Autoblog

click above for more live shots of the Riviera Concept from Detroit

When the Buick Riviera concept debuted at the Shanghai Motor Show last summer, many didn't give the car a second glance because, while imminently snazzy, no one though it would have much impact on the U.S. market. We all may have been wrong, according to TheCarConnection, which is reporting that the Riviera Concept offers a sneak peek at what the next-gen Buick LaCrosse will look like. We've seen the next LaCrosse in spy shots and can maybe find a few similarities between the two, but otherwise we don't really see the resemblance. Aside from the obvious discrepancy in door count, you can see the grilles are markedly different, with the Riviera's upturned into a smile and the LaCrosse prototype's turned down in a frown. The Riviera also has three air intakes below the front bumper, while the spy shot shows only one on the prototype. Both cars exhibit a certain amount of Buickness in their look, though the Riviera definitely turns it up notch. For that alone we hope the connection between the two is real.

[Source: TheCarConnection]

click above for more high-res pics of the Buick Riviera Concept

General Motors has released new photos of the Buick Riviera Concept, which reminds us that we are that much closer to getting our first up-close look at this concept designed in China. The Riviera, which made its debut at the Shanghai Motor Show last year, will make its first North American appearance in Detroit in just a few days. Designed at GM's Pan Asia Technical Center, the Riviera will supposedly set the tone for the next generation of Buick vehicles. Design highlights include carbon fiber bodywork, gullwing doors, and a futuristic interior with blue ambient lighting. We doubt much of that will ever make into a production vehicle, but we do give two thumbs up to the team that designed the exterior.

While our first live shots of the Riviera Concept won't come for a few days, the new studio shots from GM can be found in the gallery below.

Through the success of the Enclave, Buick has discovered that nicely designed, well-built, high content vehicles sell. Being the first Buick in a long time to log advance orders, GM thinks it might be onto something with the Enclave formula. That recipe consists of bolder styling than past Buicks, with cues coming from the Velite and Riviera show cars. Avoiding retro, forthcoming Buicks promise to amp up the curbside drama with unabashed curves, and a lot of chrome. The Enclave has an interior that was obviously fussed over, too. If Buick can turn out a car using the same discipline that guided the successful Enclave launch, it should be exciting to watch the brand reinflate. Both the Riviera and Velite concepts have striking, tight designs that are nothing like the blobby, amorphous Buicks of the recent past. The Lucerne is a stylistic step in the right direction, and with a new LaCrosse due soon, we might start to see the return of stylish GM sedans that people clamor to buy. We'll get some indication soon, when we see what Buick brings to Detroit.

Follow the jump to see the Velite's unveiling at the 2004 New York Auto Show.

[Source: AutoObserver]

Autoblog Chinese has the early word on Buick's Shanghai Motor Show concept, and it's got another familiar name attached to it: Riviera. Better still, it's a coupe -- no Dodge Charger-style door growth here. The Riviera is being called a "global" concept that showcases Buick's future design DNA. Penned at GM's Pan Asia Technical Center, the Shanghai show is just the first venue at which it'll be shown. According to AB Chinese's report, it will travel to other international auto shows afterward. Hopefully that schedule will include next year's North American exhibitions, where there will likely be no shortage of people interested in seeing the Riviera nameplate on a modern Buick coupe, concept or otherwise.

The Riviera features a traditional coupe profile with short front and rear overhangs and a tall nose that we sure meets pedestrian safety requirements in a number of markets. Not traditional, however, are the car's oversized gullwing doors, which allow for wide entrance into the Riviera's apparent 2+2 interior layout. We should have a lot more on this car next week as the Shanghai show gets rolling.

We're left scratching our heads as to why the US division insists on using silly names like LaCrosse and Lucerne for its cars, while China manages to see the value in leveraging the traditional American monikers with some history behind them, like Regal, Park Ave, and now Riviera.

[Source: Autoblog Chinese (Translated)]

Flickr member cmanmt got us all excited when he submitted pix of his 1995 Buick Riviera. These are pretty, luxurious and quick. 1995 was the first year of this bodystyle, and it set the media atwitter when it debuted. GM went out on a limb with the the 1995 Riviera's styling. The previous-generation Riv had started life as a stubby little thing, and while it eventually got more graceful hindquarters, it was still pretty conservatively styled. It was a car that featured the "over 50" set in its advertising, so you know who the target demo for that one was. For the 9th (and sadly final) generation of the Riviera, caution was thrown to the wind. These were big cars, long, with lines that polarized people in to love it or hate it camps. The shape is definitely swoopy, and the style was seemingly inspired by Bill Mitchell's fine work for the General. The looks have certainly aged well, so these Rivs still turn heads out on the road today. The lucky ones that got the supercharged 3800 could turn out some quick sprints, too.

More after the jump.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting on a rather disturbing trend among younger buyers of new and used cars - the tendency to buy outside of the culturally acceptable boundaries of age and generation. Why, there's an absolute epidemic of young adults, some not even yet out of their teens, cruising around in Oldsmobile Cutlass Supremes, Buick Park Avenues, and Chevrolet Caprices! Buick's Lucerne appears to be one of the heirs to the throne currently occupied by Chrysler's 300C, and there are more than a few youngsters roaming around Cadillac, Lexus, and Lincoln dealerships as well.  

We mock the WSJ only because this isn't a new trend (despite the CNW marketing data - specifically, its "stodgy index" - that shows the emergence of this buying habit). The release of the Chevrolet Impala SS in 1994 attracted buyers that were an amazing 10 years younger than typical Caprice owners, and lit off a B-body customization craze that continues today. Older RWD cars, including the large number of retired police cruisers that hit the market every year, are a blank canvas for the custom crowd. Want to throw it on bags and "lay frame"? No problem. Do you have a desire, as misplaced as it may be, to lift your car four feet and throw on a set of monstrous 28s? Go right ahead - it's as easy as lifting a pickup truck. There's also some serious performance potential. And for those going for a more subdued look, a clean set of dubs on an mid-nineties Buick Riv or Ford* Lincoln Continental is an easy and affordable way to stand out from the sport-compact crowd while still giving yourself and three or four friends plenty of room to stretch out during road trips. Of course, there's an ironic tinge to all this, what with so many pensioners going after 'youth brand' cars like the Scion xB.

In the interest of full disclosure, it should be noted that the author of this Autoblog post owns two vehicles with wire-spoke hubcaps and stand-up hood ornaments.

[Source: The Wall Street Journal]

*Thanks to the reader who pointed out my error - apparently, driving old-people cars can also cause slight dementia.

Earlier this month, Autoblog informed you about General Motors electing to handle a widespread intake manifold gasket defect on a vehicle-by-vehicle basis. But if Toronto-based law firm Stevensons LLP has any say in the matter, the automaker won't have the option to be choosy with some 400,000 Canadian vehicles.

The firm announced Tuesday that it is filing a class-action lawsuit against General Motors of Canada Ltd., as well as parent company General Motors Corp. The suit is predicated on the premature failure of intake manifold gaskets used in a wide range of the company's vehicles from 1995-2003. Given the 400,000 vehicle estimate by Stevensons and an average claim of $3,000 per vehicle, the class-action tab could balloon to $1.2 billion dollars.

A similar lawsuit in the U.S. was granted class-action status in January.

Click on the link to see further details, including a list of affected vehicles.

[Sources: The Canadian Press via Canada.com; Canadianally.com]