Buick Somerset

The Buick Somerset was a series of passenger cars that Buick built in the United States in the model years 1985 to 1987. In the early 1980s Buick had used the name for an equipment package of the Regal. The Somerset was one of the downsized cars GM built on the N platform and was actually meant to replace the Skylark, but the name did not catch on with the public. It was brought out in 1985 as the Somerset Regal, shortened to Somerset the next year with a four door sedan called Skylark added, and for 1988 the name was dropped and every model became a Skylark. It sold less well than the Pontiac Grand Am on the same platform, but had digital instruments and a luxurious interior. Power came from a 2.5 litre inline four of 68 to 99 kW or a 3.0 litre V6 of 92 kW. Complaints concerned the built in audio system, the short lived digital gear indicator and a grille that cracked at its mounting points.