Buick Bolero

The Buick Bolero is a concept car unveiled in 1990.

The car was constructed in late 1989 and it took Buick into the future with a creative blend of sporty, expressive design, and practicality. Buick combined what their customers told them they have been looking for into the Bolero, presenting to the public where Buick was headed. The front-wheel-drive Bolero incorporates a supercharged 3300 V6 generating 206 horsepower. It has sequential-port electronic fuel-injection, and is coupled to a four-speed electronically-controlled automatic transmission with overdrive.

The power under the hood is suggested by the car's aerodynamic shape, with a rear deck slightly higher than the hood and a steeply-raked windshield. The rhythmic Bolero features the famous Buick vertical bar grille, flanked by flush headlights. The rounded sections and the long wrap-around taillights also evoke images of Buick's heritage. Unique to the Bolero are fiber-optics used throughout the car; particularly in the taillights. One light panel extends the width of the rear, with bulbs on both ends.

This was a break from the traditional use of taillight bulbs mounted in parabolas. Fiber optics are also used in the instrument panel, backlighting of controls, and in the doors. Inside the Bolero was a built-in cooler, dual cup holders, and portable radio headsets located in the rear of the front seats. All gauges in the instrument panel are analog, rather than digital, and controls for side-view mirrors, windows, and radio were push-button.