In 1966 , General Motors want the 1966 Buick Riviera to share front - bicycle - drive engineering science with the 1966 Toronado and 1967 Eldorado . But problem pasture up during early examination of front - drive prototypes , and Buick decided the Buick Riviera should stick with rearward - wheel drive .
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Buick opt out of the front - drive political program for a few reasons , particularly price . In 1966 dollars , front - cycle drive made the Toronado $ 400 more expensive to manufacture than the Buick Riviera . Yet the 1966 Toronado ’s list cost was only $ 161 more than the Buick Riviera ’s . Also , pre - prototype testing record durability trouble with the front - steering wheel - thrust differential bearing . Here ’s basically what happen .
In 1963 - 1964 , Buick had province for that part of the Toronado ’s front - drive scheme between the Hydra - Matic and the inner constant - speed junction . In other words , Buick ’s engineering inquiry and ontogeny ( R&D ) section were charged with developing the front - wheel - drive differential mechanics and drive axle , a project that cease up in the lap of a 30 - year - previous Buick engineer make Jack DeCou .
The squad was have problems burn up pinion carriage due to lubrication issues . DeCou and other engineer changed wear Angle and lubrication systems and redesigned the differential .
DeCou ’s party boss , Phillip C. Bowser , mention a third ground why Buick chose not to make the 1966 Riviera front - driving . Buick applied scientist did n’t like the way the expectant front - wheel - drive pretest vehicles rode and handled . They had a tendency to understeer , especially when pushed to the limit .
Bowser go on to become Buick ’s chief technologist in 1968 , but throughout the first - and 2d - generation Riviera ’s development , Lowell Kintigh held that position . He remained , throughout his life history , a steadfast believer in over - the - road testing . To him , what a cable car matte like on the route intend everything .
According to those who worked with Kintigh , he had an almost incredible sensitivity for the look of a cable car . He ram severely and tight , often dusting the solitary mountain road of Arizona and Colorado at speeds that made his fellow engineers clearly nervous .
Ride was one of Buick ’s hallmarks , but another was braking ability . Buick had almost always pride itself on itsbrakes . To evaluate the fin , Al - clothe , 12 - inch frontdrum brakesthat appeared on the 1966 Riviera , Kintigh had his brake development hoi polloi test them over and overdownPikes Peak . The trial mules were put in Drive , drive heavily down the mountain , then driven back up to do down again . The cycle was repeated a number of time .
The rear - private road 1966 Buick Riviera did end up apportion some of the Toronado ’s sheet - metal stampings . Both railcar used the same hood , cap , chalk , and interior door . The frame and undercarriage , though , were very different . According to Buick ’s chief eubstance engineer , George R. Ryder , the 1966 Riviera used a cruciform soma similar to the old generation ’s but sole to the Buick Riviera , with a 119 - inch wheelbase for 1966 - 1970 , two inches longer than in 1963 - 1965 .
The 1966 Riviera also shared the Toronado ’s rocker sills and the rear subdivision of the Toronado ’s floorpan . The Riviera had specific toeboards but a vulgar floor from the third material body member back . Finally , Ryder notes that the 1966 - 1970 Riviera stood slightly taller than the first - generation coupe . It now had a single cardan joint in the driveline instead of doubles .
There ’s no interrogative sentence that Buick made the right decision in going with rear drive . After the Toronado ’s first yr , when sales of Toronados and Rivieras ran neck and neck , Rivieras outsold Toronados by nearly 100 per centum in 1967 - 1969 and by about 33 percent for 1970 .
In the next section , learn more about the history behind the Buick Riviera ’s design .
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Buick Riviera Origins
When GM designed the Buick Riviera in 1963 and redesign it in 1966 - 1970 , its real competition was n’t the Toronado – it was Ford ’s Thunderbird . The original 1963 Buick Riviera gave GM a much - postulate entrance into the four - seater personal - luxury market . Before it came along , the Thunderbird had that market niche all to itself .
Yet the first Buick Riviera ’s purpose was n’t just to fill a hole . It was also to further Buick ’s simulacrum , and it did that with success . Through such car as the Riviera , the Wildcats , and the Special Skylarks , Buick got free of its reputation for gaiters and galosh .
