The car at the center of Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl LIX halftime show was a Buick Grand National presented by the production as a GNX. Whether it was an authentic GNX is disputed: WIRED reports that the team sourced a GNX for the performance, while Hot Rod’s review of the car’s visible details argues it was a Grand National made to look like one. The available reporting does not establish the car’s identity by VIN.
What kind of Buick appeared in Kendrick Lamar’s halftime show?
It was a Buick Grand National styled or presented as a GNX. The car appeared during “Bodies,” as part of a performance built around video-game imagery: WIRED describes the show’s spaces as buttons on a PlayStation-style controller and the larger staging as a video-game-like portrayal of Lamar’s life. The car’s reveal connected that visual world to Lamar’s album GNX.
The album title refers to the Buick Grand National Experimental, the high-performance model commonly known as the GNX. The Associated Press identified the show car as a Buick Grand National Experimental in its contemporaneous Super Bowl LIX report. The AP’s February 9, 2025 account also explains the connection between the car and the album title.
Was the show car a genuine GNX?
The production account and the later automotive analysis do not settle that question the same way. WIRED’s behind-the-scenes report says the team sourced a vintage GNX. Hot Rod examined the visible car and argued that it was more likely a Grand National than a genuine GNX: the car appeared to lack the augmented front and rear wheel wells Hot Rod identifies as a distinguishing feature.
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Hot Rod also quoted seller Daniel describing it as “a Grand National that looked like a GNX.” His explanation was that it suited the production while avoiding the expense of a genuine GNX: “At the end of the day, it saved them tons of money because it looked like a GNX, but they didn’t have to pay GNX prices for it.”
That makes “a Grand National presented as a GNX” the careful description. The reporting offers a production account and a visual-detail argument, not a VIN-level identification, so it cannot conclusively establish the exact trim of the car shown.
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Why didn’t Lamar use his own Buick?
The production needed a car that could be modified for the stage effect. WIRED reports that Lamar’s own Buick Grand National was not used because the team needed a vehicle it could gut so dancers could emerge from it. Art director Shelley Rodgers said the team could have used Lamar’s car, but she did not know whether he would have liked it afterward.
Erik Eastland of production company All Access located a vintage Buick at a used-car lot in Riverside, California. The team modified it for the reveal. Eastland said they were “going to need to see the car and not a cheap imposter” during the performance; Rodgers recalled that the car was difficult to find, especially after Lamar released his album. WIRED’s account of the production describes how the vehicle was sourced and prepared.
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Why the GNX matters to the car’s story
The GNX was a rare, potent version of the Grand National. Hot Rod reports that Buick made 547 GNXs, powered by a turbocharged 3.8-liter V-6 rated at 276 horsepower. That rarity helps explain why a production might choose a visually convincing Grand National for a car that would be gutted and used as a stage prop rather than risk a genuine GNX.
Hot Rod gave a 2025 estimate of $100,000 to $200,000 or more for a bona fide 1987 GNX. That is the publication’s estimate at the time, not a current appraisal or a confirmed price for the Super Bowl car; WIRED did not state what All Access paid for its vehicle. Hot Rod’s 2025 analysis discusses the identifying details, production figure and period price estimate.
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What can be said with confidence?
- The performance featured a Buick Grand National presented in the production narrative as a GNX.
- The car was sourced in Riverside and modified so dancers could emerge from it; Lamar’s own Grand National was not used.
- Hot Rod questioned whether the specific show car was a genuine GNX, citing visible wheel-well details and seller comments.
- No VIN-based identification or confirmed purchase price for the show car is established in the cited accounts.
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