Minneapolis Street Sighting: Buick Skylark GS

Continuing to represent 1990s GM sporty cars that I have a soft spot is this Buick Skylark GS. Back in its heyday, having a Buick GS meant you had a muscle car; as the years wore on, however, GS turned from muscle car to trim package. Certainly not a bad thing by any means, but despite losing the muscle car power that accompanied the nomenclature, I'll give Buick credit for at least staying true to GS' sporty roots. Now, I know the Skylark GS pictured above isn't a sport car, and it doesn't need to be.
The Skylark has always been a bread and butter Buick vehicle, harking back to its 1961 roots, and it even carried the muscle car stigma pretty well. Shifting consumer demand put a stop to the muscle-car that this nameplate had become, and in the 1980s and 1990s the RWD lineup was turned into a FWD compact car that would do battle with the onslaught of Japanese imports. Gone were the big V8s and smoky burnouts; instead, the auto public was greeted with four cylinders and a new kind of smoke; oil leaks and head-gasket failures.
Launched in 1985, the FWD Skylark and its engine choices became the basis for this smallest-Buick range. Propulsion came from series of four cylinders and V6 with the most powerful engine delivering a not-quite-stonking 160 horses; most cars were equipped with either a choice of two four cylinders and a 3300 V6; in 1992, the Skylark was redesigned into what you see above; the pointy nose was phased out in 1996 for a normal looking, non-pointed front end treatment.
The GS consisted of a two-tone paint scheme, bigger alloys, and decent interior trimmings and unlike the GS of years past, this Skylark featured a lackluster 3300 V6 paired to a 3 speed automatic; this combo was good for 160 horses and 195 ft-lbs of torque being sent through the front tires; acceleration was.. well.. it was. Sixty mph came up in 8.7 seconds, and this sporty compact surged on till the electronic limiter kicked it at a hair over 100 miles and hour. But, special paint, the GS was not only; it also featured the first application in a domestic mainstream car of ride control and adjustable chassis tuning: comfort, which made the car ride like a luxury car, auto.. which didn't do anything, and sport, which firmed up the suspension and fooled drivers into think they were driving something more akin to Pontiac's Grand Am GT, a better handling vehicle from what I've read.
It appears GM is finally gaining back their early 1990s magic when it comes to sporty vehicles; but there's nothing that can bring back the sporty aura (get it?) that this member of the Big Three held so strongly in the nineties; this was a good time for sporty domestic cars, and it's often one of the most overlooked periods in the American auto industry.