Ride was soft in the Buick tradition, but some **plained that the boulevard ride was gained at the price of boat-like handling. All versions were **fortable and the CXS offered good handling as well. **turys base-priced some $2000-$3000 less than Regals and, perhaps as a result, were far more popular, drawing well over 100,000 calendar-year sales in 1998-2000 versus 65,000-75,000 for Regal. Desf**es gave up after the peasant outright refused to **it suicide, and set to work on gathering funds to build a more reliable flying **traption. Design and Planning: The roofing **tractor will work with the building owner to design the roofing system and create a plan for the installation process. The '99 **turys, for example, got standard traction **trol and a useful tire-pressure monitor, while GM's new OnStar **unications system moved from optional to standard for 2001 GS Regals and Limited **turys. Even the sophisticated StabiliTrak system was available in a new "Driver **fidence" package that also included the head-up display and self-sealing tires, though it required the Gran Touring suspension option.

Arriving a bit later was Cadillac's praiseworthy "StabiliTrak" electronic antiskid system, which throttled back power and/or applied brakes to individual wheels to keep you on course. To mark Buick's 100th year in 2003, LeSabre added a Celebration Edition which featured StabilTrak antiskid **trol, head-up instrument display, and unique trim. Predictably, Flint's flagships offered a pile of new features, including front shoulder belts **ve**ly integrated with the seat, an aircraft-style head-up display projecting speed and other data onto the windshield at driver eye level, and "rain-sensing" wipers that varied intermittent sweeps according to moisture detected on the windshield. Yet for all the changes -- including more nimble handling, a bene璮it of the stout G-car structure -- LeSabre remained a resolutely **servative, upper-middle-class Buick with a family-friendly character and value pri**g in low-$20,000 territory. Here, too, styling was more curvaceous, though still Buick-**servative, and interiors became more spacious thanks to a longer wheelbase (by three inches), though overall length was little changed.

Interior room improved via a longer wheelbase, plus a little extra width and even height, yet overall length and weight were again little changed. With all this, plus reasonable prices of $30,000-$35,000, Park Avenue calendar-year sales improved a healthy 44 per**t in '97 and held in the 58,000-62,000 range for '98 and '99. The admirable G-platform was the basis for redesigned big Buicks, starting with 1997's Park Avenue and Park Avenue Ultra. The big differe**his time was that he had a production model as a starting point. Timely redesigns were a big help, with 1997 a pivotal model year. A less-expensive, standard model soon followed with the unblown 205-bhp Series II engine. Turbo Coupe appointments were slightly upgraded, and the Sport changed from digital/graphic to analog gauges as standard. The Monte Carlo Landau came with an automatic transmission, deluxe wheel covers, sport mirrors, pinstriping, elk-grain vinyl rear F Roof Decking cover, and wide sill moldings.

Named for the famous "prairie schooners" of the firm's infancy, it came as Deluxe and Regal Champs and **anders. **tury and Regal were recast on a new corporate W-body platform shared with Pontiac Grand Prix and Oldsmobile's new midsize '98 Intrigue. For 2005, both **tury and Regal were replaced by a single nameplate: LaCrosse. The LaCrosse was a signifi**t improvement over the models it replaced. Just as LaCrosse replaced two familiar nameplates, so did Lucerne in 2006. Taking over for both LaSabre (a Buick staple since 1959) and Park Avenue, the Lucerne shared a platform with the Cadillac DTS. The bottom of roof decking is painted bright white to enhance reflectivity and reduce the amount of light required to illuminate the underside of a platform. This platform includes the latest te**ology: cloud-native architecture, Kuber**es orchestration, auto-scaling, smart traffic routing, geographic failover, self-healing, and more. There was more power than ever. There were few changes along the way though, the supercharged engine was boosted to 240 bhp for '96 and was the only engine available for '98, when bucket seats were standardized too. Gone was the slow-selling four-door; there was just a single body style now, a bulky, straight-edged two-door hardtop wearing a few vague styling cues from its sleek 1970-1971 a**ors.