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Lexus LC 500 dominates 2016 EyesOn Design Awards

The Lexus LC 500 captured top honors for the best-designed production car and the best interior at the 10th annual EyesOn Design awards at the Detroit Auto Show. The awards are handed out by the Detroit Institute of Ophthalmology. The Buick Avista won the concept car category, just as its four-door predecessor, the Avenir, did last year. Other winners this year included the Chrysler Pacifica, which won for the best-designed production "truck" (as crossovers and minivans are sometimes categorized), and the Audi H-Tron Quattro, which won for the best concept truck. The Acura Precision concept was also recognized for its "innovative use of color, graphics, and materials." And the new Volvo S90 was singled out for its human-machine interface. The panel of jurists this year included designers from an array of automakers and art schools. Several past honorees for the organization's LifeTime Design Achievement Award participated in the voting, including GM's Wayne Cherry, BMW DesignworksUSA founder Chuck Pelly, Hyundai's Peter Schreyer, and Jack Telnack (formerly of Ford). Telnack also served on the select panel of chief judges this year, alongside Chris Chapman from Hyundai, Dave Marek from Acura, and Stewart Reed from the Art Center College of Design. Lexus Takes 2 and Buick Wins Best Concept For 2nd Year at EyesOn Design Awards at NAIAS January 12, 2016, Detroit, Michigan. A panel of design leaders representing worldwide automotive manufacturers and transportation design chiefs from top design schools around the globe today selected these vehicles to receive the following EyesOn Design Awards at the North American International Auto Show: * Production Car: 2017 Lexus LC500 * Production Truck: 2017 Chrysler Pacifica * Concept Car: Buick Avista Concept * Concept Truck: Audi h-tron Quattro Concept * Best Designed Interior: 2017 Lexus LC500 * Innovative Use of Color, Graphics and Materials: Acura Precision Concept * Human Machine Interface: 2017 Volvo S90 Chief Judges were: Chris Chapman of Hyundai, Dave Marek of Acura, Stewart Reed of ArtCenter College of Design, and Jack Telnack of Ford Motor Company (retired). 2016 marks the tenth year the EyesOn Design Awards have been an integral part of the North American International Auto Show. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2016 EyesOn Design Award Winners News Source: EyesOn Design Detroit Auto Show Acura Audi Buick Chrysler Lexus Volvo chrysler pacifica volvo s90 lexus lc 500 acura precision concept

GM delivers best Q3 sales since 1980, 2.4M vehicles sold

People are a weird sort. Even after registering over 70 recalls through the first three-quarters of 2014, General Motors saw its best Q3 results since Jimmy Carter was in the White House, registering over 2.4 million global sales between June and September on the back of strong results in the US and China.
US sales were marshaled by good results for GM's pickups, the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra, which bumped the manufacturer's truck market share to 35.6 percent, up nearly three points from Q1 2014. Buick has seen healthy growth as well, with the Encore dominating its segment for the sixth month running.
It was China, though, that really bolstered GM's sales, as the company's efforts to top last year's record-setting 3.16 million units continued apace. Small SUV sales saw massive growth, with Encore, Chevrolet Trax and Captiva figures jumping 90 percent in Q3. Brand-wise, Chevrolet, Cadillac and Buick all saw sales gains in the PRC, with each recording double-digit year-over-year jumps. Cadillac sales alone were up 63 percent compared to the first nine months of 2013.

Junkyard Gem: 1962 Buick Electra 225 4-Door Sedan

Buick built its first Electras as 1959 models, with Electra production continuing unabated through 1990 (after which the Park Avenue trim level took over as the model name, much as the Malibu trim level designation had shoved aside the Chevelle model name in 1978). Some of the handsomest Electras were the second-generation models, built for the 1961-1964 model years, and today's Junkyard Gem is one of those cars. I'd always assumed that the Buick Electra took its name from the daughter of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon in Greek mythology, because the people who named cars back then were forced to read Euripides and Sophocles as undergrads. In fact, the car was named after Electra Waggoner Bowman Biggs, a Texas heiress and sculptor who married the brother-in-law of Harlow Curtice, who ran the Buick Division before being promoted to president of General Motors in 1953. How did she feel when the last Electra rolled off the assembly line in 1990? The junkyard is full of history, if you know where to look. The 1959-1960 Electra had enormous tailfins, angled something like the ones seen on the same-year Chevrolet Impalas. This Electra generation ditched the fins but kept much of the general Space Age spirit of its predecessor. The Electra lived on the same platform as the Cadillac DeVille and Oldsmobile 98 from start to finish, and it was the most expensive Buick available in 1962. The MSRP of this one was $4,051, or about $41,462 in 2023 dollars. The engine in this one was present when it arrived at U-Pull-&-Pay, but a junkyard shopper grabbed it within a couple of days of arrival. It would have been a 401-cubic-inch (6.5-liter) "Nailhead" V8, rated at 325 horsepower and a whopping 445 pound-feet of torque (keep in mind that these are gross, not net, power numbers). The Nailhead's small valves meant that it wasn't much good for high-rpm use, but its big torque was perfect for moving two-ton land yachts. The final Nailheads were installed in 1966 Buicks. Every production Electra ever built came with an automatic transmission, and the 1959-1963 models received the extremely smooth and alarmingly inefficient Dynaflow (known as the Dual-Path Turbine Drive for 1962). Originally developed for use in the 1943 M18 Hellcat tank destroyer, the Dynaflow was considered a two-speed automatic but drove more like a CVT with two selectable drive ranges.