This is a first-generation Buick Park Avenue sedan, seen in the late summer of 2013 in the far east of the Chinese capital, Beijing. The beautiful Buick was parked in the parking lot of a popular local restaurant and was still used as a daily driver. It was a little dusty, but at that time, everything was.
The Buick Park Avenue
The first-generation Buick Park Avenue was manufactured from 1991 until 1996. It was not officially sold in China.
Check the lady with the stroller in the background! That’s my wife and first kid. They didn’t care about the rare Buick ): The Park Avenue was a mid-size front-wheel drive luxury sedan. It was loaded with shiny chrome on the bumpers, doors, door handles, and around the windows. It has a classic 3-box sedan shape, with a long hood, a wide C-pillar, and a long trunk lid.
Black license plates
The government issued the famous black license plates to foreign-owned companies from the 1980s to the mid-’00s. These companies could buy a car locally or import one. There were no limits on the number of cars, price, or engine type. Every municipality and province had a black license plate program. This Buick has plates from Hebei, the province that surrounds Beijing. The numbering started at C·00001, and up. This Buick has Ji (冀), the ancient abbreviating character for Hebei Province. The number is 00228, so it is a very early car.
Specifications
The first-generation Buick Park Avenue uses a 205-hp, 3.8-liter naturally aspirated V6 paired with a 4-speed automatic, and the gearbox sends all its power to the front wheels.
It still had the original Child Security Lock sticker. On locally made Buicks, the factory translated these stickers into Chinese, but on imported cars, manufacturers usually leave them as they are.
A complicated yet beautiful alloy wheel design.
The restaurant was located next to one of Beijing’s largest public parks, with giant trees of all kinds of sorts and sizes. I took these photos in late summer, close to autumn, and some of the trees were starting to change color. Late summer was always such a great time. Away from the overheated summer. Away from the ice-cold winter. Just a few weeks with a nice climate!
A repair gone wrong, I guess?
Because Buick never officially sold it in China, the first-generation Park Avenue is extremely rare on Chinese roads — especially in the near-perfect condition of the one I saw.