"It's rare to get rubber with a 4,500 pound plushmobile--but we did." Gotta love THAT. Along with the cutting-edge stereo tape deck, the narrator's obligatory 60s/70s style "announcer voice" and the jazzy Herb Alpert-inspired soundtrack. Awesome--thesr road tests are a HUGE treat to watch. : )
As I remember, The smog pumps would go first, then we would put on an earlier intake manifold and carb ( carbs from 500 cu.in. Caddy motors & 455 olds Toronados were favorites) mostly from the wrecking yard. dual exhaust if it didn't have it, Headers, lighter weights in the distributor, B&M shift kits in the transmissions, sometimes we would swap earlier heads although some of the 70's heads flowed as well, then if we had the cash work the heads & up the compression, maybe a cam. The heads and cams upgrade was rare as we didn't have much money. The plan was always to get as close to a 1970 455 stage 1 as possible. We had a friend who worked at JC Penney in the auto service shop so sometimes we could get a good after hours tune and a run on the first Dyno I had ever seen. Ah the good old days.
4500 lb vehicle doing 0-60 mph in 8.4 seconds. Axle-twisting torque with power seats, power windows, power everything. Full power, even with white wall tires and chrome wheels.
Back in the early 90s I have a '72 Cutlass, my friend had a '72 Chevelle and another friend had the sister of this car, a '72 Gran Prix with a 454. Me and the Chevelle would smoke the Grand Prix to about 65mph or so - then that huge beast would take off like a rocketship and fly by us until it ran out of gears around 120mph. So while 0-60 at 8.4 isn't bad, I'd love to know what the quarter is - in particular what the acceleration looks like once it gets it's fat ass moving.
No smog controls meant excellent output. Later cars were just choked to death. By the mid-70's you had 400 CU with output in the 150-165 hp range with torque at 210-240 ft lbs trying to move that kind of weight.
This was my dad's Buick, only his was metallic green with a white vinyl top. In my formative years, I duplicated many of maneuvers shown here as well as some even more dramatic including impressive smokey donuts, crowd pleasing reverse-neutral-L1 drops and blowing the doors off many of my contemporaries' lesser grocery getters. I can also testify topping out the 120 mph speedo and the beast was still accelerating. . . Only God knows how fast we were going. . . all on Firestone white wall tires.
My first car was a 1972 Riv GS.. I was 16 and working part time at a chicken restaurant. My dad called and asked if he could use my money to buy it at an auction. I said "If you think it's good... you know more than me about cars." It was the early 80's.... He picked me up from work that night in the green Riv... it squealed the tires as he pulled in the parking lot and pulled up... the V8 thumping... he rolled down the driver window and said "You ain't driving this home!" LOL
My cousin Lovell, all he drove was the Buick Rivieras nothing else. That 455 4bbl Buick was a helluva motor!!! My imagine drag racing a Riviera GS on a drag strip, a/c on, tape deck playing and still eating chinese food out the box, and no mess!
My dad had a brand new 1 back in the day. No hole in the roof. Exact color, the G.S. was a decent handler after he put steel belted radials. Difference of night & day. Ran on low lead fuel,but of course, the higher the octane the better the performance. Firmer ride,limited slip,it was a great long distance traveler. He always loved Buick Riviera since the '60's. But, a bit disappointed on the power side in comparison. NOW,he wouldn't touch them. Not the same he says. Buick w/o a V-8, Now, even though it is just him & mom,he drives a new CADILLAC ESCALADE, simply because of the power plant. Old school.
I consider 1972 to be the last good year of the classic automobiles before it really started to go downhill in the looks, styling and performance department.
Yes he knew how to drive, but he had one trick up his sleeve when doing the test drive. He was wearing both the lap and shoulder belts, I'm sure for safety of course, but the belts held him firmly in the seat and gave him a better feeling of how the car drove and handled. As a teenager back in the early 70s that's what got me to wear both the lap and shoulder belts when it wasn't cool to do so, but those older cars just drove so much better with the belts buckled. And as I am living proof, the belts let me walk away from a head on collision with only bruises from the belts.
I drove a '70 Riviera with the 455 4-barrel back in the late 70s and super early 80s.. was the fastest car I've ever driven ! I could just barely touch that pedal and WHAM!! off it would go like a bullet! I sure miss that beast - I'd trade my 2019 Lincoln Nautilus for that '70 Riv any day of the week!
