When you think of Buick, what comes to mind? Grandma and grandpa’s car? The old persons car? For years, Buick has tried to change their image as a premium American motorcar for the younger generation. I see this in the Buick automobiles today, and there is some evidence of this in the past years. A few quick examples would be the Buick Gran Sport muscle cars in the mid 60’s and early 70’s, and the Buick Grand National made from 1984 to 1987. These cars were fast, and luxurious. Still, these efforts went unnoticed by the younger generation.

The average age buyer for Buick was increasing steadily through the 1990’s and early 2000’s, and Buick revitalized the brand, again. Cars such as the Lucerne and Lacrosse Super were geared towards the younger generation looking for a fast car. As a side note, my grandma owns a 2008 Lucerne Super. It’s fully loaded with options found on today’s cars, and equipped with a Cadillac V8 engine. It has plenty of get up and go, and it’s quite a fun time when she hits the gas pedal.

Buick’s new automobiles are really causing a stir in the automotive world. The new 2017 Lacrosse features sweeping body lines, elegant curves, and overall, a gorgeous body style. Buick recently unveiled it’s newest concept car, the Avista. The Buick Avista is a rear-wheel drive performance car based on the Chevrolet Camaro, featuring a 400 horsepower twin-turbocharged engine. This is another attempt to shift the direction of Buick to get the younger millennial generation more involved with Buick.

On top of this new concept, Buick also unveiled a new convertible, the Cascada, that is now available for purchase. Buick has not produced a convertible since the 1991 model year. That model, the Reatta, was a two seat convertible, with a hardtop option. Unfortunately, the Reatta had a short run time, only being produced from 1988 to 1991. The convertible option was only available for it’s last two years. This car never really caught on with Buick’s demographics, and never succeeded.

To me, as an avid Buick enthusiast, I feel as though this is a great choice for General Motors and the Buick Motor Division. For the past few years, the Buick cars rolling off of the assembly line in Detroit have not excited me. These new cars are making me very excited to see the future of Buick. The design of the 2017 Lacrosse is sharp, clean, and has a very refreshing look.

Buick is going back to it’s heritage of “big cars”, but they are doing it in a way that is making the younger generation look at Buick in a different light. Hopefully, the millennial generation will catch on to the new Buick automobiles. Besides, as the old commercials used to say, “Wouldn’t you really rather have a Buick?”

Before I end, I have to say that it is with great sadness that AutoTalk will no longer be on the airwaves at WCLH. However, I will still maintain blogs right here on The Beacon, and you can catch my segment every other week on WilkesNow, which airs every Tuesday at 12 noon on Service Electric Wilkes-Barre channel 97. If you miss the live broadcast, WilkesNow re-airs every weeknight at 7:30 p.m.