Special Car, auto, cars, vehicles

Originally, the 2011 Buick Lucerne was to be about the same overall length, with the same wheelbase as the converged 2011 Cadillac DTS/STS replacement. All these cars, including the RWD Impala, were scheduled for the new Zeta platform, which, as Mike Connor reports in the July 2008 issue of Motor Trend, is itself to converge with the Cadillac Sigma RWD platform.

The Buick was to go on the 118.5-in.-wheelbase "large" Zeta platform shared with the Holden Statesman and the Holden Ute/Pontiac G8 pickup. The converged big Caddy is scheduled for a premium version of the large Zeta platform, with forged-aluminum suspension bits and probably longer overhangs.

It appears the Buick will instead take the midsize Zeta platform, sharing it with the Pontiac G8 sedan and Holden Commodore. It has a 114.8-in. wheelbase, which is 0.8-in. shorter than the current, FWD Buick Lucerne's. While front-drive provides better interior space efficiency, the G8 is a spacious large midsize car (or small full-size, if you will), and with a front short overhang, it's 196.1 in. overall, 7.1 in. shorter than the '08 Lucerne.

The big reason given for cutting RWD programs, of course, is fuel economy. There's $4 gas and there are strict, proposed 2011-15 Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards. If adopted, the CAFE standards make it more important to get better mileage out of whatever size cars you have, rather than to switch from big cars and trucks to small ones. And here, a comparison between the RWD G8 and FWD Lucerne is instructive.

The 256-hp Pontiac G8 with the 3.6L V-6 is rated 17/25 mpg; the 197-hp (cough, cough) Buick Lucerne with the 3.8L V-6 is rated 16/25 mpg. The 361-hp G8 GT with the 6.0-liter V-8 is rated 15/25 mpg, while the 292-hp Lucerne Super with the 4.6-liter V-8 is rated 15/22 mpg. With gas-direct injection, or hybrid- or diesel-power, the RWD Zeta platform would make an even greater gain.

Enthusiasts will lament the fact that the RWD Buick has a life, while the RWD Impala does not. But as I wrote in my May 27 post, Chevy already has its Zeta RWD car, the Camaro, on its way, while the FWD Impala is a very popular car that sells directly against the Ford Taurus. No doubt, Cadillac didn't like the idea of Buick getting a Zeta of the same length and wheelbase as the converged DTS/STS. If the Cadillac was originally designed with longer overhangs than on the cancelled 118.5-in. wheelbase Lucerne, those longer overhangs probably have been erased. What's more, while the next Chevy Impala can be built on an extended Epsilon platform, large Epsilon probably wouldn't work for the Buick. The big question now is, will the Lucerne replacement be delayed much beyond an expected '11 model year intro? It could be as much as a year or two.

Since the Buick Lucerne replacement will be sharing Buick-Pontiac-GMC showrooms with the G8, it's important the Lucerne doesn't land right on top of that sport sedan. The Lucerne is a low-volume car. Buick sold just 83,000 in the U.S. last year and isn't likely to match that in '08. It should be softer and quieter and start where a well-equipped G8 leaves off. It doesn't even need a V-8 option. If GM can show some discipline about divisional overlap, the RWD Lucerne will be to the G8 what the Buick Enclave is to the GMC Acadia.

With the Invicta, Buick designers have taken last year's Riviera concept even further, Lyon says, making "a very aggressive, very chic four-door concept with a low roofline." You may also read that to mean there's no Buick coupe in the cards. The division's biggest market, China, (where most Buick owners ride in the back seat) is even more adverse to two-door models than is the U.S. As for the "low roofline," it's mostly a visual trick, made possible by a high beltline. Think front-drive, midsize version of the Chrysler 300.

The good news is that this will make for a stylish front-drive midsize car, intended to take advantage of the momentum begun with the Enclave crossover-utility vehicle. The interior also will pick up some of the themes the Riviera concept set, like ambient lighting. Lyon describes it as evoking calm and quiet. "It'll lower your blood-pressure," he says.

It's the Riviera concept made into a real, marketable car. And while GM design chief Ed Welburn hinted at Shanghai last year that Buick might consider a halo coupe, it doesn't look like something that will happen anytime soon. With Pontiac-Buick-GMC dealerships here undergoing consolidation, Buick can make do with three models; the Invicta/LaCrosse, the Enclave and (I hope a rear-drive) Lucerne replacement.

Buick sold 332,000 cars in China in 2007, up nine percent over '06. That includes the Excelle, a rebadged Daewoo not sold here. Buick sold just 185,791 in the U.S. last year, despite the Enclave's success. That's down from 240,657, due in part to GM's walking away from the fleet/rental business.

As for the name, I like "Invicta" better than "LaCrosse." It's an untarnished name, used from the 1959 to '63 model years on the Century replacement. While the latest Centurys apparently were named for the average age of their buyers, it was Buick's hot-rod model in the late '30s and from 1954 to 1958. It used the Special's A-body, with the biggest, most powerful engine from the Roadmaster under the hood. It would be a good name on a stylish, powerful-looking replacement for the LaCrosse. And as far as I know, Buick wouldn't have to rebadge it for the Canadian market.

In mid-century terms, the new LaCrosse fits into the Buick lineup roughly where the Special/Century (later, LeSabre/Invicta) was. A rear-drive Lucerne should fit where the Super and Roadmaster, and later the Electra and Electra 225 were in the post-modern period.

