Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

Buick picks top 11 highlights from first 11 decades

Gallery:
http://www.autoblog.com/photos/110-y...photo-5820235/

Buick has taken the time to highlight some of the company's personal points of pride from the past 110 years. Those include everything from the automaker's very first vehicle, the 1904 Model B, to what Buick claims is the world's first concept car: The 1938 Y Job (above). That one also walked away with the worst name for a design study.

All told, the automaker has sold 43 million vehicles through the end of last year, and those include the lusty 1963 Riviera. That model celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2013, and remains one of the brand's most iconic designs.

Of course, Buick is rightfully proud of its quickest model, too. The 1987 GNX managed a 4.6-second bolt to 60 mph in tests by Car and Driver, and it also took the honor of being one of the automaker's rarest creations at just 547 units. You can check out all 10 in the gallery above.

http://www.autoblog.com/2013/04/21/b...st-11-decades/

mmarshall

Over the years, I think one of their greatest accomplishments, at the time, was the incomparable smoothness of the Dynaflow and Super-Turbine 300 transmissions of the 1950s and early-mid 1960s.......I'm sure that Lil4X (Bob), like me, will remember them. These were essentially large fluid-filled boxes with very few moving parts outside of the impellers and the vane-deflectors which changed "gears"....so virtually all of the engine/transmission vibrations and noise were drowned out in the fluid, noticeably more so than with a regular torque-converter. They were somewhat inefficient on start-up and at low speeds, because they allowed some slip and wasted engine-RPMs to get that buttery smoothness, but, once on the road cruising, got pretty decent MPG. No other GM divisions ever used those trannies (they were a Buick exclusive until the late 60s) when the division, apparantly in an attempt to cut costs and simplify things, was forced by GM management to adopt the regular 3-speed GM Turbo-Hydra-Matic that all the other divisions used.

I owned a used big Buick, BTW, in my youth (despite its Grandpa image) with the Super Turbine 300 box......and just loved it. It was (and still is in my memory) one of the most relaxing cars I ever drove.

Unfortunately, IMO, overall Buick build-quality went sharply down in the 1970s, continued to deteriorate in the 1980s, only slightly improved in the 1990s, and the company, IMO, did not produce anything I would seriously consider with my own money until (you guessed it) the Verano of last year.

PhilipMSPT

iTrader: (5)

Love the Art Deco designed cars of the past.

They just don't make cars look as glamorous as they used to...

mmarshall

Then you probably would have liked the 1959 models. 1959 was the year that American styling-excess generally reached its peak, and started mellowing some after that. Since the thread topic is Buick, here's the '59 model:

mmarshall

BTW, for those who may be interested (though a litle off-topic)............we may (?) see a new RWD Buick Grand National/GNX before too long. Buick is considering doing a version of it based on the Holden/Chevy RWD platform that will undercut the future Impala SS, Caprice police-spec, and a possible Cadillac RWD flagship.

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

I'm all for a new Grand National/GNX

+ that's a pretty sinister looking Buick above. Never thought I'd use 'Sinister' and 'Buick' in the same sentence

mmarshall

Well, most of the original Buick GNXs from the mid-late 1980s were done in the most sinister colors of all...black on black exterior/interior. So, incidentally, were the majority of Mercury Marauders, which debuted a few years later. But the Marauder, in comparison, had a wimpy power-to-weight ratio...the GNX could easily blow its doors off.

MX5

All GNXs were black, MOST Grand Nationals were also black, but a few got out in charcoal and possibly white ('84 models, pre intercooler)

To really warp your brain, hunt down a Regal Limited Turbo - mechanically it's a GN, but you could go full-granny with light blue metallic paint, wire wheels, whitewalls, chrome bumpers, button-tuft velour interior and half vinyl roof. The bulge on the hood looked quite out of place.

I will have an '87 GN someday

mmarshall

You simply quoted from my first post, above, on the 50s/60s-era Buick automatic transmissions. Do you have a comment or question on it?

Aron9000

Man that list is kind of wack in that it leaves out a few very memorable Buicks:

1970 Buick GSX, very limited production version of the intermediate Grand Sport muscle car(think Chevelle 454 SS, Olds 442 W-30, Pontiac GTO Judge) Had a huge 455 cu V8, 360hp, 510lb-ft torque



1971-73 Buick Riveria, the boat tail. Just look at it, its so over the top and awesome. They still had the big 455 cu v8, which was a lot more powerful than the neutered, smaller v8's you got in the later 70's.




1960's Wildcat, this one being a 1967. Pretty cool looking car IMO with that fastback styling.

mrraider

The 2014 Regal looks like it will be nice. New LTG engine from the ATS, AWD option, revised center stack with LCD screen:

mmarshall

Unfortunately, the Buick GS series of that vintage never sold in anywhere near the numbers the Chevelle SS and Pontiac GTO did (or even its sister Olds 4-4-2). Buick, with the possible exception of the mid-late 80s GSX and Grand National, has always had an image problem with the type of car-buyer who goes after high-performance cars....that was the case even back in my high-school days, when that GS series was being sold.

Problem is......by then, at least IMO, the build-quality of the full-size Buicks (including the Riviera) was clearly starting to suffer. One could notice the cheapening of overall materials inside and out, and the increasing sloppiness of assembly, between the 1970 and 1971 models (this was the case with all of the large GM cars). By 1973, the GM mid-sized cars had been redesigned....and also made cheaper inside and out.

Yeah...the big '67 Buicks were still great machines (my favorite was the ultra-smooth Electra, the biggest one of all). The only issue, IMO, with the '67s is that they lost the superb Super Turbine 300 transmission (which I described above) and got the regular GM Turbo-Hydra-Matic...which, of course, was not a bad thing either.

Allen K

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It's a spam account.

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

Yup I loved those circa 2003 Marauders. Never seen one not in black. Bad*** cars IMO. I could be wrong but I think they had the modular 4.6L V8 that pushed 300hp

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

WOW!! Love the cabin design, steering wheel. Good balance of lines and not over the top with buttons. Well done