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DETROIT – The 2000 Buick Blackhawk is not just any customized car – it’s designed to emphasize Buick’s heritage of distinctive design and outstanding power for the specialized audiences that attend custom/hot rod shows. "This is a very special show car," said Michael E. Doble, Buick’s special vehicles manager: "It has classic styling combined with contemporary proportions. If you’re talking about customized cars, the Buick Blackhawk is the ultimate expression of Buick." The Buick Blackhawk is basically a 2-plus-2 convertible with a retractable top, and a body that looks like it came out of the late 1930s or ‘40s – because it did. Its face is a classic 1939 Buick grille, which has a pattern of fine vertical bars, and its major sheet metal combines the sleek bodies of 1941 and 1948 Buick Roadmasters. All of this except the grille has been modified, and the final appearance – featuring black cherry paint, doors without handles and hidden headlamps – is of a streamlined yet retro head-turner that looks like it was created specifically for the Woodward Dream Cruise.                                                          Specifications       Engine                                      V8       HP    463 BHP@ 4600 rpm       Displacement     7458cc (455 cu. in.)       Torque    510 lb-ft @ 4200 rpm       Weight lbs (kg)    3600 (1633)       Acceleration 0-60  mph        4.5 sec.       Top speed    --       Driveline    Rear Wheel Drive       Price (approx)    -- Buick Blackhawk power: 463-hp V-8                            0-60 in under 5 seconds The Blackhawk's performance goal is 0-60 miles per hour in under 5 seconds.       Its powertrain is a 1970-vintage 455-cubic-inch Buick GS Stage III V-8 engine, heavily detailed and mated to the latest electronically controlled four-speed automatic transmission. The naturally aspirated, overhead valve, fuel-injected engine generates 463 horsepower at 4600 rpm and 510 lb-ft of torque at 4200 rpm. Pasteiner had done major design work on a number of Buick concepts over the years – such as Questor, Sceptre, Park Avenue Essence, Signia and XP2000, all well-known names to students of industry dream cars. He had also designed such production Buicks as GS models of the late 1960s and Regals from the 1970s until he left General Motors Design to create his own company in 1989. Designer: 'This is the ultimate Buick custom car.' Pasteiner's enthusiasm for the Blackhawk matches Doble's. 'This is the ultimate Buick custom car,' Pasteiner said. 'We used the 1939 grille because it is one of the most significant in Buick history. Those vertical bars are hints of the grilles that became Buick icons in the ‘40s and early ‘50s. The grille sets the tone for the Blackhawk. But we also liked the ‘torpedo' body from the top-of-the-line Buicks of the 1940s.' Said Doble: 'We wanted the best from Buick history, but also we wanted to create a contemporary design. For example, the Blackhawk has a split windshield, which is right for that era – yet the windshield glass is curved, a more modern feature. Even the side glass is curved.' Hand-made components Many of the Blackhawk's major components are hand made, such as the frame, the unique carbon-fiber top and the retractable system that lowers the top into the trunk (leaving a small luggage area).  As an accent complementing the exterior design, a slightly different shade of dark cherry is used to create a 'sweepspear' along the sides of the body. The sweepspear is a decoration that first showed up on some '49 Roadmasters and later became a shape sculpted into the sides of ‘50s Buicks. It's basically a horizontal line that sweeps in a downward curve along the doors toward the base of the leading edge of the rear fender, then kicks up over the rear wheel openings. It's a look that reappeared in the 1999 Cielo and 2000 LaCrosse concepts, both Doble projects. Other specifications: Vehicle Type: 2-door convertible, concept car Configuration: Front Engine/RWD Transmission: 4-Speed Automatic Dimentions: Length: 204.001 in | 5181.6 mm.  Width: 78.201 in | 1986.3 mm.  Height: 54.901 in | 1394.5 mm.  Wheelbase: 129.001 in | 3276.6 mm SUSPENSION: Four-wheel independent Emphasizes industry first for Buick: Lighted turn signals While the Blackhawk looks to be from somewhere in time, it's hard to pin down where. Borrowed from the same 1939 Buick that donated the grille, a lighted logo device in the middle of the trunk exterior incorporates turn signals – a reminder that this particular '39 Buick feature was the industry's first production turn signal. Borrowed from contemporary technology, the Blackhawk is equipped with Global Positioning System navigation tied to a liquid crystal display screen. And borrowed from a 1996 Buick Riviera – one of the most luxurious of all Buicks -- is the heavily modified Blackhawk interior. That includes buff color leather for the door trim and seats, plus design of the instrument panel and center console (though the wood-rimmed steering wheel is unique). The custom car was created in the spring of 2000. Even the name is borrowed. Buick introduced a subcompact Skyhawk for 1975 & the hawk symbol became an icon for the entire Buick line through the 1980s. 'I've worked on a lot of great concepts for Buick, but this is No. 1 for me,' said Doble, on the eve of his retirement after 35 years with GM. 'We'll drive it – and I emphasize drive it – to custom and hot rod shows. In this car, we'll be displaying design elements that gave Buick its character.