(first posted 8/27/2015) By 1977, the Cadillac Eldorado and related Oldsmobile Toronado were looking pretty old-hat. Sure, the front-wheel-drive format was rapidly gaining in popularity, being perceived as more modern and efficient, but these FWD barges dated back to 1971. Now, they were occupying showroom space next to neat, downsized DeVilles and Delta 88s. Their days were numbered, but a new, smaller E-Body platform wouldn’t arrive until 1979. However, although Buick’s Riviera dated back to the same year and a new FWD model being scheduled for 1979, the Big Riv would be replaced for 1977.
Sales of Buick’s flagship personal luxury coupe had been skidding all through the 1970s, despite the personal luxury genre enjoying record growth. The 1971-73 “boat-tail” Rivs were striking, but they weren’t what buyers wanted. Buick dramatically revised their exterior for 1974, removing the controversial boat-tail, but that didn’t help sales either. By 1976, the Riviera was even being outsold by the traditionally less popular Toronado. The ’79 Riviera couldn’t come soon enough, but circumstances forced Buick to introduce a replacement sooner.
The 1971-76 Rivieras had been classified as E-Bodies despite their power being sent to the rear wheels instead of the front, as with the Eldorado and Toronado. They did share a lot of componentry with the big B-Bodies, though, which meant for 1977 they had to find a new platform. That platform would be the new, downsized B-Body, which effectively meant they were even more closely related to the LeSabre than ever before.
Shifting to the smaller B-Body had no negative impact on interior space, and these smaller Rivs had more space-efficient interiors. Wheelbase was 6.1 inches shorter at 115.9 in, and overall length was down 4.8 inches to 218.2 in. Weight savings were considerable: the Riviera shed 660 pounds. It was leaner, more nimble and more space-efficient, as well as better to drive.
But it wasn’t all good news. As these interregnum Rivieras were only to be sold for two years, there was little in the way of differentiation from more humble Buicks. The interior, for example, was almost identical to the Electra. Fortunately, it was an attractive interior, and Rivieras came equipped with power windows, cut-pile carpeting and a large quartz clock. Myriad options were available, including a leather-wrapped steering wheel, cruise control and air-conditioning.
The exterior was distinguished in some aspects from lesser B-Bodies, but it wasn’t necessarily an improvement. The distinctive slanted front of the LeSabre and Electra was replaced with a bluffer front clip with a waterfall grille, an arguably less memorable visual treatment.
There were mild coke-bottle contours evident near the C-pillar, with an attractive upkick, although the opera window design was cribbed from the contemporary Eldorado. The rear had taillights with Riviera insignia on them, but again the look was less distinctive than the large taillight assemblies with amber turn signals seen on the LeSabre, or the bladed edges of the Electra’s derriere. All in all, it wasn’t unattractive, but it was not as visually unique as either the boat-tail or the pending ’79 model. It didn’t help that its cheaper showroom companions were so very handsome.
Although power output was down from 1976 with the demise of the big 455, the Riviera still had three credible engine offerings: the Buick 350, with 155 hp, and the optional Oldsmobile 403 with 185 hp. The third engine was the California-only Oldsmobile 350 with 170 hp. These may have been less powerful engines, but the Riviera’s weight loss meant this generation was quicker than its predecessor and even more importantly for buyers recovering from the shock of the oil crisis, the 1977 Riviera was more fuel-efficient.
The new Riviera may have been quicker and more nimble, but there was no S/R trim or Stage 1 performance package. However, you could still tick a box on the options list to add firmer shocks and springs and a stiffer rear sway bar.
The cost of entry to the Riviera was up for 1977, by $559 to an MSRP of $7,357, but fortunately for Buick its popularity increased too. Sales were up some 30% to 26,138 units, but then slumped to 20,535.
This generation’s sophomore year may have seen sales drop, but there was an appealing option for buyers. A special LXXV package was launched, commemorating Buick’s 75th anniversary.