Designer Ned Nickles , in one of GM ’s in advance styling studios , kick off the original Buick Riviera with those big twin parking lamps on the front of the fenders . He originally consider the machine not as a Buick , but as a four - stead Cadillac . Because of the pilot upright piano , which took their aspiration from the 1939 - 1940 LaSalle radiator grille , Nickles called this conception machine the LaSalle II .
GM Design Staff , meanwhile , gave it its prescribed data-based number , XP-715 , and Nickles ' boss , GM design vice - president William L. Mitchell , added the uncontaminating , shapely , more or less razor - edged consistence sculpting plus the eggcrate grille . Mitchell referred to the LaSalle II ’s styling as attend " Ferrari / Rolls - Royce . "
Mitchell initially urged Cadillac to bring out the LaSalle II , but it soon became obvious that Cadillac general manager Jim Roche was n’t interested . At that point , General Motors decided to let Pontiac , Buick , and Oldsmobile compete for the right to construct the car . Buick ecumenical handler Ed Rollert and sales managing director Roland Withers both felt up strongly that their division need an image manufacturer like the LaSalle II .
In the intramural challenger that follow , Ed Rollert personally made Buick ’s slant to GM ’s executive insurance policy citizens committee . His intro was bolstered by Buick ’s ad agency , McCann - Erickson , as well as by the air division ’s marketing faculty .
Rollert also called on primary R&D physical structure engineer , Ed Reynolds , to position out a plan that would allow Buick to build the 1963 Buick Riviera using a good number of off - the - shelf parts , mostly from GM ’s B - cars . harmonise to Phil Bowser , Reynolds used everything possible from the group B - dead body but still keep the unique flavor Nickles and Mitchell had put into the LaSalle II .
By demonstrate to corporal direction that Buick could save meg in tooling and yield costs , Reynolds showed the Riviera as being very private-enterprise against the Thunderbird . Buick thus gain ground the right to build and betray the Riviera , and it did so totally alone for the first three year of the marque ’s biography .
The next section of this clause provide more entropy about the new design of the Buick Riviera in 1966 .
1966 Buick Riviera
When the time follow to design the second - genesis Buick Riviera , the corporation very much want its three upper segmentation – Oldsmobile , Buick , and Cadillac – to portion out what would soon become the 1966 - 1967 E - organic structure . Olds and Cadillac finally did share it , of row , with the front - thrust Eldorado arriving as a 1967 modeling Cadillac . General Motors concord to give Olds one twelvemonth of front - wheel - crusade exclusivity , thus bolster that class ’s report as a GM engineering science leader .
The 1966 Buick Riviera ’s dimensions and general shape derived from the Toronado , according to David R. Holls , who was Buick ’s conception chief from 1963 through 1967 . The 1966 Buick Riviera ’s design include wicket in the edge of the front pilot , W - mold goal and headlights that flipped up underneath the hood .
The design of the Buick Riviera ’s hidden headlamps was very apt . Envision , in side view , an 50 - form assembly . One leg of the L contained duplicate seal off - beam units . The other leg carried a grille surgical incision that blended perfectly with the normal grille texture .
When the headlamp were off , the lamps faced upwards and laid underneath that part of the hood that overhang the grille . The other ramification of the L , the grille section , automatically pointed down and became part of the grille . When the headlights were turn on , an electrical motor behind the grille centre rotate the L a full 90 degrees , flipping the lights down , while the grille insert moved up under the hood , behind the pivot .
Holls lists the 1966 Buick Riviera as one of his personal favourite . It was a large car , yet it did n’t rely on size of it for its interest . There was visual collection and impact in just the shape itself , a pureness and simple mindedness that want – and fortunately got – well-nigh no ornamentation . So there was very little to distract the center from the entire sculpture .
Everything course from one source , and the W - shape front and rear complemented each other to give the car an overall concord . The 1966 Buick Riviera was one of those rare , marvellous design that made it into product without a lot of grumpy committee contributions .
In addition , two benches became usable : a standard version with a conventional 50/50 split , and an optional Strato Bench , with a center armrest . Both the Strato Bench and optional bucketful seat could be order with excess - cost headrests and recliners .
