Invincible returns after 45 years

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Buick Invicta is a luxury car that we would like to have in our garage, and one that is good to show, good to drive, and good to enjoy with friends or business partners.

At the Beijing Motor Show audience saw Invicta, Buick's new concept named Invicta. It arose from Buick concepts 2004 Velite convertible and 2007 Riviera coupe, received warmly as adaptation of classic Buick themes. The design was again multicultural because the task has been shared between GM centres in the US and China (Warren and Shanghai).

Invicta, a Latin word for "invincible", came to life after long time, it hasn't been used since 1959. At GM they call it "a significant design milestone in Buick's history" and based on what was shown, it might be so. Invicta is the four-door midsize sedan with a coupe-like roofline aimed to conquer the markets in the US and China. The heart of the new Buick is company's first direct injection turbocharged engine, a beast with four cylinders that deliver 250 horsepower (186 kW, if you like SI units) and 298 Nm (220 lb-ft) of torque. That power is transmitted to wheels via fuel efficient six-speed automatic transmission.

That four-door, five-passenger sedan is almost five meters long (4932 mm), it's height is 1466 m, and its wide 1874mm. What you don't see is suspension, MacPherson strut, front, independent, rear, and what surely will see are 20-inch polished aluminium wheels.

As we know, for some drivers exterior is more important than interior, and Invicta's designers took a look at the concept named Riviera. The overall look is modern and sleek with lines that flow naturally around the car. Even the "non-designer eye" will see how lines flow from Buick's headlamps through the body sides all the way to tail lamps. At the same time, the casing of the headlamp is naturally connected to the roof line and further to the back side of Invicta. It looks simple, but it certainly requires hard work and very experienced designers to do that.

From the front side, Invicta looks very modern, elegant, strong and connected to Buick's past. Vertical chrome grille, polished aluminium around headlamp and portholes give very strong impression. Add to that 20-inch wheels and you can imagine how proud you could be showing that beautiful and strong car on the road.

For the other category of drivers, interior is the most important part of their cars, and Invicta will suit them, too. As the lines on the outside flow seamlessly, the interior follows the same design principle. The doors merge with the instrument panel, which morphs into the centre console. As you would expect from a car five meters long, Invicta is spacious for driver and for passengers. At the back there's plenty of room for tall passengers, and it is safe to say that Invicta offers large-car comfort in mid-size sedan. The roof is made of glass which a) makes Invicta even larger b) impress your passenger (hopefully, a beautiful lady).

Luxury nature of Invicta is emphasized with noise, I mean lack of noise, inside. All materials used are of premium quality. Leather is soft, accents are made of polished aluminium, wood trim is of high quality, LE diodes are used with good sense. All buttons and switches feel soft at touch, an everything looks very sophisticated.

Buick Invicta concept is another luxury car that we would like to have in our garage, and one that is good to show, good to drive, and good to enjoy with friends or business partners.

April 21, 2008

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