The Chevrolet TrailBlazer SS was the bright light that shone from the otherwise perfectly avoidable GMT360 platform. With the 6.0L LS2, an optional all-wheel-drive system and enough power and noise to satisfy the family man who wanted a hot rod, they have earned a devoted following. The Buick Rainier, not so much. The Rainier was GM’s knee-jerk reaction to the death of Oldsmobile: the Bravada was given a Buick face and set on its way like nothing ever happened. This is during the seriously low point for GM, so things like the interior that defined “plasticky” and the Playskool dial controls for everything were still there, along with some new fake wood appliqué.

Buick, however, has tended to be a brand conflicted. For the majority of their existence they have tended to be just a half-breath behind Cadillac for luxury and were tuned for an older audience. But there are the exceptions to the rule: Buick has a dark side that when unleashed creates cars that absolutely and utterly rule. The last solid attempt from them (if you discount the SLP-assisted Regal GSX) was the GNX, the ASC/McLaren-modified Grand National that was created as a swan song to the rebirth of performance…and as a rolling middle finger to GM management who was killing off the G-body platform. The Regal GNX was rare, was fast, and quickly became legendary. So, naturally, why not try to drum up a little nostalgia for the mid-2000s?

The Rainier GNX concept started life as a 5.3L Rainier…again, nothing to terribly impressive…and then the fun began. A Magnuson supercharger was bolted on up top and a full Borla exhaust was piped in below. GM claimed that the Rainier GNX was pushing 600hp through its all-wheel-drive system, not unheard of for a concept car and certainly achievable. GNX emblems rested on the prerequisite all-black paint job, 20″ wheels were added, and inside a custom gauge cluster, TV and DVD player and navigation screen were installed in the interior. The seating surfaces were adorned in a custom leather combo that is supposed to be black and gray.

Is it easy to dismiss the Rainier GNX as a cynical attempt at nostalgia? Yep. But is it a failure? Considering what Buick had to work with, and GM’s corporate atmosphere at the time, not really. It did have the important elements: all black, black and gray interior, force-fed motor with stout power. It even had the bonus of the all-wheel-drive system. Sure, purists will decry the lack of a turbocharger or a six-cylinder (or both) but this wasn’t a concept car from scratch…this was more “fun with the parts bins” that happens to run and drive well. There is just one teeny, tiny problem with it that overshadows everything else: Because it is a GM concept car, one of the vehicles that the company off-loaded in 2008 during the whole bailout fiasco, it cannot be legally titled or driven on public roads. With a VIN that ends in -EX, there’s very little to no chance that it will ever be street-legal. It’s effectively a museum piece, which means that it has changed ownership plenty of times. It’s actually for sale now on eBay (CLICK HERE) and has not only stayed under the value of a concept car, but under the value of a good TrailBlazer SS.