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Buick GL8 Adds Giant TV, Captain's Chairs, Starry Sky Headliner, and the Century Suffix

Minivans, or MPVs as they’re better known overseas, are slowly but surely dying, just like traditional sedans, and other body styles, and crossovers are to blame. Nonetheless, they’re not dead yet, as a few companies still dedicate time and money to making them.
Buick GL8 Century 8 photos
Photo: GM China
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One such giant is General Motors, whose proposal for China includes the GL8. You might be tempted to say that this model is yesterday’s news, as it has been covered extensively over the years, together with the numerous derivatives. But you’d be wrong, because the people carrier has just received a new special version in the People’s Republic.

Dubbed the Buick GL8 Century, with Toyota probably not happy about its suffix, it offers a posher alternative to the minivan, with look-at-me exterior, and luxurious interior. It measures 5,230 mm (205.9 in) from bumper to bumper, is 1,980 mm (77.9 in) wide, and 1,867 mm (73.5 in) tall. This gives it “sleek proportions, and interior roominess,” the marque says, while the two-tone finish “heightens the grand and commanding presence.

Slide open the rear doors and you will probably get a luxury sedan whiff. That’s because the GL8 Century boasts captain’s chairs for the second row that look extremely comfortable, separated by a center console. They wear beige leather upholstery on the pictured car, with matching seatbelts, and have integrated speakers into the headrests, signed by Bose, for what GM says it is “an immersive audio experience comparable to that of a concert hall.

Another special feature that shouldn’t be ignored is that massive screen that doubles as a partition wall, separating the driver and front passenger from the rear compartment. It is a foldable smart display that “can be raised with a tap of the center armrest touchscreen to support smart projection,” the automaker explains.

Further contributing to the enhanced ambience is the LED lighting, and the starry sky headliner, something that you’d expect to see in a Rolls-Royce, and not a GM minivan. Kind of makes you wish the GL8 was sold over here too, doesn’t it?
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About the author: Cristian Gnaticov
Cristian Gnaticov profile photo

After a series of unfortunate events put an end to Cristian's dream of entering a custom built & tuned old-school Dacia into a rally competition, he moved on to drive press cars and write for a living. He's worked for several automotive online journals and now he's back at autoevolution after his first tour in the mid-2000s.
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