Pearlpower

iTrader: (2)

Now would be a good time to bring back the Grand National. A big, heavy, twin turbo 450+hp touring sedan for 35k.

-J-P-L-

You're kidding right?

It's also a great time to come out with a new civilian version of the Hummer H1.



This is why US automakers are failing because they are still building big, heavy, beasts.

Buick needs the Insignia.

mmarshall

Well, you know my low opinion of automotive "images", but the truth is, like it or not, the U.S.-market Regal was pretty much an AARP machine.......basically for those who didn't want to spring the extra $$$ for a Park Avenue, Ultra, or Lucerne. Though there was no practical reason why, younger people avoided the domestic Century/Regal in droves.


I'm with you on that one, but one thing is missing. They need a BIG RWD car, though...something like the Roadmaster, which went out in 1996 (The Roadmaster, BTW, offered a very un-Buick-like option....a Corvette-sourced LS-1 V8, which could do a classic 60's style burnout). Just don't try and throw it around any sharp curves.

-J-P-L-

Like you M, I don't care for auto stereotypes but...
My Grandparents (87 & 88) have a 2000 Century that I've been forced to drive.

It was absolutely designed by GM for elderly people who like cars with traditional qualities such as bench seats, overly soft, bouncy suspension, column shifter, and not a single cup holder in a 2000 model!!!

Many old people actually will not by a car without bench seats. It's some weird obsession. And GM still offers them at least until today's elderly die off (notice they are the only one's that still offer them in cars).

Like it or not, Buick has been designed with the elderly in mind. Automakers do have to market vehicles to a specific customer and the elderly aren't ignored completely.

It's quite clear why young people had absolutely no interest in them.

mmarshall

Most of the later Centurys and Regals I remember seeing, though, didn't have
bench seats and column-shifters.....even some LeSabres didn't. I don't recall seeing Lacrosses or Lucernes with them either. The first-gen Toyota Avalon, in the mid-1990's, had a bench seat option, but was dropped on later models.

-J-P-L-

Here's a pic of the Century interior. This is technically a bench although not like old fashioned flat bench designs. But basically, anything without a center console built down the middle is considered a bench seat.

Believe it or not, you can feel the springs inside the seats poking you and they go "boing" when you move. Horrible.

mmarshall

That's GM for you. Only now are we starting to see some of their junk interiors change....to some extent.