Buick Blackhawk Concept, 2001

 

Buick Blackhawk Concept, 2001

The Blackhawk is the ultimate expression of Buick. It has classic styling combined with contemporary proportions.

Retractable convertible with styling from the '30s
The Blackhawk is basically a 2-plus-2 convertible with a retractable top, and a body that looks like it came out of the late 1930s or '40s - because it did. Its face is a classic 1939 Buick grille, which has a pattern of fine vertical bars, and its major sheet metal combines the sleek bodies of 1941 and 1948 Buick Roadmasters.

All of this except the grille has been modified, and the final appearance - featuring black cherry paint, doors without handles and hidden headlamps - is of a streamlined yet retro head-turner that looks like it was created specifically for the Woodward Dream Cruise.

Blackhawk power: 463-hp V-8; 0-60 in under 5 seconds
The Blackhawk's performance goal is 0-60 miles per hour in under 5 seconds. Its powertrain is a 1970-vintage 455-cubic-inch Buick GS Stage III V-8 engine, heavily detailed and mated to the latest electronically controlled four-speed automatic transmission. The naturally aspirated, overhead valve, fuel-injected engine generates 463 horsepower at 4600 rpm and 510 lb-ft of torque at 4200 rpm.

Hand-made components
Many of the Blackhawk's major components are hand made, such as the frame, the unique carbon-fiber top and the retractable system that lowers the top into the trunk (leaving a small luggage area).

Other features include a fully independent suspension, remote keyless entry (so you can open the doors, which don't have exterior handles) and dual exhaust with three-inch pipes. The Blackhawk is equipped with 18-inch five-spoke alloy wheels (a style similar to those on uplevel Rivieras, Wildcats and Skylarks of '65) with high speed, Z-rated tires -- P295/35R18 on the front and P295/45R18 on the rear.

As an accent complementing the exterior design, a slightly different shade of dark cherry is used to create a "sweepspear" along the sides of the body. The sweepspear is a decoration that first showed up on some '49 Roadmasters and later became a shape sculpted into the sides of '50s Buicks. It's basically a horizontal line that sweeps in a downward curve along the doors toward the base of the leading edge of the rear fender, then kicks up over the rear wheel openings.

Emphasizes industry first for Buick: Lighted turn signals
While the Blackhawk looks to be from somewhere in time, it's hard to pin down where. Borrowed from the same 1939 Buick that donated the grille, a lighted logo device in the middle of the trunk exterior incorporates turn signals - a reminder that this particular '39 Buick feature was the industry's first production turn signal. Borrowed from contemporary technology, the Blackhawk is equipped with Global Positioning System navigation tied to a liquid crystal display screen.

And borrowed from a 1996 Buick Riviera - one of the most luxurious of all Buicks -- is the heavily modified Blackhawk interior. That includes buff color leather for the door trim and seats, plus design of the instrument panel and center console (though the wood-rimmed steering wheel is unique).
Even the name is borrowed. Buick introduced a subcompact Skyhawk for 1975 and the hawk symbol became an icon for the entire Buick line through the 1980s.

Buick 2-2 Bengal Roadster Concept, 2001

 

 

•  Buick 2-2 Bengal Roadster Concept, 2001

Buick Has Uncompromising Beauty and Unique Function
Sporty Bengal is poised to become a prized possession
Roadster with Surprise Seating
The inside, Bengal's leather seating gives driver and passengers the feel of comfortable club chairs, said Lyon. Also, leather inserts grace the wood steering wheel.

Powerful V6 with Six-Speed Auto Transmission
Bengal owes some of its exceptional handling and sculptural exterior appearance to an innovative powertrain. Its supercharged, 3.4-liter V6 engine, which generates 250 horsepower, is transverse-mounted with the six-speed automatic transmission in front of it, rather than behind. This new drivetrain creates a shorter front overhang and a more rearward center of gravity that gives Bengal great handling on curves.

Voice Activated Controls, Head-Up Display
Quiet Servant, first shown on Buick's LaCrosse and Cielo concepts, is back -- featuring voice- activated controls from Visteon Corporation and a reconfigurable, color head-up display that shows gauges on demand. This enables the driver to control the car and its systems with voice commands or a four-position joystick on the steering wheel. As a result, the dashboard is simple and elegant and the driver operates the car with both hands on the wheel and eyes on the road.

Freed of the usual gauges and knobs, the entire dashboard is in fact one large flat-panel speaker from NXT Audio, anchoring Bengal's premium audio system. Altogether, there are five of these unobtrusive speakers which envelop the interior in audiophile-quality sound.

Buick Rendezvous, 2003

Buick Rendezvous, 2003

The Buick Rendezvous, introduced in the spring of 2001 as a 2002 model year vehicle and produced through the present, is a sport utility vehicle produced by the Buick division of General Motors.
Technology and notable features Buick's first truck in its lineup since 1923, the Rendezvous was billed as a combination of the best attributes of a minivan (large cargo capacity, seating for up to seven), a luxury automobile (ride, handling, smoothness) and a sport utility vehicle (truck styling and available all wheel drive).

The Rendezvous' instrument cluster detailing featured teal illuminated needles and numbers set in a silver face accented by chrome trim rings that was meant to evoke the luxurious look and feel of an expensive watch or designer bracelet.

The Rendezvous boasted the ability to carry seven passengers when equipped with a third-row bench, a class-leading feature that Buick brought to market before its competitors.
The Rendezvous is able to carry within its interior the proverbial 4'x 8' sheet of plywood, a common and useful task most of its competitors are unable to perform.

In support of the Rendezvous' intended role as a versatile accoutrement for busy, upper-middle class people with families, it provided a center console with storage space and power points for a laptop computer as well as a separate spots to hold a woman's purse, a cell phone, pager or other small items that the owner would want to keep organized and readily accessible as well as an optional rear cargo organizer system and rear seat stereo system controls with headsets.

On the uplevel CXL model, a driver information center on the instrument panel provided the outside temperature, compass functions, a trip computer that included readings of fuel economy, range and fuel used. An optional second generation heads-up display was also available.

An optional tire inflation monitoring system provided readings of tire pressure and warned if out of the specified range was a clever feature in the wake of the Ford Explorer/Firestone debacle that was in large part attributable to under inflated tires.

Buick Park Avenue Ultra, 2003

Buick Park Avenue Ultra, 2003

Buick Park Avenue Ultra, 2003

The Park Avenue was Buick's flagship sedan. A luxury trim level, the Ultra (1991), was also throughout the Park Avenue's run. The Buick Park Avenue Ultra luxury sedan featured a more powerful 205-240 hp supercharged V6 that became standard in 1992 versus the regular 170-205 hp V6.

1997-2005
An updated Park Avenue was released in 1997. Riding on the Buick Riviera's G-body, it was stronger and more substantial than its predecessor. New generations of the 3800 engine continued as the only power plant, and the Park Avenue continued with minor updates since this date. The Park Avenue was discontinued for 2006 and replaced by the Buick Lucerne. The Lucerne also replaces the nearly identical but smaller Buick Le Sabre.

Buick-Yjob Concept