GM W-Body archive
Concept Cars & Show Cars
Before some of these cars reached showrooms, GM used the W-body platform to explore turbo power, open-air sedans, race-inspired styling and new performance identities.
This collection covers documented W-body-based concepts and one-off show cars. A special-edition production car or a similarly named concept from another platform is not the same thing.
Grand Illusion
This turbocharged Grand Prix preview car paired a 3.1-liter V6 with an intercooler and a five-speed manual. It offered an early look at the performance direction that led to the Turbo Grand Prix.
Monte Carlo Intimidator
GM built this one-off Dale Earnhardt tribute show car with an exaggerated wide-body shape and No. 3 graphics. Its styling anticipated the 2000 Monte Carlo. It is not the later production Intimidator edition.
Cielo
Built from a stretched and widened Regal GS, the Cielo explored a four-door open-air body with three retractable roof panels. Buick followed it with the more production-like Regal Cielo in 2000.
Photo: Alden Jewell, CC BY 2.0.
Intrigue OSV
Oldsmobile’s OSV performance study brought a more assertive look to the W-body Intrigue, including a hood scoop, larger wheels and revised bodywork. The supercharged Shortstar V6 belongs to this OSV program, not the separate Intrigue 442.
More W-Body Experiments
More documented W-body-based experiments from Buick, Oldsmobile and Pontiac.
Regal Cielo
Buick adapted the earlier Cielo’s retractable-roof idea to a production-based Regal GS sedan. This is a different car from the orange 1999 Cielo shown above.
Intrigue 442
A separate SEMA show car with white-and-gold 442 styling and a Cadillac Northstar V8 reportedly making 550 hp. It should not be confused with the red Intrigue OSV.
Grand Prix G-Force
Unveiled at the Chicago Auto Show, the G-Force explored the next Grand Prix’s performance direction with a supercharged 3800 V6 rated at 280 hp and 19-inch wheels.