Buick Century is the model name that was used by Buick for a line of upscale full-size cars from 1936 to 1942 and 1954 to 1958, as well as from 1973 to 2005 for mid-size cars.

The first Buick Century debuted as the Series 60 then renamed in 1936 as a shorter and lighter model featuring the same engine as the bigger Roadmaster and Limited series giving it more performance while using the shorter wheelbase body of the Buick Special. During the 1930s and 1940s it was Buick's companion to the top level Roadmaster and was offered as a 2-door and 4-door sedan and convertible. The Century name was used on six generations of cars of varying sizes as well as performance and trim levels. In 1969, Buick developed a concept car known as the Century Cruiser. In the 1970s, the Century Regal became a separate model and market positioning between the two products changed from year to year depending on sales. The Century was updated to front wheel drive in 1982 and was Buick's 2-door coupe, 4-door sedan and station wagon, with regular updates and feature upgrades as customer preferences changed over time.

Series 60 (1930–1935)

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thumb|left|1986–1988 Buick Century Estate Wagon

In January 1982, GM debuted the downsized fifth-generation Century, using the front-wheel drive A platform, in coupe and sedan forms.

The fifth-generation Century shared the A platform with the Cutlass Ciera, Pontiac 6000 and Chevrolet Celebrity. Together the A-bodies became very popular — as well as some of GM's most transparent examples of badge engineering, which was highlighted on the cover of the August 22, 1983 issue of Fortune magazine as examples of near-uniformity, embarrassing the company and prompting GM to recommit to design leadership.

In October 1983, a station wagon was added to the lineup to replace the discontinued Regal wagon. The 1984 model year also had an Olympic version of the Buick Century, commemorating the 1984 games in Los Angeles, California. In 1985, all 1986 versions were "freshened" with a new, more angular front fascia. Wheelbase was , with overall length. Both four-cylinder gasoline units and diesel V6 engines were offered in this generation, although neither became popular. Performance versions of several Buick models, including the Century coupe, were marketed in the mid-1980s under the T-Type name. With Buick's 181 cu in (3.0 L) V6 producing , the Century T-Type's performance was modest, but the Buick 3.8 V6 SFI engine, producing , offered passable performance in this comparatively lightweight vehicle.

For 1985 and 1986, Hess & Eisenhardt/Car Craft of Lima, Ohio converted 124 finished Buick Century coupes into coachbuilt convertibles. Although these convertibles were sold as new cars through Buick dealerships, these conversions were not factory authorized. In 1986, the engine distributor was replaced by a coil-pack ignition system that proved to be far more reliable than the system that it replaced. The "Chevrolet Century" were sold in South America and the Caribbean. In Mexico, it was sold as the Century Limited (with no brand, although it wears the Buick logos). Introduced for 1984, it was the top model for General Motors Mexico, and it survived the import car wave from 1991 (previously new car importations were forbidden in Mexico) and continued in production until the 1996 model year. In Japan it was sold as the Buick Regal because of the Toyota Century limousine.

1989 facelift

The Century received a facelift in late 1988 for the 1989 model year, gaining a new more-rounded roofline, but continuing on the A-body platform. Black plastic inserts with the Buick tri-shield emblem replaced the rear quarter windows. The front end received flush headlamps and a rounded grille, and the stand-up hood ornament was now standard. All sedan models were easily distinguished by their full-width taillights that followed a Buick tradition of big taillights. The 3300 was introduced in 1989 as a replacement for the 3800 cc engine, offering an increase of 10 horsepower, but a loss of 15 lb-ft of torque. The smaller engine featured multiport fuel injection, waste spark distributor-less ignition controlled by the ECM after startup, but had no balance shaft. An interior refresh came in 1989 for 1990 models.

The 1989 model had seatbelts mounted on the b-pillar, for 1990-1996 the seatbelts were mounted on the door. From 1989 to 1992, the Century had a black bumper and side trim, and from 1993 to 1996 the Century had a bodycolored trim.

Originally, the Century, as with the rest of the A-body range, was intended to be phased out in 1990 in favor of the more modern W-body line of midsized cars. However, the Century (and its sister car, the Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera) continued to remain popular nearing the intended end of their production runs. Thus, it was decided that the older Century and Cutlass Ciera would instead continue production as lower priced alternatives to their proposed replacements, the Regal and Cutlass Supreme respectively.

1991 facelift

For the 1991 model year, the Century received another slight facelift featuring a bigger radiator grille and different headlamps. The interior featured new door panels with the window switches and door lock switches relocated to a more convenient configuration found on more modern cars, where the switch location corresponds with the window location in the car body. This feature never appeared on its sibling the Oldsmobile Ciera, which retained the inline switch bank mounted flush with the door panel, the rear switch being the driver's door window. The Century windows switches were not backlit, but illuminated by a small bulb in the door panel trim above the switch bank. Other interior changes included new seat covers, and relocating the front outboard seat belts from the A-pillar into the door, functioning as "automatic" seat belts so that the belts could be buckled and the door opened and closed while still buckled. The driver and front passenger could enter and exit the vehicle while the seat belt was still fastened.