I agree, I still like the early ones too, the 63 & 64 - 65, had a great style and great looking dashboard and console. Loved the boat tails and on up to around '76 -- one of the first personal luxury cars. And the GS versions of these had great engines.
In 1986, living in SoCal taking care of a friends grandmothers estate, I bought a new condition '71 GS in Emerald green, with white vinyl top, darker green dash and carpet, with the rest of the interior in white leather, had the road wheels, whitewalls (aggressive and high speed rated), HD front and rear sway bars, Koni shocks, lowered 1 1/2 inch,, full power with auto A/C and the engine pumping enough power the 0-60 was 7.2-7.5 seconds and run 140 mph (mpg was 8-12 mpg). Mine cornered more planted than the video, but the thing most don't understand, is in the car and driving it, it's under control. I've had a long series of Chrysler products, and Buicks that have so much power, on a winding road the tail tends to drift corners, but it is perfectly under control, and feels great doing it. I've drifted corners in my 1966 6000+ pound Imperial at 110 mph around a 90 degree curve with the ability to place any part of the car within one inch of where I want it. Back to the Riv, I loved the car and handling, it was a shock to realize it was just inches from the length of my earlier Electra. Unfortunately, in SoCal, these were popular to steal and use as getaway cars, which mine was, and wrecked. I still have my '64 and '65 Riv GS, as well as 2 1963 Electra convertibles, all pumped and suspension done, but I still want another 71-71 GS again.
In all the time that show existed ,I NEVER seen either a Cadillac, Lincoln, Imperials TESTED. Suspension too soft,....my dad had the same model & year brand new. I think all he replaced the tires from , J78-15 to Vogues LR70-15. It not only made the car look gr8, but, it handled much better as well as ride. He kept it 3 years trouble free for a '75. He was just dissatisfied with the lack of power. Since we lived upstate, limited slip was ALWAYS on his cars. He had relatives/pals that had cars of upgraded status, he always compared, ofcourse, the Riviera was his winner. When better cars are built, BUICK WILL BUILD THEM!!!💥🇺🇸
When you really want to utilize the awesome torque on any Buick be it with a Stage 1 or Stage 2 cam you must master the Brake Torque perfectly or you will either burn the tires completely off the rim or Torque Flex ( Twist) the drive shaft. Good tires are way too expensive to just burn up unless you're a millionaire or Billionaire!!LOL.
I have always loved Riviera's!!! My personal favorite's are of course the boat tell Riviera but I love the 1965 the best‼️ The 66 and 67 are a very close second. In 1964 there was a dealer option GS model which included 2x4 barrel carburetors. Then in 1965 and I believe 1966 it was a factory option. 🚀🚀 Man they were very cool cars ‼️‼️
I prefer Fords and Chryslers, ten to one over GM products, but I will admit, I think the 1971 and '72 Buick Rivieras were among the most beautiful cars ever made in this country.
Stop straight as an arrow! As the car is sideways on the road. HAHAAHAHHA I also like how they lock up all 4 wheels and just slide to a stop in these tests!
+leusgs This is them letting the car do what it will during a full on stop. No pumping of brakes, or much course correction. If you wanted to keep the car from going sideways and all four wheels from locking up, there are things you could do. Not today of course because nobody knows how to drive.
+Dino Pace of course not in 1972 silly! Before ABS the quickest way to stop was to sense the lockup then ease off on the pedal a bit. Just keep the tires on the edge of locking up. Like human ABS. get it? Too complicated? Regardless I just love how they just lock 'em up and slide to stop! So ridiculous.
+leusgs No, we pumped the brakes a few times instead of just mashing the pedal. We also started cold carbureted cars differently by flooring the accelerator pedal once, setting the choke. We also had to kick it down when the car was warmed up or it would be running at high idle indefinitely. Totally different driving experience.
Buick Riviera's were always such nice cars. I'm mostly a Mopar and Ford fan but Riv's might be my favorite luxury cars of all time besides the Chrysler 300's from the late 50s. Always liked Riv's better than a Lincoln or Cadillac though. I think in either 1965 or 66 Riviera's came with the 425 horsepower 430 ci engine with dual quads. Beautiful cars
There was definitely a major difference in the handling departments on the 1972 Riveria's than the 1973 Riveria's from the road tests and the 1972 Riveria seemed to have better handling and performance, they were both the GS models
really like this era of the Riviera, definitely the last of the good years of the automotive industry right before the Emission Control devices and the smog pumps started to take its toll on the automotive industry along with the cars becoming heavier and slower, 1970, 1971 and 1972 were the only really good years of the automotive industry, 1973 wasn't too shabby but 1974 on was when cars went to shit
definitely a very good performance car with the detuned 455 engine despite it's 2.25 ton weight, I consider 1972 to be the last good year of the classic automobiles before they seriously started to decline.
