BUICK: ROMANTIC DESIGN MEETS THE ROAD

‘A few years ago, Automobile Journal caught up with General Motors styling chief Ed Welburn, and had a talk with him about Buick design.

At the time, Buick had introduced a fabulous convertible concept called the Velite, and just about everybody had begged Mr. Welburn to make sure this one saw the light of day. Alas, it didn’t–or at least it hasn’t so far–but  Mr. Welburn did speak almost poetically about what he called the “romance” of Buick design.

.More than any other GM brand, he said, Buick was  and generally, still is,  strongly associated with graceful, romantic cars that people love to drive, particularly back in the day when a Sunday drive was what you did immediately after a pot roast dinner on Sunday.  Buicks were considered to be the best in American motoring for families not quite at the Cadillac stage, but successful enough to afford something upscale.

      Buick gave American automotive design portholes, the dramatic sweepspear–a vee-shaped slash that adorned the flanks of many Buicks and wide open wheel openings on many models (except for top of the line fender skirted Electras)  that added a touch of flair and sportiness.

 And back in the day–let’s say the 1940s and 1950s—-Buick had a number of sleek fastback sedans with flashy, toothy grilles.  There were more fastbacks in the intermediate line during the 1980s, too.

And everybody remembers the “boattail” Rivieras of 1981. Those are considered to be among the most dramatic and beautiful designs of that era, and are beginning to draw the attention of car collectors everywhere.

 Interestingly enough, some of  those Buick hallmark design features can still be found on the newest Buicks–and that’s no accident, Buick officials say.

“We weren’t trying to walk away from what Buick was,” said  David Lyon, Buick executive design director.

 ” There was a lot of good in our design history, but it had not been applied to modern proportions. So we took classic Buick styling clues and draped them over one of the most contemporary silhouettes on the market, the LaCrosse, for instance.  I’s a unique combination.  It doesn’t come across as retro, instead it comes across as just a well-detailed contemporary sedan with unique jewelry signatures which happens to tie in with Buick’s rich history,” he said.

The designers had just finished working on Enclave before turning to the LaCrosse.

“The Enclave had been extremely successful at a time when you couldn’t make an SUV look trucky enough, so we did a contrarian play with the Enclave.  We said, ‘Hey, this is a Buick. When Buicks were great in history, they were the prettiest cars on the road. They may not be ostentatious, but they were elegant.When we applied that thinking to the Enclave, it really stood out in the world of crossovers and SUVs. Whatever metric you used, it was great,” he added.

The charge to the LaCrosse design team was thus, not unlike the one given when the Enclave was penne. “The idea was that this car needed to look as sleek and elegant as possible, and have a surprisingly big interior,” he said.

“So when we asked ourselves, how much do we want to do witih the LaCrosse to appeal to current buyers or appeal to younger ones,” Mr.Lyon said. ” It’s hard to do both,” but the LaCrosse thus far has managed to do both quite well.

The LaCrosse was a unique program because it was “a shared project between North America and China,” Mr. Lyon said. “ It was a very exciting time, and as it turns out we were successful with the design.  The LaCrosse is a very spacious big car and we were able to provide both efficiency and making the car pretty. We wanted the longest, sleekest greenhouse ono the car, and we got it. We didn’t want a traditional three boxed sedan with a formal roofliine.  We wanted something that was almost one single shape, and good for dynamics and a roomy interior. And still be pretty.”

But Buick wisely resisted the temptation to make the sporty Regal resemble the LaCrosse too closely.

“If you look at  LaCrosse and  Regal, there’s the same basic graphics: the distinctive grille and texture, for instance, and the headlamps have similarities. But with Regal, you see that dramatic boomerang sculpting gesture on the side of the Regal,” Mr. Lyon said. ” It’s nowhere else on the Buick line. But the basic line had to be sleek and elegant.  Buicks have to have romantic sculpturing and they have to be pretty.They also have to have memorable sculpturing integrated into the design.”

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BUICK’S ROCKIN’ REGAL TURBO

Quick is good. And quicker is even better.

If you question that, Automobile Journal refers you to Buick’s 2011 Regal CXL turbo sedan.

We should hasten to add, right off the bat, that we don’t mean the much anticipated upcoming
Buick Regal GS, equipped with a turbocharged engine that’s even faster, and likely to provide goosebumps and itchy right feet for America. That’s coming later–and yes, when we get one, we’ll fill you in on all the details.

Our model was the elegant, youthful-looking CXL Turbo, done up in gorgeous carbon black metallic and ebony interior. If you want to make a statement, we think this is the color to pick. While Regals look sharp in all colors, we think darker shades add the drama and richness to it.

      While we wouldn’t say the CXL Turbo was blindingly fast, it sure was quick enough to turn heads on Pittsburgh’s parkways, and cause a fair share of mischief for drivers of some makes who realized they’d just been blown off by a Buick.

     The car is equipped with a 2.0 liter Ecotec dual overhead cam four cylinder, intercooled turbo charged engine, backed by a six speed aut0matic.  It puts out 220 horsepower and is rated at 18/28 for fuel economy. The estimated annual fuel cost is $2,048 based on 15,000 miles at $3 a gallon (With gas at $4 or more now a gallon, we wish!).

The Regal Turbo hits 60 in 8.4 seconds, compared to 9.9 seconds for the base model, according to Edmunds.com.

 Base price is $34,630.00. With total options of $5,690, along with destination charges, our final price came to $35,380.00.

