2009 Buick Riviera Concept

General Motors is a company that has had great difficult trying to find an identity and place for each of their brands over the past several decades. Buick is one of the nameplates which has suffered the most, as they have seen themselves fall from their past luxury into a car company struggling to remain relevant. Once a fairly prestigious division of General Motors, Buick has fallen victim to the worst kind of badge engineering, selling carbon copy cars from Chevrolet and Pontiac that were almost completely devoid of any original design. Needless to say, this has gradually eroded the customer base for Buick to the point where many were calling for the marque to be put out to pasture. However, GM has recently decided to take some chances with the company and try to recapture some of the magic that we most recently saw with the Grand National and the beautiful Riviera. In fact, they have returned to the well to draw once again from that esteemed name with the 2009 Buick Riviera Concept.

Throughout most of its history, the Buick Riviera was the high technology test bed for General Motors. Innovations like front-wheel drive and experiments in computer control were all put on the market under the sporty and elegant skin of this 2 door luxury coupe. When the market for personal luxury cars dried up in the mid 1990’s, the Riviera went the way of competitors like the Lincoln Mark VIII and the Chevrolet Monte Carlo. The 2009 Riviera concept however builds on the promise of the last generation of Riviera, taking the bubble-styling and juicing it up to create and aggressive, aerodynamic design that resembles nothing else in the GM lineup. The concept boasts gull wing doors so large that they almost split the car in half, with a large section of the roof lifting up along with the door in order to provide access to the passenger compartment. The door runs the entire length of the vehicle, meaning that rear passengers can simply step into their seats without any contortions or folding forward of the front seats. Adding further spectacle to this attention-catching design is the word ‘Buick’ projected onto the ground by each door once it has been fully opened.

Inside, the Riviera is a two plus two, meaning that a center console splits both the front and rear bucket seats right down the middle. The designers have done their best to shake off the boring interior trappings of previous Buicks by providing modern features such as a touch-controlled LCD screen. They have also added a hint of the exotic with a three-dimensional gauge display.

While the radical doors and futuristic interior might make some people think that the 2009 Riviera will remain a concept and never see production, the car itself is based on GM’s midsize Epsilon platform. This points to the possibility of a less-extreme Riviera seeing the light of day in the near future. While the platform is known, power train options remain shrouded in mystery, and even the engine or drive layout of the concept car was unidentified. Buick has been able to escape their negative North American image by focusing on the Chinese market, although it is hard to see how the Riviera concept would fit into Asian export plans. However, success in China has renewed GM’s faith in the Buick name being able to sell cars, and it is possible that the Riviera will emerge as its global halo car. It would certainly go a long way towards restoring some of the dignity that was once associated with this proud automaker.

RIVIERA CONCEPT

• Showcases Buicks new global design direction

Body Style: Coupe Wheelbase: 113 Inches
Doors: Gullwwig (Two) Length: 185.4 Inches

• Designed in China with design input from around the world

Seating Capacity 2+2 Width: 76.4 inches
Body Material: Carbon fiber panels (excluding mirrors)

• Revealed at the 2007 Shanghai Auto Show

Body Color: Shell Blue Height: 55.7 inches (doors dosed)
Powertrain: Designed to accommodate a new hybrid system
Front Track: 64.76 Inches
Wheels: 21.inch, 10-spoke forget aluminum Rear Track: 64.37 Inches

SPECIAL FEATURES

• LED heodlamps
• Open door projects Buick’ onto the ground with light • Wooden floor mats in the rear
• Ice green backlighting in front and rear logos, center hood strip, headlamp upper, side mirrors, lower rocker strip
• Ice green interior accent lighting
• Rear center armrest adjusts left to right







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April 28, 2008, 3:17 pm