The 1971 - 1973 Buick Riviera was the manufacturing business ’s most controversial piece of styling since the batwing job of 1959 . Despite the success of the 1963 Riviera , sales had plummeted by 1970 . A immediate fix was disadvantageously demand , and Buick gambled that the 1971 “ boattail ” was the response .
It ’s true , too , that by 1971 the time had obviously add up for a new and dissimilar Riviera . see 1,070 output bod , for example . While still well in the lead of Oldsmobile ’s Toronado – the Riveria ’s intra - corporate rival – output skidded an alarming 29 percent from 52,872 social unit in 1969 to 37,336 units , the lowest since 1965 .
Nor was this a reflexion of market conditions , for overall Buick sales were holding regular , while Ford ’s Thunderbird made a modest gain that twelvemonth .
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It had been Ford , of course , that had pioneered the “ luxury personal motorcar ” concept with the 1958 debut of the first four - place T - Bird . And the Bird stay on to guide the field of operation in sales , despite stiff competition from its counterpart at Buick .
Even so , the Riviera , first insert for the 1963 season , had been a reverberating sales success from the starting , and a style and operation leader as well .
“ It was the Riviera , ” source Ian Norbye and lames Dunne declared , “ that put some category into this market segment . ”
EvenCar and Driver , a magazine not unremarkably noted for unstinting praise of American luxury car , admitted that “ the Riviera is different from the other big Buicks , and it stands alone among American automobile in providing a combination of opulence , functioning and world-wide roadworthiness that approaches Bentley Continental standards at less than half the cost . ”
Learn about Buick Riviera styling change on to the next pageboy .
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Buick Riviera Styling Changes
A number of Buick Riviera styling change would take place at the closing of the sixties . In fact , a major restyling was undertaken for 1966 .
Designed by David Holls , this Modern Riveria feature a slim , horizontal lattice behind which the headlamps were hide . The windshield was more sharply raked than before , and in a trendsetting move , vent wings were eliminated from the side windows .
The Bentley - inspired “ razor - edge ” consequence was endure , and the roof was given a modified fastback configuration . At the same time , the standard Riviera locomotive engine was bore an 8th of an in , raise the deracination from 401.2 to 425.3 cubic inch and the gross horsepower from 325 to 340 .
Styling changes for the Buick Riviera were minor over the next few years , but for 1967 the company offer a novel family of V-8 engine .
As fit to the Riviera , the new grinder had very nearly the same displacement reaction as its predecessor : 429.7 three-dimensional inches . The cerebrovascular accident / bore ratio was increase , however , from .844:1 to .931:1 , and better respiration was provided by means of freehanded valves and enlarged ports . Standard horsepower now was 360 – 20 more than the 1967 Cadillac .
A number of modifications were made for 1969 . The General Motors Turbo Hydra - Matic 400 contagion replaced Buick ’s Super Turbine as stock equipment , and variable - proportion power steering made its debut .
At the same meter , Buick featured a new front break system called " AccuDrive , ” boasting that it provide “ the best directional constancy ever experienced in an automobile . ”
As authors Terry B. Dunham and Lawrence R. Gustin have explained , “ They carry out this by utilizing the rule called ‘ bank driving force , ’ the side military unit generated when a rolling wheel is leaned or cambered . Buick used it as a stabilizing force by lowering the lower control arm inner pivot man and bring up the upper control arm inner pivot .
" Because of this relocation , when the bicycle moved over an wave , it tumble outwards at the top , or else of inward , furnish an opponent force . The two forces would efficaciously cancel each other out , restrain the railroad car on a more nigh straight path . ”
So honorable was this new temporary removal that by 1971 it would be adopted – by corporate fiat – at all five General Motors division .
By 1970 , the Riviera was in its fifth year without a major styling alteration , and the public was obviously look for something fresh and unexampled from Buick .
The drop in Riviera ’s 1970 product , which amounted to 15,506 units for the class , was cancel about double - over by a gain of 30,514 for the braggy Electra serial publication .
But no thing , the time had intelligibly come for Buick to innovate a new Riviera . And when it did arrive , it was – for better or for forged – a sensation . get wind about the 1971 Buick Riviera on the next Thomas Nelson Page .
1971 Buick Riviera Design
The 1971 Buick Riviera design was one that most masses either loved or hated , and that ’s still the pillowcase . The excogitation was an attempt to catch the “ classic ” flavor of the old 1930s boattail roadster , but critics reason that it just did n’t do off . Partisans , on the other hand , insist it did .
It has never been clear exactly who was responsible for styling the “ boattail ” Riviera of 1971 - 1973 . Lee N. Mays , who come down heir to the car when he became Buick ’s General Manager in 1969 , cordially hated it . In later class , he wryly remark , “ I could never find anyone who hold they designed it . ”
In retrospect , the conception come along to have originated with the Buick “ Y - Job , ” an observational “ show ” gondola styled by Harley Earl and built during 1938 ; the resemblance to the 1963 Corvette Sting Ray is unmistakable .
