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New Video Shows How Clay Sculptors Brought Buick Avista to Life

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Buick’s new video shows the Avista Concept transforming from a pure idea into a clay model

Buick creative designers, Aaron Stich and John McDougall, worked to create a clay model of the Avista concept vehicle
Photo: © General Motors

While Buick let many car enthusiasts down with its recent announcement the Avista concept will not go into production, it did offer a bit of a consolation prize recently as it released a new web video showing how clay sculptors turned the Avista from a 2D paper concept into a 3D model of the award-winning vehicle.


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In the minute-long video, Buick designers talked about the challenge of making the physical model just as graceful as the concept appeared on paper. The Avista coupe was designed with a longer-than-normal door, which forced sculptor Mark Dybis to come up with a way to stretch the door’s lines, without making them look like they were drooping, and he used design influences from the Greek Partenon to complete the project.

“Concept cars stretch the imagination and inspire the direction our production portfolio is heading,” Stich said in a statement. “This door is just one example of how everyone in the Buick design studio is jumping at the chance to create designs that will stand the test of time and be more beautiful than the last. That’s how the collaborative process works – every iteration is an opportunity to outdo the one before it and create something so pleasing to the eye you can’t help but be amazed.”

Once the real version of the Buick Avista Concept was completed, it generated tremendous amounts of buzz and excitement, especially when it debuted at the Detroit Auto Show. The Avista even won the Reader’s Choice for Best Future Concept and EyesOn Design Excellence awards, but despite rumors the Avista would be produced as a four-door coupe, Buick’s Executive VP of Marketing, Tony DiSalle, seemingly put the nail in the coffin of the Avista, when he said, ““It was purely a concept and meant to generate some buzz. No other plans for now.”

So for now, Buick loyalists will have to make do with the much publicized 2016 Casacada convertible, the redesigned 2017 LaCrosse, and the video below that teases all performance car lovers of a car that may never be.


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Video: The Creation of the Buick Avista Concept