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 first-generation Buick Park Avenue was manufactured from 1991 until 1996. It was not officially sold in China.
The famous black license plates were issued 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 then up. This Buick has Ji (冀), the ancient abbreviating character for Heibei Province. The number is 00228, so it is a very early car.
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.
The first-generation Buick Park Avenue was powered by a 205 hp 3.8 liter naturally-aspirated V6 engine, mated to a 4-speed automatic gearbox, sending all horses to the front wheels.
It still had the original Child Security Lock sticker. On locally made Buiks, these stickers are always translated into Chinese, but on imported cars, the stickers are usually left as they were.
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?
Since it wasn’t sold in China officially, the first-generation Buick Park Avenue is a super rare car on Chinese roads, especially in a near-perfect shape like the car that I saw. May there be many more!