This Buick was so advanced that it even had a touchscreen back in the 1980s

This 1980s Buick has a feature that was so drastically ahead of its time that even some modern American cars lack it – a touchscreen.

The 1986 Buick Riviera featured a primitive touchscreen, making it seriously advanced for the era.

What’s more, it helped control much more than just the volume of the music.

Stick around to learn about this remarkable feature.

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Technology inside a car cabin is ever-changing

As the car industry evolves, so does the technology inside every car’s cabin.

From sound systems and screens to the dashboard, with every new model released comes new advanced items for drivers to utilise.

However, one Buick model was actually way ahead of its time, implementing smart features in the 80s.

Buick’s clever tech was called the Graphic Control Center

The 1986 Buick Riviera was well ahead of the curve when implementing touchscreen technology.

The screen in the auto was referred to by the name of the ‘Graphic Control Center, aka the GCC says GM.

The clever screen featured a black screen with green colored text on, which controlled the radio in the cabin thanks to small ‘virtual’ buttons.

It also supplied diagnostics for the brakes, a calendar, a trip computer, and even a climate control system.

It really was ahead of its time, with even a ‘semi-secret service mode’ on offer too, which helped to alert technicians to problems within the Buick.

Although advanced, the Buick screen wasn’t a fan favorite

Surprisingly, the Graphic Control Center wasn’t all that popular.

Due to the advanced features and technology within the car, the screens hindered rather than helped some drivers.

Some gearheads found them hard to navigate while actually sitting behind the front of the wheel.

You see, the buttons were tiny, and the touchscreens only ended up being used in a few additional models, such as the Oldsmobile Trofeo.

That model had a color screen within the cabin, too.

So, there you have it.

We often think of touchscreens being a high-tech element of the past decade or so, but savvy car manufacturers have actually been dabbling in the feature for years.

You can read more about it from GM themselves, here.

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