Peter Palmer: Buick Avista Concept Revealed

Buick revealed the Avista Concept in Detroit, as the North American International Auto Show began with Press Preview this week. The 2+2 coupe generated a lot of attention on the Cobo Center floor, pushing both Buick’s design and definition of performance. Buick understands this well, delivering the auto industry’s first concept vehicle in 1938, the Y-Job.

Although that was 78 years ago, the Y-Job paved the way for the Avista, now representing everything the brand stands for.

“The Avista embodies the dynamic soul of Buick,” said Duncan Aldred, Vice President of Global Buick Sales, Service and Marketing. “It is a modern expression of the brand’s heritage of sophisticated performance, communicated with beautiful elegance.”

Buick’s design language introduced on the Avenir concept, carried over on the 2017 LaCrosse, is alive and well in the Avista. The absence of conventional B-pillars between the doors and rear side windows is interesting. That further displays the smooth, flowing profile as Avista’s body lines show forward motion.

The grille is marked with Buick’s new winged, tri-shield insignia on a three-dimensional mesh background.

In short, it’s a gorgeous car.

“There is elegant simplicity in the Avista’s surfaces, which speak to the purity of the car’s performance, and a timeless beauty that’s a hallmark of Buick design,” said Bryan Nesbitt, Executive Director, Global Buick Design.

A 400-horsepower, twin-turbocharged V-6 powers the rear wheels from a connected and luxurious interior. The console incorporates touchscreen controls that extend to the rear seats. Side storage compartments are built into the front of the console, and occupants are treated to everything from 3D-printed door and seat trim, to a new version of Buick’s IntelliLink.

Buick played on the sensory experience too, making advancements in things like air-quality control, be it with purifiers and aroma therapy, to extensive noise cancellation technology.

Buick Avista Concept features a 110.7-inch wheelbase with a 63-inch front/62.9-inch rear stance for a commanding look – especially on twenty-inch aluminum wheels. Avista is carried by GM’s Alpha Platform, seen on the likes of the Chevrolet Camaro, Cadillac CTS, and Cadillac ATS.

“It was designed to capture the spirit of the perfect drive,” Nesbitt said.

The exterior color is called Superior Blue, complemented with Mist Gray leather seats, console, and door trim. The faded pattern on the seats, console, and doors, interestingly enough, was inspired by ocean waves.

“Waves, whether from the sea or in the sand, are all about motion and flow,” Nesbitt said.

Based on what I saw at the North American International Auto Show, Buick is on point with the Avista Concept. It looks like a futuristic car, yes, but one that would be easy to drive daily. As I admired it on the Cobo Center floor, I could instantly tell what Buick was going for.

“That’s exactly what this concept is all about – flowing design and the purity of the driving experience,” Nesbitt said.

There is no word, as of this writing, if Buick will put the Avista into production.

*Carl Anthony is Managing Editor of Automoblog.net and resides in Detroit, Michigan.