Buick Riviera

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Buick Riviera was a large luxury coupé built from 1963 to 1998 by the Buick automobile brand belonging to the American General Motors Group .

Riviera, 1963-1965

Buick Riviera, 1963-1965
Side view of the First Riviera

The first Rivieras were built from 1963 to 1965. The model, designed by chief designer Bill Mitchell and located in the Personal Luxury Cars segment, was launched as a competitor to the four-seater Ford Thunderbird .

Originally, Cadillac was supposed to produce this model as the successor to the La Salle . Due to a lack of capacity, General Motors then outsourced the production to the Buick car brand.

As a symbiosis of Ferrari and Rolls-Royce , the sports coupé should also gain a foothold in the European luxury market. The design shaped subsequent models from most manufacturers. Glued windshields and rear windows, a new kind of metal gluing process on the body and frameless door windows, which were unusual for an American vehicle, set the trend at the time. The Buick Riviera has won various design awards.

1963 and 1964 still with double headlights in the grill and in 1965 with folding headlights, the body remained unchanged except for small details. The Riviera was motorized in 1963 with the Buick Nailhead V8 petrol engine with a displacement of 6.6 liters with a torque of 603 Nm and 325 hp (240 kW) or a seven-liter V8 engine with 630 Nm and 340 hp (250 kW). In 1963, still equipped with the two-speed Dynaflow automatic transmission, the TH400 three-speed automatic transmission was installed from 1964. From 1964 the seven-liter engine with 340-360 hp (with two quadruple carburetors ) was specified. In 1965 the Riviera Gran Sport (GS) came into the range as a sporty top model.

The first generation of the Riviera produced 112,544 units in three years.

Riviera, 1965-1970

Buick Riviera, 1969

In autumn 1965 the Riviera received a completely new body with unchanged technology. The engine was now exclusively the seven-liter V8 engine. In 1967 a newly developed 430 cubic inch (7048 cm³) V8 was used. He replaced the 425 cubic inch (6966 cm³) large "Nailhead" -V8. The output of the new 430 cubic inch V8 was now 360 instead of 340 SAE PS (250 or 265 kW). In addition, the torque increased from 630 Nm to 645 Nm. In 1970 a new 7.5-liter V8 engine (455 cubic inches; 370 SAE PS / 272 kW; 690 Nm) was used.

In addition to the basic model, there was still the Riviera GS with sports suspension, limited-slip differential (positraction) and sports tires, which are also counted among the muscle cars .

A total of 227,669 copies of the second generation Riviera were built.

Riviera, 1970-1973

Buick Riviera GS Stage 1, 1973

In 1970, the third Riviera appeared with a tapered “Boattail” rear end, which was supposed to be reminiscent of the classic roadster models of the 1930s, but which met with mixed feedback. The Riviera was still powered by the 7.5-liter V8, which had 315 (basic model) and 330 SAE-PS (Riviera GS) (from 1972: 253 or 264 net PS).

The Boattail-Riviera was built 101,618 times in three years.

Riviera, 1973-1976

The fourth generation of the Riviera turned out to be very conventional after the loud criticism and the moderate sales of the Boattail model with ordinary notchback. The 7.5-liter gasoline engine dropped to 213 hp (157 kW), and from 1975 to 208 hp (154 kW). In 1975 there was a slight facelift that gave the Riviera rectangular double headlights.

Of this generation of models, which had lost a lot of stature, only 54,741 were built in three years.

Riviera, 1976-1978

Buick Riviera, 1978

In 1976 Buick launched a much smaller and lighter Riviera based on the Buick Le Saber / Buick Electra models that were also presented at the same time . This model was basically a Le Saber Coupé with slight styling retouching and upscale features. The Riviera, which has shrunk by a good 10 cm in length and around 300 kg in weight, was powered by a 5.7-liter V8 engine with quadruple carburettors and 157 hp (115 kW) or, on request, by a 6.6 supplied by Oldsmobile -Liter V8 with an output of 188 hp (138 kW).

Of this generation, 46,673 pieces were made.

The 1978 Buick Riviera was built for the 75th Anniversary Buick (birthday model) as a special model LXXV only 1400 times.

Riviera, 1979-1985

Buick Riviera Cabriolet, 1981–1985

From 1979 the parent company General Motors put the personal luxury models Buick Riviera, Oldsmobile Toronado and Cadillac Eldorado on a common basis ( e-platform ); the models differed only in the stylistic details of the lines, the interior fittings and in some cases also in their engines. At the same time, the Riviera was converted to front-wheel drive for the first time .

The new Riviera still had a separate frame, but now had independently suspended rear wheels instead of the rigid axle. In addition to the basic model, which had a 5.7-liter V8 engine (157 PS / 115 kW), a Riviera S-Type with a 172 PS (126 kW) four-carburettor version of the in-house turbocharged 3.8- Liter V6 engine offered, which was not available for the Eldorado and Toronado; In return, the Oldsmobile V8 diesel engine in the Riviera was initially not available. In 1981 the S-Type was renamed the T-Type, the new base engine was a 127 PS (93 kW) 4.1-liter V6, a five-liter V8 (142 PS / 104 kW) replaced the previous 5.7-liter Engine and the Oldsmobile diesel engine with 5.7 liter displacement and 106 hp (78 kW) were also added to the range. In the spring of 1982, a Riviera convertible appeared for the first time in an edition of initially 500 copies, which was converted by ASC . In 1984 the turbo V6 engine received electronically controlled injection and increased to 193 hp (142 kW).

