You don't have to surpass the half-century mark to cruise in a Buick. That was the automaker's message at SEMA 2006, when they presented a batch of Lucernes retrofitted to appeal to the young folk. To get 11 vehicles outfitted in time for the show, Buick sent the sedans to different builders and companies. Our friends at MTX picked one up, smacked on some new paint and suicide doors, and forwarded the ride to Kingpin Car Audio, one of their dealers in Oregon.
Owner Jason Kranitz and his crew had just nine days to pull off a transformation, all working on their regular clients' rides at the same time. Completing the project within this limited timetable may have been impossible if Kranitz hadn't received pictures of the car in advance so he could plot out a game plan using MTX gear. His only instruction was that the Lucerne should evoke "urban luxury." Here's what he did to get that feel.
Shop Box:Kingpincaraudio.comOwner: Jason KranitzInstallers: Brian Lund, Tim Wiemer
Originally, the Lucerne "was all the same interior - tan leather and plastic," Kranitz says. "I like using different materials for texture." With suede being a popular material, he decided to use it extensively to bring the urban part into play, wrapping the stuff around the headliner, the top of the dash and the trunk. For that luxe element, he opted for black crocodile skin and maple veneers. The black croc sets off the factory upholstery as inserts in the seats and doors. It also travels to the trunk, where it accents trim pieces alongside maple veneer.
With its two-tone paint by Jared Pulver of JP Customs in Munro, WI, custom suicide doors by Phil Austen and Ken Thomas, and hip audio installation by Kingpin Car Audio and Motoring, this Lucerne proves its point. If you want a one-of-a-kind ride, why choose as your blank canvas a vehicle that everyone's already working on? Try something different and you'll get something truly unique.
Three fiberglass trim panels give the trunk a cohesive appearance. Aside from the acrylic window directly in view, three other compartments display more gear. A pair of StreetWire stiffening capacitors, one for each side of the trunk, provides some backup power (a hidden compartment behind the sub box holds the pair of batteries and fuses). On the floor, two MTX Thunder TA7804 amps are laid out at an angle so that you cannot see them in their entirety. Kranitz chose to do this because otherwise they wouldn't have room for the extremely long Thunder TA92001 amp. This option lets them display the amp and place it in the floor at the same time.
In addition to sueding the trunk lid liner, Kranitz, embedded a pair of monitors and a set of MTX component speakers in it. For that extra bit of show, the trunk motorizes open and Varad white lighting adds a luxury ambience.
The rear deck of a Lucerne is basically covered by a piece of plastic. Kranitz saw a perfect opportunity to rebuild it for the purpose of housing a pair of 15" MTX Thunder 9500 series subs. He unbolted the plastic deck lid and cut out and reinforced the metal below with MDF. The new rear deck forms the lid of an enclosure, whose maple-topped sides and 31/44" acrylic window seal in 3ft3 of airspace. Though difficult to see in the pic, more croc skin accents the interior.kit