Buick Century 6th Gen. Origin
The 6th generation Buick Century is a mid-size car line produced by Buick between 1996 and 2004. However, production in China continued until 2008. Its predecessor is the 5th generation Buick Century, which was produced between 1982 and 1996.
The Buick Century model cars were originally full-sized cars whose sizes were reduced as newer models appeared. By the third generation, the company had begun producing mid-sized cars under the Century brand.
Various designers worked on the Buick Century model cars over the years, including Harley Earl, who designed the Series 60. The 6th generation Century was designed by Wayne Cherry, and despite being designed in December 1996, they were not released until 1997, thus the model years on record range from 1997 to 2005.
The Buick Century model cars used various layouts for the majority of their previous generations. The Series 60, for example, had a front-engine rear-wheel-drive layout. However, from the First-generation Century to the fourth generation, the model cars were primarily distinguished by the FR layout. In the fifth generation, the cars used the Transverse front-engine front-wheel-drive layout.
Buick Century 6th Gen. Overview
The predecessor to the 6th generation Century had several body styles on an A-body platform, including the coupe, sedan, and station wagon. However, after a redesign of the model cars in the sixth generation, the only body style available was the 4-door sedan. Buick stopped producing station wagons as sales declined. However, the V6 engine and Transverse front-wheel-drive layout used on the 5th generation models were transferred to the then-newer 6th generation.
The 5th generation’s “Limited” and “Custom” trim levels were also transferred to the 6th generation models. Another aspect of the redesign was the transition from the A-body platform used by previous models to the W-body platform. The overall appearance of the 6th generation Century was similar to that of the Buick Regal line. The only differences between them were the engine, trim, and seating configurations, and because the Century was less expensive than the Regal, it had less power.
The sixth-generation Century was a six-seater with a front bench seat and a column shifter. After Buick discontinued production of its Skylark line in 1998, the Century became the company’s entry-level vehicle for the first time.
By 2003, production of the Century’s various trims had ceased, leaving only one standard model. Furthermore, the nameplate on the front doors with the “Century” name was removed and placed on the taillights of the 2003 models.
Buick Century 6th Gen. Production
The Buick Century was manufactured in China under the name New Century from 1998 to 2000. It was powered by a 3.0-liter LW9 V6 engine from the first-generation Buick GL8. There was also a 4-cylinder version with a five-speed manual transmission. Even in China, sales of the Century fell, prompting its replacement by the Buick Regal.
Throughout the nine years that these cars were produced, the changes made to the Century model car were very minor. In 2005, the company produced new Century cars with special trims, which were used to bring the model to an end. General Motors rolled the final Buick Century off the Oshawa assembly line on October 25, 2004. The exact number of this car produced remains unknown. All we know was that eventually the Buick LaCrosse was designed to replace both the Century and Regal models.
Buick Century 6th Gen. Price
The price of the 6th generation Buick Century as at production is unknown. One thing that must be kept in mind is that they are not luxury cars. The price range based on online auction sales places it within $144 – $1085 depending on the state of the car.
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