Buick's beautiful Blackhawk concept

Designed with Buick's Centennial year in mind, the Blackhawk is reministenct of the 1948 Buick Roadmaster with handle-less doors (keyless entry) and retractable headlamps designed to maintain the torpedo body's classic lines. The 2+2 convertible has an electronically retractable carbon-fibre top which stores in the trunk, 18 inch five spoke alloy wheels and dual three inch exhausts. The motor is a heavily-detailed, 463 bhp 455 cubic inch V8 with fuel injection, mated to an electronic, four-speed, automatic transmission.

The Buick Blackhawk is not just any customized car – it’s designed to emphasize Buick’s heritage of distinctive design and outstanding power for the specialized audiences that attend custom/hot rod shows.

"This is a very special show car," said Michael E. Doble, Buick’s special vehicles manager: "It has classic styling combined with contemporary proportions. If you’re talking about customized cars, the Blackhawk is the ultimate expression of Buick."

Retractable convertible with styling from the ‘30s

The Blackhawk is basically a 2-plus-2 convertible with a retractable top, and a body that looks like it came out of the late 1930s or ‘40s – because it did. Its face is a classic 1939 Buick grille, which has a pattern of fine vertical bars, and its major sheet metal combines the sleek bodies of 1941 and 1948 Buick Roadmasters.

All of this except the grille has been modified, and the final appearance – featuring black cherry paint, doors without handles and hidden headlamps – is of a streamlined yet retro head-turner that looks like it was created specifically for the Woodward Dream Cruise.

A show car for a special audience

In a sense it was. Doble has been in charge of creating Buick show and concept cars as well as some specialty production models for the last 15 years. Mostly, his Buick concepts have been built to headline major auto shows at Detroit, Los Angeles, Chicago and New York. But the Blackhawk was created to fill a different need – one he perceived when he attended custom and hot rod shows and caught the enthusiasm of their crowds.

"The folks who attend those shows are very excited and knowledgeable about cars," he said. "We felt we needed a custom Buick for that audience, but not a hot rod. Hot rods tend to have simple bodies, exposed engines, large rear wheels and lots of chrome. But when you build a custom, it’s like you’re redesigning a car.

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