
It's
been a long, long time since a Buick was featured on the cover of Motor
Trend. Nearly 28 years, to be precise. The Century T-Type that graced
our August 1982 cover was, we reported, designed for "young, affluent,
trend-setting import buyers" -- the sorts of people who might otherwise
drive an Audi 5000, Toyota Cressida, or Nissan Maxima. Uh-huh... Little
did we know that, by the time the Century nameplate bit the dust in
2005, Buick would be a hapless relic of a Detroit mindset that believed
American automakers could get away with foisting outclassed machinery
on American consumers too patriotic -- or dimwitted -- to buy an import
brand.