New Buick to be called LaCrosse, has been butchered.

[balthazar]

Agreed- the opinions are flying wild over one of the worst spy shots I've seen in recent years.

[InvictaMan]

Agreed- the opinions are flying wild over one of the worst spy shots I've seen in recent years.

Nice to know Buick still evokes this kind of emotion. This is not a dead or to be forgotten brand.

[ponchoman49]

Sorry but this car does nothing for me. Very bland and Lexus generic and once again un-Buick like. I am seeing too much foreign car and not enough Buick here. Yes the slight character line is ok but why no bodyside molding. Stripping the bodyside molding off makes it look plain and generic like a Lexus. The rear end could be any Korean car and the front, other than the grille, looks like anything else. The silly strip of chrome on the bottom of the doors, once again copying Lexus/Hyundai Genesis, Lincoln MKS etc, is downright dumb and misplaced as the bottom of the doors are often where sand and dirt brush up against the cars and wear the surface away and are subject to curb scrapes etc. The interior is nothing special either and looks too broken up with cut lines, too many differing surfaces and the usual lack of color...gray black and tan. I live for the day when we will see a nice blue or burgandy interior again but with todays simple plain blah thinking that will never happen.

[thegriffon]

Thank God

[VenSeattle]

Thank God

+1

[thegriffon]

Thank God. The day we see a blue or burgundy interior again will be a day too soon. Blue and Burgundy should be restricted to accents in an athletic/sporting style interior. The '70s are gone and if we're lucky we'll never see them again.

[thegriffon]

Sorry Ponchoman, but there is a reason you can only get burgundy crushed velour in a Rolls-Royce.

[Paolino]

My last Century had a dark blue interior. My current has burgundy. Love them both.

[Robert Hall]

I'd like to see more choices in car interiors again... I hate the depressing gray that has become the norm in the last decade... I remember Ford even some decent lt green interiors in late '90s Explorers..

[Croc]

I'd be all for more colors in interior leather. Hell, La-Z-Boy offers furniture in colors other than neutrals. GM could really differentiate themselves from the rest of the pack by offering neutral carpets/dashes with colored seats and door trim. The 2001 Aurora offered a very rare green/neutral interior color called Mint for its first year. That was novel.

[VenSeattle]

I'd be all for more colors in interior leather. Hell, La-Z-Boy offers furniture in colors other than neutrals. GM could really differentiate themselves from the rest of the pack by offering neutral carpets/dashes with colored seats and door trim. The 2001 Aurora offered a very rare green/neutral interior color called Mint for its first year. That was novel.

Funny you mention the green interior trim... My 1995 Chrysler Cirrus had a Silver-Fern exterior & interior color... Unique. I liked it.

My main disagreements with ponchoman were about the bodyside moldings and the chrome strip along the rocker panel. I like the sweepspear-inspired crease without bodyside moldings. The chrome rockers dress up the profile too. It looks good on VWs, Mercedes-Benz, Lexus, etc...

[Drew Dowdell]

Thank God. The day we see a blue or burgundy interior again will be a day too soon. Blue and Burgundy should be restricted to accents in an athletic/sporting style interior. The '70s are gone and if we're lucky we'll never see them again.

You can have any color interior you want as long as it's gray?

[Satty]

Or tan, depending on what color the exterior is.

[Oracle of Delphi]

Maybe Holden will offer more varied interior colors to match the Tutti Fruity exterior colors.

[CanadianBacon94]

doesnt seem to bad to me they'll probably give it a little bit of changes before prouduction

on another point buik needs more models any thoughts

[AAS]

I'd like to see more choices in car interiors again... I hate the depressing gray that has become the norm in the last decade... I remember Ford even some decent lt green interiors in late '90s Explorers..

I convinced my parents to replace my mom's '92 Olds Custom Cruiser (loved that wagon, learned to drive with it, but damn was the electrical system f-ed up) with a green-on-green Expedition the first year they came out. While cool at first, the green interior just wouldn't cut it after a while...

