1977 Buick Electra Limited Sedan 4-door 6.6l on 2040-cars

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Opel Cascada is Europe's Buick convertible [w/video]

As we reported earlier, there has been much speculation regarding a Buick convertible of sorts. The most ringing endorsement of this conjecture comes today from General Motors Europe, as the new Opel Cascada has debuted on the interwebs. Opel calls the four-passenger Cascada an "athletic, glamorous midsize convertible." With a length of 4,697mm (185 in.), the Cascada is as long as an Audi A5, to which GM has said it would be slightly larger.
The Cascada, which is Spanish for waterfall, features a cloth convertible top that retracts in 17 seconds and at speeds up to 50 km/h (31 mph). The Cascada features a 1.4-liter turbo gas engine, 2.0-liter turbodiesel with 165 horsepower and a range-topping 1.6-liter turbocharged Ecotec engine that puts out 170 horsepower and 280 Nm (207 lb-ft). Power is sent through either a six-speed manual or six-speed automatic transmission.
According to GM, the Cascada will also come rife with luxury and tech features. In addition to adaptive forward lighting and ergonomic heated front seats, the convertible will feature Opel Eye, which is a front camera that can recognize traffic signs and incorporates lane departure warning and forward collision alert.

GM recalling over 243,000 crossovers over possible seat belt defect

2010 Buick Enclave - Click above for high-res image gallery
The summer of 2010's recall hit parade continues unabated today, with General Motors having just announced that it is asking 243,403 owners of its 2009-2010 Lambda crossovers to bring their three-row haulers in for inspection. The culprit? Second-row seat belts in select Buick Enclave, Chevrolet Traverse, GMC Acadia, and Saturn Outlook CUVs have "failed to perform properly in a crash."
According to GM, a second-row seat-side trim piece is to blame, as it can impede the upward rotation of the buckle after the seat is folded flat. As a result, if the buckle makes contact with the seat frame, cosmetic damage can occur, potentially requiring additional force to operate the buckle properly. So far, no great shakes, but in the process of applying that additional force, the occupant may push the buckle cover down to the strap, potentially revealing and depressing the red release button. As a result of this, the belt may not latch, or in certain cases, it may actually appear to be latched when, in fact, it isn't.

Buick Cascada dies the death everyone expected

Four months ago, the Grim Reaper came for the Opel Cascada. Groupe PSA, which bought Opel from General Motors in 2017, announced the two-door convertible would be phased out. On sale here since 2016 as the Buick Cascada, GM told us it had nothing to say about PSA's announcement. On Friday, the U.S. automaker spoke up, telling Automotive News the droptop "has reached the end of its originally-planned lifecycle and 2019 will be the last model year offered. Dealers have been notified and many will have stock through the rest of this year." Buick paid big money to advertise its first convertible since the 1991 Reatta. Buick threw money at Super Bowls ads and a gaggle of celebrities two years in a row. And when sales began in 2016, Buick enlisted The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt star Ellie Kemper for a series of television and online spots. U.S. dealers have been instructed to file final orders this month, and production will continue at the factory in Poland until this summer. Yet the fact we're in February and dealers are predicted to have stock for the next ten months says everything necessary about the state of play. The brand sold roughly 17,000 units in three years, and both 2017 and 2018 saw sales declines of more than 25 percent. Buick didn't expect huge sales from the import, though, and the Cascada earned conquest buyers. A spokesman said, "The Cascada has played its role in the portfolio perfectly, outselling many other premium convertibles while bringing in [6 of every 10] buyers from outside GM." Last we heard, the LaCrosse ceases production next month. Unless the situation changes before the end of the year, Buick will have only the Regal on its passenger car books come 2020. GM will only have two convertibles in its portfolio worldwide, the Chevrolet Camaro and Corvette. Related Video: