General Motors Co.’s Buick brand will celebrate its 110th anniversary this
year.
And although the once Flint-based company has changed a bit since David Dunbar
Buick founded it as an automotive company, it has managed to survive and be
recognized as one of the oldest brands in the world.
Buick's current lineup includes the full-size LaCrosse, midsize Regal/Regal GS,
Verano compact and Encore and Enclave crossovers.
GM sold about 180,400 Buick models in 2012, a 1.6 percent increase from the
previous year. Through March 2013, sales are up 27.5 percent compared to the
first quarter of 2012.
In recognition of the Scottish-born inventor founding Buick in 1903, GM on
Wednesday released 11 highlights of the brand during its 110-year history.
*Through the end of 2012, Buick has sold more than 43 million vehicles. That’s
the equivalent of every vehicle sold in the United States over the past three
years.
*The 1938 Buick Y-Job, credited to famed designer Harley Earl, is regarded as
the first concept car ever built. Its waterfall grille is still used on Buicks
today, and it featured futuristic technologies like power windows. Earl drove
the car himself for more than a decade.
*The 1963 Riviera, often regarded as one of history’s most beautiful cars,
celebrates its 50thanniversary this year. The powerful sport coupe was said to
be inspired by a Rolls-Royce that Buick design boss Bill Mitchell saw through a
fog in London.
*Buick has a deep motorsports history, proving its performance on race tracks
as early as 1908. A Buick has served as Official Pace Car of the Indianapolis
500 six times, and the brand also won two NASCAR Manufacturer Championships, in
1981 and 1982.
*After just over three decades of engineering progress, the first production
Buick topped 100 mph. It was the appropriately named 1936 Buick Century.
*The fastest production Buick in history is today’s Buick Regal GS luxury sport
sedan. At the 2012 Nevada Open Road Challenge, it recorded a top speed of 162
mph.
*Buick’s quickest car was also one of the brands rarest. Car and Driver
magazine recorded 0-60 mph acceleration for the 1987 Buick GNX at just 4.6
seconds. Just 547 were built.
*Powertrain innovation is a Buick hallmark. Today, the company’s turbocharged,
direct-injected 2.0L delivers 259 hp, but displacement was king in the 1960s
and ‘70s. Buick’s largest engine, a 455-cubic-inch (7.5L) V-8, was introduced
in 1970.
*The Buick Electra 225 nameplate was introduced in 1959, with the “225”
referencing the model’s overall length in inches. By 1975, the Electra grew to
become the longest vehicle ever produced by Buick. It measured 233.7 inches
from bumper to bumper.
*Buick’s first vehicle, the 1904 Model B, was also the shortest, riding on an
83-inch wheelbase. The2013 Encore luxury small crossover isn’t quite as small,
but it does have the shortest wheelbase (100.6 inches) since the 1912 Model 34
(90.7 inches.)
*Buick has made many models with seating for two, four, five or six passengers.
But only twice in 110 years has the brand produced vehicles with seating for up
to eight: the 2008-2013 Enclave and the 1991-1996 Roadmaster Estate.
