Buick Once Marketed The Rendezvous Using Gran Turismo 2

Video game technology got substantially more realistic as we approached the year 2000, and one of most immersive simulations to date was undoubtedly the Gran Turismo series from Sony and Polyphony Digital. The game was so detailed that Buick considered it a viable marketing tactic to have one of its cars rendered and featured in a one-off demo disc that allowed players to go for a virtual test drive. However, instead of one of the brand’s sportier entries, like the GSX, Grand National, or even the supercharged 1997 Regal GS, the car chosen was the bulbous Rendezvous crossover. Huh?

An Auto Show Debut To Remember

The Buick Rendezvous made its first official appearance in February 2000 at the Chicago Auto Show, a mere two months after the release of Gran Turismo 2. The automaker might have felt a bit snubbed that none of its products were included in the GT franchise’s second installment, because it commissioned a one-off demo disc to commemorate the Rendezvous’ debut in Chicago. Developed by Polyphony Digital using the same platform as GT2, the disc included a gallery of real-life press photos of the new Buick, as well as snippets from contemporary auto reviewers and marketing brochures. The game even quotes future GM President Mark Reuss, who was part of the Rendezvous’ engineering department.

There’s also a simple test drive mode, which puts the player behind the wheel of the Rendezvous for a quick spin. There’s only one car available, a top-spec CXL trim level with all-wheel drive and a 3.4-liter V6 making 185 horsepower and 210 pound-feet of torque, and it’s painted in the car’s launch-signature Pewter Metallic. The test drive is fairly undramatic, but the same cannot be said of the demo disc’s Club Race mode, which puts you and five computer players into identical, bone-stock Buicks for a spin around Clubman Stage Route 5 at night. At the end of the race – you got first, right? – you’re treated to GT2‘s signature replay mode, with camera angles on angles on angles.

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Gran Turismo Physics Didn’t Make The Rendezvous Look Good

Once the novelty of the gameplay wears off, the Rendezvous really doesn’t look great on a race track. Especially on the replay, the crossover rolls onto its sidewalls and buries its wheels under the fenders, and there’s plenty of virtual understeer when chucking the thing into a corner. Still, that’s hardly the Buick’s intended mission, which is advertised in the game as blending the comfort of a luxury sedan, the space of a minivan, and the capability of an SUV into one product. Unfortunately, those intangibles aren’t readily apparent in the game, which makes us wonder if Buick’s 2000 marketing scheme led to any real sales when the car went on sale for the 2002 model year.

Still, it’s a fun relic of automotive history – as well as a shocking reminder that GT2 is now more than a quarter-century old – and it’s fun to revisit the oddball ways car companies advertised in the tech-obsessed 2000s. The Buick Rendezvous might not be much of a race car, but we still wouldn’t turn up our noses at the chance to play through the game.

Source: Polyphony Digital, Jeeves on YouTube