WAIT, BUICKS ARE COOL AGAIN?

Yes, with the Envista and a brand-new design language—based on one of the boldest concept cars in recent memory—GM’'s Buick is finally getting some love.

- KEVIN SINTUMUANG

I remember seeing this svelte crossover for the first time on the road earlier in the year. I was curious about its looks-clean yet interesting, a hatchback with just the right dose of style and a coupe-like roofline to set it apart from the majority of Dove soap bar-shaped crossovers on the road. The name of the car: Envista. Then I saw the badge. It was Buick's signature tri-shield, but it was cleaner, more modern. And I thought, since when did Buicks become cool?

It turns out that Buick, once the preferred brand of the retiree set, has been brewing an overhaul for some time now. It started with a drawing, as things do. In 2018, a sketch from a member of the Buick design team caught the attention of Bob Boniface, Buick's global design director since 2016, who led the charge on the development of the fifth-generation Camaro. The ideas in the sketch were turned into a clay model. What was meant to be an internal design study progressed into what would become the Wildcat EV concept, one of the most surprising concept cars of the past few years. It has a certain Buick-ness, but this is definitely not your grandfather's LeSabre. The Wildcat EV is what defines Buick's new design language, and it was a lot of this verve, which found its way into the Envista.