With the demise of Pontiac (& with it the G8) It seems that this has left a niche open. So, has GM given any thought to bringing the chinese market Park Ave over as a sort of G8 replacement? Granted it's bigger than the G8 & only uses the 3.6, but if it sells in the G8's #'s (About 30-40 K a year) then Buick could make a GS version that would have either the L-76 or L-99 at it's heart. I would think that Buick wouldn't go for the LS-3 as they would consider too hot for the car's demographic, not to mention that an engine that hot combined with a car that weighs more than 2 tons would almost guarantee that it would get slapped with a gas guzzler tax. But either of the other 2 engines would still make for a fun car, & their lower power rating & use of AFM would probably allow it to avoid the tax. Buick could certainly use a flagship & I don't think that either the Lucerne or LaCrosse fill that bill. Anyway, just spitballing.

 

Park Ave would be a cheap and easy way to give Buick a big RWD flagship sedan. The current car will be replaced relatively soon. They should wait for the all new 2012/13

 

Park Avenue just sounds like a big floaty old person sedan...not really fitting with "new"
Buick. Even though still old...if your gonna steal a name from Buick's past I prefer Roadmaster or Electra..they at least sound more interesting.

 

As far as past names go, I've always been partial to Wildcat. It sounds mean & was Buicks performance flagship during the early to mid '60's. Buick was so proud of it that they put the name on their 401 & 425 ci V-8's along with the engines rated torque output. Now the current Park Ave. is a handsome looking car, but it's too conservative for a name like that. Though I suppose that if they did make a more performance oriented version & decided to give it it's own name that might work. It depends on how much they dressed it up to differentiate it from the regular model. Roadmaster actually sounds as much like a big boat as Park Ave. & I would stay away from Centurion too. The old Centurions were about as big as the British tanks the name makes me think of. I guess if you were going to re-name it then Electra would probably be your best bet from the old names.

 

Centurion? Don't you mean "Century"?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buick_Century

 

They had Centurions too, as a successor to Wildcats

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buick_Centurion

 

Right. They only sold for 2 years so I had forgotten about them. If you want a performance Buick name, nothing says performance better than Gran Sport, which was Buick's version of "SS" and available on Skylark, Wildcat and Riviera.

I agree with others, for me Roadmaster says big ol' honking land yacht cruiser. But if you want real nostalgia, bring back the Deuce and a Quarter (Electra 225). Nothing says early 70's class and style like those bad boys!

FWIW, even though I'm a die-hard Chevy guy, both my in-laws and parents were Buick folks, so they have been influential in my life. Heck I once pondered dropping a 425 nailhead in a first gen Camaro. (Yes, I know Buick called the 4-bbl version a "Wildcat" however it never stuck with most Buick enthusiasts. )

 

Been a while since I heard anyone use the term "nailhead" for Buick engines. But those small valves was why they made all of that torque that they were so known for.

 

The Park Avenue will be here early next year driven by your friendly neighborhood law enforcement person as the Chevrolet Caprice Police Pursuit Vehicle (PPV).... made in Australia, not China.

If you're intrested in buying one new for yourself, when the Holden/Chevrolet Statesman/Caprice is updated, unless GM flips it's plans again you'll be able to get one not that long afterwards.

Weight alone no longer means instant gas guzzler tax (classified as cars that fail to meet 22.5 mpg)

The Holden Statesman weighs 4,170 pounds.

The Pontiac G8 GT (with 6 liter V8) weighed 3,946 pounds.

The G8 GT (automatic) got 15/24 mpg city/ highway. No gas tax.

The GXP (manual) got 13/20. Gas tax.

The GXP was geared for serious acceleration.

Your assesment that the Caprice that comes over won't likely be the LS3 is correct. It's likely to be the L99 w/ AFM since it will have an automatic. It's fuel economy will likely, at the very least, match the G8 GT's..... and avoid the tax.

One side note,

The prospect of the car coming over is ironically dependent on how few (not how many) GM thinks it will sell. If GM thinks the car will sell in large numbers, then that degrades the chance of it coming here because it will have a impact (extremely small, but still an impact) on CAFE.

This brings up the point that big engine, high performance cars will still be around for some time to come, even with CAFE numbers going up.

They will just sell in smaller quanities at higher prices.

Don't complain.

8 years ago did you ever expect to be paying $10,000 (roughly a 40-45% premium over a similarly equpted V6!) just to get a V8 in your Camaro?

 

Thanks for the reply Guy, pretty informative. Strange that the car can come only if it sells in small #'s. Rather counter-intuitive given what shipping costs must be. However, you didn't address the point of my OP. Will Buick get a version for a flagship model? And will it come in 2 versions? Standard near-Cadillac luxo-yacht, & a performance oriented GS as an alternative to would be BMW M5 buyers? Or would it be closer to 7 series given it's size? Oh well, you know what I mean. Something that would be a 21st century version of the '94-'96 Impala SS, but with Buick style.