Rapper Kendrick Lamar took centre stage during the halftime show of the 2025 Super Bowl, and he did so with his favourite car behind him.
At the start of Lamar’s solo set at Super Bowl LIX – in which he rapped his classic hits and new songs – he emerged on the bonnet of a Buick GNX after being introduced by Samuel L. Jackson.
The GNX was introduced in 1987 as the final and most potent version of the Buick Grand National, a performance version of its Regal coupe launched in 1982.
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Kendrick Lamar.
That’s it. That’s the tweet.#SuperBowl pic.twitter.com/A5hdd3O14T
— Complex Music (@ComplexMusic) February 10, 2025
Short for Grand National Experimental, the performance coupe was developed with input from ASC/McLaren, with its turbocharged 3.8-litre V6 – related to that used in the Holden VN Commodore – producing a claimed 206kW of power and 488Nm of torque.
The boosted V6 made the boxy coupe faster in a 400-metre sprint than the Ferrari F40.
While interest in the GNX has always bubbled away below the surface, it re-entered popular culture late last year when an example appeared on the cover of Lamar’s latest album, aptly titled GNX.
The example on Lamar’s album is believed to be his own after he purchased one last year.
The Buick has a special significance to the rapper, who after being born was driven home from hospital in a 1987 Buick Regal.
Lamar also references the car in the start of the song “TV Off”, rapping “All I ever wanted was a black Grand National”.
MORE: 10 famous album cars, from Kendrick Lamar’s GNX to the Black Keys’ El Camino