370,282 of the first front-wheel drive Riviera were built in six years, including 3898 convertibles.

Riviera, 1985-1993

Buick Riviera, 1985–1988

Like the siblings of the E-platform models, the Riviera was also subjected to a radical downsizing for the 1986 model year and shrank in the wheelbase by 15 cm, in length by almost 50 cm and in weight by a good 300 kg. It remained with front-wheel drive and independent suspension all around. Only coupés were offered as the basic model and sporty T-type, powered by an injected 3.8-liter naturally aspirated V6 (142 hp / 103 kW, from 1987 152 hp / 112 kW).

Since the downsized models were extremely badly received by the public (sales fell from 64,000 units in 1985 to 8,600 units in 1987), the Riviera received a major facelift for model year 1989 with a wider C-pillar and a rear section that was almost 30 cm longer. At the same time, the output of the 3.8-liter engine was increased to 167 hp (123 kW). In 1991 the Riviera received a 172 hp (126 kW) version of this engine and an electronic four-speed automatic transmission.

In this form, the Riviera remained in the program until the summer of 1993; a total of 119,748 copies were made in seven years.

Riviera, 1994-1998

Buick Riviera, 1994-1998

At the beginning of 1994 at NYIAS , Buick presented a new and so far last Riviera, again exclusively as a front-wheel drive coupé, powered by a naturally aspirated version of the 3.8-liter V6 engine (208 hp / 153 kW) or a supercharged version of this engine (228 hp / 168 kW), each paired with an electronically controlled four-speed automatic. In 1996 the output of the compressor version was increased to 243 hp (179 kW).

By the end of 1998, when production was phased out, around 90,000 copies were made.

Technical data (1987/1998)

Technical data Buick Riviera (1987/1998)
Buick Riviera 3800 (1987) 3800 compressor (1998)
Working method Four stroke
Motor type Gasoline engine
engine 6-cylinder V-engine
Cylinder bank angle 90 °
Motor mounting position front across
designation LG3 L67
Displacement 3791 cc
Bore × stroke 96.52 mm x 86.36 mm
Max. Power at 1 / min 112 kW (152 hp) at 4400 179 kW (243 hp) at 5200
Max. Torque at 1 / min 271 Nm at 2000 380 Nm at 3600
compression 8.5: 1
Mixture preparation Electronic injection
Valve control Central camshaft
Camshaft drive Chain drive
cooling Water cooling
Drive type Front wheel drive
transmission Three-speed automatic Four-speed automatic
Gearbox series GM THM 440-T4 GM THM
Front suspension Longitudinal and wishbones, suspension struts, coil springs Wishbones, suspension struts
Rear suspension Wishbone, shock absorber strut, fiberglass transverse leaf spring, level control Wishbones, coil springs, level control
Brake design all around Internally ventilated disc brakes Disc brakes
Brakes ⌀ front 26 cm 30.1 cm
Brakes-⌀ rear 25.4 cm 27.8 cm
Brake assist systems Servo Servo, ABS
steering Rack and pinion steering, servo
body Sheet steel, self-supporting Sheet steel, self-supporting; front and rear subframes
Front track 1520 mm 1590 mm
Rear track 1520 mm 1590 mm
wheelbase 2745 mm 2890 mm
Dimensions 4770 mm × 1820 mm × 1360 mm 5260 mm × 1910 mm × 1390 mm
Empty weight 1500-1525 kg 1675 kg
Top speed approx. 190 km / h approx. 230 km / h
Acceleration, 0-100 km / h k. A. k. A.
consumption approx. 10–17 l / 100 km N approx. 13.1 l / 100 km S.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ John Gunnell: Standard Guide of American Muscle Cars . Ed .: KP-Books. 4th edition. KP-Books, 2005, ISBN 0-87349-988-3 , pp. 400 (English).
  2. Marshall Schoun: BEHIND THE WHEEL / 1995 Buick Riviera; Haute Couture Coupe In Size Large - The New York Times. In: nytimes.com. July 17, 1994. Retrieved June 25, 2018 (American English).
  3. 1995-99 Buick Riviera - Consumer Guide Auto. In: consumerguide.com. Consumer Guide, accessed June 25, 2018 (American English).

Web links

Commons : Buick Riviera  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

swell

  • James M. Flammang, Ron Kowalke: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1976-1999 . Krause Publications, Iola 1999, ISBN 0-87341-755-0 , here: pp. 45-134.
  • Mary Sieber, Ken Buttolph: Standard Catalog of Buick 1903-1990 . Krause Publications, Iola 1991, ISBN 0-87341-173-0 , here: pp. 201-286.
  • Automobil Revue , various catalog numbers (technical data)