand National or GNX to surface as a 2017 model year vehicle, but with the sun setting on the 2016 calendar year and Buick emphasizing the coming of an all-new 2017 LaCrosse, the launch of the Cascada convertible, it casts doubt on the subject. Combine that with the expectation that the Buick Envision crossover will be officially announced for the US-market soon, as well as an all-new FWD-based Regal, it’s become pretty clear that a RWD sport sedan isn’t on the schedule this year, or even the next. Or the one after that.
Adding to the evidence that a Buick Regal Grand National isn’t coming, there hasn’t been a single spy photo of a prototype of any kind in a day in age when it’s become increasingly difficult for an automaker to conceal its projects. It’s a shame, really. That new winged grille and colored emblem would likely look great on the front of a modern Grand National.
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To be honest it is just as well.
These models would most likely have disappointed the fans of the original car as there really is little market for a retro car like the original.
Coupes are a hard sell and a GN sedan only offered in black just would not work either. The name even really does not work anymore since Buick has not been in Nascar and Nascar does not even use the Grand National name either.
Now if they offer a sedan and possibly a limited GT Coupe with AWD they could do something that would sell well here Germany, Australia and China.
Note no one has said that there is no plan for an Omega yet and I suspect the Avenir production model will appear once we get the AT6 out and who knows a Riviera coupe on the Omega would be interesting since no other coupe has been mentioned for the Omega as of yet.
I would make the Riv a poor mans Bentley GT with TT V6 and AWD, This way it would fill the gap from Chevy and Cadillac as the CT8 if it is offered in a Coupe will not be cheap in the 6 figure range.
As much as it saddens me, I have to agree with you scott3
The Grand National belongs to yesterday, and would suffer the same demographic challenges (Boomers trying to recapture a sent of youth) as Camaro.
Buick needs to fill more white space by designing the sport coupe of tomorrow–with the right model customers will present themselves. Such a vehicle would be great for Holden, too.
Building an Aveair is most important for the brand, anyway, if it’s to be a true Lexus rival in the US.
I’d have to win 5 lotteries to buy all of the cars I wish they’d make. A new GNX would be sweet, but I think the avenir suits the current lineup better. I’m just hoping it stays RWD.
I so often disagree with the direction of “New” GM, but this time I agree. There is no need for a modern day Grand National let alone a GNX. Why? A big reason is the cost. If you take the existing CTS VSport and make a Buick version, the admission price is still going to be north of $50K? GNX $62,500? If you want a Grand National or GNX, there are still nice ones to be had for a reasonable $$.
While I’d love one, it just doesn’t work. It just wouldn’t capture the essence the Vader cars had. Sad day for the part of me that loves the old G Bodies but ultimately it is the right move not to resurrect the name.
It would be “cool” if they made one, but how many “cool” cars can GM afford to spend the development dollars on so people can say. “Wow, that’s really cool!!” and then walk right past it to a 4 banger tall crossover? GM makes a Grand National right now, its a black twin turbocharged ATS-V coupe.
Buick needs a unique white space sport coupe to garner attention. Base it on the old Opel GT. Make it a genuine alternative to other GM products.
In the 1990s, Eclipse/Talon/Lancer did this for the value sphere.
Aside from Lacrosse and Regal (they share too much with Chevrolet), Buick needs to find unique approaches to every segment.
I suspect the new Lacrosse will move much away from Chevy as will the Regal. They will take on a more global like feel and be more Euro like.
GM has been working hard to move Buick to new ground and to make them not what Chevy and Cadillac are. The reason we have not seen much of this yet as the new post bail out cars are just about to arrive starting with the Lacrosse. I expect it to be much more than a fancy Impala or Malibu.
We will see much more Opel in the sedans and a coupe if they do one. The Larger SUV models will be more American as they have been.
I am amazed that the consensus that has erupted on this. I will admit, I am among the majority here. It would be a tough fit into the portfolio Buick is trying to create.
Purists would demand something so amazing that it would be nearly impossible to live up to the legend that the GN and GNX have become.
I suppose it’s not bad that there won’t be a future GNX; just as long as this doesn’t mean the Buick brand will muscle on without any performance variants. Buick has virtually no cars that remotely interest me , but this could all change with the introduction of some cool OPC-based Buicks that’ll grace our shores!
You never know as Buick’s lightest car is the Verano and while it’s top engine is the 250 horsepower turbocharged 2.0L DOHC-4v 4-cyl; Buick can decide to go off the reservation and offer a variant of this engine to 300+ hp in some type of overboost mode for faster off-the-line acceleration and possibly higher top speed.
This article still doesn’t leave out an E2XX AWD coupe that might appear at Opel, Holden, or Vauxhall. To be honest, that would be my preferred choice to underpin a Buick. Buick isn’t about performance, it’s mostly about luxury. If there’s anyone to bring back the FWD based personal luxury coupe from the Big Three, it’s Buick.
Besides, a Verano coupe might be on the way… http://blog.caranddriver.com/future-opel-astra-variants-may-become-buicks/
Okay guys, looks like I’ll be the odd man out here on this one. While I’ll admit that I too was a bit skeptical when the rumor mill first started a couple of years ago, I think it’s fair to say that we all (purists included) know in our heart of hearts that it would have been cool if Buick could have pulled off a modern day retro inspired GN/GNX, even if it was only a limited production run, like Pontiac (Holden) did with the GTO from 04-06. Be that as it may, perhaps the folks at Buick can grow some balls and resurrect some other Buick muscle car such as the GS and/or GSX – hell I’d even settle for a damn Skylark with a V-8 and RWD. Throw us a bone Buick before you make Chevy or Caddy drivers out of us all…
I think a limited run of the GN based on a new retro version of the original with a blown out engine to rival the he’ll cat would be the way to go. Not a sedan. Not underpowered. Just pure balls. Stay true to the legend. Yes it would pull a good penny but so did the hell cat. And that sold well.