Bill Mitchell , who had follow Earl as General Motors ’ styling chief , was evidently the choice mover behind the boattail project , but it is unclear to this day who set down the literal design .
Norbye and Dunne credit Donald C. Lasky , Dave Molls ’ successor as Buick ’s styling headman . But Jerry Hirshberg , in boot of Buick ’s advance intention studio at the time , has claimed the pattern as his own , while confessing that “ I think the boattail was a mistake . ”
In any typeface , according to Hirshberg , the original intent had been for this unexampled Riviera to be a small car , based on the General Motors A - trunk . And when you think of it , a boattail built on the 112 - column inch chassis of the two - door Buick Skylark might well have been an exceptionally handsome automobile .
Over the days , the fastback design has broadly been far more successful on lowly car than on bad unity .
A case in gunpoint is the American Motors Marlin of 1965 - 1967 . AMC styling chief Dick Teague had developed a high - style show railcar called the Tarpon , to be displayed at the national convention of the Society of Automotive Engineers in 1964 . Based on the 106 - inch wheelbase of the thick Rambler American , the Tarpon was a beautifully proportion picayune automobile .
But Roy Abernethy , who in 1962 had succeeded George Romney as chairman of the company , liked enceinte cars . At his insistence the fastback was stretched a foot and a one-half to become the Marlin . Teague ’s exquisite balance were lost in the process , and the car was a dismal failure .
The wheelbase of the Riviera had grown in 1966 to 119 inches , up two inch from its 1963 measuring . For 1971 , it was stretched again , this time to 122 column inch .
Overall length was also increased a couple of column inch compare to 1970 , bringing it to 217.4 inches overall – about nine and a half inches longer than the original variant .
Width swelled to 79.9 inches , more than five and a quarter inch smashing than that of the 1963 car . The 1971 Buick Riviera had become a main road police cruiser , almost identical in overall dimensions to the 1971 Chevrolet Impala .
If there was any practical benefit in all this , it add up in the sort of pelvic arch way , which was slap-up by nearly six inches in front and by more than three inches for back - seat passengers . body space , likewise , was increased by 35 per centum .
But Bill Mitchell – the man who had barrack the boattail in the first place – vitriolically detect that “ What anguish the boattail was to widen it . It catch so wide , a speedboat became a tug . ”
And yet , unlike many large fastbacks , the boattail Riviera was not badly - proportion . Although the plan was emphatically controversial , many observers have call it one of the most beautiful automobile to come along in many years .
Full wheel cutout relieved what might otherwise have been an unacceptable slab - sided flavour , and the retentive hood serve to balance the Riviera ’s wholesale fastback posterior .
For its part , Buick touted the “ aerodynamic styling . Longer . Wider . Daring new excogitation . The 1971 Riviera is motion - sculpt give an image of crusade even when remain firm still . In a discussion : " excitement . ”
watch about 1971 Buick Riviera carrying out on the next page .
1971 Buick Riviera Performance
Despite its size , 1971 Buick Riviera performance was decent . luckily , since the 1971 Riviera ’s exponent had been crisply reduced , the car ’s system of weights had not grown commensurately with its sizing .
The 455.7 - cid engine was retain , but in the interest of clean emission the compression ratio was reduced from 10.0:1 to 8.5:1 , dropping the gross HP from 370 to 315 . Torque was likewise affected , slipping to 450 lbf. / foot from 1970 ’s 510 .
Not that the Riviera was suddenly suffering from deadening . The final driving ratio was increase from 2.78 to 2.93:1 in the interest of sustain the Riviera ’s report for sparkling performance .
Motor Trend , equate the 1971 Riviera with the Toronado and the Thunderbird , found it to be the quickest of the three in acceleration , despite the fact that it had – by a narrow-minded leeway – the least lucky exponent - to - weight proportion .
As recorded inMT ’s test , 0 - 60 miles per hour came up in 8.4 secondment , no mean value skill for a car with a dry system of weights of 4,257 hammering . In fair-mindedness , permit it be confessed that this figure could not be parallel by the same issue in its test of the virtually identical 1972 Riviera . That one took 9.7 seconds to do the 0 - 60 dash .
But then , that ’s not too shabby , either . Buick would only comment that the Riviera ’s performance was “ Something to believe in . ”
Other modification for 1971 include a perimeter anatomy , replacing the cruciform type on which the early Rivieras had been built . Besides add side - encroachment tribute , critical from a safety stand , the new underframe made it possible for the Riviera to share the Electra ’s splendid four - link rear axle intermission system .
Something else was revealed inMotor Trend ’s tests : The Riviera ’s brake were brilliant . From 60 miles an hour they draw the car to a halt in 135.2 feet , nearly 40 feet shorter than the Toronado ’s stopping distance .
insure out the next discussion section for particular on the 1971 Buick Riviera pick .
1971 Buick Riviera Options
The 1971 Buick Riviera options were numerous and attractive . Air - conditioning , which Buick bear on to as " Climate Control , " was very pop , and of course there was the common array of power equipment – bottom , windows , even doorway lock .
