Better Beaters - Building Cars and Daily Drivers

 More rambling thoughts about Rivieras.

What was the reasoning behind my latest purchase?

"Who has never wanted to own a "10,000 dollar" car? Or at least some kind of special car?"

The cars pictured above were limited production, coach built automobiles. The Facel Vega was what is now referred to as a hybrid, a European body with an American V8 powerplant. A Chyrsler V8 in this case. These became more popular as the 60's progressed with the better known Jensen Interceptor, the Iso Grifo, as well as others. At the time, these cars were very expensive, over 10,000 dollars, that would be more than 100,000 dollars Today! 

The desire for a limited production luxury GT car was there. Volvo had their entrant, displayed in the bottom portion of the ad pictured above.

Volvo had a great line, "The P1800 is either the world's most expensive economy car, or the least expensive luxury GT car. You decide."

Volvo had their idea. General Motors had one of their own. 

A special car for regular folks.

General Motors chief of styling Bill Mitchell had many ideas, and the position and clout to see his ideas (concepts) actually got built, and some, even turned into production cars.

The first generation Riviera was a very special car. It wasn't designed as a Buick, it was initially a design study intended to be a Cadillac. It was one of Bill Mitchell's pet projects. Mitchell being head of design had many projects continuously under development. 

The directive was to combine "Ferrari with Rolls Royce."  Not the sleek style of the Daytona that would arrive later, but the style of the Fifties and early Sixties models. Mitchell was inspired by a fog shrouded, Hooper bodied Rolls Royce that he'd seen in London. It became the basis for the "formal roof" that was featured on the original Riviera, and eventually became endemic to GM design.

The First Gen had the appearance of a high end, European coach built car.  It reminds me of the Facel Vega. The Facel Vega coupe was an impressive melding of luxury and muscular sportiness.

The last photo is of the later, updated Facel design, the Riviera really does convey that type of vibe.

A design masterpiece?
In my eyes, absolutely! And it's a production car!

Internal GM realities meant that the bespoke version of the first Rivieras could not continue. The development of the FWD Oldsmobile Toronado as well as the FWD Cadillac El Dorado had been underway. These were going to share a common platform, the E body, and the '66 Riviera was required to use that same platform, though it retained it's RWD configuration.

A new Riviera debuted for 1966.

The second Gen Riviera took on the appearance of a custom Motorama show car. Very sleek, with minimal chrome trim and badging. It also featured hidden headlamps, and horizontal grille and tail lamp treatments. While many, including myself, prefer this model because of it's sleek design, it no longer retained that "coach built" car vibe. 

This dramatic photo displays this model at it's best.

This initiated the era of the Riviera as a factory "custom car." The design became a little busier as the years progressed, culminating in a neo classical, one year design for 1970. Mitchell's directive for this car was, "put a little Delage into it!"

"Not a copy of anyone's car!"

The next design was a complete breakthrough and a total departure from traditional Riviera styling. The 1971 Boat Tail was an aggressive and over the top design. But it was a further evolution of the 

custom/ show car/concept car direction. It must have been too polarizing, as sales slowed. 

However, that didn't stop me from buying a pristine '71 in the early 1990's.

This was the turning point where the Riviera ceased to be a factory custom, but instead became more conventional and subdued. 

The 1974 refresh established the design direction for the next two decades of the Riviera. It ushered in the formal look. The age of the brougham had arrived, and the next series of Rivieras catered to the carriage trade. More squared off styling, vinyl landau tops, super plush upholstery, and wire spoke wheel covers were common themes. This is not to say that this new Riviera wasn't attractive, it still retained some of the curvaceousness that separated it from it's E body brothers, though in 1979 it also went to FWD. 

The end of the brougham line. Still recognizable as a Riviera

The Riviera continued until 1993, when it took a one year break.

These beautiful studio photographs display 
the Riviera's bold design.

A new Riviera was conceived for 1995, sharing a new G body platform with the Oldsmobile Aurora and the redesigned Buick Park Ave, both sedans. The car was touted as a concept car that the ordinary driver could buy. "What a concept!" This was the return to the idea that the Riviera should be Buick's and GM's styling leader. The Riviera was again cleanly styled with an expressive flowing design, with minimal bright work. It remained FWD with a new independent rear suspension, as well as an optional supercharged engine. It was also much bigger, even bigger than the El Dorado! 

This more radical Riviera was actually more traditional in concept, as it restored the car to it's prior role a a style sensation. All traces of the carriage trade were obliterated. The dashboard was a homage to the original 1963 Riviera.  Again, it was a very bold, polarizing design. It was well received at first, but the market for big American luxury coupes was rapidly drying up.

The Japanese manufacturers had also jumped into this market with the Acura Legend and Lexus coupes. Combined with the established European offerings, it became a very crowded marketplace with a shrinking pool of buyers.

As I have lamented many times in the past, not only was this the death of the American Personal Luxury Car, it was also the end of the big American luxury coupe.

The last generation of the Riviera went out with a bang, without compromise. It wouldn't be transformed into a sedan or a crossover. It was big, it was all American, unapologetic, and flashy until the end. 

I think that is why I chose this generation Riviera and this particular car. There were practical reasons of course, price and condition. I'd owned two '66's a '67, as well as a '71 years ago.  The '77 that I was considering was in good condition, but a bit too bland, even the '79 -'85 models didn't light my fire. Any earlier first or second gen cars were either too expensive for a good one, or too much work as a project. 

The '95-'99 Rivieras are Pur Sang Rivieras, their entire reason for existence is to display their expressive styling. This makes them quite unique in the Pantheon of American automobiles. They are cars worth enjoying, as well as preserving. A fitting end to the Riviera legacy.