Nice cars, 1972 was definitely one of the last of the really good years of the automotive industry before they've started putting the crappy Emission Control devices in their vehicles along with the rubber bumper guards.
Didn't take much work to unleash the real potential of that 455. Back in the day we used uncork those things and man you had luxury and power. Torque was always in the 500 foot pound range. Best part was you could get most of the speed parts you needed from the junkyard cheap.
Agreed - there no style anymore, and even todays cadillacs dont have the smooth ride these old land yachts had -- no they didnt handle, but they werent meant to - they were boulevard / highway cruisers that would cruise the interstate all day long in livingroom comfort - and you had way more room in cars back then, that was part of the luxury of them. try putting six people in anything today except for a large suv or minivan. My first car was a '63 buick lesabre, loved the way it rode.
Performance wise you are correct, but you have to admit the styling is not memorable in these current cars. They are made of cheap plastic and are not built to last.
Great, you were also riding on non-speed rated bias ply tires that were only certified for 85 MPH. S rated (112 mph) and H rated (128 mph) were not matched with the cars top speed until much later. Many people died from blow outs, especially in hot areas like Arizona.
The 72 Riviera was A Nice Car , This Guy Liked This Car , The 1969 Impala Video He Talked a lot of Plush Smack about which wasn’t fair with it only having A 2 barrel Carb what could he expect , he should Have Used A 427 with A 4 barrel Carb in 69 Impala in the other Video then as he said It would have been an entirely different animal and more of A Fair Test Run .
Though I honestly do love classic American cars, this was one of the funniest commentaries to listen to, given that the car was all over the place. If this car had the 'GS handling package', what must that slalom course have been like otherwise ? But, if it was good enough for Robert Plant... (He owned one of these.....)
@knipdlo It was the Imperial that was always last. This Riviera would have beat the bunch to Santa Rosita by 3 hours minimum, but that would have ruined the picture.
Sweet looking Riviera. Its performance is impressive considering that it weighs over 4ks. Even the interior is impressive. The only thing I don't like are the use of warning lights instead of analogue gauges.
I've never understood why they used *"idiot lights"* rather than gauges. Idiot lights are a fine supplement to the gauges, but I've felt they were a poor substitute for the gauges.
+ Jason Carpp GM was working hard to reduce driver involvement in those days. The people buying these cars didn't want to be bothered and confused, and GM was willing to oblige. Gauges infer that something may go wrong, and they should be monitored, rather than just carefree operation.
Riviera didn't get the FWD treatment until 1979. I don't recall GM big FWD cars having many problems. They were built like tanks and the transaxle was a converted turbo 400 so it was almost bullet proof.
This Riviera was not a production version. Back in the day, GM used what were known as "press cars" for these automotive reviews. These cars were literally hand-assembled, meticulously detailed, and fine-tuned exclusively for the automotive journalists' press. During the summer of 1972, I remember going with my dad to the local Buick dealership to look at a dark green Riviera GS with the tan cloth interior on the showroom floor. Long story short, none of the body panels or hood and trunk were even close to being correctly aligned, along with comically ridiculous panel gaps that were all over the place. The interior door panels and dash were also misaligned and looked to have been force-fit into place, and the front power seats were angled slightly inboard, and neither of them worked. To add insult to injury, a drip pan was sitting underneath the car due to a leaking transmission seal. The salesman seemed embarrassed to even show the car to my dad. He tried his best to smooth things over by guaranteeing that all the mechanical, electrical issues, body panel alignment, and interior matters would be dealt with if my dad agreed to buy it (at a substantial discount). Although my dad was sympathetic to the salesman, he politely declined the offer and held on to his '69 Wildcat for a few more years.
I would have to agree with that. GM REALLY lost it in the body style department in 1973 and my stock 1975 Pontiac Bonneville is LAME according to my dad. We've had it since 1976 we ya, we know. :( Govt regulations forced on engines killed performance beginning about 1973.