GM has an opportunity to better separate its divisions with cars like the Epsilon LaCrosse replacement. The automaker's marketing geniuses like to describe the Buick's "quiet luxury," as a differentiator from the Chevy Malibu's "value statement" or the Pontiac G6's "sporty excitement." Press them on any real mechanical or content differences, and GM marketing will probably tell you that you'll be able to buy any of them for the same base price. Pontiac buyers simply won't mix with the Buick buyers in the same dealerships, they say.

That's bull. Many GM buyers like to shop any of the "middle" divisions, as long as they're not Chevys or Cadillacs. The Epsilon LaCrosse should not only be a quieter, somewhat softer car than the Epsilon G6, it should also be a step up in base price, with more standard equipment and more optional equipment, kind of like the Lexus ES 350 to the Toyota Camry. GM is in the unenviable position of having to survive and eventually thrive with shrinking market share in a more competitive market and retain its eight U.S. market divisions (to avoid more problems with its dealerships). Having real -- not marketspeak -- differences between these divisions would help.

So what is it about Buick? Welburn, a lifelong Buick fan (his father had a Bill Mitchell-era Riviera), thinks it's because of Buick's storied design heritage. After dross like recent LeSabres, Regals, Centurys, it's easy to forget that GM's first concept car, the Y-Job, was a Buick styled by Harley Earl, or that Bill Mitchell's 1963 Riv was one of the absolute high watermarks of 1960s auto design. Period.

Welburn could be right. But what's more interesting -- and, I suspect, what really has GM's hot young designers juiced -- is the way Buick is morphing into something completely unrelated to its past.

As we reported earlier today, GM will unveil a sedan concept at the Beijing show in a few weeks' time. It will be called Invicta and will likely hint at the forthcoming 2010 Lacrosse replacement, a car known internally as GMX353 and built off the next generation Epsilon 2 architecture.

The Invicta follows last year's Riviera concept, one of the stars of the Shanghai show, and like the Riviera, was largely styled in GM's Shanghai studio. Buick is GM's hero brand in China, accounting for about one-third of the million or so GM vehicles the company sells there. That explains the Shanghai styling connection: Buick's future depends on designing cars that primarily appeal to consumers in what will soon be the world's largest auto market.

Buick is morphing into the world's first Chinese-American brand. And wouldn't it be ironic if Shanghai's sharp new Buicks helped make one of America's iconic auto nameplates cool again?

What's your take? Does Buick really need a small luxury car and will it have any possibility of selling? Undoubtedly, the current hottest Buick going is the Enclave SUV, but does the success of that model mark a turnaround for the automaker or just a lucky strike? Perhaps even more relevant, will anyone even care and should Buick be axed altogether? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!

Avant-garde design was a staple of Buick during the '50s and '60s, but the brand lost its mojo and its offerings became the main way elderly ladies got to their bingo nights. Now that GM is diversifying its brands again, Buick seems to be regaining its design mojo. But will this new direction be enough to revitalize the brand?

The Buick Enclave Black Platinum Edition was created by Mitek Corporation. The House of Kolor Black Diamond paint is black, blue, or purple, depending on where the light hits the large crossover. Tinted windows and doors sans handles are paired with 20-inch TIS chrome wheels and a two-inch drop in height for a transformed exterior. Inside, Deep Blue leather covers all three rows of seats as well as the headliner and the visors. Despite retaining its third-row bench, the special-edition Enclave still has room for a 4900-watt MTX sound system with three 12-inch subwoofers.

NBA-veteran Jerome Williams has also teamed up with Buick to customize an Enclave: the Buick Enclave Urban CEO Edition. The Urban CEO Edition has White Opal paint and a satellite dish embedded into the roof to make the Buick a rolling wireless hotspot.

Once Williams tires of the Internet, he can watch (on any of the four 10-inch widescreens) a DVD or play a Blu-Ray disc. The front passenger isn't neglected either -- a seven-inch widescreen monitor has been built into the back of the visor. Dark Chocolate leather and LED accent lights in the A- and B-pillers make for a limo-like experience.

The Buick Enclave UpTown was created by Rick Bottom Designs and incorporates a "Ying and Yang" two-tone paint job: White Chocolate Pearl with Cocoa Metallic below. The UpTown has been lowered two inches in the front, three in the rear. Filling the wheel wells are 22-inch MOMO wheels and Pirelli tires. The interior not only features QuietTuning, but Hushmat sound-damping material as well to keep things quiet while you use the 2,000-watt Eclipse audio, visual, and navigation system.

Under the hood, a DOHC 3.6-liter V-6 delivers a sturdy 275 horses through a six-speed automatic and, on our top-model CXL test car, optional all-wheel drive. For relaxed motoring, the powertrain feels up to the job, revving with a pleasing note and cruising with refinement. Unfortunately, the six has to move around a whopping 5077 pounds, a curb weight topped in our test only by the Godzilla-size Land Cruiser. Climbing steep, wriggling Highway 18 to Lake Arrowhead, the Enclave strained (a V-8 is said to be coming in a year or two). Shifting with the electric manual selector helped-and made driving through our handling loop more fun-but the pushbutton is inconveniently (and almost discreetly) mounted on the shift column.

The Enclave radiates a similar "I'm a limousine, not a plaything" character when you leg it. The variable-effort steering telegraphs little in the way of tire information, the engine turns coarse, and the sheer, shifting mass constantly hints that you should be looking for thrills elsewhere-though, in fairness, the Enclave remains poised and holds its line through turns.

The spacious, well-insulated interior is dressed in neatly tailored leather, camphor burl wood trim, and copious electronic conveniences. Worthy of special mention are the brilliant SmartSlide second-row captain's chairs that easily flip completely out of the way for access to the rear bench. This is a cabin worth fighting to ride in.