The “key facts” press release that came with the 2013 Buick Verano I test-drove this week states that target competition is primarily the Lexus IS 250 and Acura TSX, which are entry-luxury (and compact-sized) sport sedans. Ok, sure – especially when Verano is equipped with the new-for-’13 2.0 liter, 250 hp turbo engine and...
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Buick sells a lot of cars – but mostly (historically) to people who might be buying their last car. It’s the same problem Cadillac had; and the same problem Ford’s Lincoln brand still has. Buick seems to be turning away from the Metamucil Set with models like the new turbo Regal GS – which...
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Non-Buick people may not know it, but the Riviera nameplate goes back many years before the introduction of the now-famous ’63 coupe. Buick used it to designate the pillarless hardtop coupes and sedans that appeared in the late 1940s and continued through the early-mid ’50s. The ’63 coupe, however, was something entirely new. It...
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One of Buick’s greatest early Dreadnoughts was the short-lived but extremely memorable Invicta series, which made its debut in 1959 as the replacement for the Century. The unusual name derives from the Latin for “invincible,” or “that which cannot be conquered.” The full-sized Invicta rolled on the same 123.3-inch wheelbase as the LeSabre and...
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The “deuce and a quarter” was Buick’s ultimate ship of the line—measuring nearly 19 feet long (225 inches) from snout to tail. This road titan’s wheelbase would eventually stretch to a full-figured 127 inches (in 1970), a girth exceeded in the modern era only by six-figure exotic land yachts such as the Rolls Royce...
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Five years ago, the following statement would have been laughable: Buick sells one of the nicest – and maybe the nicest – plus-sized crossovers on the market. Today, it’s gospel truth. Seriously. The 2011 Enclave has – and does – everything a Lexus RX or Acura MDX has or does. It can even be...
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Historically, Buick was GM’s “discreet Cadillac”—a high-end car without the high-end ostentation. For many years, Buicks were known as “doctors’ cars” for just that reason. Ownership indicated you had money, but weren’t looking to flaunt it. Like GM’s Oldsmobile and Chevrolet divisions, Buick was named after an actual person, its founder—David Dunbar Buick, who...
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Sometimes silence isn’t golden. Why isn’t Buick doing more to advertise the 2010 LaCrosse? By rights, this car should be puttin’ a hurtin’ on the Lexus ES350 – known for years as the best Buick the Japanese ever built. And making competitors like Acura look usurious for charging close to $50k for cars like...
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Buick is now the best-selling American car… in China. But in America, Buick is struggling to regain its footing. The traditional (read: older) Buick buyer can’t support the brand’s future. In a few years, most will be driving wheelchairs. And younger buyers haven’t been shopping Buicks in decades. Not since the ’80s, at least...
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