SEMA: Buick Lucerne CCX Luxury Liner by Rick Bottom
When you think aftermarket, chances are "midsize sedan" doesn't immediately spring to mind unless it has a German badge. But Chrysler has the 300 and Buick sees the Lucerne as a good alternative. SEMA has seen hundreds of different 300 variations, so not to be left out this year, Buick brought something for everyone. Everyone who likes the Lucerne, that is. Lots of Lucernes to go through, and damned if we were going to cover more than one. The Buick Lucerne CXX Luxury Liner by Rick Bottom Custom Motor Sports of Mendota, Illinois (please don't pronounce the "s") is by far the nicest.
This Lucerne CXX Luxury Liner sports a fairly understated but definitely custom two-tone paint job with White Gold Flash tri-coat on the sides and Glacier Gold Flash over the top down to the beltline. The effect really works to slim that profile a bit. The ground effects kit draws the whole shape down another notch. The 20-inch Weld EVO forged spoke wheels, coupled with a 2.25" lowering really closes the fender gap too.
A little more chrome than we prefer, but as an alternative to the 300C, this package looks pretty good, too bad it doesn't offer a HEMI. The Northstar is no slouch though, and here it gets a 20-percent power increase from revised ECU programming, and a 4-tip Corsa exhaust. The inside was pretty tasteful and had a megawatt (3,000!) stereo system by Eclipse that could have doubled as the PA system at the convention center. Nice concept for this newest Buick. More pics after the jump.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Brandon Gabbard 2:17PM (11/02/2006)
Hmm.. Buick... Just go away. You've got 50+ years of lameness under your belt, I don't think there is anything to make that go away. I mean you come out with like 4 cars worth owning in how many years?
For those of you who doubt wondering which 4 I'm referring to, the GNX (Plain Grand Nationals are still lame in my book), like the late 60s early 70s Skylark. And... ok I forgot the other two but I'm sure they made a couple others.
Coming out with a new Grand National COULD brush off some of that lameness.
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yeahright 2:26PM (11/02/2006)
The Lucerne is a mid-size sedan? Then what the heck qualifies as full-size?
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Kiiks 2:30PM (11/02/2006)
So I can't say the 's' in Illinois? Not even the 'd' in "pronounced?"
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J P 11:19PM (11/02/2006)
the point is, this and the caddy dts both still come with 4 speed autos. what suckness.
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G. Snyder 2:36PM (11/02/2006)
"too bad it does not offer a HEMI"
Uh...no crap. Why does that matter anyway? First off, the HEMI is a Chrysler "branding" thing (though most engines use hemispherical combustion chambers now), so this is an idiotic statement right out of the gate. Second of all, this Buick does offer a V8 - a very sophisticated one at that. No slouch is an understatement. You guys get worse and worse.
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G. Snyder 2:36PM (11/02/2006)
Brandon - you must be 12 if you think Buick has had 50+ years of "lameness". You should do some reading. The lameness of Buick is relatively recent. Some of the coolest American cars (concept cars, as well) in those 50 years have been Buicks.
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JackBlack 2:49PM (11/02/2006)
This is a beautiful car, I would love to have one. Much better styling that Toyota or Avian, I mean Avaloney, or whatever the hell it's called Avelope.
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tekdemon 2:59PM (11/02/2006)
Dear GM,
I really do love the new Buick Lucerne's look...except I really really really wish you guys would get rid of that front end. It looks horrifyingly outdated.
Even though this SEMA vehicle looks ok from a profile view, a head on shot still looks very dated.
I suggest stealing the front end off the new Avalon. lol
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Howard Kerr 2:55PM (11/02/2006)
Apparently, Brandon doesn't care for the early 60's Rivieras, considered to be one of the few milestone cars built in the U.S. the 80's Rivieras (yeah, I know, they were a bit boxy) the 90's Rivieras...including the supercharged model, and that's just one car. How about the RWD Regals of the 70's and early 80's? or the Skylark of the early 50's?
Yeah, Buick MAY be somewhat lame in Brandon's eyes....but that is a recent event.
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Richard Warren 3:09PM (11/02/2006)
#1 Brandon, your sense of Buick history is off by quite a bit. Buicks slide is about 13 years long and to be honest is part of the legacy of one man, Roger Smith CEO from 1981 till 1990 . GM was damaged by his management and cookie cutter cars with badge engineering. He basically eliminated divisional autonomy in 1984. His buying binges (EDS, Hughes, cost the company about 8 Bil when the company could least afford it. He is also the push behind Saturn, a company yet to make a decent profit)
So Buick is far from being a poor performer for 50 years.
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Zetha 3:18PM (11/02/2006)
until i moved from california to the south, i never saw a new buick on the road.
