I get a real kick out of automotive oddities like this, and while I am glad to see that it now carries the proper brand name, I am also glad that it existed, because it's cars like this that catch my attention when out on a lazy Sunday bike ride. With luck I will stumble across many more cars like this in the future.
A few weeks back I wrote about a bright red Buick Excelle that I saw in Shanghai. It really didn't strike me as a traditional Buick, having grown up with big roomy Buicks in Canada, and knowing the history of the 111 year old brand. This compact red Buick may not have fit in with the long-established Buick image, but it was a rather attractive car nonetheless. It is also clear that General Motors has been trying to introduce their affordable luxury brand to a younger generation in China, so it wasn't such a stretch to accept this new type of smaller Buick. If the Excelle was a bit of a stretch, what I saw a few weeks back was a massive leap. I have a trained eye for odd-ball cars, and it was on a bike ride around the city several weekends ago that a Buick tri-shield logo caught my eye. THIS is what it was attached to: Let me introduce you to the Buick Sail. If ever a car didn't fit the Buick mission statement, it's this one. To be clear, it isn't a recent model; it existed between 2001 and 2005. It was the first Chinese-produced car to carry the Buick name, and also the first compact car built by the partnership of General Motors and Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC), known as Shanghai General Motors. The Sail swapped its Buick badge for a Chevrolet badge when that brand was introduced in China in 2005; it has since been updated several times and still exists today as a popular small car. Back to the Buick though. A sharp-eyed car fan can guess at the origins of this car; it is based on the second-generation Opel Corsa B platform. This Sail was actually a copy of the Brazilian Chevrolet Corsa Classic with only a few simple cosmetic changes made to turn it into a Buick. While I can usually cut a 13 year old car some slack for looking tired and dated, even when it was new this car really didn't deserve the Buick name. There is simply nothing even remotely befitting of the name here. No hint of added comfort or luxury or prestige. Just a short, stubby, plain-looking economy car. The fact that later generations wore the more pedestrian and mass-market Chevrolet label proves that even General Motors knew this car never belonged in the Buick lineup.
I get a real kick out of automotive oddities like this, and while I am glad to see that it now carries the proper brand name, I am also glad that it existed, because it's cars like this that catch my attention when out on a lazy Sunday bike ride. With luck I will stumble across many more cars like this in the future.
2 Comments
Paul
9/20/2014 06:48:46 am
As odd as I find it that this car would carry a Buick badge, I really want one now!
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Alex Darre
9/29/2014 08:43:27 am
I have the exact same car in Argentina.. it has been made already for 20 years, because i was such a good platform to begin with, and they only quit dping them 10 monhs ago in Mexico
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AuthorWelcome! My name is Paul, and I am an old-fashioned, low-pressure, low-buck car fan with lots of automotive stories to tell! Archives
February 2020
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