My grandfather had a 1973 in green with the 455. He loved the car and I was a fan too. He had it from new until rust really began to claim it, despite him keeping it garaged as much as possible. It still ran and drove perfect. I remember when I was in my 20s he asked if I'd be too upset if he didn't give it to me but instead sold it to someone that planned on doing a full restoration. While I would have loved to have the car, I didn't have the resources to restore it or anywhere really to keep it. I already had 2 cars that I struggled to keep going. So, reluctantly, but because I loved my granddad and felt that the car deserved better than to rot away in my apartment's parking lot, I let it go. It still makes me a little sad, but I know it was the right decision at the time.
Sure hope the new owner restored it properly. I have always dreamed/fantasized about being able to completely restore my 73 Caprice, New England rust claimed if as well.
I had to like this comment. Well said and an experience I shared. My father had a 62 Continental 4 door in black. Beautiful, beautiful car. He kept it until the mid 70s when I was 15. I begged him not to sell it, but to garage it at my uncles who had a spare bay. The car was in pristine condition. My father understood how badly I wanted it, but said no. He didn't want me saddled with the cost and responsibilities of a large, older luxury car at so young an age, although I had been working since the age of 10 and had money. He sold it. I was crushed. HOWEVER......one year later I found a 66 Mustang Fastback, deep blue, in an elderly lady's garage with low mileage and she sold it to me for $700. I was the second owner and the car had only a few tiny issues which I quickly fixed. It was beautiful and drove awesome. I kept it for 22 years and sold it for $27,000. Guess my dad knew what was best.
Even in the '80s, seeing one on the street was a rare occasion. They did stand out, as they do today. Design was primarily about beauty back then, not about being "aggressive."
A totally impractical design, and a magnificent one. I was a high school Senior in 1971, and a big fan of the Toranado. But the boat tail Riv was just about its equal. The stories about Bill Mitchell's "objections" were great! He was the type of company man that companies would no longer tolerate, and that's a shame. He was absolutely right about the vinyl top. Put one of those god-awful things on a boat tail Riv, and the top is all you see.
Magnificent AND practical, in my experience! Rear seat legroom is acceptable, and the trunk is good-sized. Much better than some other sporty coupes, so feel free to try one!
I agree totally that it was a impractical design but one of the most beautiful cars of the 1970's. The design today makes it today a sight that not many other restored cars have. I never could understand how from a great looking design then come up with the shovel tail ugly Cadillac Seville that was beyond impractical and unreliable.
It generally is that the most beautiful things are the most impractical and therefore rare, station wagons and minivans are very practical and as plain as could be
I think we may be twins separated at birth, same age, same tastes. However when the Riviera came out I hated it, it made me think of the overwhelming pimp mobiles of the time. It has only been in recent years that I've come to love the design but never with a vinyl top.
I had a 71 and it drove like a dream. I bought it used in 1984 and it was very reliable. It broke down once on me and it was just a bad external fuel pump which was easy and cheap to replace. What a great cruiser.
The nationwide UAW strike of 1970 resulted in total production shutdown just as the all-new 1971 GM full-sized cars were being rolled out for distribution. The local Buick dealer took out an ad in the newspaper to announce delivery of the only 1971 Riviera in town. It remained the only '71 Riviera until Thanksgiving 1970. Dad and me - we both loved that boattail Riv!
My best friend in high schools Father had a 1971 Riviera GS. He used to let us borrow it on Weekend nights. Man, we had a great time in thar car! Smooth, fast and comfy interior for the girls. The girls loved it!! You could smoke the tires at will in that car. This was in 1974/1975. We thought we were so cool!! His Father was just about the nicest, coolest adult I had ever met at that time. I stayed friends with my friend's father for decades.
Beautifully designed car...not like the boxes they're designing and selling now. I was privileged to 'babysit' one of these for an uncle when I was 18. OMG! I've never forgotten how wonderful it was to drive, to be seen in. It was a dream! The car was so 'futuristic'.
