1997 BUICK Park Avenue 3.8L Supercharged V6 4AT (243 HP)

Vehicle Overview

In 1997, the top volume luxury car in the U.S. was Buick. Its low-profile look, smooth ride, and reasonable prices placed it into the top, in front of other brands. In 1997, the Park Avenue was launched to keep the sales figures up.

The Park Avenue’s platform was the new Platform G, which was an evolution of the C Platform, but more rigid. It was the same used on the Buick Riviera. The chromed grille was blamed to be too similar to a Jaguar.

From the outside, there were many similarities with the previous generation, but the headlights and the front bumper were different. The bumper-mounted turns signal was a good example. Large headlights and sidelights for lighting inside the curve was a good idea for that time. The car featured standard 16″ light-alloy wheels with the Buick three-shield logo in the middle.

Inside, the luxurious sedan featured electrically adjustable front seats with fabric upholstery on the base model. The Ultra version though featured large leather seats. It had 10-way adjustable power seat, including the height-adjustable seatbelt that was mounted on the same arm with the headrest, instead of on the door as usual cars had it. As a luxury statement, Buick installed real wood trim on the dashboard and doors.

Under the hood, there were two engine options. Both were 3.8-liter V6, but with a supercharger for the Ultra version. The four-speed automatic transmission had a traction control button installed on the gear lever.