[Bimmer325]

[Paolino]

Yes?

[trinacriabob]

My last Century had a dark blue interior. My current has burgundy. Love them both.

Yes. I get into my burgundy interior for my commute home and am thankful. Yeah, there are bad shades of burgundy and blue, but the darker, more stoic shades are great...and they play off any wood trim (real or fake) very well.

[Paolino]

Yes. I get into my burgundy interior for my commute home and am thankful. Yeah, there are bad shades of burgundy and blue, but the darker, more stoic shades are great...and they play off any wood trim (real or fake) very well.

Not to mention, both hid dirt very well. And after ALL these years, again, both weren't faded at all. What did fade was the faux wood.

[wildcat]

Another high-profile GM fan website is reporting that the name "LaCrosse" WILL be retained, that it's "official" and it will be used on this new Buick Epsilon II.

[smk4565]

That grille looks pretty much the same as the Lucerne's. Why bother with the teaser, it will look bland like the current Buick sedans.

[Blake Noble]

That grille looks pretty much the same as the Lucerne's. Why bother with the teaser, it will look bland like the current Buick sedans.

I believe you are just upset that the leather seats won't rub your bloated ass five different ways.

[cire]

Another high-profile GM fan website is reporting that the name "LaCrosse" WILL be retained, that it's "official" and it will be used on this new Buick Epsilon II.

NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!...

GM changes model names all the time. It figures that they would drop that practice with the one name that most of us would like to see them change. I can understand retaining the "LaCrosse" name in China where the car probably helped to establish Buick as a leader in that nation's auto market. Over here, the car was not that successful and the name doesn't have that much market recognition (not to mention that the name wasn't even used in Canada due to its rather racy connotations). I think the production version should use the "Invicta" name (at least in North America), since that was the name of the concept car (the current Canadian market name of "Allure" is okay, but I think it sounds a little too effeminate for the new car).

[Blake Noble]

I personally feel that the LaCrosse name should be dropped for at least the North American market so that the car can have a unified name in both the United States and Canada. Plus, the LaCrosse name was tarnished upon its debut in Canada due to its rather perverted connotations.

The LaCrosse name does have baggage and it would be nice to work away from it.

[wildcat]

cire and YellowJacket894: You guys both made good points. But according to that other site, it's LaCrosse.

[EMan]

I believe you are just upset that the leather seats won't rub your bloated ass five different ways.

20 actually...

[Blake Noble]

cire and YellowJacket894: You guys both made good points. But according to that other site, it's LaCrosse.

And indeed that is probably the name GM will use. I'm just trying to make a point, though, that Invicta really is the better name for this car.

[Oracle of Delphi]

A rose by any other name would smell as sweet ... What matters is what something is, not what it is called.

[FUTURE_OF_GM]

A rose by any other name would smell as sweet ... What matters is what something is, not what it is called.

A.K.A. GM doesn't have the budget to launch a new name.

[cire]

cire and YellowJacket894: You guys both made good points. But according to that other site, it's LaCrosse.

Oh I believe you. I'm just terribly disappointed.

The only thing to hope for now is that the car is well executed.

[wildcat]

A rose by any other name would smell as sweet ... What matters is what something is, not what it is called.

Then what was the point of calling the concept "Invicta"? Why not call it LaCrosse, too?

I didn't see one person or one report which asked that the LaCrosse name be retained on the production vehicle. Given the reaction when the LaCrosse name was first chosen (and the "necessity" of an alternate name, Allure, in Canada), one would have though that this was a perfect opportunity to use the Invicta name. This is an all-new vehicle, one that -- should be -- light years ahead of the LaCrosse as it is now. Add to that the positive response which the name Invicta seemed to inspire. Wasn't that a reasonable time to make a break, discard the name LaCrosse and use Invicta instead?

[Oracle of Delphi]

Then what was the point of calling the concept "Invicta"? Why not call it LaCrosse, too?