Standard equipment includes all power accessories of course,  along with six months of OnStar directions and connections with automatic crash response and turn by turn navigation, front, side, impact thorax driver and front passenger airbags, head curtainside airbags, outboard front and rear occupant sidebags, antilock brakes,stability and traction control, dual bright exhaust tips, halogen headlamps, fog lamps, eight way adjustable front passenger seatm along with four way lumbar, parking assist, air conditioning, Bluetooth for phone, cruise control, heated fddriver and front passenger seats and lots of other items.

      The first thing you notice about the Regal Turbo compared with other Regals is the energy and tone.  The entry level Regal is a lovely car, but it felt more relaxed when driving it, and not especially eager on acceleration.  Meanwhile, the Regal Turbo feels more muscled, more athletic and energetic, with some more satisfying sounds coming from the exhaust systemn.  The steering feels especially well- balanced with no need for lots of correction, and it cornered flat with control at all times.

        The interior was well-put together and rich looking, with a nice mix of textures and visual interest.  We were particularly pleased with how seamlessly everything was put together, and all of the chrome and aluminum accents were tastefully done, not overly flashy or bright. The front seat was nice and roomy, but the back seat came across a bit cramped and narrow.

Still Buick’s CXL Regal makes it abundantly clear that a real revolution–a good one–is underway at Buick.

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2012 BUICK VERANO:BUICK DOES IT AGAIN

The brand now has at least one more headliner up its sleeve: the 2012 Buick Verano, which made its debut at the North American International Auto Show Monday. 

It’s a luxurious new upscale compact. Yes it’s based on the same platform as Chevy’s top-notch Cruze, but it’s a totally different car judging from the looks, the equipment, and different powerplant, among other things.

     The engine is an Ecotec 2.4L and six-speed automatic powertrain, which gets about  177 horsepower, and can hit 60 in eight seconds. Verano is apparently pretty easy on the gasoline too, getting about 31 miles per gallon on the highway.

It willl have as optional equipment later in the model year a 2.0 liter turbo engine.

“Verano expands our lineup, continues Buick’s momentum and gives us a great opportunity to attract a new generation of customers with a product that delivers on their expectations for design, performance and technology,” said John Schwegman, vice president of Buick marketing. “It is a smart choice that delivers unexpected luxury in a compact sedan – and it will compete head-to-head with competitors from Audi and Lexus.”

Buick officials were wise in designing the Verano in a way thaqt compolements the successful lineup they have now, and it features a number of design and equipment cues that bring it in line with those products.

      Looks-wise, it’s clearly a contemporary Buick, with character lines along the flanks that resemble the other models.  You’ll notice a black waterfall grille, blue translucent projector beam headlamps, portholes and tasteful chrome accents, for instance.

         Inside, the Verano has a clearly upscale interior, which should help it sell well since it’s in keeping with the trend of lavishly equipped compacts that consumers are going for these days. That means lots of polished metals, tasteful, discreet application of wood and other materials, and of course, ambient lighting.

Verano also gets the brand’s trademark “Quiet Tuning,” with  acoustical laminated glass, triple door seals, refined chassis dynamics and specially manufactured 17-inch standard forged alloy multi-spoke wheels, which minimize road noise.

Along with the Ecotec powerplant, the Verano gets  a refined, responsive suspension system, including a sophisticated Watts Z-link rear suspension and four-wheel disc brakes with standard anti-lock brakes, full-function traction control and StabiliTrak electronic stability control.

Buick says the translucent blue projector-beam headlamps are unique to Verano, and it will be available in rich, upscale colors like Claret Red Tintcoat and White Diamond Tricoat. Other exterior color choices include Black, Olympic White, Switchblade Silver Metallic, Cyber Gray Metallic and Mocha Bronze Metallic.

   Inside,  buyers will notice neutral and medium titanium colors are offered on interiors with leatherette/fabric seating surfaces, while ebony, cashmere and a unique Choccachino color. And the premium leather that’s gotten such rave reviews from car writers on Lacrosse will also be used on Verano.

 A Buick press release says, “The instrument panel blends with an integrated center stack that houses the infotainment display, climate controls and radio controls. Flush-mounted components within the center stack have a gap tolerance of less than 1 mm, while the instrument panel-to-door panel gaps are less than 5 mm. Those tolerances are among the best in class.”

Some of Verano’s interior standard and optional features include push-button engine start, dual-zone climate control with standard air conditioning (automatic climate control available) , heated steering wheel, heated leather seats, electronic parking brake, console armrest that slides and locks, power windows with express up/down in the front and express down in the rear, steering wheel radio controls,m and uplevel front and rear reading lamps.

Verano’s heated steering wheel and heated seats are linked with the remote start feature. In temperatures lower than 45 F (7 C), the steering wheel heater and seat heaters automatically activate.

      Downloading an OnStar app enables the use of remote vehicle features from anywhere in the world. With a few taps, customers can check the, fuel tank level and range, remaining oil life , tire pressure and the odometer reading. Other remote-access features include remote vehicle locking/unlocking, remote vehicle start and a vehicle locator.

The next-generation radio system includes a navigation system, along with USB and auxiliary input jacks, and includes full Bluetooth with streaming audio, structural speech recognition, SMS texts and more. Additional connectivity features include text-to-speech conversion of SMS texts, smart phone app integration (Pandora, Stitcher, etc.) and Gracenote music organization for external devices (USB drives, etc.), including Playlist Plus and Album Art features.

 Verano will have ten standard air bags, including frontal, head curtain side air bags, front and outboard rear-seat side-impact air bags and new knee air bags. The head-curtain side air bags deploy in a rollover crash, and the car also has StabiliTrak electronic stability control, traction control and anti-lock brakes, and a collapsible pedal system, which allows the pedals to detach during a crash to reduce the risk of leg or ankle injuries.

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