How do you make something better? Sometimes it’s not a matter of the ingredients or the components but the proportions of them. Our Pick of the Day shows that a little extra brightwork and additional power makes a big difference. You can find this 35,000-mile 2003 Buick Park Avenue Ultra listed on ClassicCars.com by a dealership in Newfield, New Jersey.
Believe it or not, the Park Avenue — as a standalone model, not a trim level — was only made for two generations: 1991-96 and 1997-2005. The second-generation Park Avenue Ultra, the flagship of the range, was only built from 2003-05. The regular Park Avenue was already an attractive car with a wide grille, gentle curves, and Buick tri-shield hood ornament, something you don’t see on modern Buicks. Its Ultra sibling dropped the hood ornament, but elevated the core model’s good looks with a chrome-plated grille with vertical bars and monochromatic Buick emblem, 17-inch chrome-plated wheels, and dual exhaust outlets — chrome-plated, of course. Most importantly, the Ultra trim brought back the Buick portholes to the front fenders.
Inside, Ultra models offered polished aluminum front door sill plates, special gauge cluster graphics, Buick tri-shield embroidery on the front headrests, and faux walnut wood trim on the door panels, dashboard, and steering wheel.
The Ultra wouldn’t be quite as ultra without extra power, so Buick attached a supercharger to the 3.8-liter V-6, which boosted output from 205 horsepower and 230 lb-ft of torque to 240 and 280, respectively. A four-speed automatic sent that additional oomph to the front wheels.
I’ve been looking for a second-gen Park Avenue Ultra to profile as a Pick of the Day for quite a while because it has a low-key swagger to it. Plus, even though it’s from the 2000s, this Buick is a bit old-school with its chrome details and resurrected portholes. On top of that, it’s a big Buick sedan with the Grand Touring Suspension Package, so it seems built for covering plenty of miles in comfort and quiet.
Speaking of mileage, this particular Park Avenue Ultra doesn’t have a lot on its odometer: In the past 23 years, it’s racked up only 35,104 miles. That’s a shame, but it’s also a great thing because the chrome-plated elements and the White Diamond paint appear to be in fantastic shape. The same goes for the Shale leather interior, which comes equipped with a head-up display, tilt steering column, heated and power-adjustable front seats, dual-zone climate control, and nine-speaker Concert Sound III AM/FM/CD stereo.
How do you make this low-mileage 2003 Buick Park Avenue Ultra better? By making it yours for $13,900.
Click here to view this Pick of the Day on ClassicCars.com
