Spotted in China: Buick New Century
Published on June 13, 2012 by Tycho de Feyter
Here we have a very fine Buick New Century, parked straight in the middle of a sidewalk in south-western Beijing. The Buick New Century was the first car from the Shanghai-GM joint venture, it was made in China from late 1998 until early 2000 when it was replaced by the Buick Regal. The New Century was based on the American sixth-gen Buick Century. ‘New’ was added to the name to prevent any confusion with the Asia-only Toyota Century.
Since the Century and Regal were basically the same car it can be hard to see the difference, especially in China. There was no Century-badge, the New Century only had a ‘Shanghai GM’ badge on the back, and a small ’3.0′ badge for the engine. The Shanghai GM badge disappeared on the Regal and was replaced by a ‘Regal’ badge, later on again that was replaced by a ‘上海通用’ badge (Shanghai-GM in Chinese).
Not many New Century’s were made in its short production run, it is therefore a rather rare car to see on the streets today. The Regal however became a huge success and continued all the way until 2008 when it was replaced by the current Buick Regal based on the Opel Insignia.
Thursday, 14 June om 00:53
It has the body of the American Regal with the rims of the Century. Its true, they were the same car at the time but the Regal was to sportier/thicker bumper one with more power and luxury while the lower trim Century was competition for the Camry. It sold well but its a grandma car…
Thursday, 14 June om 01:23
The US Regal RS (with the supercharged Series II 3800 V6)was actually a very sporty car, and fits the “sleeper” profile perfectly. Looks like a grandma’s car, but easily kept up with a 3-series BMW on the highway. Didn’t handle as well as the BMW, but since most US driving is highway, it worked fine.
Thursday, 14 June om 10:46
I’d like to see the interior. There have been a few of those in my family, and I think these had some radio controls in the back and dugouts in the seatbacks for more room in the rear.