I was *smitten* on first seeing a '71 in my early teens. Beside a '55 to '57 Buick Roadmaster, its sweep-spear lineage is striking. I for one (only one?) love its size and visual heft.
Thank you for this wonderful history! My parents had a new 1965, and then a new 1969 that I got for my first car a few years later. I truly love these. Even the 1971 versions are among my favorites! This is an awesome channel!!!
Always loved these Rivieras eversince is was a kid seeing them in the 80s. By then most of them were already worn and faded, but I saw the beauty in the design. Thanks for a great review Adam. 👍
Thank you SO MUCH for including the images of the original A-body proposal! For years I've heard this story but was never able to find any photos or drawings.
I agree with you, Adam: the original '71 Riviera concept proposal would've made for a stunningly beautiful production car. Maybe it was TOO stunning and beautiful to have survived GM divisional rivalries & jealousies in the day. The Silver Arrow show car was also beautiful.
Bought a 71 Halloween 84 @ A Toyota dealership! $2,000! It was a one owner GS car White with a black vinyl top and black guts owned it for about 15 years, and sold it for $4,000. What a dumbass! Wish I still had that old river boat!
I'm on the love it side! It stood out from all the other 1971 offerings. It did have a large amount of horizontal surfaces, though. Didn't know it was originally intended to be a smaller car. That would have been even better.
You might clarify that the Silver Arrow III was purely a concept car, not produced. Saying it was introduced at an auto show might imply to a novice that he could actually find one today!
Yeah, I guess folks either loved or hated this extreme design. I only rode in one of them. Believe or not, the pastor at our local church had one! Cool pastor indeed
1:25 Gotta love the Westminster typeface on the "ADVANCE DESIGN" sign. It was popular on scifi book covers of the era. Make it look vaguely computery so it shouts "Future!" .
Thanks Adam for an insider's look at this controversial Riviera generation. The side sweep spear or 'check mark' was used for most of the Fifties, but mainly the '54-'57 with this same dip down. On those it's beautiful, but isn't the same actual contour as on the '71-'73 Riv. It's my favorite aspect of this car. It would be an easy thing to implement on current Buicks to make them look more like Buicks. Never mind, nothing matters now. Forget it.
I had a red one in my twenties. It would feel like 50mph cruising down the highway, but look at the speedometer and realized I was doing 80. Kept it polished and perfect and eventually sold it back to the original owner.
I Love it It definitely makes a statement I'm a clean freak and I don't think cleaning that back window would be fun except maybe for a contortionist The Buick centurion of the same year was a less expensive alternative
I had a 73 in 2002 at 22 years old and at that time it was easy to get them for really cheap. I loved it and always had to look back at it when walking away. I always thought it was burgundy with a white too but now I’m thinking it was burnt orange and I’m just colorblind
Developed in a time when cars still had personality. The Riv was one sexy beast. A torpedo of a car that challenged anyone who saw it, to try me on for size. A great era for the automobile & the people who loved them....
When I was at Fort Hood Tx in the early 1980's I was part of 2nd Armored Div S3 shop. My boss, Sergeant Major SW had one of these. One of our crew, Rudy, nicknamed it Battlestar Galactica 🤣🤣
They came out when I was a young teenager. I thought the design was really cool at the time, but having seen the original concept design (here), I think that would have been even better.
The ‘71 was / is an absolute masterpiece. A midnight blue GS with a set of the Buick chrome & black ‘star’ rims is, arguably, one of GM’s crown jewels, along with the ‘65 Riviera. Little known fact, the boat tail Riviera was one of if not the first to offer rear seat shoulder belts and a basic version of traction control (MaxTrac). 🤓
A friend of mine use to own the 1973 Boattail Riviera. It was a Wonderful Car. We were young and it was a 'Chick Magnet. However, my friend would at times over drink and I would more often then not become the 'Driver' of this car. (As well as his other cool car the AMC Mark Donohue Javelin) The Riviera road so nice. I really loved that car.
I had a ‘71 Riv. Definitely my favorite car of all time, however it had one major problem, and that was it would blow coolant hoses on a regular basis. The only solution was lighter radiator caps.
