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Buick: Buick Riviera Concept 2007 World premiere at Auto Shanghai 2007: Buick Riviera - Stunning Coupe Concept Unveiled in Shanghai The gullwing Riviera concept coupe was developed with global design input by the Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center (PATAC) in China, a design and engineering joint venture between General Motors and Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC).
The Riviera has been engineered to accommodate a new hybrid system that will go into production at Shanghai GM, GM's flagship joint venture with SAIC, in 2008. The fuel-efficient car, which will feature several technological and manufacturing advances, represents the latest achievement of GM and its partners in the promotion and development of alternative propulsion technologies in China.
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The Buick Riviera, with its tightly stretched carbon fiber body panels, combination of positive and negative curves, strong front and rear identities and gullwing doors, captures the essence of Buick classics, Welburn said, while presenting a thoroughly 21st century design. "The Riviera concept certainly lived up to the nameplate's reputation," Welburn said.
"We developed the Riviera to communicate the global design vocabulary of the Buick brand and set the stage for General Motors' design, engineering and manufacturing centers to work together on the next generation of Buick mid-size luxury cars."
According to James Shyr, PATAC Design Director, the Riviera's enticing curves and 'earth and water' interior tones are drawn from diverse inspirations including classic Buicks, ancient Chinese artifacts and modern electronic icons. The car, inside and out, communicates universal beauty - a look that transcends cultural or national boundaries. "Designing this car made us realize how small the world could be. It's not East. It's not West. It's not the United States or China. It's Buick," Shyr said.
Exterior Design - A Sense Of Existence, Not Anonymity To establish their design direction, PATAC designers looked in part to Buick icons such as the original Y-Job Concept of 1938, the 1960s Le Sabre, Electra 225 and the Riviera coupes of the 1960s and '70s.
PATAC designed the Buick Riviera to accommodate the new hybrid system, which will be introduced in China in 2008 prior to the Beijing Olympics. The new hybrid system fits naturally with the Riviera's 'earth and water' design theme.
"We had to have the driver feel relaxed and tranquil inside the car. We used earth and water tones and avoided hard, aggressive edges," Shyr said. The interior has no discernable start and finish point for the front and sides, creating a comfortable lounge feel. It is immediately futuristic yet somehow familiar.
Ambient light strips are applied from across the console and inserted on the door liner, stretching to the front seats. Deliberately imitating precious Chinese jade stone, the lights are tinted a subtle icy green, which also offers tribute to a favored color of Buicks in days gone by. Interior trim treatments befitting the Buick prestige abound - miniature aluminum tri-shields in the front seat headrests, a wooden floor mat in the rear and a rear central armrest which can move sideways left and right to accommodate passengers of different sizes. Royal blue Alcantara, a soft plush covering, was chosen for the door, console and roof while sandy white leather covers the lower door, lower console and seats. Ancient Influences In Modern Design The design team set out to create a modern global design - not something which could be superficially described as a Chinese car. At the same time, they sought to draw from their heritage outside the automotive industry from classic shapes, concepts and artifacts. They wanted to include a subtle Chinese essence and influence if one looked deeply enough. A strong influence was the yuanbao, a small curvaceous gold or silver ingot used in ancient China as currency and popular today as a symbol of ancient Chinese prosperity. "This design was about the East and the West co-existing in harmony. We always wanted to make a global car, to take a sense of the Buick DNA and create something for the world," Shyr said. "It is so wonderful that our designers can take some of the rich culture behind them and make it international. East, West, Buick, China - there's no missing piece in the puzzle in here. Riviera has captured the essence of Buick - grace, gesture, form and emotion."
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