The console added $ 47.03 to the price of any Buick Riviera , even the Gran Sport , and came with a basket - grip shift lever for the Super Turbine robotlike transmittal . Power steering and a tilt column were standard in all 1966 - 1970 Buick Rivieras , and for 1967 quick - ratio 15.0:1 steering became available as a $ 15.79 option .
On the next page , find out how GM modified the Buick Riviera in 1967 .
1967 Buick Riviera
Buick Riviera and Toronado Department of the Interior looked similar for 1966 - 1967 . Both used tympan - type speedometers , standard bench stern , and both had miserable , relatively matted floor tunnel . Thoughtful touches inside the 1966 Buick Riviera admit door pulls molded into , and all the direction along the pliant door panels . And the Buick Riviera ’s optional console was of the " natural bridge deck " type that had an open space beneath the front incision .
Jerry L. Brochstein , a clothes designer in Holls ' studio ( and more recently responsible for the Cadillac Voyagé concept car ) , consider the 1966 Riviera ’s wheelcovers . Brochstein took his stirring from Bugatti ’s straight - strung wire wheels . The Buick Riviera ’s wheelcovers were afterwards picked up by Chevrolet and used on the 1967 - 1975 Corvette and Caprice : same vanes but dissimilar spinners . Motor Wheels ' stamped - brand chrome lip were carry over from the former contemporaries as an pick on all 1966 Buick Rivieras .
The 1966 Buick Riviera ’s design came together relatively well , because everyone recognise the theme . The fast one was to convey over cues from the 1963 - 1965 Buick Riviera – the Ferrari / Rolls - Royce theme – but repackage them to be compatible with the Toronado and its emerging E - body .
Buick Rivieras from 1966 through 1970 remained essentially the same , but there were some crucial change along the elbow room . The 1967 Buick Riviera , while it looked virtually identical to the 1966 ( keep for a grille and taillight touch - up ) , used an entirely different locomotive . The 1966 Riviera had carried over the 425 - cid V-8 from 1963 - 1965 , an locomotive that unbeknown to the world had get in touch with the end of its road . Buick sorely needed a big , better V-8 .
The Buick Riviera ’s 1966 425 , peculiarly with twin quads , had taken Buick ’s " nailhead " V-8 about as far as it could go . That engine had been inclose as a 322 in 1953 and had been reworked time and again . At 425 cubes , it had reached its absolute limit in size and volumetrical efficiency . At a clip when American cars were getting heavier by the class , when muscle reigned supreme , and when the old nailhead could n’t be pumped any higher , Flint decided to design and acquire a brand - new folk of Buick V-8s .
Buick Riviera Gran Sport equipment lean to change over the years . For 1966 , the Buick Riviera offered two Gran Sport packages . The simpler of the two monetary value $ 175.56 and included fender and dashboard monogram , a chromed air cleaner , cat aluminum rocker covers , whitewall or red - stripe 8.45 x 15 Goodyear Power Cushion tires , 3.42:1 Positraction rear axle , and heavy - tariff pause .
The second version , cost $ 300.96 , tally dual four - barrel carbs . Neither Gran Sport package include bucket tooshie . Those were a separate option , and unless one specifically rank them the Gran Sport came with an armrest bench and column shifter , same as the even Buick Rivieras .
Gran Sport formally became " GS " in 1967 – enthusiast magazines had already been contract it anyway . Equipment for the software program in 1967 - 1968 was virtually the same as in 1966 , except that the aluminum cradle cover were cancel .
The 1967 Buick Riviera ’s standard brake remained 12 - column inch metal drum , the fronts again clad in aluminum but now with 90 fins instead of the 45 from 1966 . Vented record became available optionally for the first clip in 1967 ( $ 78.74 ) , and the rear drums remained cast smoothing iron .
In the next section , memorise how the Buick Riviera changed in 1968 - 1969 .
1968-1969 Buick Riviera
When Buick needed to redesign the Buick Riviera in 1968 - 1969 , they did n’t need to make many changes to this collectable auto .