For 1993, the 2.5 L inline-four was replaced with a new, , 2.2-liter four. For 1994, the slow-selling coupe model was dropped (603 had been sold for 1993, equivalent to 0.5% of overall Century sales), and all models received a standard driver's-side airbag. Also in 1993, the 3.3 L Buick V6 was replaced with a 3.1 L V6 with the same power rating, and power on the 2.2 L four was up to with the introduction of MFI. Midway through the 1994 model year, a round speedometer replaced the wide rectangular one, but the car still carried on with the original dash.

Despite its dated design, the Century and its sibling the Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera still sold well during the 1990s and proved both reliable and profitable to GM since their tooling costs had been monetized.

<gallery widths="200" heights="150">

File:1982 Buick Century sedan.jpg|1982 Buick Century sedan

File:1984 Buick Century Limited Sedan in Silver, Rear Right, 10-26-2022.jpg|1984 Buick Century Limited Sedan, rear view

File:Buick Century Limited -- 03-24-2011 2.jpg|1985 Buick Century coupe

File:86-88 Buick Century sedan.jpg|1986–1988 Buick Century sedan

File:1990 Buick Century sedan.jpg|1989–1990 Buick Century sedan

File:'91-'93 Buick Century Sedan.jpg|1991–1993 Buick Century sedan

File:1994 Buick Century Special wagon, front right (ISWC meet, July 15, 2023).jpg|1994 Buick Century Special wagon

File:Buick Regal Wagon (JDM Century), front left.jpg|Japanese market 1994–1996 Buick Regal wagon (Toyota was already using the Century modelname)

</gallery>Production

{| class="wikitable"

|+Buick Century Production Figures

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|1989–1992 || Tech IV I4 || || ||

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|1993 || rowspan="2" | LN2 I4 || || ||

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|1994–1996 || || ||

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|1982–1985 || LK9 V6 || || ||

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|1986* || LE2 V6 || || ||

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|1987–1988 || LB6 V6 || || ||

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|1989–1993 || LG7 V6 || || ||

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|1994–1996 || L82 MFI/SFI V6 || || ||

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|1984–1985 || rowspan=2 | LG3 V6 || || || MFI

| caption = 2003 Buick Century Limited

thumb|left|2000 Buick Century Custom

left|thumb|Rear View (2003 Century Limited)

For the 1997 model year, Buick released the sixth-generation Century (in December 1996, nearly 15 years after its last redesign). Joining the newly redesigned Regal on the W-body chassis, the Century continued its image of traditional entry-level luxury. While sharing a chassis and nearly identical bodywork with its counterpart (with the exception of its standard steel wheels, the Century was styled with a more upright grille than the Regal), the Century featured less powerful engines and softer suspension tuning. In further contrast to the Regal, the Century was fitted with a full-width bench seat and a column shifter (bucket seats and a console were optional); in place of full instrumentation, the dashboard lacked a tachometer.

Offered solely as a four-door sedan (the Century Estate station wagon was discontinued), the Century carried over the standard "Custom" and upgraded "Limited" trims from the previous generation. Following the retirement of the Skylark, the Century became the entry-level line for the entire Buick brand for 1999.

For 2003, the Century underwent some revision, as both trim lines were consolidated into an unnamed model. A slight de-contenting of the model line began, with many Limited-trim features (antilock brakes, OnStar, side airbags, rear window antenna, cassette player) became optional, with the "Century" nameplate on the doors deleted (remaining only on the taillamps).

For 2005, a Special Edition option package included dual-zone automatic climate control, 16-inch chrome-plated aluminum wheels, touring tires, anti-lock brakes, a chrome grille with revised tri-shield and a rear Special Edition emblem. Only four exterior colors were offered with the Special Edition option package, Sterling Silver Metallic, Cashmere Metallic, Cardinal Red Metallic and Glacier Blue Metallic.

For 2005, the Buick LaCrosse was introduced to replace both the Century and the Regal on the W-body platform. After outliving the Regal by a model year, the final Buick Century was assembled at Oshawa Car Assembly on October 25, 2004.

China

thumb|left|Buick "New Century" (China)

The Buick Century was produced in China as the New Century from 1998 to 2000. The engine was the 3.0 liter LW9 V6 engine which was also used in the first-generation Buick GL8. A four-cylinder model was also available paired with a 5-speed manual gearbox. The Century was replaced by the Buick Regal due to poor sales.

After the discontinuation of the model in 2000, the New Century name was used as a trim level of the Buick Regal, sold until at least 2005.

Engines

  • 1997–1999 L82 "3100" V6 ,
  • 2000–2005 LG8 "3100" V6 ,
  • 1998–2000 L34 2.0 L (121 cu in) "E-TEC II" I4 , – Chinese market only
  • 1998–2000 LW9 "3000" V6 , – Chinese market only

Usage of the name in China (2023)

thumb|Buick GL8 Century (China)

In China, the fourth generation Buick GL8 minivan was marketed as the Buick Century.

References

  • A-body.net - 82-96 GM A-body Website & Forum