LA 2011: Buick LaCrosse GL Concept: Comments

[William Maley]

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Buick is going a different route with their showing at the LA Auto Show next week. Instead of going all out with a swoopy, futuristic design that can run on unicorn farts, they're showing a plush version of the Buick LaCrosse, called the LaCrosse GL.

On the outside, Buick has dressed the GL in a luscious red complimented by brushed and tinted chrome on the grill, door handles, and rear deck. The satin-finished twenty-inch wheels borrowed from the Regal GS finish the exterior.

Inside, Buick fitted French-stitched leather in contrasting dark cocoa brown and caramel chocochino for the doors, dash, and seats. The headliner is finished in a chocochino suede while the dash, steering wheel, and door panels get bespoke wood trim.

Press Release is on Page 2

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LaCrosse GL Concept Refines Buick’s Signature Style

Elegant forms, warm hues and inviting materials preview possible design direction

LOS ANGELES – When designers set out to capture the essence of Buick luxury for the LaCrosse GL concept vehicle, they looked to the fine cuisine, heirloom objects and enriching experiences the brand’s customers savor. The design study is on display at the L.A. Auto Show through Nov. 17.

Buick’s color and trim designers worked from a palette of cabernet red, dark cocoa brown and caramel chocochino. They took inspiration from the burnished metal of antique jewelry, ombré patina on vintage guitars and flocked lining of keepsake boxes. For GL’s French-stitched premium leather seats, the designers looked to the understated elegance of classic club chairs and contours of windswept sand dunes. And their use of smooth suede for the headliner is designed to invite one’s touch like a favorite pair of gloves.

“The LaCrosse GL concept expresses Buick’s distinctly human kind of luxury – one that is as warmly inviting as it is elegant and refined,” said David Lyon, executive director of design. “The design cues that already distinguish the production LaCrosse – such as the premium leather-upholstered seats, ice blue ambient lighting and soft touch surfaces – are amplified in the GL and serve as inspiration for future Buick models.”

LaCrosse GL’s cabernet red exterior paint is complemented by brushed and tinted chrome accents on the grille, door handles and deck lid, as well as around the windows, taillights and headlights. Machine-face, satin-finish 20-inch rims fill the wheel wells for a firmly planted appearance.

“The brushed-and-tinted chrome trim gives the GL a more subdued appearance than if we had used bright chrome. The overall effect is more in keeping with Buick’s quietly confident aesthetic,” said Magdalena Kokoszynska, creative designer on LaCrosse GL.

Open the GL’s doors and backlit Buick-emblazoned sill plates invite one to enter like illuminated welcome mats.

Take a seat and one is ensconced in luxury, enveloped by flowing sculptural surfaces finished in a rich blend of warm-hued materials. They offer soft-touch refinement and surprise-and-delight details. The seats, doors and instrument panel surfaces are finished in contrasting dark cocoa brown and caramel chocochino leather. The seat cushions’ pillowed surfaces evoke windswept sand dunes, and the ice-blue French stitching along their seams harmonize with Buick’s signature ambient lighting.

Overhead, one finds a rich chocochino suede headliner – a material and usage rarely seen in anything but the most luxurious automotive interiors. This butter-soft material also accents the steering wheel, inviting one’s touch.

Like the GL’s exterior trim pieces, the interior metal accents on the instrument cluster and center stack controls are a darker, warmer hue, and are complemented by the swirling grain of wood trim on the steering wheel and dash that evokes the ombré patina fade found on classic Gibson Les Paul guitars.

Attention to detail also is evident underfoot, where leather-surged and accent-stitched floor mats offer further refinement. Likewise, the storage compartments are flocked like the interior of a jewel box.

“Every surface in the interior of the LaCrosse GL has been crafted with the knowledge that Buick customers enjoy the finer things in life, but don’t need to flaunt it,” Kokoszynska said.

View full article

[Bimmer325]

This looks great.

[Croc]

That looks really nice.

[Drew Dowdell]

I like the interior. They sure are getting a lot of use out of that wheel design. Let's see, G8, Cadillac CTS-V, Regal GS, and now this. Any others?

