Manufacturing one of America’s best selling crossover vehicles with 3rd row seating, the Enclave, can certainly pile on the pressure when it comes to making any changes for the new model year. It’s not simply changing a color here, or a contour there. Nor is it as drastic as laying down a blank sheet of paper and doing a total redesign. Great care has to be taken when making any change. Especially to a vehicle that already has proven it’s worth in the marketplace.

According to Motorauthority.com, addressing most of these issues fell to lead sculptor at GM Nick Barkley, who worked on the original as well as the latest 2013 model. In addition to manipulating full-scale clay models, much of Barkley’s creative work is done in the digital space with three-dimensional modeling programs.

“Buicks have been some of the toughest work I’ve done because they are so sculptural,” said Barkley, a designer at GM for 12 years. “There are so many concave and convex forms. To make an organic, hand-shaped look show through the forms is both difficult and rewarding.”

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2E_bePA5Hs

Asked to name the most-challenging element of the Enclave’s design, Barkley immediately pointed to the traditional waterfall grille that went through countless looks before a final form emerged that met both the design team’s standards and manufacturing capabilities. He notes that the production version remains true to the earliest clay mockups.

When it comes to the Buick Enclave, the design of which is never truly completed. The same can be said for every other model in Buick’s line-up as well. There is a yearly ebb and flow of design ideas. Some of which actually make it to the final production version of the vehicle, while most end up on the cutting room floor. That is the constant desire for Buick to be a consistent leader in automotive design and production value. It’s is Buick’s drive for excellence and setting trends that are not easily duplicated, or copied. Hence, this is the reason why vehicles like the Enclave is America’s best selling crossovers.

I invite you to come and see for yourself the truly unique and inspired design work that you get when you purchase a Dallas Fort Worth Buick from Freeman Grapevine.