2007 Buick Lucerne Cxl Sedan 4-door 3.8l on 2040-cars

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Buick to use Velite name for its Cascada?

Ever since Opel brought out the Cascada convertible last year, rumors have been flying that Buick would offer it Stateside – much like it does with the Insignia-based Regal and the Astra-based Verano. And now we might have our best clue yet as to what Buick might call it. According to GM Authority, General Motors has filed to use the name Velite on a new model. The name first appeared on a convertible concept unveiled over a decade ago at the 2004 New York Auto Show (pictured above), but GM reportedly opened an application to trademark the nameplate for production in 2011, seeking extensions on its application every six months since. Of course the fact that it's applied for its fifth extension (of a permissible six) doesn't necessarily mean that GM will ultimately bring the cabriolet to US showrooms, or that it will use the Velite name if it does, but the fact that GM is keeping the name alive could be a good sign. The market for relaxed four-seat convertibles has been shrinking, leaving it up to drop-top muscle cars like the Chevy Camaro and Ford Mustang. But with entries like the Toyota Camry Solara, Volkswagen Eos and Chrysler 200 Convertible having dropped off the market, the Buick Velite (or Cascada, or whatever it's ultimately called) could have the sedate cabriolet segment all to itself – even if (or especially if) Lexus dealers aren't interested in touching it.

Buick boss shuts down idea of importing Opel Adam

Anyone hoping for Buick to sell small city cars in America, you're not going to like this story. Buick boss Duncan Aldred has effectively ruled out importing the stylish Opel Adam city car for US drivers. Yep, this is us being bummed. Admittedly, the business case for Adam is not as strong as it used to be. Gas is cheap and consumers have fallen back in love with the idea of high-riding crossovers instead of efficient cars. That's why Buick sold twice as many teeny, tiny Encore CUVs in 2015 as it did its smallest car, the Verano. With that in mind, slotting in another car, let alone one below the Verano, isn't a great idea. Of course, Aldred didn't come out and say as much, even though he campaigned for a US-market Adam in the past. "I very much did feel when I came over that that could really help accelerate the Buick brand story," the executive told Automotive News at last week's New York Auto Show. "I don't see that as much. Whether the market shifted or the fashion nature of those cars has changed, I don't know. But I wouldn't be looking for a small, B-segment car today." That, friends, is a real bummer. Adding a car like the Adam, even in a small, captive-import capacity would add a real dose of fun to Buick showrooms and (we're guessing) would bring in younger foot traffic. Related Video:

Junkyard Gem: 1957 Buick Special Riviera Sedan

While I find plenty of 1950s Detroit cars in quick-inventory-turnover self-service wrecking yards during my travels, they tend to be the ordinary post sedans that were built by the millions during the heyday of the three-on-the-tree manual transmission and nuclear-attack symbols on car radios. The more sought-after convertibles, coupes, and four-door hardtops are tougher to find in such yards, which makes today's 1957 Buick Special Riviera in a yard in northeastern Colorado an A-List Junkyard Gem. During the late 1950s, the Special ranked at the bottom of the Buick prestige hierarchy just below the more upscale Super and Century. Of course, this was the era of Alfred Sloan's "Ladder of Success" and the lowliest Special outranked even the nicest Olds Ninety-Eight on the Swank-O-Meter. If you were the Buick-driving Joneses and your neighbors had proletarian Chevrolets, aspirational Pontiacs, or petit-bourgeois Oldsmobiles, they were failing to keep up with you… but then you'd see a new Cadillac and feel intense envy for your victorious rival. The Ladder of Success collapsed later on, when the top-trim-level Chevy Caprices began to compete against their Cadillac Calais big brother, but it was still standing tall in 1957. The Riviera name ended up being used for its own distinct model starting in 1963 and continuing nearly into our current century, but in 1957 it was a trim level designation, used to indicate a Century or Special sedan with the then-radical pillarless hardtop design. This car listed at $2,780, which comes to a cool $27,630 in 2021 dollars. That price included the 364-cubic-inch (6.0-liter) Buick Nailhead V8 engine, rated at 250 horsepower and enough torque to peel 1957's rock-hard bias-ply tires right off their rims. The Special had a three-on-the-tree column-shift manual as standard equipment, but the original buyer of this car sprang for the extra $220 ($2,185 today) to get the Dynaflow transmission. While the shift indicator looks just like the ones on GM cars equipped with the two-speed Powerglide, the Dynaflow was an odd beast used only in Buicks; while it had gears for two forward speeds, the driver had to select low gear manually. Otherwise, a complex torque converter rig provided an experience something like today's CVTs (though with better smoothness and much more wasted power), in which the car stayed in high gear all the time and used the torque converter to multiply as needed.