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The Buick Regal is an upscale mid-size car introduced by Buick for the 1973 model year. North American production ended in 2004 and began again in 2011. For the 2011 model year, Buick re-introduced the Regal to the North American market, positioned as an upscale sport sedan. Production and sales in China have continued since 1999.〔 For certain model years between 1973 and 2004, the Regal shared bodies and powertrains with the similar Buick Century. The current model (2011–present) is a badge-engineered version of the Opel Insignia, known as the Vauxhall Insignia in the UK. == First generation (1973–1977) == | transmission = | wheelbase = | length = | height = | body_style = 2-door coupe 4-door sedan | related = | platform = A-body | layout = FR layout | sp = us }} Buick had been the first GM division to bring a personal luxury car to market with its full-size 1963 Riviera, but was otherwise slow to react to the developing lower-priced mid-size personal luxury market, which Pontiac created with the 1969 Grand Prix and Chevrolet with the Monte Carlo the following year, 1970. At the same time, Oldsmobile added a formal notchback coupé to its intermediate line, the Cutlass Supreme, in 1970 and that model soon became Olds' best selling intermediate. Buick did not get its own personal luxury coupe until the GM intermediates were redesigned in 1973, the so-called "Colonnade" cars that eliminated hardtop models completely. In a curious name swap, the Skylark name was dropped from Buick's intermediate line and instead the Century nameplate, last used in the 1950s, was revived for them. A highly trimmed, notchback coupe, the first Regal shared its front and rear styling with its Century parent with distinctions amounting to differing grilles and taillight lenses. The Regal shared the same "Colonnade" pillared hardtop roofline (a hardtop with center pillar but frameless doors unlike a sedan body) and greenhouse (window area) with the Grand Prix, Monte Carlo, and Cutlass Supreme as well as the lower-priced Buick Century Luxus coupe. Like its corporate cousins, the Regal (and Luxus) featured the newly fashionable opera windows, which were small fixed rear-side windows surrounded by sheetmetal, instead of the traditional roll-down windows. For the first year in 1973, the Regal nameplate was only used for Buick's version of the GM intermediate personal luxury coupe, but the following year gained a sedan companion (there was no Regal station wagon). Regal interiors were generally more luxurious than lesser Century models with woodgrain trim on dashboard and door panels, along with door-pull straps and notchback bench seats with center armrests with cloth, velour, or vinyl upholstery. Optionally available throughout the run was a 60/40 split bench seat with armrest. For 1976-77, the Regal coupé was available with the S/R option that included reclining bucket seats with corduroy upholstery. The model lasted five years with minimal changes, although there was a fairly substantial facelift in 1976 (for the coupe only — sedans stayed with original 1973 sheetmetal through 1977), which incorporated the recently legalized square headlights (horizontally mounted on coupes, and vertically on sedans — much like the mid-1960s Pontiacs). The Regal coupe sold reasonably well, although it lagged behind the Monte Carlo and Cutlass Supreme which had become the best-selling cars in America by 1976. Regal sedans and all Century models had far fewer takers. The Regal was most commonly powered by Buick's 350 in³ V8, which was standard equipment on all models in 1973 and 1974 and optional on coupes but remained standard on sedans from 1975 to 1977, and the larger 455 in³ V8 was optional in 1973 and 1974 only. Starting in 1975, Regal coupes came standard with Buick's resurrected V6 engine previously offered on the Skylark from 1964 to 1967; the engine's tooling had been sold to Kaiser Motors for use in Jeep models (Kaiser was purchased by American Motors in 1970 and Jeep became an AMC division) and sold back to GM by AMC in 1974. In 1975 and 1976, the Century and Regal were the only mid-sized cars in America to offer V6 engines. The bolt pattern for this vehicle is 5x. The Century designation was quietly dropped from the Regal in 1975. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Buick Regal」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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