Just 2,889 of these limited edition models were manufactured, each with an attractive two-tone silver and black paint job, gray leather seats, special name plates and yards of brushed metal trim on the dash.
It had done a credible job as a stopgap model and had stopped the bleeding of sales, but the popularity of the 1977-78 Riviera would pale in comparison to its successor. The 1979 model, Buick’s first front-wheel-drive Riviera, would actually double in sales. Was it the availability of a turbocharged V6? Was it the critical acclaim it was met with? Or, more likely, did it simply offer more distinctive styling in a very fashion-conscious market?
The 1977-78 model may be a forgotten generation of Riviera, but it was by no means bad. All it suffered from was somewhat derivative styling and a lack of meaningful differentiation from its handsome platform-mates. With a price $600 more than the related Electra coupe, some buyers found those deficiencies inexcusable. Still, given the minimal cost in tooling up this generation and the vastly better dynamics and packaging, would buyers really have been better served by a continuation of the 1974-76 model?
It is amazing to me that GM was willing to tool up the many unique parts for this two year placeholder, but 10 years later was not willing to spend anything on visual updates on the still strong selling Caprice and (Fleetwood) Brougham.
I wonder what the retiring Bill Mitchell thought of one of his triumphs becoming a placeholder.
It wasn’t just body and trim pieces. The ’77-’78 Rivieras had a rear disc brake option which to my knowledge wasn’t available on any other ’77-’90 B-body. There were even badges that proudly told the world that your Riviera could come to a stop a little quicker than a mere Electra….
I can’t recall ever actually noticing one of these 77-78 Rivera’s as a child in the early 80’s and I was a fan of both Buick and the whole “regal-esque” empire.
A guy I used to work with in the mid 90’s had a white ’79 Rivera and it was on its last legs on the outside but the inside was a super nice blue plush fabric.
Your points are valid in how much improved (aside from styling) this Riviera was over its predecessor, and I’ll admit it helps me see this car in a more positive light. Still, I can’t get past its styling. The square upright front end doesn’t mesh at all with the coke-bottle rear quarters. The 1979 did a far better job of integrating this.
+1
The Riviera, shared the “E” body with the Toronado since 1966, it was originally planned to make it FWD like the Toronado but Buick engineers didn’t like how it handled so they stayed with RWD. The Riviera also a completely different frame. Despite the X frame and the different rear suspension, it shared most of the front suspension, brakes, and power train with the Wildcat/Electra. In 1971, it got a perimeter frame like the B-C bodies had since 1965.
The 1977-78 Riviera, while not extremely attractive or visually differentiated from the LeSabre, received good reviews. I personally prefer the LeSabre Sports Coupe (for it’s looks). I think GM did great with the 1977 downsized cars. I just don’t like that big block engines (which were already underpowered) were cancelled and engines from almost every divisions were mixed so a Buick could have a Pontiac 301 or an Olds 403 (that’s what many Riviera buyers choosed). The Buick Turbo V6 that was introduced in 1978 (which wasn’t available on the Riviera before 1979), while still lacking some refinement and durability was at least an interesting new idea (to power full size family cars) and by the mid-eighties, while the Olds diesel was cancelled due to poor reliablilty and bad image, the Buick Turbo V6 was improved and it’s early durablilty issues didn’t hurt it.
I really like the 1978-79 LeSabre Sport Coupe.
Always a big fan of the ’78 LeSabre Sport Coupe, particularly in black or silver.
I can’t imagine why anybody would have bought a Riviera rather than the more attractive Le Sabre.
Exclusivity. Also the Riv had a much fancier interior. Think of it as a sportier Electra instead of a dumber LeSabre.
Excellent write up and observations William. The 77-78 has always been one of my favorite Rivieras. The 63-65s were gorgeous masterpieces but for actually owning I would feel like I was driving the Batmobile. The 66-69s I loved until I started reading about the X-frame and being left with the impression that it’s not as good overall as the full-perimeter. The boat-tail gen was fun to look at but, like all GM full-sized cars from the early-mid 70s, too bloated.
