By CHRISTINE BOATWRIGHT / Staff Writer

CALERA – Victory GMC in Calera announced it would now carry Buick vehicles, becoming the only Buick dealership in Shelby County as of June 4.

While the dealership has carried a selection of used cars, when General Motors eliminated its Pontiac line in 2009, Victory was left without a car line, according to President Warren Bailey.

“We’re really the only GM dealership on this side of the county,” Bailey said. “There’s one on 280, but Shelby County is a very large county to have only two GM dealerships, and one being a Chevrolet on 280 and us now being a Buick/GMC store.

“The Buick line has been restyled and remodeled to market to that middle-aged person as opposed to the older generation,” he added. “This is not your grandfather’s Buick.”

Bailey said the new lines of Buick automobiles feature new body styling, “creature comforts” and technology.

“It is very up-to-date. It’s stylish and competitive with other brands in its performance and its technology,” Bailey said. “They’ve got some very exciting things on the ground and very exciting things coming in the next 12 to15 months.”

Bailey said the new line will help Victory Buick GMC return to the car business.

“For three years, we’ve been a truck franchise, and that’s been somewhat of a handicap to some people,” he said. “That’s how we were perceived, even though we did have a wide selection of used cars, but couldn’t advertise in our name that we were a new car franchise, and now we can.”