The AM / FM radio was a comparatively Modern idea , and the Buick translation featured higher faithfulness than most people had come to expect in an automobile . There was the inevitable vinyl top , of class , though it really did n’t integrate very well with the Riviera ’s overall design .
And then there was Max Trac , a twist plan to regulate wheelspin for greater grip . This computerized widget , complex enough to delight the philia of Rube Goldberg , functioned by interrupting the lighting any time the rear wheels get to run 10 percent faster than the front wheel .
It was empty after only two twelvemonth , however , reportedly because its operation was incompatible with the new emissions organisation .
Another challenging pick was the ego - leveling rearward suspension . When there was a large loading in the automobile trunk , or when the back seat carried its full accompaniment of passengers , an engine - drive compressor would blow up a pair of pneumatic bellows mounted on top of the shock absorbers . This enabled the car to maintain a layer posture irrespective of its warhead distribution .
But to the execution buff , the most appealing option was the GS , or Gran Sport software package . lie in of a high - performance engine , specially calibrated Turbo Hydra - Matic transmission , 3.42:1 positive traction differential , heavy - responsibility suspension , and H78 - 15 - bias - belted blank sidewall tyre , it was a deal at $ 200 .
modification to the G railway locomotive included larger valve , and a high - lift camshaft with three level more duration on breathing in , ensue in a HP increase from 315 to 330 .
Tom McCahill , pass judgment the GS forMechanix Illustrated , was enthusiastic . " This is a great road car , " he wrote , adding that the depressed contraction ratio " has made the Buick 455 cu . in . engine much still and quieter than in the past tense . . . In desmogging Buick they have n’t hurt its performance as much as the boys first revere . It just show what ingenuity can do . From the sporty car viewpoint the Riviera is n’t Lamborghini , but then there ’s nothing better being made on these shores . "
Find item on the 1972 and 1973 Buick Riviera in our final part .
1972 and 1973 Buick Riviera
Having go all - out in restyling the 1971 model , few changes were made for the 1972 and 1973 Buick Riviera .
key the 1972 were a new eggcrate grille , gently retool taillight , and stock vinyl group border along the bodyside sculpture line . Gone were the Full - Flo ventilation louver from the rearward pack of cards – that flow - through system had n’t worked very well .
However , if one wanted more air , an optional power - operated sunshine-roof was now listed . Otherwise it was more of the same , at least visually .
Under the exhaust hood there was a new , solenoid - actuated accelerator pedal contain that prevented dieseling by close off atmosphere to the locomotive engine .
A Modern smog control organisation was aimed at California ’s more tight regularization , and for the first time H.P. was advertised only in net – rather than gross – terminal figure , lowering that figure from 315 to 250 . Performance was not appreciably affected , however .
The facelift for the 1973 Buick Riviera was more extended than in 1972 . Among the change : a downturned hoodline and modified grille - work , large wing - mounted parking light , thicker rocker panel moldings , rejiggered taillights surrounded by a trim panel , and a center - of - the - bumper rear license dental plate positioning ( it had been way over to the left ) .
Most obtrusive , however , was a softening of the “ boattail ” look up back and a heavier - looking bumper up front . The latter , adopted to conform with Union collapse worthiness regulation , had the inauspicious side effect of increasing the weight of the 1973 Riviera some 240 pounds over its 1971 counterpart .
automatically , the cable car was basically unaltered , although the more rigorous emissions measure had a negative effect on fuel fuel consumption rate . Owners typically reported between eight and 11 Swedish mile to the congius of gun , at a time when fuel prices were escalating rapidly . The only bright side was the fact that the engine would burn leaded unconstipated without complaint .
These were good years for Buick , generally . During example twelvemonth 1973 the division turned out 726,191 cars , very nearly equal 1955 ’s record output .
But the Riviera failed to deal in the prosperity – only 4.7 percent of all 1973 Buicks were Rivieras , down from 8.7 percent a decade earlier . Whatever its merits – and it had a lot of them – the boattail Riviera was a disappointment where it counted most : on the sales floor .
Buick had been hope for 50,000 cut-rate sale per year for the boattail Riviera . Alas , they average out 34,000 . And thing would get worse – just 20,000 per year from 1974 - 1978 , thus partially vindicating the boattail .
There would be a new Riviera for 1974 – a notchback . Styling was quite conventional , specially in contrast to the boattail . And the newfangled example was even heavy and more expensive than its immediate predecessor , but no less athirst .
This was a difficult year for Buick , and a particularly bad season for the Riviera . But at least the boattail was clear . Clearly , it was n’t the provocative styling of 1971 - 1973 that had caused the Riviera ’s sales slump .
It would be nice to be capable to report that the boattail Riviera has become a hot point on the collector car market , but it has n’t . Still , there is a grow pursuit in this controversial , unconventionally - styled Buick .
So do n’t be surprised if , over the next few twelvemonth , the boattail becomes a extremely payable and – ultimately – a very worthful motorcar .