The 77-78 doesn’t have any of that. What it does have is classic sheer-look styling from one of my favorite platforms and size dimensions ever. Yes it looks like the LeSabre but that was always my favorite B! The rear flanks that I like so much on the 79-85 FWD had their genesis in the 77-78. The beautiful front came from this model too.
Great point about the 77-78 not having the distinctive details like the Electra blades and shovel nose. I also miss the portholes. But those cleaner lines make the car look incredible with Rally wheels and blackwall tires. It’s a sportier overall look and therefore goes better with performance pieces. They should have done the Type-T on this and separated it from the Electras and LeSabres with sportiness. The car had the bones for that, big time. I think it more than holds its own in that terrific Buick print ad you posted.
And how rare is it to find a car from this era that doesn’t have a deal-breaking lump under the hood? Here you have three fine engine choices. The dash looks great too!
Ironically the articles about the 77-78 being the forgotten Riv reminded me how much I liked it and now I want one. Well done!
This is such a forgotten placeholder I didn’t even know it existed until a couple of years ago. I always thought the “redesigned boattail” Riviera was produced up until the front wheel drive Riviera was introduced in 1979. That’s stealth…
Can’t remember the last time I saw one of these.
When the 77 model year started I was thinking about replacing my 71 Riviera. I did consider the 77 Riviera, which was not a “placeholder” then, as no one had any idea of what was to come in 1979. I ended up buying a low mileage 76 Riviera much like the one pictured but with the S/R package and padded roof with a steel band. The car was white with red vinyl roof and interior.
Never was a fan of the Lesabreviera. Buick probably would have been wiser just to cancel the 77-78 Rivs until the all new 79s were ready. The most undistinguished Riv of them all. Even the frumpy late 80s version were a lot nicer, but that ain`t saying much. How`bout that snazzy orange velour interior on that one from the brouhure?
“Lesabreviera.’ – Pretty much says it all.
I had also completely forgotten about this car until I saw a bright red one the other day, with white vinyl landau top and white interior…aside from the color scheme it was a pretty car.
I think part of its anonymity was because it looked so much like the Lesabre in passing that folks probably thought it was simply a Lesabre coupe. There really was no badging on the car(like there would be on the 79)
The brochure photos of this Riviera don’t look too bad, but seeing this car up close and in person is where it fell apart and why it was never much of a sales champ.
Expand the photo of the rear of the car in the street, and you’ll see lots of bits and pieces and way too many seams between parts to make this an acceptable luxury car look. The cheaply divided cornering light and fender marker light look lazy. The luxury coupe market wasn’t ready for sedan style framed door glass – even the GM mid-size luxury cars retained frameless door glass until as late as 1987 in some cases. And, as the article notes, this was something of an Electra / LeSabre parts bin effort with some unique pieces.
With both the popular and generally better looking Electra and LeSabre coupes available, there was little in the way of compelling reason to buy this era of Riviera.
I’m actually sort of impressed that ’78 Riviera sales stayed as strong as they did. Once it became apparent that Buick had a real looker waiting in the wings one would have thought that this Riviera would have died instantly.
The dealers should have been aware at some point that the 79 Riviera would be different. Most people would not know till late in the 78 model year, and possibly the dealers were kept in the dark too.
Realizing this comment is several years old, I’ll still reply that in the ’70s it was common for the automotive buff mags as well as general interest magazines such as Time to run articles on future cars as intel was gathered. Even the Wall Street Journal ran articles and would publish weekly or monthly figures on auto production. Folks willing to fork over the better part of 10K for a car in those years tended to be on top of trends – Motor Trends, if you will.
I don’t dislike this generation of Riviera, even if it’s not my favorite – but my mind is still blown by the fact it cost that much more than a 2-door Electra 225. The marketing guys in Flint certainly had their work cut out for them – and then some.
