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RIDES takes the Buick Lucerne from simple to sinister with a VIP-style treatment.Everything has a signature style, from an MC’s flow to an artist’s brushstroke—same goes for cars. For Buick, it’s the Ventiports, dubbed portholes: the three to four fender vents that quickly became Buick’s calling card during the ’50s and ’60s. Eventually the design was phased out after the 1983 Electra, but in recent years, Buick has returned to their historic ports, and now they are quickly becoming the trend in Japan. That’s right, it’s been recently reported that VIP-style sedans have been grafting on Buick’s legendary trim piece to other makes. So how did that start? You’re looking at it, homie san! Buick’s new low-buck luxe-bucket caught the eye of the RIDES crew from day one. It might not have been love at first sight, but we were all willing to hit it—it just needed an angrier stance. The lines were perfect for the project we had in mind, a VIP sedan. While we could have kept with the standard guidelines of the Yakuza-inspired car style and built out an Infinti or Lexus, we wanted to twist it up with a domestic feel. After getting our hands on a black-on-black Lucerne CXS, we hit the drawing board...literally. There were three requirements we had for this project: It had to be ridiculously low and look proper on nothing bigger than 20-inchers. It also had to retain a certain amount of its stock feel and look understated. And, most importantly, it had to have heads saying “What type of car is that?” even with the Buick logos front and rear. Once we were done dreaming of a master plan, we contacted our boy Don Whitmire at Wheel Concepts in Staten Island, New York. The job of seeing this from idea to fruition was now on him. First on his list of duties was a four-inch belly-slapping drop, which was accomplished with custom wound springs, that retains the factory air ride suspension. Yeah, even a fist off the ground, it still floats. Next, was the custom bumper molds. The front was inspired by Buick’s cousin Caddy and their XLR’s pointy lines. The rear, which saw a few revisions in the end, was inspired by a Maserati Quattroporte, that just happened to be parked at the shop. To finish the custom kit, Don whipped up some custom sideskirts that tied the lines together. The back end was still in need of a lil’ more jazz, so he reshaped the trunk, giving it not only a more aggressive integrated rear lip, but added a filler panel to match the lines of the bumper. After the side moldings were shaved, the Lucerne caught To offset the ultra-gangsta black, a chrome grille was sorted from a base model to replace the stock black one. The emblems were then jeweled, ’cause we’re suckers for a little bit of bling. Finally, it was time to mount the rims. Knowing that the wrong shoes could ruin the right suit, a set of Falken-wrapped AME Shallen AXs was massaged to fit the Buick’s hole pattern. In order for the guts to match the skin, we didn’t want to ruin the already fresh interior. The headliner and door panel armrest pockets were suede wrapped and a single panel on each seat was also trimmed in suede to pull the look together. The wood-trim was lacquered black to continue with the evil theme. Not wanting to remove the factory navigation displays, a custom switch panel was designed to allow video and iPod playback through the system. Crisp sound in the front is courtesy of a pair of Critical Mass C652 component speakers, which are mounted behind custom grilles. Block-pounding bass, on the other hand is delivered via three Rockford Fosgate P3 10-inch subs powered by an RF 10001 amp and hidden under the rear deck that glows red. To add to the wow-factor, the system is set to be Spec the Technique Exterior 3.75-inch drop, rebuilt front and rear springs, custom front and rear bumpers with side skirts, custom flat spoiler from the rear quarter panels to trunk lid, lower matched radius panel to fill gap between bumper top and trunk lid
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