Imagine how many wonderfull US cars would have survived, had they been painted properly from the beginning. I was shocked when I in 1986 took my 1973 Cadillac Coupé de Ville apart and restored it. It was very poorly painted on the underside of the doors, under the hood and more. No wonder it was an easy target to rust. My 1975 Continental Mark IV is undergoing a complete restauration now. Complete body paint was finished 4 weeks ago, including full paint job on the back of the front fenders. Is now getting ready for a new original vinyl roof. I have driven it since 2002 and want to keep it.
The vinyl top ruins the flow of the lines. The Riviera looks so much better without one. I don't remember seeing on the road a Riviera without a vinyl top so I was glad to see some of your photos. The Silver Arrow 3 is very beautiful.
I loved my neighbors boat tail Riviera. My son come home crying one day. Said he had crashed his bike into the neighbors car. I knew exactly what car he had hit because he had a scrolled letter R stamped into his forehead. It became even clearer as the bruising continued. Crazy !
Point of Order here . The " 455 " engine was 400 cid , with 455 pound/feet of Torque . FACT . The Riviera's were beautiful Cars . I would love to own one . Automotive Art .
Did Mitchell object to the half vinyl roof, too? My dad and I test drove one when I was 12. It was quite fast and smooth. Dad set off the speed alert at 75 without even trying.
My folks liked the 1970 Riviera (graced by what I thought was a pseudo French curve side accent), but ordered an Electra instead. I'd heard the boattials were spurred by leftover Corvette back glasses.
At 4:54; looking at the vents location, I wonder if the exhaust fumes would have been an issue if the vents had been moved forward and a bit to the trunk edge away from the boat tail radius? ;-) Though the reason may have been, the trunk structure where the hinges were would be structurally weakened?
My mother's last car. I was embarrassed to be seen in it. My brother and I used to joke that it only existed to dispose of the lost, then found, railroad car full of Corvette rear windows.
well I never knew about these, but my first car was a 68 Riviera Silver w black Vinyl top black interior this was back in the last of the 80's. Great car loved it miss it, and I dream about very often. In fact, I dreamed about last night. That's pretty close to being "Coast to Coast" worthy. BTW my bad my first car was a baby blue Ford Pinto but it broke down at night on this over pass kind of bridge w no shoulder that I left in the outside lane perhaps w or w/o emergency lights and walked to a Denny's in Super safe n friendly Oakland to call Dad for help who really let me know that you don't do that. You stay and wave traffic until cops come ......sorry Dad not in Oakland not then not now not ever.
Maybe I wouldn't fit in during that era (I was just entering kindergarten when this car first came out), but if it were up to me: (1: the "boattail Riviera" would have kept its eccentirc styling, (2: The Riviera would have been based on the A-body, just like the Chevy Monte Carlo and Pontiac Grand Prix and Olds Cutlass Supreme, (3: the car would have had more ambitious technology under the hood, perhaps ahead of its time: a smaller, fuel-injected V8, all automatic transmissions would have an overdrive gear, and there would be a major weight-savings program, with lighter components such as fiberglass hood and truck lid. The Riviera would have been Buick's sport-coupe flagship, just as Chevy had the Camaro and Corvette.
I love these. We had an elderly neighbor and her daughter would come from out of state to visit and always had beautiful cars. In 1971 she and her husband arrived in a brown 1971 Riviera and I was hooked! Thanks for this video, Adam, a treat like all your others. I need to add a couple of things re this Riviera. The daughter and her husband ordered and bought what they wanted, it wasn't to a price: 1) Their Riviera was a slicktop so they obviously agreed with Bill Mitchell. 2) This was the only car they owned in my memory with blackwall tires. Why they went that look I have no idea. I just remember the car got your attention in a good way. I remember my mother, who cared nothing about cars, commenting that she really liked it. I hate when I get started on cars! LOL
There's no way one of those cars could be nearby without drawing attention. They sold prolifically in Detroit. I think they also received favorable contemporary press for overall handling and braking as well. Fifty years later, they still shine bright.