Actually the Riviera came standard with the Electra Limited interior. Then wire wheel covers were standard and a special steering wheel. My 1977 price guide shows the base price for the Electra Limited coupe @$7033 and the Riviera @$7358. I will let everyone do the math.
An aside: the Electra Limited offered an optional Park Avenue interior @$385 for the sedan.
Long hood/short deck was still very much in vogue for personal luxury coupes at the time, Buick should have added 3″-4″ inches to the cowl-to-front-axle length. Certainly more unique styling would have helped so that it wouldn’t have been so easily mistaken for a dolled-up LeSabre. When folks ante up the extra bucks for this type of car, they want their contemporaries to easily recognize that fact.
I actually admire Buick’s courage in revamping the Riviera for a short run. I thought the Eldorado and Toronado looked hugely dated when the downsized GM biggies were introduced. For that era, the extended lifespan of the Eldo/Toro was unusually long for a domestic make. With sales unlikely to be strong at all on such a tired design concept, Buick likely thought a calculated risk was in order. They didn’t have much to lose, as the Riviera was already the slowest selling of the E-bodies, and the new B-based car was undoubtedly cheaper to build and far more profitable to sell.
So do I like the car? Well, it’s OK. Had I been shopping for Buick’s best luxury coupe in 1977, I would have left with an Electra Limited Coupe over this car.
However, there is a tantalizing “what could have been” on Buick and Olds 1977 design concepts that can be found on deans garage.com. I find this Riviera styling model very attractive, and it highlights the rear-end treatment that would appear on the ’79 Riviera. I would guess that GM’s bean counters put the kibosh on the more expressive styling, which is a shame. I think had this car been produced, it would have trounced its dated E-body siblings in sales and would have still been hugely profitable.
Another view of the rear of the ’77 Buick Riviera styling concept. Very striking similarity to the ’79 E-body Riviera rear styling.
This is way better than the ’77 Riviera that was built, but I suspect the framed door glass would have been an unforced error. I like the proposed Toro as well.
Not warming up to that styling concept, especially the front. Agree with those who have praised the ’77 Riv’s grill and front design, is much better than the Electra/LeSabre slanted lights and overall style, and is one of Buick’s best of the decade. The car’s size is also good. Not bloated but not small either.
What this generation Riv seems to need is an opera window that is widened a few inches at the bottom and narrowed an inch or so at the top. The padded half roof adds luxury to the look so it’s a keeper. Fender skirts and absence of body side moldings at the mid-level would greatly help the flow of the sides, two-tone paint would not. The metallic gauge material looks good but the round shape doesn’t go with the mostly straight-edged body, needs to be rectangular like the Mark V.
I remember sitting in an Electra with the Park Avenue interior. I think that would have been a good choice at the time.
The ’77 Riviera styling concept looks more Cadillac than Buick to me from the front, but is still more distinct than the “square LeSabre” that ultimately emerged.
I don’t think the ’77 B-body Toronado concept was anywhere near as successful as the Buick Riviera concept. The lines look more forced, but it is interesting to see how far down the road GM was with developing B-body replacements for the E-bodies, to be introduced in 1977.
The rear of the ’77 Toronado concept. Roofline and other details like the rear bumper clearly to be shared with the B-body Riviera concept. I wonder how these would have sold?
I like the Toro concept. The rear lights appear to share an Olds family resemblance with the 1976-’77 Cutlass Supremes and Salons. Overall, the trunk area looks a little like a Cutlass Supreme crossed with a Chrysler Cordoba.
That looks more ’79 Mercury Grand Marquis than anything else.
Reminds me of a mercury marquis
One of the few Rivieras I have actually seen on the road, and back when it was a new car even. I’d see it about once a week in the peak hour traffic.
I couldn’t imagine why the owner bought it. Totally underwhelming styling, pure generic American car. Not worthy of the name, give the real lookers that came earlier.
