1953 Buick Special Riviera 2 Door Hardtop 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.

Reuss says Cadillac CT6-based Buick could happen

Could the upcoming Cadillac CT6 and its Omega platform spawn a Buick variant? According to General Motors' product chief Mark Reuss, it could potentially be in the cards, but "not yet." "We're working on that," Reuss told Automotive News at the 2015 New York Auto Show. While there hasn't been a large, rear-drive Buick on dealerships since the Roadmaster in 1996, the company gave a big hint that it could head in that direction with the Avenir Concept, shown earlier this year at the Detroit Auto Show. As Automotive News explains, a rear-drive Omega-platform Buick could be a real hit in China, where consumers buy 13 Buicks for every one Cadillac. That move would be a big help to GM's bottom line, too, as it'd significantly increase the Omega platform's economy of scale. If a large Buick based on the CT6 were to head to China, though, it likely wouldn't be a simple case of badge engineering (thank God). Reuss hinted to Automotive News that while the mixed-material construction of the CT6 platform "is very flexible," doing an "identical version of that platform or not is a different conversation." What are your thoughts? Should Buick adopt the Omega platform for an Avenir-based sedan? Should that vehicle be sold here in the US, or should it be a China-only offering? Have your say in Comments. Related Video:

Watch this phantom Buick drive itself down the highway in a snow storm

Years ago, General Motors used Buick cars to test out the idea of a "smart highway" concept. More recently, GM has been talking up its award-winning Super Cruise semi-autonomous technology that will roll out with Cadillac and make its way to Buick. The LeSabre in the video above has nothing to do with any of that.
On Interstate 15 in Utah, a man driving this LeSabre got into an accident that rearranged the front end and set the horn on permanent blare. At the time of writing this, no one is sure what happened next, but the man ended up sitting in the snow in the highway median while his car carried on down the highway without him. Passing traffic stayed well to the right.
The 51-second video below provides a different take on our autonomous future. A local newscast on KUTV covered the story the evening of the incident, but the Utah Highway Patrol didn't have any update on the fate of the LeSabre. We'll take that to mean that Buick's take on Christine could still be out on the prowl... so watch out!