I didn't see one person or one report which asked that the LaCrosse name be retained on the production vehicle. Given the reaction when the LaCrosse name was first chosen (and the "necessity" of an alternate name, Allure, in Canada), one would have though that this was a perfect opportunity to use the Invicta name. This is an all-new vehicle, one that -- should be -- light years ahead of the LaCrosse as it is now. Add to that the positive response which the name Invicta seemed to inspire. Wasn't that a reasonable time to make a break, discard the name LaCrosse and use Invicta instead?

Search me, perhaps some auto publication will print that for you.

[wildcat]

Search me, perhaps some auto publication will print that for you.

As I said before, I always enjoy reading your posts (and I think you did say "you got me" or words to that effect when the topic of the name came up not too long ago). As I also said, others might prefer to see things in print from one or more sources. Did you read my post carefully?

[Toyota.vs.GM]

Search me, perhaps some auto publication will print that for you.

I don't blame you PCS for saying that. Wildcat was being mean to you.

[wildcat]

I don't blame you PCS for saying that. Wildcat was being mean to you.

Please stay out of this. Only I would know my intention and it was not to be mean to him or anyone.

[InvictaMan]

Obviously, I would prefer the Invicta name. It is perfect for this car, for Buick's heritage and for Buick's new image. At this point I'm just "whatever" about this car, Buick and GM.

[§carlet §wordfish]

OK, going back to the first post:

Other than the name, what is everyone so upset about?

Comparing the concept pictures to the spy photo, I don't see ANY differences besides the door handles. It is EXACTLY THE SAME.

[cire]

Obviously, I would prefer the Invicta name. It is perfect for this car, for Buick's heritage and for Buick's new image.

I totally agree. If Buick is supposedly headed for a "renaissance", then why not resurrect a historic name from the brand's past to inform the public of the brand's triumphant revitalization. There's just something about the "Invicta" name that makes me think that Buick is more than ready for its place in the spotlight again. "LaCrosse" just doesn't carry the same impact for some reason (maybe because the current car is so lame). I realize that Chevy worked wonders turning the "Malibu" name around with the 2008 model, but that was a historic Chevy model name. "LaCrosse" is not historic and not really a model name worth attempting to transform. In this case, GM has a justifiable reason to change the model name.

Actually, it shouldn't surprise any of us that GM would drop the ball on this. Saturn's transformation was poorly executed and mismanaged. The marketing and advertising for this brand and its new products do little to notify the public that anything drastic has changed at Saturn (except for the lame and cheap looking commmercial of a stunned customer's reaction at a Saturn dealership - Wow! How original and impactful; NOT!!!!). The advertising is just as quirky and dorky as before and doesn't really encourage me to visit a Saturn dealership to check out their great new products.

The best we can hope for at this point is that the car is well executed and competitive. Almost everything about this car has been quite promising so far.

Edited August 29, 2008 by cire

[Chicagoland]

Isnt that one of their Chinese cars? The 'enthusiast' car rags are usually not correct with 'future car' news.

[Viperfan07]

The car still looks good. I just believe that its a picture of a base model.

[saturnd00d]

To be honest, I think the supposed "LaCrosse" in the crappy grainy pic looks quite similar to the concept, when comparing pics over at C&D. You can (albeit barely) notice the ports on the hood, the body creases are all the same, the taillight design carried over intact. What I do notice right away though, is how they cheapened out on the front bumper and inside the headlights, and blackened out the blingy chrome waterfall grill as well. The profile of the car, if you look closely, resembles that of the concept. Don't see much of a problem otherwise, except for the few things I did point out. Possibly, could be that this is a base model, and the revised front bumper, grille, headlights and possibly bigger wheels would be reserved for an upper model or "super" version? Just speculating with the rest of you here.

Edited September 24, 2008 by saturnd00d

[Paolino]

I have mixed feelings on whether this is a base or higher up trim... only because, inside, we have a leather-stitched (or at least it's the appearance that it's leather-stitched), dash.

As for the grille, it's possible it'll be an option, just as on the Lucerne, that you can order an all-chrome grille.