Nobody thought of this as a placeholder in 77 or 78. This was the new Riviera, period. They were very nice cars and despite all of the criticism nowadays, the front end of these looked much more Buick than the Electra or LeSabre. These were especially striking in some of the two tone color combinations with the Buick wheel rims. I never noticed back in the day but the picture of the 74-76 Riviera from behind is almost a test mule for the bustleback Seville.
What is it that a successor never even comes near to the origional ?
I mean the 1963 Riviera’s were stylish, different had glamour, only the boattail approached the glamorous early Riviera’s a bit.
The other models, well I’d better hold my comments to myself !
I once drove a 77 Riviera as a daily driver. It was a very nice, reliable, quiet and comfortable car. Gold with white vinyl, blue cloth interior. Buick 350, 155 hp.
I’ve always liked the ’78-’79 Riviera. The first Buick to sport the toothy “dollar grin” front clip in a long time. And the Buick dash was one of the greatest of the downsizing era.
This style ’77-78 Riviera was very nice. However, I think the ’79 models sold better because they were such beautiful cars and much more distinctive than their predecessors.
All I can say is I see why this is the “forgotten” gen of the Riviera, there is nothing distinctive about it. Only thing I can see is that externally it did appear to the eye to be smaller than the Lesabre or Electra.
The ad with all three Buick B-Body coupes really nails the issue – and it’s amazingly the only model not sporting the iconic Buick road wheels.
The ad also serves to remind what a clean design the ’77-79 LeSabre coupe really was.
I think Buick was marketing these as a personal luxury coupe, hence the smaller design and the wire wheels in the advertisements.
I loved the boat-tails. I liked the ’74’s additional set of tail-lights mounted beneath the rear window. Once those were removed, I always thought the Rivy looked deadly dull, generic, and bland, until the ’79s debuted.
Then again, I’m not really a fan of the first generation of GM downsizing. Between the uninspired designs and the lack of any significant change between model years, it was a bold misstep for GM, in my opinion.
Then again, I’d rather have a ’77 LeSabre than a 86-91 Eldorado or Toronado or an 86-93 Rivy. Those were just…yeah, no. Not even with the Rivy’s touchscreen-CRT dash.
GM sure got a lot of use out of those body colored “sport mirrors” didn’t they? When my mom was looking for a Cutlass in 1976, she absolutely positively had to have one with the body color mirrors, not the chrome, squarish ones. And there were two variations on the chrome ones…thicker remove-controlled ones, and thin, cheap looking non-remote ones. The local Olds dealers in Cincinnati were selling Cutlass Supreme RMO Editions (reliable men of Olds) and the big exterior trim difference was chrome-plated versions of the sport mirror, but they only did coupes, not sedans.
I own since september 2013 an 1978 riviera with the 403cid 6.6l. It has 55450 miles on the block at this time,I fell in love with this car at a usa car show in the netherlands.This buick is coming from Iowa and arrived in 2010 in the netherlands.
light pewter, red velour interior,wire spoke hubcaps and have most of the options that where available back then. However It doesn’t have the 4 wheel disc brakes, six way passenger seat,telescope steering wheel,load leveling ,moon or sliding roof, rallye wheels, or the extra safety white-red door courtesy lamps.
I have read all the interesting comments and many hit the spot.
You like it or not, their seems no in between.
One of the things is, I wonder why buick did not give the riviera some very special features and or styling that would set this buick really apart from other models. I know that this was just a riv build for only 2 years, the smaller one was on it’s way.
Pity that buick not give the riviera an interior like the electra with the park avenue option.
This rivvie lacks a fold down rear center armrest….very strange. Le sabre limited and electra limited or park avenue have this feature standard.
But I am still pleased with my car. It’s ride is comfortable, steering is nice, it has special calibrated springs and shocks,bigger stabilizer, and enough power .
My buick
Red lounge……..
Buick parked near the coast of Hoek van Holland, netherlands.
