washingtonpost.com's view

It’s a parents’ car, something bought to celebrate the successful departure of adult children.

As such, the 1997 Buick Park Avenue Ultra is a reward, which accounts for its generous length and tall roofline. What’s a celebration in America without bigness?

What the Ultra isn’t — and it would be nice if throttle-jockey auto “enthusiasts” would realize this — is a boy racer, one of those neat little toys for recalcitrant males who believe that the only real cars are high-performance sports coupes.

“Performance” in the Ultra is measured in different ways. Its buyers want comfort, so it is sumptuously comfortable with big, leather-surfaced seats that embrace the back and butt. Its buyers want good visibility, especially peripheral visibility, so it comes with huge windows all around to enhance the view of the road. And its buyers have dreams of carrying grandchildren safely, so the Ultra comes with enough rear passenger room to house a small nursery.

Not everyone will like this car. Not everyone is 30 and single; not everyone delights in playing cat-and-mouse games with traffic cops. Nor does everyone care what friends and neighbors think about their auto image.

Some people just want a big car that makes them feel safe, comfortable and happy. They get that in the new Park Avenue Ultra.

Background: General Motors Corp., Buick’s maker, had no choice. After dumping the gargantuan Chevrolet Caprice and Buick Roadmaster this year, the company had little for oldsters and baby boomers who like big sedans. Many of those people turned to Ford Motor Co.’s Mercury Grand Marquis. Others tried Chrysler Corp.’s LHS sedan. And still others moved to Toyota’s Avalon.

GM is trying to hold on to those buyers with the new Park Avenue Ultra, which is 3 inches taller, nearly 1 inch longer and almost an inch wider than the previous model.

Although some auto pundits have derided that extra-tall roofline, it makes perfectly good sense to me. Older people don’t like to bend and crouch to get into a car, especially when they’re climbing into the rear seat. In the new Park Avenue Ultra, they don’t have to bend at all. At 58.1 inches, the car is tall enough that they can walk in.

Also, there’s this: Ever see a grandparent struggle to properly connect a child’s seat in a compact car and when finished, the reward is a bump on the head from a low roof? That’s not a problem in the new Park Avenue Ultra.

The Park Avenue Ultra’s long dashboard also needed more support to prevent squeaks and rattles, which is why GM used a high-strength, lightweight magnesium beam in that area. The result? Nary a squeak or rattle in the test car, which was driven for a week over the District’s brutal streets.

Do old people still have sex? Yep. And they still like horsepower, too. They have enough of it in the front engine, front-wheel-drive Park Avenue Ultra, which is equipped with GM’s 3.8-liter Series II, supercharged V-6.

That engine is rated 240 horse power at 5,200 rpm, with torque rated 280 pound-feet at 3,200 rpm.

An electronically controlled, four-speed automatic transmission is standard in the car. Other standard equipment includes power, four-wheel-disc brakes (vented front) with anti-lock control; a four-wheel independent suspension system; and dual-front air bags.

The Park Avenue Ultra can carry 19 cubic feet of cargo and as many as six people. Just remember to put the infant and toddler people in the back of the car.

1997 Buick Park Avenue Ultra

Complaints: The power-seat button panel, mounted on the lower left-hand side of the driver’s seat, fell from the seat and hung from its wiring in the test car. The culprit was a faulty connector clip, which easily was repaired. But, hey, this was tacky, very tacky.

Praise: Overall excellent redesign and vehicle construction. A perfect long-distance runner. I’d take this one across the country anytime.

Head-turning quotient: Parents’ car. Preacher’s car . Hot date? Nope. You won’t get far.

Ride, acceleration and handling: Excellent ride. Decent enough acceleration, zero to 60 mph in 8.2 seconds. Handling? It’s a floater, but a pleasant floater. You CAN control this one in corners. Braking was excellent.

Mileage: About 24 mpg (19-gallon tank, estimated 442-mile range on usable volume of required premium unleaded), running mostly highway with one to two occupants and 102 pounds of cargo.

Sound system: Electronically controlled, six-speaker, AM/FM stereo radio and cassette with single-disc, dash-mounted CD player, by Delco. Excellent signal reception and sound reproduction quality.

Price: Base price for the 1997 Buick Park Avenue Ultra is $34,995. Dealer invoice price is $31,671. Price as tested is $35,865, including $205 in options and a $665 destination charge.