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Richard Warren 3:37PM (11/02/2006)
Brandon along that 50 year time line:
1955 750,000 sales
Sales slid to 250,00 in 1959 with the arrival of fins and softer and softer suspension that started in 1958
1961 saw 450,000 Buicks sold
1963, the first generation Riviera, considered a classic
1965- 1975 GS Gran Sport
Buick continued it’s climb out of it’s slump and in 1973 hit 821,165 units sold.
Oil embargo even with “expensive” fuel and shortage Buick still managed to hold to 500,000 sales per year through 1975
Before Roger Smiths plans kicked in Buick actually increased it’s market penetration as others lost.
1 Million Buick’s were sold in 1984
1985 Buick powered cars won the pole position at Indy
1990 Buick powered 11 of 33 racers at Indy
1986 Grand Nationals and GNX
1989, Buick City assembly was No. 1 in North America and No. 2 in the world in quality rankings by J.D. Power. Same year the LeSabre was ranked as No. 1 in North America and No. 2 in the world among 154 domestic and imported models in Power's Initial Quality Survey
1991 model year, Buick led all automakers, domestic and import, in market share improvement and sales volume improvement in the U.S. market.
I've driven several Lucerne's and they are very underated cars, they handle pretty well even when pushed, are quiet and solid.
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Dun dada 3:57PM (11/02/2006)
Jackblack: "This looks better than Toyota Avalon"
HA! LOL
Toyota Avalon XLS is way much tighter than this Buick Lucerne with Carnival Cruise Line bumpers!
Jack is a joke!
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Phelix 4:44PM (11/02/2006)
perhaps you should be reading pigblog then.
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leo 5:46PM (11/02/2006)
I drove this recently adn i got sick to my stomach as it was wobeling and it felt like I was on a ship.
pulled over and got out cause I was going to vomit if i had driven it any longer
what a POS
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james 7:04PM (11/02/2006)
Buick actually shocked me with their cars at SEMA - I expected to see my grandpa's car with custom rims, but instead I saw cars that were customized and looked like they would not look out of place in my driveway.
Here is a video showing some of the custom Buicks:
http://www.cartv.com/content/research/channels/index.cfm/channel/cartv_video/action/showvideo/vid/e_0291/vscat/SEMA/vcat/Event/MAKE_VCH/Scion
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Tom Design 6:23PM (11/03/2006)
J P => The point of this article is that Lucerne/DTS have 4 speed automatics? I thought the point was that Lucerne is the sleeper hit of SEMA?
If you want to introduce comments on cars having 4-speed automatics, you might want to educate yourself a bit. High revving, OHC I-4, and V-6 engines have low torque delivery at low rpm. Therefore, 5 and 6 speed auto transmissions are needed to allow the engine to rev high, and work up through smaller gearing to give the car the "push" off the line, especially in larger cars. Large output and turbocharged/supercharged, and OHV engines "find" their torque at much lower rpm, often below 2000. This is that wonderful torque-y feel that big Buick, Cadillac, Bentley, Astons, and others are known for.
So if you're meaning to write about autos that have 4-speed transmissions, you need to discuss what kind of engine, and what kind of mass you're moving. 4-speed trannies are the best choice in some vehicles. Just look at ALL Subarus, Toyota Highlander and 4 other models by Toyota, the Scion line-up, Bentley's, Lucerne and DTS, Nissan Sentra and Altima, and many others, that have properly paired their torquey engines with the 4-speed auto tranny. You may just want 5 & 6 speed autos because you like "fad" engineering, and will buy anything new. I'm not, and I like things that work well, and don't change what is simpler and perfect.
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Hydrogen 6:19PM (11/04/2006)
Buicks are great. Granted, i'm only 21 so I can't say much about the past 50 years, but my dad owns a 1994 Park Avenue and I drove it a lot when I first got my license. I challenge anyone to find a car that rides as nice and comfortably as that car for the same price.
Sure, it's not a fast car, but it's torquey and will put you back in the seat a bit at take-off. One thing I do have to say though.. it's faster than a 1989 Camaro RS (my first car).
My neighbor had a mid 80s RWD regal and he'd always do burnouts in the road in front of his house. It was a pretty sweet car as well...
A lot of people rag on Buicks, but until you drive one yourself, you don't know what you are missing. For people that don't care about speed, but more about comfort and luxury, Buick is about the best you can do unless you want to splurge for a Lexus, BMW, etc..
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Mike 12:57PM (2/20/2007)
I'm an old guy. Had a 98 Regal traded in on an STS.
I like the Lucerne, but sounds like something you would eat or drink like milk or cottage cheese. I mean really. Why don't they just call it prune juice?
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