Early this year, Buick debuted the Avista concept coupe, a car based upon Alpha underpinnings that I would’ve happily sold body parts off for scientific use for to own. A twin-turbocharged V6 powered beast in that absolutely stunning, curvaceous body was the proper “wake up” slap from Buick everybody needed, following hot on the heels of the surprisingly pretty LaCrosse sedan and the first slap, the Avenir concept sedan. With the power from the V6 being well beyond adequate…you don’t know how to get in trouble with 464 horsepower?…the media went berserk, and everyone, including us, frothed at the mouths, begging for General Motors to put the car into production as-is, unchanged. The Avista stirred up more questions in my inbox than any other car, period, with people asking when they could buy it. Unfortunately, we later got word straight from Buick Vice President Tony DiSalle that the Avista was never going to happen. We muttered something like, “typical GM”, and moved on.
Well, there’s a lot more to the story than Buick simply saying no to production. According to GM Inside News, there might be some good old-fashioned protectionism going on that may have kept the Avista from being more than a showpiece. Remember the Alpha platform lineage? That is shared with two other cars in the stable: the Cadillac ATS and the Chevrolet Camaro. And apparently it was Team Camaro that took the most offense to the Avista. According to user “Z284ever” on the GM Inside News forums, apparently the Avista was never supposed to go public and that upper management types are “pretty pissed off that it ever saw the light of day” and that Buick’s PR team were getting pretty controlling about what was mentioned after top brass got their knickers in a twist.
Saying this was “missed opportunity” is understating the situation. Not putting a car that brought such a response to the market, even if it was a low-production halo car, is like missing the broad side of a barn with a Boeing 747, and the reasons behind it sounds like history repeating itself. Back in the 1960s, John Z. DeLorean built the XP-833 Banshee prototypes as pitch cars for a Pontiac sports car and promptly felt the wrath of those who wished to protect the ultimate GM darling, the Corvette. Sound familiar?
CLICK HERE to see the original GM Inside News forum post!
Another boneheaded move by GM. Nice looking vehicle compared to the goofy looking transformer like Camaro
GM SUCKS!!! Chevrolet has been the spoiled baby division of GM for years.
Same thing happened with the Fiero. It had a 4 cylinder but they had a few with the 6 cylinder. Problem was that it was as fast as the Corvette and was shelved!
I would buy an Avista today for myself and leave the Camaro for my son. I think the Camaro is nice but not for me.
Pontiac made Chevy look stupid in the early 60s on the strip and roundy rounds, and again with the 73/74 SD F-bodies. Buick stuck it to them with the Grand National, and GMC got their punch in the gutt with the Syclone. Cry baby Chevrolet division!!!
GM really sucks. Stupid asses what are you doing there! The idea is to build a car people want. Capability is obviously there. I see less and less American cars on the road. Build one people want ,it will sell.
Buicks suck…..bring back Pontiac
Buick blows… still a car for old people. About the only thing worse is what Cadillac has become. My mom bought a Lecraap (Lacrosse) four years ago and I still can’t stop teasing her about the GPS is programmed to find all the early bird specials, bingo halls and retirement homes. The only car I can recall in my lifetime that had a Buick badge I liked was the mid/late ’80’s Grand Nationals. Maybe Buick will build another I like, but not holding my breath.