[Robert Hall]

Like the interior alot...the wood, the colors...like the exterior color also.

[hyperv6]

Very nice. The interior look very inviting and the wheel look very good on this car. If they could offer this at a price under $40K they will have a winner. I just don't want them to creep too much higher till Cadillac moves up in price.

This is as nice a looking sedan as any on todays market.

Edited November 10, 2011 by hyperv6

[smk4565]

Buick LaCrosse Joseph Abboud!!!

I mean this is 2-tone leather, suede headliner, and a leather wrapped dash, but the wood still looks fake to me. It looks more upscale than the regular LaCrosse, and I think some people will spend the extra for the trim package. However it could also be pushing this car to say $45,000, seems like a lot for a LaCrosse, but if GM can get consumers to pay it, more power to them.

[David]

Love the warm interior. For the exterior, I am so tired of all the Chrome Bling. I would rather have it all monochromatic or maybe use Black Chrome instead on this color combo.

[Croc]

Love the warm interior. For the exterior, I am so tired of all the Chrome Bling. I would rather have it all monochromatic or maybe use Black Chrome instead on this color combo.

Funny, my first thought was that they finally toned it down with all the bling. Look--no Ventiports!!

[ocnblu]

This is a nicer package, based on the photoset, than the brand-new Cadillac Xtra Too Sad. And the ventiports remain, thankfully, as they are as much a part of Buick DNA as fin taillights are on a Cadillac. When car design homogenization gets to be too much in this day and age, the little things matter more than ever.

[Croc]

Whoops, guess I missed them on first look. I see them on the far side of the first photo now...pity. I wouldn't mind them if they weren't so blingy and tacked-on.

[GMTruckGuy74]

Love the color and the use of the rims outside of the GS model. Those two things on a '12 CXL FWD model would make me drool, especially parked in my garage for the wife

[Cananopie]

http://www.insideline.com/buick/lacrosse/buick-lacrosse-gl-concept-inspired-by-heirlooms-2011-los-angeles-auto-show.html

[Cananopie]

The car looks super sweet! Too bad one of the first 2 pics are photoshopped! How could they seriously use both of those pictures side by side?

[ocnblu]

It is a very nice package. The seat sew pattern seems Chinese-y though, but overall, I like it.

[regfootball]

Nice Regal GS wheels on the LaCrosse.

Seat patterns are cool. But the LaCrosse needs big interior upgrades in dash and door materials, and other areas like gauges and controls. Maybe even an interior redesign completely.

[Paolino]

Nice Regal GS wheels on the LaCrosse.

Seat patterns are cool. But the LaCrosse needs big interior upgrades in dash and door materials, and other areas like gauges and controls. Maybe even an interior redesign completely.

I wouldn't go that far. The LaCrosse could stand a small refresh... I think projector headlights should be standard and they DEFINITELY need to upgrade the color palette for Buick to include some richer looking colors. The car still looks gorgeous on the road. The interior could use a mild refresh... I've never been a fan of the gauge font/layout. I think the Canadian version is nicer. I like the Regal/Verano's gauges more although prefer the numbers be illuminated in white like they currently are in the LaCrosse (blue in the Verano/Regal)

Love the seat patterns... like the idea of some more exotic colors. The choccachino color in the Verano is nice--maybe they should extend it to the LaCrosse as well.

Edited November 11, 2011 by Paolino

[hyperv6]

The Lacrosse needs some outside trim updates. I agree the head lamps and other items like the wheels would make the car look fresh again. The interior is not bad but color changes and a few small trim changes would be ok.

I do love these wheels. They are even similar to the Opel Astra OTC. I hope Buick makes them available. Good wheels are hard to come by anymore so many are not what I call good looking. Good wheels and tires can make the looks of the best and worst styled cars. My GTP has the twisted 5 spoke chome option wheel. I have had so many people comment on the car and it is mostly due to the wheels. The 10 spokes just never played out well for that car and the better wheels make it look so much better.

[pow]

Wow, this looks really good, and I'm not a fan of the normal LaCrosse. If they build it, I hope it's reasonably priced.