This is how the 1997 Buick Century catered to its traditional buyers
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- Опубліковано 7 лют 2025
- The Buick Century was redesigned for the 1997 model year. Being assembled at GM’s award-winning Oshawa plant, Buick’s midsize sedan shared sheet metal with its sibling, the Regal, while offering traditional 6-passenger seating.
In this episode, we’re going to take a closer look at the 1997-2005 Buick Century and how Buick took an old, successful formula and improved it for their loyal, traditional buyers.
Great vid! Senior centers back then wouldnt have been the same without dozens of beige and white ones in the parking lot.
Yep. Right on!
I was a kid in Shanghai in the late 1990s, you have to understand the impact these cars had in China. Prior to that time, automakers had mainly been introducing decade-old boxy models from the 1980s for the CKD production in China. The Century was one of the first modern and aerodynamic cars, and seemed to represent everything that was wonderful about America.
Yeah I heard they are quite popular in China.
The Regal episode was promoted in this video, however, it is in production. Initially, when this vid was being produced, I intended to release the Century and Regal episode on the same day. Instead of keeping everyone waiting, I just decided to release the Century episode now rather than waiting for the Regal vid to get done. The Regal vid will be out soon.
Had a 97 century. Miss that car bad.
I absolutely loved my Grandmothers 1998 Buick Century. I ended up buying it from my mother and aunt after my Grandmother passed away. And now I have it as a weekend driver. Such a great car. It still has a great look in the modern car era.
Glad to hear you like the 1998 Century. They are solid cars. Still see plenty of them on the road nowadays. And yes, they still look nice too.
I had a '97 Century Custom bought new. It was a nice car. With about 9,000 miles on it, it was totaled in an accident. Its replacement was a '99 Century Limited with every, and I mean every option available. Sunroof, dual power leather seats, automatic climate control, cassette/cd player, aluminum wheels, it had it all. It also had that head gasket issue and I traded it for a Park Avenue Ultra...
My aunt had one of these cars. I drove it several times. The steering was light, numb and zero feeling of much control. Drove like something from the 1960's.
I drive an 05 century, 308k miles and going strong!
As a kid I never appreciated these cars, now that I'm older with all the fun that goes with it, I now really understand these cars. I wish Buick would go back to making cars like this because I don't think cars focused on softer suspensions, copious use of padding, and technological simplicity or ever irrelevant. We have the same skeleton design as the generations that loved cars like this and I think our bodies will all get to the point where we will learn to love these cars even if we didn't at the time when they were made.
Very good. I was hoping you would mention the Chinese Century. You did. You told the story well. I was hoping to hear about the 3300 V6 that was based off the 3800 V6. It was used in the Century and was quite reliable and durable. You should see how loaded the Mexican versions were. They were sold as Chevrolets there. They had different seats and more luxurious interiors. There are videos of them on You Tube. As you talked about with Lumina there was that version sold as a Chevrolet in The Philippines. Great video and I look forward to your Buick Regal video.
Thanks for watching again. Yeah the 3300 was proven to be exceptionally durable but it wasn’t exactly relevant to the W-body Century, so I didn’t mention it. The A-body Century will get its own show, so the LG7 will be mentioned in that episode. I can’t recall fully, but I think the LG7 was more for the 89-93 car (until that particular motor was dropped). Yep, the Chinese Regal doubled as the Chevy Lumina for the Philippines. A lot of my car buddies were unaware of that. Stay tuned for the next vid.
I HAD A 1990 BUICK CENTURY LASTED 12 YEARS NO RUST STRONG CAR GENERAL MOTORS GOOD CAR
In my auto tech school, one of our learning cars is a 2002 Buick Century Custom, believe it or not with only 65k original miles. You would think it would be in good shape, and other than missing the wheel covers (they all broke) it is. The problem is, I live in Michigan, so the underside of the car is GONE. It's barely even safe to put on the lift anymore. Supposedly it came from an old lady who died. I like it, I drive a 1995 Monte Carlo which is similar, but the Century seems like a good all around car. Plus, the cloth seats are WICKED soft. The weirdest thing is that it still uses a separate door and ignition key in 2002. It had to be the last GM car to do that.
Whoa. Yeah I know the salt from the roads up north can wreak havoc on a car’s undercarriage over time. Yeah the Monte and the Century are related in some form. Glad to hear you’re in auto tech school. Thanks for watching.
It's horrid. We have a 2012 Dodge Ram and the wheel wells are rusted clean thru. It also has 306k miles (it was a fleet truck and has TONS of issues) but it just shows what happens up here. Yep, I love my auto tech school. You're welcome.
I swear, I hear this guy's voice on all types of UA-cam videos.
My voice? Haha I narrate my own channel (this one only).
@@MotorMaster_Stunticon Wow you sound just like the guy on HomeTeam History and a few other channels. 🥲 Well anyway, new subscriber here. ✌️
Awesome. Glad to have you onboard. Stay tuned for more nostalgic car videos.
Regal used to have front bench seats too.
This is true.
@@MotorMaster_Stunticon
That’s why I like these older cars. If I’m getting something old, I want that set up! Nice video.
@@42luke93 agreed 100%. These older cars are great.
My grand mother' had one
My grandmother had too of them the first one she had to junk because the body was rotting out and the second one she had to junk because of the transmission
I wish she still her buick century
Cool.
Design flaw of this model of Century passenger wiper end lost contact with the windshield curve.
Cool🥰
I drove a 1997 Buick Century around my yard before I had a license. It was very nice driving car, but unfortunately it had rusted out and became a Demolition derby car. You don't really see many century's or Regal's in upstate NY anymore since they have rusted away. The only ones around are rusted out or are fresh from non-salt states.
Yeah I been up north before it’s brutal on cars with all of the road salt, thanks for commenting.
@@MotorMaster_Stunticon Yeah, its a shame. I love these old cars. No problem.
I have 2003 century custom
That’s great to hear. These cars are very reliable-still see plenty out there.
The decision to make Regals and Centurys all but identical was another argument that GM should have been allowed to fail.
Agreed.
Difference engines. But yeah, silly to have them look the same.
🔥🎸🔥
Nah I narrate my own videos. I’m all I got-not a professional, just a regular guy with a microphone.
@@MotorMaster_Stunticon I understand man. This was an interesting history video dispite my little own opinion. Thank you.
No problem. Thanks for watching!
Decent cars but head gaskets were a problem
Really? Never heard that before.
@@MotorMaster_Stunticon Intake manifold gaskets and head gaskets are common problems.
My wife drove her 96 Century about 10 years and had to initially replace the head gasket then 5 years later had to replace engine with a used one due to overheating
In fairness the car was driven after it overheated about 8 miles instead of it being towed…Do a google search and the gaskets will pop up as well as rod and bearing failure in some Century’s.