Elegant Wheel ART Any resemblance to the Y-Job is purely intentional. Yet while the original Buick dream car will likely remain in GM’s possession as long as there’s a GM to possess it, the Buick Blackhawk show car of 2003 that took general inspiration, if not specific styling cues, from the Y-Job.
 |
| 2003 Buick Blackhawk concept. (Picture from: http://bit.ly/1Gm73ej) |
Conceived to celebrate Buick’s centennial, the Blackhawk showcases an amalgam of parts from throughout Buick’s history, all blended together in a 2+2 convertible body. Michael E. Doble, then Buick’s special vehicles manager, came up with the idea of a centennial car, but he didn’t have it done in house.Instead, he turned to Steven Pasteiner, a consulting designer with Advanced Automotive Technologies in Rochester Hills, Michigan, as well as a former Buick designer. According to Gizmag, Pasteiner’s association with Buick stretched back to the 1960s and included designs for the production GS as well as for several concept cars.
 |
| Left side view of 2003 Buick Blackhawk concept has a retractable convertible with styling from the ‘30s. (Picture from: http://bit.ly/1HM0sVg) |
While Pasteiner started with a 1996 Buick Riviera powered by a 240hp L67 supercharged 3800 V-6, he left little of the original front-wheel-drive luxury car other than the VIN to build around. Instead, it uses a scratchbuilt front-engine and rear-wheel-drive 129-inch-wheelbase chassis, Corvette-sourced independent front and rear suspension, a circa 1970 Buick 455 fitted with electronic fuel injection and good for 463 horsepower and 510 pound-feet of torque, and a 4L80E four-speed automatic transmission. Pasteiner added a 1939 Buick grille, sheetmetal from 1941 and 1948 Buick Roadmasters, hidden headlamps that directly evoke the Y-Job, a carbon fiber hardtop, and retained the 1996 Riviera’s interior.
 |
| Rear side view of 2003 Buick Blackhawk concept. (Picture from: http://bit.ly/1HM0sVg) |
Reportedly good for a sub-5-second 0-60 time, the Blackhawk bypassed the traditional car show circuit and instead made its way to Buick enthusiast events and even onto film as Will Smith’s ride in Bad Boys II. “The folks who attend those shows are very excited and knowledgeable about cars,” Doble told Gizmag. “We felt we needed a custom Buick for that audience, but not a hot rod. Hot rods tend to have simple bodies, exposed engines, large rear wheels and lots of chrome. But when you build a custom, it’s like you’re redesigning a car.”
After its initial tour, the Blackhawk made its way back to Detroit and eventually took up residence in the GM Heritage Center. But then in 2009, in the midst of the recession, GM put several dozen of its Heritage Center vehicles up for sale, including the Blackhawk. (See similar concept car.) *** [EKA(09062015) | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | HEMMINGS DAILY]
