The Buick Bengal was a

concept Concepts are defined as abstract ideas. They are understood to be the fundamental building blocks of the concept behind principles, thoughts and beliefs. They play an important role in all aspects of cognition. As such, concepts are studied by s ...

roadster designed and built by

Buick Buick () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM). Started by automotive pioneer David Dunbar Buick in 1899, it was among the first American marques of automobiles, and was the company that established General ...

. It was first shown to the public at the 2001 North American International Auto Show in

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

History

The Bengal was an attempt to rejuvenate the Buick line, and make it seem more appealing to younger people. It was powered by a supercharged 3.4L V6, which was mated to a six speed manual transmission. The transmission was mounted ahead of the engine, to allow a more forward placement of the front wheels to improve handling. Though a 2-seater roadster in general design, the rear decklid can be lifted to reveal two extra seats. One of the most desirable features of the Bengal is its voice activated controls. The car is able to distinguish over 100 commands given to it by voice, which can operate various things from the

headlight A headlamp is a lamp (electrical component), lamp attached to the front of a vehicle to illuminate the road ahead. Headlamps are also often called headlights, but in the most precise usage (language), usage, ''headlamp'' is the term for the ...

windshield wiper A windscreen wiper, windshield wiper, wiper blade (American English), or simply wiper, is a device used to remove rain, snow, ice, washer fluid, water, or debris from a vehicle's front window. Almost all motor vehicles, including cars, truck ...

s, and convertible top, to the heater, navigation system, seat adjustments, and cruise control. The system was named ''Quiet Servant'' and it was developed by

Visteon Visteon Corporation (VC) is an American global automotive electronics supplier and Fortune 500 company spun off from the Ford Motor Company in 2000. Visteon is composed of multiple businesses that design, engineer, and manufacture vehicle cockpit ...

Corporation. The dashboard is free of traditional gauges, everything instead is displayed on demand on a single flat panel screen. In 2001 Buick claimed they wanted to put the Bengal into production, but plans were shelved until 2004 when they revealed the

Velite ''Velites'' (singular: ) were a class of infantry in the Roman army of the mid-Republic from 211 to 107 BC. ''Velites'' were light infantry and skirmishers armed with javelins ( la, hastae velitares), each with a 75cm (30 inch) wooden shaft the ...

concept, which is a more realistic roadster design.

References

{{Buick Vehicles

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

Cars introduced in 2001 Roadsters