Buick Riviera
| Buick Riviera | |
|---|---|
1963 Buick Riviera
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| Overview | |
| Manufacturer | Buick (General Motors) |
| Model years | 1963–1993 1995–1999 |
| Body and chassis | |
| Class | Personal luxury car |
| Chronology | |
| Predecessor | Buick Super |
| First generation | |
|---|---|
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| Overview | |
| Model years | 1963–1965 |
| Assembly |
Buick City, Flint, Michigan Linden, New Jersey (Linden Assembly) United States |
| Body and chassis | |
| Body style | 2-door hardtop |
| Layout | FR layout |
| Platform | E-body |
| Powertrain | |
| Engine | 401 cu in (6.6 L) Nailhead V8 425 cu in (7.0 L) Nailhead V8 |
| Transmission |
Twin Turbine automatic transmission 3-speed ST-400 automatic |
| Dimensions | |
| Wheelbase | 117.0 in (2,972 mm) |
| Length | 208.0 in (5,283 mm) |
| Width | 76.3 in (1,938 mm)–76.6 in (1,946 mm) |
| Height | 53.0 in (1,346 mm) |
| Second generation | |
|---|---|
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| Overview | |
| Model years | 1966–1970 |
| Assembly |
Flint, Michigan Linden, New Jersey (Linden Assembly) United States |
| Body and chassis | |
| Body style | 2-door hardtop |
| Layout | FR layout |
| Platform | E-body |
| Related |
Cadillac Eldorado Oldsmobile Toronado |
| Powertrain | |
| Engine | 425 cu in (7.0 L) Nailhead V8 430 cu in (7.0 L) Buick V8 455 cu in (7.5 L) Buick V8 |
| Transmission | 3-speed ST-400 automatic |
| Dimensions | |
| Wheelbase | 119.0 in (3,023 mm) |
| Length | 211.2 in (5,364 mm) (1966–67) 215.2 in (5,466 mm) (1968–1970) |
| Width | 78.8 in (2,002 mm) 79.3 in (2,014 mm) (1970) |
| Height | 53.2 in (1,351 mm)–53.6 in (1,361 mm) |
| Third generation | |
|---|---|
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| Overview | |
| Model years | 1971–1973 |
| Assembly |
Flint, Michigan Linden, New Jersey (Linden Assembly) United States |
| Body and chassis | |
| Body style | 2-door hardtop |
| Layout | FR layout |
| Platform | E-body |
| Related |
Cadillac Eldorado Oldsmobile Toronado |
| Powertrain | |
| Engine | 455 cu in (7.5 L) Buick V8 |
| Transmission | 3-speed ST-400 automatic |
| Dimensions | |
| Wheelbase | 122.0 in (3,099 mm) |
| Length | 217.4 in (5,522 mm) (1971) 218.3 in (5,545 mm) (1972) 223.4 in (5,674 mm) (1973) |
| Width | 79.9 in (2,029 mm) |
| Height | 54.0 in (1,372 mm) |
| Curb weight | 4,247 lb (1,926 kg) |
| Fourth generation | |
|---|---|
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| Overview | |
| Model years | 1974–1976 |
| Assembly |
Flint, Michigan Linden, New Jersey (Linden Assembly) United States |
| Body and chassis | |
| Body style | 2-door coupe |
| Layout | FR layout |
| Platform | E-body |
| Related |
Cadillac Eldorado Oldsmobile Toronado |
| Powertrain | |
| Engine | 455 cu in (7.5 L) Buick V8 |
| Transmission | 3-speed ST-400 automatic |
| Dimensions | |
| Wheelbase | 122.0 in (3,099 mm) |
| Length | 226.4 in (5,751 mm) (1974) 223.0 in (5,664 mm) (1975) |
| Width | 80.0 in (2,032 mm) |
| Height | 54.0 in (1,372 mm) |
| Fifth generation | |
|---|---|
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| Overview | |
| Model years | 1977–1978 |
| Assembly |
Flint, Michigan Linden, New Jersey (Linden Assembly) United States |
| Body and chassis | |
| Body style | 2-door coupe |
| Layout | FR layout |
| Platform | B-body |
| Related |
Buick LeSabre Buick Estate Chevrolet Caprice Chevrolet Impala Oldsmobile 88 Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser Pontiac Bonneville/Parisienne Pontiac Catalina/Laurentian |
| Powertrain | |
| Engine | 350 cu in (5.7 L) Buick V8 403 cu in (6.6 L) Oldsmobile V8 |
| Transmission | 3-speed TH-400 automatic |
| Dimensions | |
| Wheelbase | 115.9 in (2,944 mm) |
| Length | 218.2 in (5,542 mm) |
| Sixth generation | |
|---|---|
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| Overview | |
| Model years | 1979–1985 |
| Assembly |
Doraville Assembly, Doraville, Georgia Flint, Michigan Linden Assembly, Linden, New Jersey United States |
| Body and chassis | |
| Body style | 2-door convertible 2-door coupe |
| Layout | Longitudinal front-engine, front-wheel drive |
| Platform | E-body |
| Related |