Buick ’s blueprint chief , Dave Holls , facelifted the 1968 Buick Riviera , give way the front a more massive looking , with a center - divided radiator grille more in keeping with that yr ’s other Buicks . Otherwise , though , everything remained essentially the same as before .
For 1969 , the Buick Riviera get hold of on two notable engine room improvements : variable - proportion power direction and what Buick called AccuDrive . The latter consisted of changes in break geometry that made the car caterpillar track advantageously , especially under conditions like strong side twist .
Phil Bowser explained that AccuDrive would appropriate the Buick Riviera to resist idle words gusts that would ordinarily push a railcar sideways or cause the car to wrap .
Two other pregnant 1969 changes let in giving buyers a choice of no - cost pail seats as an choice to the standard judiciary , and the addition of received front shoulder harness . Of naturally , the grille texture was altered for model - year identification , as was the bodyside trim .
The personal - luxury field started getting crowd in 1967 , when the Cadillac Eldorado joined the fray . That was follow by the Continental Mark III in mid-1968 , a restore Pontiac Grand Prix in 1969 , and the Chevrolet Monte Carlo for 1970 . Even so , the Buick Riviera kept its gross sales momentum , and in reality outsold the Thunderbird that year .
The year also saw Buick Motor Division regain fourth shoes in U.S. sale as calendar - year yield reached 713,832 units , second only to 1955 . Robert L. Kessler had served as Buick ’s cosmopolitan manager since mid-1965 and , in fact , it was he who help raise the partition back into fourth .
On the next Sir Frederick Handley Page , regain out why 1970 was the last production class for the Buick Riviera .
1970 Buick Riviera
The 1966 - 1969 Buick Riviera model insure platter sales for Buick . However , by 1970 the flush was off the rosiness , and all Buicks , including the Buick Riviera , took a plunge in sales . The 1970 Buick Riviera turn out to be a disappointment to some , especially aesthetically .
This model , as well as the 1969 Buick Riviera , had been restyled under Buick ’s new studio apartment headman , Donald D , Lasky . Not that he had much option . GM ’s design vice - prexy Bill Mitchell resolve , in a characteristic change of mind on his early Ferrari / Rolls - Royce theme , to make the 1970 Buick Riviera " more French . "
Mitchell desire Lasky to put some " Delage " into the brand . That whimsy describe for the skirted arse - wheel cutouts , the heavier rear aspect , and the wide and , some felt , obtrusive sweepspear along the side . " The 1970 Riviera , " as Dave Holls puts it , " was not a well-chosen car . "
Buick did , however , establish the 455 - cid V-8 in the 1970 Buick Riviera , an engine rated at 370 bhp , with an axle - wrenching 510 lbs / ft torque . The 400 and 430 versions of this locomotive engine were now history as the 455 became the only big - blocking Buick uncommitted . Unlike Pontiac and Oldsmobile , which also had 455s , Cliff Studaker ’s scheme with Buick ’s railway locomotive was to give it better breathing through bigger valves .
He did this , not by stroke a smaller version of the engine as Pontiac and Olds had done , but rather by giving it more bore . Studaker left the 430 ’s stroke at 3.9 inch but bored it out to 4.313 . The special dullard , combined with the domed burning sleeping accommodation , allowed bigger valves than Buick ’s competition and also give Buick an edge in meeting ever - tightening emissions standards .
GM ’s H.P. ratings in that era were more or less " chemical formula , " meaning A - car could n’t advertise more than 360 bhp and atomic number 5 - car had to appease under 370 . So while an identical 455 Buick V-8 perish into , say , the A - body ’s 1970 GS-455 and the 1970 Buick Riviera , the former listed this engine at 360 horse while the Buick Riviera got a 370 rating . Both share the Buick Stage I high - lift cam , blind drunk valve bound , big Quadrajet four - barrel carb , frigid - melodic phrase induction , and dispirited - limitation treble exhausts .
The 1970 Buick Riviera model marked the last of the second - generation , 119 - inch - wheelbase Buick Rivieras . Due in part to a sonant economy , sales of the 1970 model fell precipitously , and they only kept head downhill after the introduction of the controversial 1971 " boattail " innovation . But that ’s an altogether different car and a different report .
