1977 Buick Regal 39700 Original Miles on 2040-cars

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Buick and Bar Refaeli teach in-car yoga

We're not sure which make or model you'd most readily associate with yoga. You'd probably see a fair few Mercedes convertibles, VW Beetles, and assorted minivans and crossovers outside your typical American yoga studio. But not to be left out of the contorting action, Buick is out to link itself to the age-old practice with these latest videos. They feature, as you can see, the ever lithe and supple Bar Rafaeli, clad in spandex, stretching and contorting herself inside and out of a Buick Verano. Which is really all you should need to know, but there's a little more to the clip above (and the behind-the-scenes video below) than eye candy. Choreographed by yoga guru Chad Dennis, the idea behind the video – cleverly entitled The Body Shop – is to show drivers, in as artful and visually pleasing a way as possible, how to limber up their body, mind, and soul in preparation for (or recovery from) a long drive. It also serves to promote the brand's new 24 Hours of Happiness test drive program that lets prospective buyers take a Buick home and try it out for a day before buying. And if nothing else, it aptly demonstrates that Buick has excellent taste – or at least as good as Sports Illustrated that gave the Israeli model her first big break, Leonardo DiCaprio whom she dates for several years, and the dozens of fashion labels, jewelry brands, and magazines for which she's posed in recent years.

GM’s move to Woodward is the right one — for the company and for Detroit

Back in 2018, Chevy invited me to attend the Detroit Auto Show on the company dime to get an early preview of the then-newly redesigned Silverado. The trip involved a stay at the Renaissance Center — just a quick People Mover ride from the show. IÂ’d been visiting Detroit in January for nearly a decade, and not once had I set foot inside General MotorsÂ’ glass-sided headquarters. I was intrigued, to say the least. Thinking back on my time in the buildings that GM will leave behind when it departs for the new Hudson's site on Woodward Avenue, two things struck me. For one, its hotel rooms are cold in January. Sure, itÂ’s glass towers designed in the 1960s and '70s; I calibrated my expectations accordingly. But when I could only barely see out of the place for all the ice forming on the inside of the glass, it drove home just how flawed this iconic structure is.  My second and more pertinent observation was that the RenCen doesnÂ’t really feel like itÂ’s in a city at all, much less one as populous as Detroit. The complex is effectively severed from its surroundings by swirling ribbons of both river and asphalt. To the west sits the Windsor tunnel entrance; to the east, parking lots for nearly as far as the eye can see. To its north is the massive Jefferson Avenue and to its south, the Detroit River. You get the sense that if Henry Ford II and his team of investors had gotten their way, the whole thing would have been built offshore with the swirling channel doubling as a moat. This isnÂ’t a building the draws the city in; itÂ’s one designed to keep it out. Frost on the inside of the RenCen hotel glass. Contrasted with the new Hudson's project GM intends to move into, a mixed-use anchor with residential, office, retail and entertainment offerings smack-dab in Detroit's most vibrant district, the RenCen is a symbol of an era when each office in DetroitÂ’s downtown was an island in a rising sea of dilapidation. Back then, those who fortified against the rapid erosion of DetroitÂ’s urban bedrock stood the best chance of surviving. This was the era that brought us ugly skyways and eventually the People Mover — anything to help suburban commuters keep their metaphorical feet dry. The RenCen offered — and still offers — virtually any necessity and plenty of nice-to-haves, all accessible without ever venturing outside, especially in the winter, but those enticements are geared to those who trek in from suburbia to toil in its hallways.

Buick teases 'groovy' EV concept to debut this summer

Buick has been taking its slow, deliberate steps toward joining the General Motors EV club in the U.S. There was the Electra concept shown at Auto Shanghai way back in 2020. There was the mystery Buick fastback concept that showed up in GM's promotional vid for the Ultifi software platform in October 2021. Then GM applied to reserve the Electra name in Canada in December, and last month applied to reserve the Velite name in the U.S. Now Buick drops this, a tease for an electric vehicle that will debut this summer. The surprise came in the midst of call-and-response tweets between GM and its brands, the mothership asking, "Hey @Cadillac @GMC @Chevrolet @Buick @GMFleet @BrightDrop — your new boss needs a new ride. Which one of you has the best vehicle to serve my EV-il needs?" The Tri-Shield brand responded with this image and the caption, "WeÂ’re fans of all @GM EVs, but this summer we will show you our dreams of a groovy electric future. ? WeÂ’re sure a mastermind who makes his own quasi-futuristic clothes will be impressed." WeÂ’re fans of all @GM EVs, but this summer we will show you our dreams of a groovy electric future. ? WeÂ’re sure a mastermind who makes his own quasi-futuristic clothes will be impressed. ? https://t.co/7r3Czy8CXV pic.twitter.com/e1XzwFEVsJ — Buick (@Buick) February 13, 2022 The "mastermind"-slash-seamstress reference is looking at GM's villainous Super Bowl ad featuring Dr. Evil, his closest councilors, his son and Baby Me (R.I.P. Verne Troyer). GM's got 30 EVs on the way by 2025 for global markets, and it has begun to fill in the blanks in the U.S. for all its brands but Buick. Based on the automaker's 2019 Sustainability Report, we're expecting a Buick crossover and an SUV by 2025. If the tweeted image is of a people-hauler, it's the swoopiest crossover we've laid eyes on in some time. The rune-like DRL topped by brightwork and chiseled clear panels sits at the corner of a hood that looks like it could have been borrowed from a C7 Corvette. Frankly, this reminds us more of the Buick-branded fastback sedan in the Ultifi video than anything else we've seen. And we have no problem with any of this. As for the Velite trademark application, that could be Buick transplanting a little bit more of its Chinese operations to the U.S. Buick sells a Velite 7 electric crossover, Velite 6 EV and PHEV crossovers, and a Velite 5 PHEV sedan in China.