Cadillac Eldorado Oldsmobile Toronado |
| Powertrain | |
| Engine | 231 cu in (3.8 L) Buick V6 252 cu in (4.1 L) Buick V6 307 cu in (5.0 L) Oldsmobile V8 350 cu in (5.7 L) Oldsmobile V8 350 cu in (5.7 L) Oldsmobile diesel V8 |
| Transmission | 3-speed TH-325 automatic 4-speed THM325-4L automatic |
| Dimensions | |
| Wheelbase | 114.0 in (2,896 mm) |
| Length | 206.0 in (5,232 mm) |
| Width | 72.8 in (1,849 mm) |
| Seventh generation | |
|---|---|
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| Overview | |
| Model years | 1986–1993 |
| Assembly | Detroit/Hamtramck Assembly, Michigan, United States |
| Body and chassis | |
| Body style | 2-door coupe |
| Layout | Transverse front-engine, front-wheel drive |
| Platform | E-body |
| Related |
Cadillac Eldorado Oldsmobile Toronado Buick Reatta |
| Powertrain | |
| Engine | 1986–1990: 3.8L 165 hp (123 kW) V6 1991–93: 3.8L 170 hp (130 kW) V6 |
| Transmission | 4-speed THM440-T4 automatic |
| Dimensions | |
| Wheelbase | 108.0 in (2,743 mm) |
| Length | 1986–88: 187.8 in (4,770 mm) |
| Width | 1986–1990: 71.7 in (1,821 mm) 1991–93: 73.1 in (1,857 mm) |
| Height | 1986–88: 53.5 in (1,359 mm) 1989–1990: 53.6 in (1,361 mm) 1991–93: 52.9 in (1,344 mm) |
| Curb weight | 3,309 lb (1,501 kg) |
| Eighth generation | |
|---|---|
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| Overview | |
| Model years | 1995–1999 |
| Assembly | Lake Orion, Michigan, U.S. |
| Designer | William L. Porter |
| Body and chassis | |
| Body style | 2-door coupe |
| Layout | Transverse front-engine, front-wheel drive |
| Platform | G-body |
| Related |
Oldsmobile Aurora Cadillac Seville Buick Park Avenue |
| Powertrain | |
| Engine | 3.8L 205 hp (153 kW) L36 Buick V6 3.8L 225 hp (168 kW) SC L67 Buick V6 3.8L 240 hp (180 kW) SC L67 Buick V6 |
| Transmission | 4-sp auto 4T60E (1995–96 N/A) 4-sp auto 4T60E-HD (1996 Supercharged) 4-sp auto 4T65E-HD (1997–99) |
| Dimensions | |
| Wheelbase | 113.8 in (2,891 mm) |
| Length | 207.0 in (5,258 mm) |
| Width | 75.0 in (1,905 mm) |
| Height | 55.2 in (1,402 mm) |
| Curb weight | 3,788 lb (1,718 kg) |
| 2007 Concept | |
|---|---|
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| Body and chassis | |
| Body style | 2-door coupe |
| Dimensions | |
| Wheelbase | 2,870 mm (113.0 in) |
| Length | 4,710 mm (185.4 in) |
| Width | 1,940 mm (76.4 in) |
| Height | 1,415 mm (55.7 in) |
The Buick Riviera is a personal luxury car produced by Buick from 1963 to 1999. GM's first entry into that prestige niche, the Riviera was highly praised by automotive journalists upon its high-profile debut. While early models stayed close to the original form, subsequent generations varied substantially over the Riviera's thirty-year lifespan. In all, 1,127,261 were produced.
The Riviera name had been used by Buick since the early 1950s for various prestige versions of existing models, with the 1962 iteration being a large six-window hardtop version of the top-of-the-line Electra 225. The crisply styled 1963 E-body design was Buick's first ground-up Riviera model. The Riviera name was resurrected for concept cars displayed at auto shows in 2007 and 2013 in hopes of reintroducing the marque, but no plans to do so are currently in place.
Unlike its contemporary GM E platform stablemates, the Oldsmobile Toronado and Cadillac Eldorado, the Riviera was initially a standard front engine/rear-wheel drive platform, only becoming front wheel drive starting in 1979 as part of a sweeping move in that direction by the American automobile industry.
The name Riviera, Latin for coastline, was chosen to evoke the allure and affluence of the French Riviera. It first entered the Buick line in 1949, as the designation for the new two-door pillarless hardtop, described in advertising as "stunningly smart". The Buick Roadmaster Riviera coupe (along with the Cadillac Coupe de Ville and Oldsmobile 98 Holiday coupe) constituted the first mass production use of this body style, which was to become extremely popular over the next 30 years. Buick added a two-door Riviera hardtop to the Super the following year, the Special in 1951 and the Century upon its return, after a 12-year absence, in 1954.
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