Buick GNX -- the rest of the story from FoxNews

[earntaz]

http://www.foxnews.com/auto/2017/12/15/inside-story-amazing-buick-gnx.html

TAZ :headbang: :headbang:

[HawkX66]

http://www.foxnews.com/auto/2017/12/15/inside-story-amazing-buick-gnx.html

TAZ :headbang: :headbang:
I love those. Great article/interview. Man, what a rough job they had!
"We also had a fun development drive out west. We took off from Phoenix in three Grand Nationals and the two prototype GNXs. We were pushing hard going north toward the Grand Canyon, full-out all the way up through Nevada, where some local cops escorted us at high speeds. We spent the night in Vegas, then headed across to Santa Maria, California, and stopped at Death Valley. The difference in handling between the Grand National and the GNX was night-and-day."

[JRC99]

I love those. Great article/interview. Man, what a rough job they had!
"We also had a fun development drive out west. We took off from Phoenix in three Grand Nationals and the two prototype GNXs. We were pushing hard going north toward the Grand Canyon, full-out all the way up through Nevada, where some local cops escorted us at high speeds. We spent the night in Vegas, then headed across to Santa Maria, California, and stopped at Death Valley. The difference in handling between the Grand National and the GNX was night-and-day."

I know, seems it was just "work work work" with them!

[scuncio]

Great story.

[The Boss]

I've always wanted one of them.

Is it known what happened to the two prototypes?

[Xplantdad]

How cool is this!

I heard MANY of these stories from Tim Logsdon first hand-as I worked with him at RideNow. He gave me the model below when I bought my Chevelle-I think he was as happy as I was when I bought it!

He and I set up a lot of dealer bike demos. He had a great career at GM...worked with a bunch of cool folks. He told me he wished that he and I could have worked at GM together....he thought I would have done really well.

He also gave me one of the commercials that they did for the GN (Maybe the GNX) on VHS. I will have to find it and burn it to MP4...

I will try and reach out and see if I can get in touch with him...:headbang:

[big gear head]

Have you seen this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2MrvWPByAA&t=3443s
Or this one in HD https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GacP0ap776Y

[flyingn]

Have you seen this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2MrvWPByAA&t=3443s
Or this one in HD https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GacP0ap776Y

My Son's GN is in the Black Air movie. Look at 42.18 :)

[Keith Seymore]

I love those. Great article/interview. Man, what a rough job they had!
"We also had a fun development drive out west. We took off from Phoenix in three Grand Nationals and the two prototype GNXs. We were pushing hard going north toward the Grand Canyon, full-out all the way up through Nevada, where some local cops escorted us at high speeds. We spent the night in Vegas, then headed across to Santa Maria, California, and stopped at Death Valley. The difference in handling between the Grand National and the GNX was night-and-day."

We still do powertrain testing and brake development trips out west. Part of the motivation is to entice the execs out from behind their desks and into the product.

A few of those trips I probably shouldn't describe in writing.

K

[earntaz]

We still do powertrain testing and brake development trips out west. Part of the motivation is to entice the execs out from behind their desks and into the product.

A few of those trips I probably shouldn't describe in writing.

K

"A few of those trips I probably shouldn't describe in writing." What? Soiled themselves?? LOL TAZ

[Keith Seymore]

"A few of those trips I probably shouldn't describe in writing." What? Soiled themselves?? LOL TAZ

I'm not sure what the statute of limitations are/were on some of our activities.

Although - I did have some participants that we did not allow to drive after they demonstrated their abilities.


K

[HawkX66]

We still do powertrain testing and brake development trips out west. Part of the motivation is to entice the execs out from behind their desks and into the product.

A few of those trips I probably shouldn't describe in writing.

K
Did I get into the wrong line of work or what?!? :beers:

[Keith Seymore]

Did I get into the wrong line of work or what?!? :beers:

My dad told me "you will never get rich working for General Motors".

I thought it was sort of a general observation; I didn't realize he meant "me" specifically!

K

[The Boss]

My dad told me "you will never get rich working for General Motors".

I thought it was sort of a general observation; I didn't realize he meant "me" specifically!

