Buick is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM). Started by automotive pioneer David Dunbar Buick, it was among the first American marques of automobiles, and was the company that established General Motors in 1908. Before the establishment of General Motors, GM founder William C. Durant had served as Buick's general manager and major investor.
Oldsmobile was a brand of American automobiles produced for most of its existence by General Motors. Originally established as "Olds Motor Vehicle Company" by Ransom E. Olds in 1897, it produced over 35 million vehicles, including at least 14 million built at its Lansing, Michigan factory alone. During its time as a division of General Motors, Oldsmobile slotted into the middle of GM's five divisions, and was noted for its groundbreaking technology and designs.
The Buick Skylark is a passenger car formerly produced by Buick. The model was made in six production runs, during 46 years, over which the car's design varied dramatically due to changing technology, tastes, and new standards implemented over the years. It was named for the species of bird called skylark.
The Buick Riviera is a personal luxury car that was marketed by Buick from 1963 to 1999, with the exception of the 1994 model year.
The Buick Electra is a full-size luxury car manufactured and marketed by Buick from 1959 to 1990 over six generations — having been named after heiress and sculptor Electra Waggoner Biggs by her brother-in-law Harlow H. Curtice, former president of Buick and later president of General Motors. The Electra was offered in coupe, convertible, sedan, and station wagon body styles over the course of its production — with rear-wheel drive (1959-1984) or front-wheel drive. For its entire production run, it utilized some form of GM's C platform. The Electra was superseded by the Buick Park Avenue in 1991.
Rebadging in the automotive industry is a form of market segmentation used by automobile manufacturers around the world. To allow for product differentiation without designing or engineering a new model or brand, a manufacturer creates a distinct automobile by applying a new badge or trademark to an existing product line.
Buick Century is the model name that was used by Buick for a line of upscale full-size cars from 1936 to 1942 and 1954 to 1958, as well as from 1973 to 2005 for mid-size cars.
The Buick Regal is an upscale mid-sized car that was first introduced by Buick for the 1973 model year. The model was originally positioned as a personal luxury car, and typically offered in both coupe and sedan forms until 1997, when the Regal became sedan-only due to the decline of the personal luxury coupe market. For certain model years between 1973 and 2004, the Regal shared bodies and powertrains with the similar Buick Century, although the Regal was positioned as a more upmarket vehicle.
The Buick LaCrosse is a mid-size sedan manufactured and marketed by Buick since 2004. The LaCrosse is now in its third generation, slotted above the Buick Regal as the brand's flagship vehicle.
Harley Jarvis Earl was an American automotive designer and business executive. He was the initial designated head of design at General Motors, later becoming vice president, the first top executive ever appointed in design of a major corporation in American history. He was an industrial designer and a pioneer of modern transportation design. A coachbuilder by trade, Earl pioneered the use of freeform sketching and hand sculpted clay models as automotive design techniques. He subsequently introduced the "concept car" as both a tool for the design process and a clever marketing device.
The Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser is an automobile that was manufactured and marketed by Oldsmobile in three generations from 1971 to 1992. The first full-size station wagon produced by Oldsmobile since the 1964 Oldsmobile 88 Fiesta, the Custom Cruiser was produced exclusively on the General Motors B platform as a five-door station wagon. The nameplate was first used by Oldsmobile from 1940 to 1947, denoting the top trim level of its C-body model line. 451,819 Custom Cruisers were sold over the years.
The Buick Roadmaster is an automobile that was built by Buick from 1936 to 1942, from 1946 to 1958, and then again from 1991 to 1996. Roadmasters produced between 1936 and 1958 were built on Buick's longest non-limousine wheelbase and shared their basic structure with the entry-level Cadillac Series 65, the Buick Limited, and after 1940, the Oldsmobile 98. Between 1946 and 1957 the Roadmaster served as Buick's flagship.
