When The General’s Buick Division axed the LeSabre and Park Avenue names in 2005 (following 46 and 30 decades, respectively, while the Park Avenue returned a couple years later on in China), the replacement leading-of-the-line Buick sedan became the new Lucerne. It wasn’t the Buick with the most important cost tag that year— individuals honors went to the Terraza minivan and Rainier SUV— but it became the flag-bearer for a bloodline of soft, prestigious Buick sedans that stretched all the way back to the early times of the American automobile field. Lucerne profits for the 2006 and 2007 product many years went quite very well, and now plenty of time has handed that some of these autos are demonstrating up in the self-company car boneyards I frequent. Here’s a initial-12 months example with the optional Northstar V8 motor, identified in a Northern California yard past summer time.
A great deal of American cars and trucks have been named soon after cities in Italy, France, and Spain, but the Lucerne is the only just one I can believe of that bears the title of a Swiss town (to be good, the full Chevrolet Division is named right after a Swiss man, so Switzerland did not definitely get shortchanged by The Common in the naming department). CXL was the Lucerne’s mid-quality trim level, sandwiched amongst the CX and CSX.
The superior-zoot Lucerne CSX obtained the 4.6-liter Northstar as normal gear, but this quad-cam V8 and its 279 horses expense further on the CXL. The base motor for the CX and CXL was the good old 3.8-liter pushrod Buick V6, rated at 197 horsepower. No US-market 2006 Buick could be procured new with a guide transmission this automobile has a four-velocity computerized.
In a Buick custom stretching again to the late 1940s, this motor vehicle features flashy “Ventiports” on the fenders. In past a long time, the range of ports on each and every aspect selected the car’s supposed swank stage commencing with the Lucerne, they indicated the number of engine cylinders. So, when you are crawling close to your local Ewe Pullet and on the lookout for Northstars, look for out the Lucernes with the four-hole Ventiports.
“Leather-based-appointed” electricity bucket seats and “wooden-toned” trim were typical on the CXL, as very well as an MP3-capable CD player with six speakers. By 2006, most American car or truck buyers searching for some thing significant and deluxe chose trucks and truck-like machines, but the market even now supported quite a handful of sedan styles this kind of as the Lucerne.
Most US-market place GM vehicles received these small sq. “Mark of Excellence” fender badges in the course of the late 2000s. Quickly following The Normal filed for Chapter 11 in 2009, nevertheless, they disappeared.
The car the push can’t cease talking about.
Heated washer fluid. Look out, snowflakes!