Building on an incredible year, the sixth studio album from Kendrick Lamar is here, and not only is it called GNX, it features the most desirable Buick of all time on the cover. Obviously, we weren’t going to miss the opportunity to blog this, because when great music and a great car collide, great things happen.
In case you aren’t familiar with Kendrick Lamar, the Compton native is one of the greatest rappers of all time. We’re talking 17 Grammy awards, the Guinness World Record for the most BET awards won by a male artist, a freaking Pulitzer, and a discography that’s nothing short of impeccable. From reviving jazz rap to elevating consciousness over consumption, to inspiring David Bowie to make Blackstar, his influence can’t be understated.
Lamar has had a hell of a year, with a rap beef with Drake that kept everyone on the edge of their seat, while dropping tracks that are absolutely anthemic. “Not Like Us” wasn’t just a killshot on Drake, it’s the anthem for the West Coast right now, and to an extent, America. Beyond going number one on Billboard, it scored the most single-day Spotify streams of any hip hop song ever, became the fastest rap song on the platform to reach 100 million, 200 million, 300 million, 400 million, 500 million, 600 million, and 700 million streams, and as a result, it has reach. Serena Williams C-Walked to it at the ESPY awards, the Argentinian soccer team used the track to dunk on Team Canada and Drake at the Copa América, we’re going to be hearing it for a long, long time.
As such, it shouldn’t be surprising that all eyes are on Lamar right now, and with his sixth studio album surprise-dropping on Friday, all eyes are also on both the name of the album and the car on the cover — GNX. Yeah, the Buick GNX. The album itself is an outstanding West Coast rap album, and I can’t wait to hit replay, but first we need to talk about the car.
So, what makes the GNX so important? Well, it started with the Regal Grand National, a midsize coupe rocking a turbocharged 3.8-liter V6 and often known for a popular black monochrome look. Model year 1987 was the end of the line for the rear-wheel-drive Regal, so Buick built 547 black Grand Nationals with the interior trim package and sent them to ASC McLaren for some special tweaks. We’re talking about a special T3 Garrett turbocharger with a ceramic impeller, a sizeable intercooler, a high-flow exhaust system, a reworked 200-4R automatic transmission with a new torque converter and valve body, a panhard bar to keep the rear end located, 245-section front and 255-section rear tires on mesh wheels, and some big flares to cover the new rubber. Pushing 16 psi of boost, the GNX was officially good for 276 horsepower and 360 lb.-ft. of torque, and unofficially good for a whole lot more.
As a result, the GNX became an instant icon, not just for its menacing presence and sheer rarity, but for the fact that it offered genuine supercar acceleration for the time. In Car And Driver instrumented testing, it ran from zero-to-60 mph in 4.7 seconds, meaning the only thing on the market in 1987 that was quicker was the Porsche 911 Turbo. However, the automatic transmission in the GNX made it easier to strike the cue ball in the middle every time, meaning that in the real world, nothing on a showroom floor could touch it.
From the moment it hit dealer lots, the GNX was a dream car, always carrying collector appeal that’s since soared to new heights over the past decade. We’re talking six-figure transaction prices on Bring A Trailer, and not just as a peak, as a floor. A stock GNX hasn’t sold for less than $100,000 on the platform since early 2021, and as the bulk of the collector car market was cooling off earlier this year, a 26-mile GNX set a new Bring A Trailer record of $200,000.
There’s something fitting about an iconic artist who did it all his way celebrating an iconic car that was an undeniable trailblazer. As Lamar raps on the intro to “tv off,” the seventh track on the album, “All I ever wanted was a black Grand National.” Same here. They rule.
(Photo credits: pgLang, Bring A Trailer)
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I’ll have to check out that album.
I’m glad he likes cars, and I’m sure he’s a very nice young man.
There was one in my hometown always parked, backed-in, to a notch cut in to a hillside almost exactly the size of the car. I have no idea how the owner got in or out, but I always loved seeing it, and the Jolly Roger front plate on an otherwise undecorated and immaculately kept car was perfection.
I guess this is the ‘87 he bought for the weekend.
I believe the headline was supposed to read:
A Kendrick Lamar Explainer For
Buick GNX FansDavid Tracy, A Buick GNX Explainer For Kendrick Lamar FansI didn’t know who Kendrick Lamar was. I did know what a GNX was.
Only heard the name. Not sure why, but I thought he might be a country guy. As dumb as it seems, naming the album after the GNX is going to get me to check him out.
Don’t like rap, don’t like hip hop, never done more than heard the name is passing. I definitely could not have told anyone that he was an award winning rapper.
It’s a less timely add-on, but a GNX was also featured in the album art for Run The Jewels 4.
Great car (and album).
Killer Mike owns that GNX.
That’s a good fact. He seems like a he’d have impeccable taste in cars, so that tracks.
The grand National features in their music and videos from before RTJ4.
Saw them open for rage and was really impressed. Hip Hop isn’t really my genre but enjoyed their show.
GM needs to have a “ah, fuck it, let’s go!” department again.
We need more small production WTF cars & trucks again a la GNX, Typhoon, Syclone, etc..
Drop in the motors from the Hummer EV into the Equinox, fat tires & tweak the suspension. Range would be terrible, but who cares.
Always thought the ATS V should have had an NA small block and they should have spun up an alpha platform Regal just so a new rwd grand national with a turbo 6 could exist… Then build an appropriately batshit crazy gnx as a sendoff just to prove that they could.
What’s so cool about the GNX is that it’s always been this completely dark legend.
Even when it first came out, it was spoken about in whispers and rumors by teenagers, you never really saw many on the road, and the ones you did were often being driven sedately. And as the years have gone by, it’s of course gotten even rarer in our everyday lives. No bespoilered racetrack Porsche or look at me pony car, it’s so mercilessly functional. The very nature is like a coiled cobra (sorry Ford)…exuding this quiet but capable menace.
Huge fan of To Pimp A Butterfly.
I’m listening to this now and I’m not mad at it.
Kendrick is one of us. The GNX is one of the ultimate “if you know you know” cars.