Buick GNX -- the rest of the story from FoxNews

[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