K

LMAO!!! You've done very well Keith!

Are you on to a new project now & out of the skunkworks?

[Keith Seymore]

LMAO!!! You've done very well Keith!

Are you on to a new project now & out of the skunkworks?

Still in the skunkworks but my time is running out. I signed up for three years, which will be complete in March.

After that - it's back to the salt mines...

K

[HawkX66]

My dad told me "you will never get rich working for General Motors".

I thought it was sort of a general observation; I didn't realize he meant "me" specifically!

K
HA! Like I tell my wife and my kids, "It's not the years in your life, but the life in your years." I'd rather slide in to heaven with a worn out body at 60 saying, "whew, that was fun", than tip toe through life and make it to 100.
Goes right along with, "money isn't everything...".

[Keith Seymore]

It's also why he kept his day job with GM and didn't race professionally as a career.

He said "...I like racin' too much to do it for a living".

K

[Xplantdad]

I was able to contact Tim Logsdon, "The Boss" mentioned in the article linked at the beginning of this thread. I will try and get Tim to join the site....but here's his response to me sending him the link to the article (Thanks again for posting it Craig!) :



What an excellent/accurate history lesson. There are a few GNX anecdotes worth adding. The article's author, Gary Witzenburg, was a well-known car mag scribe, an engineer which set him apart. He worked in PR at Buick in 87-88 along with Larry Gustin (quoted in article).


The GNX Conception event was the 1986 Indianapolis 500 when Heinz Prechter, Pres. of ASC, actually had a McLaren/ASC car in the race. Mike Doble and I were invited to their hospitality suite for the race. ASC and Buick had several production ventures, including T-Tops for Riviera & Regal, as well as vinyl roof installs. During an extended caution period, several ASC guys and the Buick guests started lamenting the fact that the V6 Turbo would be gone in 1988 with the replacement "GM10" FWD Regal (Chev Lumina, Pontiac 6000, Olds Ciera). In the garage area at Indy, we started debating possible ways for a limited-edition send-off for the turbo.


Another fun-fact relates to the pricing. Heinz, Dave Sharpe, Doble, me, and Joe Negri, head of Buick Special Products Engrg. (should have been recognized in article) had a conference call in Dave's office. We had an official YES at GM, and Heinz wanted to take the next step for ASC as a vehicle-builder and not simply a "Prototype & Roof Guy." Heinz said: "How about somewhere around $10,000?" Dave looked around the room and said: "You got it." The pricing stuck! No further analysis.


Mike Doble came up with the GNX name and logo, mirroring the muscle car, GSX.


Finally, did you know that the registration VIN is an ASC product, NOT a GM vehicle? The GNX even had its own ASC window sticker.


ASC did, in fact, have many total-vehicle production favorites. My favorite was the Chevrolet SSR.


Anyhow, thx for the memory lane journey.
T

[earntaz]

I was able to contact Tim Logsdon, "The Boss" mentioned in the article linked at the beginning of this thread. I will try and get Tim to join the site....but here's his response to me sending him the link to the article (Thanks again for posting it Craig!) :

And now the real "rest of the story" ... great stuff, great car ... had a friend at Chanute AFB in Il that had one. To say it was quick was an understatement!! Craig

[Xplantdad]

Some more info from Tim...This may be the commercial he gave me on video-as I haven't found it yet... :)

Here's another story, John Dabels was Dir. Marketing at Buick in 85-88. He loved Dr. Thorogood and The Destroyers and contacted them for the attached commercial. The original version ended with Dr. Thorogood saying: "Wouldn't you rather have a Ba Ba Ba Ba Buick"? McCann Erickson, our ad agency, did not want to mess with the Buick Brand so they changed the ending to a voice-over. The ad only ran a short time in local markets.
T


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeZQs1oi5cs

[earntaz]

Dang it -- for some reason I seem to remember that commercial ... may have been on WLS in Chicago ... Craig

[John Brown]

WLS always had cool commercials. Even had one in 1966 for Mr. Norm's Grand Spaulding Dodge done by The Buckinghams.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVyKyJYhmPg