It was November of 2011, and I was back home in Flint as one of many featured artists participating in one of the downtown art walks held regularly on the second Fridays of the month. I had never shown my photographs in Flint before, and was hesitant when my friend Marta reached out to let me know there was a spot available for me at the bookstore where she worked. I had started having prints made for only a few years by that point, but it didn’t take too long before I was won over by the excitement of the prospect of showing some of my images in the city that formed much of who I am. I selected six of my favorite, framed prints and shipped them FedEx from Chicago to Flint, where I picked them up after arriving by train, later completing my temporary installation at the bookstore.
That was such an exciting time over twelve years ago. I didn’t know where all of my photography was going to land or what it would lead to (I still don’t, actually), but I knew I wanted to continue to keep my camera with me at all times and just keep shooting simply out of my enjoyment of doing so. My friends back home shared in my enthusiasm, which made this experience all the more meaningful. After the show downtown on Friday, 11/11/11 (a date I will always remember), it was time to have some fun and see some of Flint before I was on that Amtrak back to Chicago after this quick weekend. At some point, I had made plans with my friend Anna to see some of her favorite spots in the area that Saturday night before a larger group of us were to meet up later. Anna had a two-tone Rendezvous in beige and light brown.
The two of us had just left her sister’s house in the adjacent city of Burton, barely northeast of Flint city limits. This area is sparsely populated and what some might consider semi-rural. It was early evening, and daylight was in its last glimmers, casting the horizon with a pink and purple glow. Anna and I were recapping the details of the art show, the different people each of us had encountered that night, works that were memorable, and basically just catching up when… WHAM! A deer had rammed into the side of the Rendezvous. Let me repeat that. We did not hit the deer. The deer hit us, on the passenger’s side of the vehicle where I was sitting, and Anna was not driving slowly. The first, involuntary words out of my mouth were: “Oh, dear.” Or perhaps, “Oh, deer.” Phonetically, it came out the same.
The damage to the Rendezvous wasn’t horrendous, but the dent, scrapes, and missing pieces of broken plastic were clearly noticeable, as were the bits of deer fur that stuck to the vehicle following impact. I honestly don’t remember us trying to open the side door to see if it still worked. The deer disappeared into the woods across the field where this happened (because Michigan), and Anna and I sat there wondering if there was anything we needed to do right then. Neither one of us was hurt (which the NHTSA would be pleased to know), and there was no damage to lights or the engine compartment, so we just ended up going on our merry way that night – a little shaken, of course. She and I still text about that deer. Any time I see a Rendezvous, she’s one person I think of immediately, as was the case when I spotted our featured vehicle almost exactly one month ago.
I think of the Rendezvous as the Pontiac Aztek that went to Jos. A. Bank clothiers. At the risk of sounding like a revisionist (as I do remember having commented once that the side profile of the Aztek was similar to that of a garbage truck), I honestly don’t think the Aztek looks bad. Not in 2024 it doesn’t, where it actually looks current to me. When it was introduced in 2000 as an ’01 model, there were things I didn’t love about its appearance, but surveying today’s automotive landscape, the only styling trend I see that’s generally consistent across all makes is that which is extreme.
The attractive, prominent “front teeth” twin-kidney grilles of BMWs from even a decade ago have now morphed into giant, bucktoothed chiclets. Lexuses look like they want to vacuum the road. I’m not trying to upset anyone who owns or likes the current aesthetic of either of these makes, but I guess my point is that Pontiac did “extreme” about fifteen years before others followed suit. Maybe it’s also that I’ve just had more time to get used to the Aztek. It’s a little bit of A, and a little bit of B.
South Saginaw Street in downtown Flint, Michigan on the night of the art walk.
The Rendezvous, by contrast, was a conventionally attractive crossover that arrived for 2002, one year after the Aztek. Largely based on the same GM U-body minivan platform that dated from ’97, it offered useful technology like the available all-wheel-drive Versatrak system which was intended more for weather conditions than off-roading, an optional third-row of seats which had not yet become the norm for vehicles in this class, and various tech-centric features in the cabin like ports for electronics and a trip computer. Our featured vehicle is a front-drive CX model with the 3.4 liter V6 with 185 horsepower. With its four-speed automatic, it was rated by the EPA at 17 mpg city / 24 highway / 20 combined.
Style-wise, the Rendezvous incorporated many cues that were distinctively Buick, including an oval-shaped front “mouth” grille, and a rear taillamp panel which closely resembled the styling of the concurrent LeSabre. It wasn’t perfect-looking from every angle, but given that it was born of minivan roots, Buick’s first “truck” since 1923 didn’t embarrass itself with what it was wearing… like the Aztek did at the time. The Rendezvous was successful, with almost 345,000 sold over six model years, with production ending in 2007.
One measure of this vehicle’s sustained popularity before essentially being replaced by the larger Enclave for ’08 was that calendar-year sales stayed consistently over the 60,000 for four consecutive model years between ’02 and -05, including a spike to 72,600 units for ’03. By contrast, Pontiac moved a grand total of only 119,700 Azteks in its five model years between ’01 and ’05, never breaking the 28,000 mark for any individual calendar year.
The front of the CIBC Theater was a perfect setting for this Rendezvous, and a welcome reminder of my friend Anna and the evening in the greater Flint area when a myopic deer decided to side-butt her Buick. If anything, that experience made me more vigilant to the possibility of something leaping in front of my moving vehicle when I’m behind the wheel. Defensive driving is essential, even when it involves wildlife. I’ll be happy with no more unintentional rendezvous with deer, ever again.
Downtown, The Loop, Chicago, Illinois.
Tuesday, February 20, 2024.
The brochure photos were sourced from the internet. The night shots were taken in downtown Flint, Michigan on Friday, November 11, 2011.
I always thought “rendezvous” was bunging it on a bit for a pretty frumpy old Buick, you know, all French and mysterious, when you wouldn’t really go out of your way to meet one anywhere at all, if you didn’t have to. Sort of Hyacinth Bucket-like: “Your name is Ron Devious?” “It’s pronounced Ron day-voo, if you don’t mind”.
Still, better than disrespecting a colonially-destroyed entire people for their name (and then styling it after an incinerator) in the Aztec, and in 2004 at that. The fact that that abominable machine has begun to look utterly unremarkable is not a compliment to its designer’s forward-looking views but more a stark indictment of the infantile regression in taste and care and ability of car designers of the last 10 years. That is, it shouldn’t look ok, it isn’t at all ok, but we are numbed by what surrounds us.
I too have been hit by an animal rather me it: a kangaroo, in my case. We’d come to screeching halt at night, but the beautiful, dim-witted thing took one look at the offending Honda Odyssey, and, like Don Quixote and a windmill, charged, kicked hard off the side of the car, and shot sideways, mid-air, off, into the bush not to be seen again (but always to be remembered by the large dent above the fuel filler). Later on, another one ended its life (and that of the Odyssey) by hopping into the front of of the 70mph missile, which was an even dimmer-witted decision, but that is a more usual animal-car interaction.
Can I say, I’m sure plenty here would be intrigued to see your photos from that Flint installation, Mr D.
I’ll agree that the model name wasn’t my absolute favorite, but I think it was okay. I can’t think of any of Buick’s “legacy” nameplates that might have been used to good effect. And I can’t imagine getting hit by a kangaroo. Wow.
I used a couple of those photos in posts here, years ago. Here!:
https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/054-1956-Oldsmobile-88-Holiday-hardtop-coupe-CC.jpg
https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/026-1977-Chevrolet-Corvette-CC.jpg
Kangaroo strikes aren’t that uncommon in rural areas. Mine fortunately were all at low speeds, but I can quite understand Justy’s Odyssey ending after tangling with a big roo at 70. And yes, they seem to have no brain where vehicles are concerned. Maybe they just cannot cope with the idea of something moving faster than them.
I don’t remember seeing those images. As I might have guessed, they’re excellent.
Thank you, kind sir.
Deer aren’t renowned for being the smartest animals in the wild. I’ve seen a couple of instances of one plowing into the side of a moving vehicle. Having hit one head-on, I can only imagine the sound that deer made when it was beside you.
Being located where I am, I still see these periodically. The coworker who still had his ’90 or ’91 Escort (which I wrote about long ago), has recently acquired a Rendezvous. It has the appearance of having belonged to an old couple, but that’s only a guess.
For what Buick was working with, these didn’t turn out bad in appearance. That’s better than what Pontiac can claim with the Aztek.
Jason, a ’90 or ’91 Escort *and* a Rendezvous? That sounds like some Eugene, Oregon stuff right there!
That deer made a solid thud when it hit. Anna and I just looked at the deer fur and blood on the side of the car. I think I touched some of the fur. She might have said, “Gross…”
Agreed about the Aztek looking utterly normal in 2024; it was just ahead of its time, kind of like how a 1934 Chrysler Airflow looked normal by 1942 but not in 1934. Twenty years from now we’ll be talking about how people once thought the CyberTruck looked strange…
I still like the Rendezvous’ looks and function better (no third row available in the Aztek), and like the U minivans better than either (even the short-wheelbase model had room for three rows of seats), although everyone else’s minivans were better.
That Chrysler Airflow comparison is apt and well made. Great perspective. I always seem to forget about the CyberTruck until a periodic reference to it… like now.
My wife had a similar mishap (with a deer running into the side of her Thunderbird) in the mid 1990s. This happened about a mile away from her parents’ house, and to this day, she often reminds me exactly where that happened when we drive by that spot. Like your incident, the damage wasn’t extensive, but the car did require some bodywork. Oddly, the bodyshop reused the damaged “V8” badge on the passenger-side fender, and that damaged badge is still there on the car, a reminder of that fateful event.
Like Jason wrote, deer aren’t renowned for their street-smarts, but they do have impressive ability to evade predators in the wild. If only they’d evolve to view cars as predators…
As for the Rendezvous, it’s not one of my favorite vehicles. We rented one for a weekend vacation back in the mid 2000s, and it just didn’t impress me – I remember not liking the styling or how it drove. They still haven’t grown on me much. I view the styling as a bit awkward, and not in a quirky way like the Aztek. Maybe it’ll take a few more decades for me to warm up to them.
Eric, wow – they recycled the damaged V8 emblem! In a way, I think that might be a sort-of-cool souvenir of the incident, but I would have asked how much more a good one would have cost.
Not liking the styling or the way it drove leaves little else room for redemption! I also say “not my favorite” to describe such things.
Here’s a picture of the V8 emblem – my wife said she was pretty ticked at first, but then thought it was a well-earned badge of honor from the deer incident. Pretty funny, though, that the body shop cheaped out and reused the old emblem.
Oh, and I was mistaken: It was the driver-side fender.
It’s like a really cool scar. I’m feeling it.
CIBC theatre looks to me like something that should be in Halifax, not Chicago seeing as it stands for Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce.
But anyway a woman at work had the exact same Rendezvous brand new back in the early 2000s. I didn’t like it, the sweep of the rearmost side window looks terrible to me. And at the back you could see the whole rear suspension and silver lower control arms, like a too short skirt on someone that you really don’t want to see what’s under there.
Now that you mention it, the visible rear suspension was a pet peeve of mine with this car. It just made the car look dumb. From the front, I don’t mind the design much at all.
I chuckle every time I see the name TD Bank Garden, for where the Bruins play. I didn’t know CIBC was investing in US property also.
The sweep of the rear quarter window used to bother me until I learned to train my eye to see a natural rearward extension of the roof, versus what looks like a Gremlin-like slice. And I’m pretty sure I’ll be looking at the rear of the next one to see if I can see the suspension parts you mention. I’m sure that once seen, I’ll be unable to unsee it… but I’m curious now.
Her slip is showing, but it’s silk (aluminum).
An acquaintance just told me about a deer incident he had in Pennsylvania; moments after telling his son to roll up his window, a deer slammed into the passenger side of the car. Although it didn’t break the glass he was sure it would have been much messier if the window were still open.
As for the Buick, well, I can’t find anything good to say about its appearance after all these years. Whereas the Azteks, especially post-cladding, I agree they were ahead of their time. Your paragraph comparing them to modern BMW and Lexus is spot-on, very astute and concise as your writing always is, Joseph. But … when can we see your pictures of Flint? Or did I miss an earlier post?
Dman, I’m a bit surprised that deer hitting vehicles is more common than I had originally thought! I wasn’t the only one (or, I should say Anna, since it was her car). And thanks RE: my writing.
As for the pictures, I did post links in my reply to Justy Baum’s comment above (the first one) with links to two of the photos I used for this show that I had included in prior posts. Naturally, with this being a show in the birthplace of General Motors, they were of vintage GM cars.
I’ve expressed my unrestrained feelings about the Rendezvous here:
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/curbside-curmudgeon-which-car-would-you-most-hate-to-be-forced-to-drive-for-a-year/
The Rendezvous looks like an Aztek whose middle-aged female driver crashed it through a Lane Bryant store and came out the other side with an unfortunate mix of assorted ill-fitting ugly clothes attached to it.
Agreed.
On my dog walks, I often see a Rendezvous parked, and in very good condition. No visible rust, still looking nice and straight. Well straight anyway. They must have either kept it garaged to hide its hideousness, or it was broken down alot.
When my brother in law bought one of these, I gave him a double take, and asked if he was serious.
These things were butt ugly, looking like they had clothes from a second or third hand store. 1970s ties mixed with 1990s pleated pants and fluffy shirts.
Hahaha!! Paul, if you were a rapper, I can only imagine what kind of diss track you might put down. Lane Bryant for the win
An in-law in my large extended family drove a Rendevous for a short while in the early 2000s. Beforehand, I was warned not to mention the vehicle’s minivan roots, as the owner was very sensitive about driving a mom-mobile and thought her Rendevous was an SUV. During a short ride, I remember thinking the interior wasn’t all that bad, but it’s U-body roots were vey obvious, as the Pontiac Montana minivan that I was renting concurrently was very similar, contains many of the same parts and overall design. Somebody bought the GM marketing spiel hook, line and sinker.
As for the Aztec, ugly then, ugly now, even if the rest of the industry has caught up with it.
I’ve never hit a deer, thank goodness, but after seeing several standing alongside an interstate highway in the darkness while cruising through a national forest at 70 mph, I now try to avoid driving that route at night.
I’m always horrified when I see an adult deer by the side of the road. I immediately think of the impact and what it must have been like for both the deer and occupants of the vehicle.
I always thought the minivan roots were fairly obvious (lack of ground clearance, proportions, etc.), but not in a way that was objectionable. I think the looks are fine.
Buick first began creating cars with more modern, organic designs in 1995, on the eighth-gen Buick Riviera. That’s where the ovoid grille, gentle curves and almost nautical overall themes first made their debut.
The Rendezvous was Buick’s first production translation of that design language into a high-riding vehicle, and it was obviously inspired by the Buick Signia concept of 1998 (pictured here). The Rendezvous is no looker, but when you consider how hideous and overwrought the Signia was, you’re almost grateful the boxy U-body platform reined the design in.
I still have more admiration for the Rendezvous than the Rainier, which was created when the Bravada died and its particular flavor of GMT360 bodyshell was split into a Buick and a Saab. Incidentally, and sadly, the Rainier was also the last RWD, V8-powered Buick vehicle in the US.
As for the Aztek, I have no excuses or praise for that design. It was clearly a case of everyone working on their individual parts, incongruously, and by the time anyone realized it was doomed, it was too late to do anything about it and too much money had been spent. To those comparing the Aztek to things like the modern X6 or GLE-Class Coupe, I would just say that (though those vehicles aren’t themselves the prettiest things in my eyes), the detail is in execution. There is a profound difference between the athletic, drastically sloped roofline of the X6 and the Aztek, which looks quite literally like someone cut a triangular hunk out of the greenhouse, like a knife to a stick of butter. Even if you accept that both are ugly, the Aztek is several orders of magnitude uglier than the majority of the “four-door coupe” crossovers today, and I would argue it’s not even the same thing.
It is, at least, nice that the Aztek has had a resurgence with the whole Walter White/Breaking Bad thing, although his is hardly a lifestyle or story anyone should aspire to.
The Signia! Wow – I think I vaguely recall having seen this at the time. Those hips are very ’70s Buick, but I agree – the relative angularity of the Rendezvous works in its favor. The badge-engineering of the Rainier and SAAB 9x made me a little sad – in an ’80s GM kind of way.
Every time I see the word “Rendezvous,” I think back to the 1960s when that word was in common use to describe maneuvers in earth orbit for the Gemini and Apollo programs. A classmate in 7th grade pronounced the word “ren-den-vez.”
I did take French in middle school, but the pronunciation of “Rendezvous” wouldn’t be intuitive to most, I think. Or, rather, the spelling.
Both the Buick Rendezvous and the Pontiac Aztek were two of the ugliest vehicles ever built, I’m surprised Buick sold as many as they did. Speaking of deer collisions with automobiles, in November of 2019 ( I think it may have been the rutting season) a buck hit my Odyssey in the right side. No injuries, the airbags did not deploy but the deer did about $3800 damage to my vehicle-the driver side front door had to be repainted, the sliding door had to be replaced and the rear quarter body needed repairs. Apparently the buck was no worse for the experience, a driver going other direction stopped, we both had our flashlights out, no blood and no sign of the deer.
I’ll add another tally mark on the “ugly column” from the commenters today! I honestly thought there were more like me who thought the styling looked alright. I also didn’t realize how common it was for deer to hit vehicles, based on the comments! Apparently, this is not just a Michigan phenomenon.
Not much to say about the Buick… Nice post though, and I’ll second what dman said above about seeing your pictures! What is it the kids say? “Pictures or it didn’t happen”? 😉
Anyway, I had one experience hitting a deer, ironically in a Pontiac… but NOT AN AZTEK.
