If you thought Buick’s newest concept
car was unorthodox, prepare yourself: The Cielo is much, much more
out-of-the-box. (Despite that throwback grille texture, which is
very Y-Job.) A four-door convertible, with retractable headlights
and voice-operated doors? You’d never know this thing was based on
a highly modified Regal GS.
The top, complete with its
rear glass, stowed beneath a panel at the back thanks to a cable
system hidden in the two arches that frame the “roof.” Power came
from a supercharged 3.8-liter V-6 making 240 horsepower.
Judging by the much tamer concept of the same name that Buick
showed off the following year—and marketed as a possible limited
edition—the automaker thought the convertible four-door idea had
legs. In Buick’s words, the Cielo “proves just how broad and
flexible and contemporary the idea of a premium family car really
is.” Little did Buick know that, 15 years later, the only premium
family car the people would want was an SUV.
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