“Hey, Baby, Nice Rear”—On That 2016 Buick Regal, That Is!

That said, we have considerable mixed feelings about the current lineup. We’re not crazy about the grilles. Today’s generation of Regals offers much to command attention—for instance, consider the 310-horsepower 3.6-liter V6 available in the 2018 Regal GS. But, at least from the side, there is one serious flaw: the silhouette suffers from the ubiquitous Hyundai-Sonata-cum-Ford-Fusion wedge-shaped fastback problem.

So the close-up view above, snapped just this week, of the shapely rear of a 2016 Buick Regal in traffic, was a bit of  a Eureka moment. It was a much nicer rear than we might have expected.

Automakers have become by and large stuck with many of the car shapes you see today, for a variety of reasons ranging from aerodynamic forms for better fuel economy to crashworthiness and pedestrian safety. 

Some marques—notably including Mazda, for instance—are doing a far better job than others at successful integration of enticing designs into these basic frameworks. But Buick designers, to their credit, at least made an effort to maintain some modicum of Buick’s tradition of design panache and distinction in their approach to this Regal’s rear end.

While a nice rear—either within or outside the automotive domain—does not a nice whole package necessarily make, it certainly doesn’t hurt. And that’s why we’re pleased to be able to make at least this one catcall-compliment to Buick: “Hey, baby—nice rear!”