On the way to work one day, a doe ran out in front of my Grand Prix and I couldn’t stop in time. The deer bounced off of the front of the car, and then looked at me like I interrupted HER morning commute. She just go up and trotted off into the woods like nothing happened.
Thankfully, the damage was minimal, and my wife at the time was able to fix it at the Pontiac dealer where she worked as a tech (the structural part behind the facia). The small dent in the hood I had fixed later when I had some other work done due to a runaway shopping cart, but that’s another story for another time.
In 2022, I swerved trying to miss a deer in a 2010 Range Rover Supercharged, and hit a tree, totaling it.
A year later, I hit a deer in a loaner 2023 Lexus ES 300h at 70 MPH on the interstate, and it totaled *that* car. All the airbags went off.
The deer are trying to do me in.
Thanks, Rick! As for the pix, they’re linked in my response to the first comment above, from their original CC posts.
And of course the deer was like, “What?…”. I kind of love that, even if I’m sorry that happened to you.
I sat in one at a dealer when they were new and liked the easy-access seating position, relatively low floor, roominess, see-through head restraints (first year only), and even the Tri-shield-covered fabric (also first year). Later drove one, and it was too much like a minivan–sluggish, bus-like and the seats didn’t go back far enough.
In 2007, I drove a low-mileage used one with the rare 3.6 DOHC V6, and it completely changed the character of the car. It felt more like a luxury car than a minivan. Sometimes, I wished I’d bought it, though it was only a two-row, and the wrinkled leather seats were not as comfy. An Ultra I later drove was not as smooth because it had been used for towing. I ended up buying an 04 Deville, in most ways the best car I’ve owned.
I liked reading about your driving impression of the ’07 with the 3.6L, and that it seemed like a somewhat premium vehicle. I’m sure that’s what Buick was shooting for, in general, with these. You mentioned the Ultra that had towed things. I wonder what it towed (what kind of boat?) and for how long.
All this talk about deer vs. vehicle accidents reminded me of this video from a few years ago. A deer jumped in front of a school bus near Richmond, Va., crashed through the bus’s windshield, and landed in the first row seat, where a kid was laying down sleeping.
The deer (and the kid) were both somehow uninjured, and the driver stopped the bus, opened the door, and the deer ran out. That kid has a good story to tell.
Oh, my gosh. That’s a lot.
It’s nice to see they used the rest-of-world spelling of “Theatre”, not the usual American “Theater”. Surely that’s an unusual choice in Chicago, or do they see the different spelling as more arty, more “upper class”, or something? Perhaps they think of it as French spelling, rather than rest-of-world English. Or are they appeasing Canadians, especially the Quebecois? Or maybe I’m entirely wrong and it was a goof by the signwriter.
Nice, anyway. Welcoming, even.
But that’s not what we’re here to talk about.
My initial thought on seeing todays’ subject was “What a strange looking vehicle”. Fortunately its Aztek origins are well-concealed; I could almost believe it was an older Hyundai. The taillights as a continuation of the rear quarter window is unusual but not unpleasant, it just takes some getting used to. The rest of it is best categorized as inoffensive.
Unlike the Aztek. Of which I imagine certain Central American peoples are glad GM spelt it that way, so they could point to the nameplate and say “Honestly, it wasn’t us.”
“Unusual, but not unpleasant” is pretty close to a perfect description. About the spelling of “Aztek”, I’m equally surprised that GM didn’t go with “Aztech” – which actually sounds like something they might have tried.
I’m not sure about why the “theatre” spelling was used. I don’t think it’s that unusual here for classy venues like this one go to with what we’d consider the “fancy” spelling.
Joseph, Now I know that you are the artist that I always thought that you were. I wouldn’t mind seeing a few pictorial essays presented here on CC.
Thanks, Jose!
I remember 2 or 3 school families owned these when we had kids at a Catholic grade school. Not surprising because 1) almost everything with 3 rows was represented there and 2) there was a Buick dealer not far away. I never liked the looks of them. The Aztec designers went all “in your face” but Buick tried to prettify it. I had more respect for Pontiac’s approach.
The word “rendezvous” always made me think of a seedy bar.
To your point, the Pontiac stylists definitely went for it with the Aztec. I don’t find the Rendezvous’ prettification ineffective, though. And rendezvous does sound like “hookup” in certain contexts.
I wonder what would have happened if GM had licensed use of the great Valerie Carter’s “Da Doo Rendezvous” for their ads. I can imagine a muzak’d up version of this song playing in the background – one of the best from her 1978 album Wild Child.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=woNQNmEqISk&pp=ygUVdmFsZXJpZSBjYXJ0ZXIgZGEgZG9v