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Making Light of the Lotus EliteWhat Was the Car from the Halftime Show?
Kendrick Lamar had a great performance during this year’s halftime show at the big game, but what was that sweet car?
Kendrick Lamar Takes the Stage at the Big Game
The NFL’s big game is finally over and what an event it was. All the stars were out (including Taylor Swift), President Donald Trump showed up, and the Philadelphia Eagles dominated the Chiefs preventing first ever three-peat in NFL history. There was also the halftime show led this year by nonother than Kendrick Lamar – to Drake’s dismay.
Kendrick’s performance dropped all his greatest hits and was filled with cameos from SZA, Serena Williams, Mustard, and even Samuel L. Jackson who was portraying Uncle Sam. While most fans were intent on listening to every bar Kendrick dropped, some may have been distracted by the dancers piling out of that classic black car behind the rapper.
Was That a Buick Grand National on the Field?
Technically, the car seen during the halftime show was a Buick Grand National, but more specifically an ‘87 GNX. The GNX, or Grand National Experimental, was a super limited performance version of the Buick model produced thanks to a partnership with McLaren. 547 Grand National chassis were delivered to McLaren to make the most potent version of the car for it’s last year.
McLaren added a larger intercooler to the 3.8L V6 and replaced its stock turbocharger with a Garrett AiResearch T-3 turbocharger utilizing a ceramic impeller. A less restrictive exhaust with dual mufflers and a revised transmission with a custom torque converter were also added. The exterior remained virtually the same aside from GNX badging, leaving it in its intimidating, strictly black form with a more powerful engine.
The GNX was an icon of the ‘80s and was an inspiration for Kendrick’s latest single and was used for his latest album “GNX”. So, it only made sense for Kendrick to open with his latest song and bring the car with the same namesake on stage during the halftime show. Although, the one seen on stage was a rolling chassis that had its floor cut out so that the dancers could jump out almost continuously from the driver’s side door. So, no burnouts for that GNX but also less worries about scuffing the paint of a classic when Kendrick and his dancers were hopping on the car’s hood.
That wasn’t a genuine GNX, they’re way too valuable to cut up like that. Try a plain old Buick Century(?) coupe tricked out to look like the real thing.