The Gran Sport name has been used on several high-performance cars built by Buick since 1965. In the GM brands hierarchy, Buick was surpassed in luxury and comfort appointments only by Cadillac, which did not produce performance models. As a result, the Buick GS series were the most opulently equipped GM sport models of their era. The Gran Sport performance enhancements on all Buick products during this era sought to affirm Buick's tradition of producing powerful and comfortable products going back to the 1930s when all Buicks of the time were upgraded to the Buick Fireball Straight Eight, then installed the 278 cu in (4.6 L) Roadmaster engine in the shortest model Special and introduced the Century, known as "the banker's hot rod" with a three speed syncromesh manual transmission. The Gran Sport sought to identify cars that were fun to drive with a luxury approach.
The Buick LeSabre is a full-size car made by General Motors from 1959 to 2005. Prior to 1959, this position had been retained by the full-size Buick Special model (1936–58). The "LeSabre", which is French for "the sabre" was Buick's mid-level full-size sedan above the Special but below the Electra during the 1960s then remained in its market position when the Electra was replaced with the Park Avenue. The LeSabre was available as a 2-door convertible, sedan or hardtop, a 4-door sedan or hardtop and station wagon throughout its production.
The General Motors Motorama was an auto show staged by GM from 1949 to 1961. These automobile extravaganzas were designed to whet public appetite and boost automobile sales with displays of fancy prototypes, concept vehicles and other special or halo models. Motorama grew out of Alfred P. Sloan's yearly industrial luncheons at New York City's Waldorf Astoria, beginning in 1931. They were almost invariably held in conjunction with the New York Auto Show, that for many years was held traditionally in the first week of January.
The Pontiac Banshee is a line of concept cars designed by Pontiac, assuming the role previously established by General Motors' Firebirds of the 1950s. Four Banshee "dream cars" were fabricated through 1988 as design exercises intended to establish exterior and interior themes that could be modified for production versions of Pontiac sports and performance cars. Banshee was also the leading candidate for Pontiac's version of the Camaro before being named Firebird in light of any deathly associations of the word Banshee.
The Buick Enclave is a mid/full-size three-row crossover SUV launched in 2007 for 2008 model year. The Enclave, the Saturn Outlook, the GMC Acadia, and the Chevrolet Traverse all share the GM Lambda platform. The Enclave was previewed at the 2006 North American International Auto Show, officially as a concept car, making it the first Lambda vehicle to be displayed. The Enclave is partially based on the Buick Centieme concept shown at the 2003 Detroit Auto Show. The Enclave is positioned somewhere between mainstream and entry-level luxury brands. That means it's more expensive than models such as the Chevrolet Traverse and the Honda Pilot but not as expensive as an Acura MDX or Audi Q7.
In the late 1920s, American automotive company General Motors (GM) launched four companion makes to supplement its existing lineup of five-passenger car brands, or makes. The companion makes were LaSalle, introduced for the 1927 model year to supplement Cadillac; Marquette, introduced in 1929 for 1930 to supplement Buick; Pontiac, introduced for 1926 to supplement Oakland; and Viking, introduced for 1929 to supplement Oldsmobile. GM's fifth existing make, Chevrolet, did not receive a companion make. With the exception of Viking, each of the companion makes were slotted below their "parent make" in GM's pricing hierarchy.
The Buick Verano is a compact car manufactured by General Motors for its Buick brand since 2010. It debuted at the North American International Auto Show on January 10, 2011, during a preview of Buick's then upcoming 2012 model. It is the first compact marketed by Buick in the United States since the 1998 Buick Skylark. Verano is Spanish for summer.
The Buick XP-300 is a concept car created by General Motors in 1951. It is a counterpart to GM's Le Sabre, with which it shares many common mechanical components, including its 335-horsepower (250 kW) supercharged V8 engine, which could run on either gasoline or methanol. Representative of GM's "long and low" design philosophy in the 1950s, the XP-300 measures over 16 feet (4,900 mm) in total length but is only 39.1 inches (990 mm) in height. It includes numerous features ranging from push-button power windows and seats to hydraulic jacks and de Dion axles.
