The Buick of today is very different from the Buick of decades past. With a lineup made up entirely of crossovers that are largely forgettable (though the Envista is a looker and a great value) Buick…exists. However the Buick of yesteryear took risks, dabbled in performance and cutting edge technology which led to the near-lux brand used touch screen technology in two of its most unique vehicles, decades before anyone else.
In the 1980s, infotainment systems weren’t really a thing yet. A few concept cars from the time showed that there were automotive engineers around the world that were thinking of the future, but for the most part touchscreens in production cars were non-existent. Things changed when Buick and GM Delco engineers decided they wanted to bring vehicles to the market with the most advanced tech available.
Touch screen technology was nothing new, even in the ’80s. Credit for the invention of the touchscreen goes to a man named E.A. Johnson, who came up with it while working at the Royal Radar Establishment in 1965. By the 1970s, air traffic controllers were using touchscreens and by the 1980s, the screens had made their way to consumer electronics from brands like HP and Sony. Even with these advancements, you still couldn’t fake press on screen buttons in cars. By late 1980, Buick engineers began brainstorming ideas. At the same time, almost as if they were telepathically linked, engineers at Delco Systems in California had been developing a CRT (Cathode-ray tubescreen) for use in cars. By 1981 a prototype was ready to be shown to GM big wigs. From Hagerty:
…the experimental system was ready and shown to GM’s Product Policy Group, which approved the project. General Motors Chairman Roger B. Smith was enthusiastic, believing this was the sort of technology that GM needed to remain the world’s leading automaker. AC Spark Plug and Delco Electronics developed the hardware, while the Delco Systems Operation handled the software design. By 1983, the system specifications were set.
Buick called the system the Graphic Control Center or GCC. One hundred Riviera prototypes were fitted with the screens and taken to dealers around the country so they could familiarize themselves with the system. By 1986 it was available for all buyers in the Riviera.
In addition to the usual driver information center functions like fuel mileage and trip computer, drivers could control actual vehicle functions. Want to change the radio station? You could do it with the GCC. Hot or cold? You could adjust the climate controls through the screen too. It might have taken a few presses before whatever function you were trying to activate would work, but it was like living in the future.
By 1988, Buick began offering the GCC in the Reatta where it was relabeled Electronic Control Center for some reason. At the same time, Oldsmobile got to use a version of the system in the Trofeo where it was called Visual Information Center. Sadly the tech was a bit too advanced for customers at the time who found it to be distracting and confusing.
By 1990 Buick dropped the option from the Riviera and Reatta, replacing it with physical controls. Had customers stuck it out and adapted to the tech, Buick might have been a better brand for it. It wouldn’t be until the 2000s that in-car touch screens would start to become a thing again. Today, nearly every newer vehicle on the road has some kind of screen in it and newer cars have screens that seem as if they’re getting bigger by the year. For better or for worse, touchscreens are here to stay and we can thank brands like Buick for bringing the tech to the mainstream.