Never owned a ’77 or ’78 Riviera but was always a fan of the car nevertheless. While the LeSabre, which the Riviera was based on, was an attractive enough car the Riviera’s distinctive styling was much more appealing to me. The appeal had to do with the Eldorado like opera windows the grill treatment (which is strikingly similar to the 1980 Regal) and overall more refined appearance than other GM B-bodies from this era. The dash is a carbon copy of the Electra’s but the seats are unique to this model and extremely well done. My only slight objection to this model is the placement of the front cornering lamps. Looking back it may have only a stopgap model until the ’79s arrived but to me it made it’s mark in Riviera history.
The downsized 79s just looked goofy to me in all aspects, interiors seemed cheaper don’t get me started on the flat board dash, these at least retained a bit of character…wouldn’t see that again til 97….
Indeed the placement of the cornering lamps is a litte bit strange but (they are optional) so not every riv have these mine do have them.You expect that they seem out of place and could be better placed lower for better looks.That was often done by many cars from buick,oldsmobile,pontiac and so on.
My beloved rivvie………
Here’s mine. All orig…
Very very nice! ….Always like two tones! ….pity enough that is what my car doesnt have.
Instead my rivvie has the lamp monitors, cornering lamps, bumper guards. and the “red “wire wheel option ..power driver seat, power passenger backrest adjust….and some other options…
I had a 1978 Riviera and it got impounded with fees I couldn’t pay at the time so I ended up signing it over to the wreckers. I never knew the rarity of that car while owning it but that was my favorite car I have owned. It was a blue paint with light blue\grey-ish interior. It was my daily driver and all I had to do before it got towed was change out the water pump(over heating), but I didn’t do it in time.BIGGEST CAR REGRET. Roomy, plush with power to back up the heavy duty long body(that thing was a tank\boat)but drove so smoothly. If you got one , don’t ever let it go. Free advice I hope you take\keep.
Pity that you could not keep it someway….they are great cars….and yep this is a rare car certainly in the Netherlands. production totals are around 40000 plus for the 2 years it was in production. There are just 8 riviera’s of this model (77/78 ) around in the Netherlands including two LXXV’s.
It also seems also neglected or not apppreciated in some sorth of way by collectors..to much a LE SABRE clone?…there is more than enough interest in the first generation rivvies and the boattails from 71-73……….also neglected are the 74-76 models….but then a change: 1979-1985 (front wheeldrive) are got their applause again.
My car drives smooth and have enough power with it’s 6.6 403 CID under the hood. The only problem that must be solved is the wet carped at the passenger side it’s leaking somewhere loacted by the firewall or where de A/C Is located.
Hallo, ich habe einen 1977 Buick Riviera. Gekauft im Mai 2018.
Aus erster Hand und Matching Numbers. Ein wunderschönes Auto.
I don’t remember the LXXV edition. Shocking that they replaced the plastic wood with plastic metal, but it looks nice in the photo. Don’t miss vinyl roofs and two-tone paint slabs.
We had a ’77 Electra with the 403 V8, which was fast, quiet, and smooth its first few years, particularly compared to the car it replaced, a Century wagon with the congested 350 of ’73. Think we got 19-20 mpg at best. Didn’t these have the bad type of catalytic converters that clogged?
-I thought they had the pancake converter filled with catalyst beads that most other GM vehicles used during the era. Those would be more likely to spit all the beads out the tailpipe after the screen holding them in rotted out.
I specifically remember that large quartz clock in my 1978 LeSabre… the second hand moved smoothly and quietly, like an electric wall clock. Having a somewhat tumultuous upbringing with a new step mom in the house, I occasionally loaded my homework into the car and parked where I could get some peace and quiet to do it. The car had multiple map lights that sprayed light from every direction, a decent stereo, and that big clock. It kept time, and I kept an eye on it, to keep from getting another tongue lashing by Lunatic Fringe for being out past my curfew. The Olds 403 was capable of delivering me home quickly if I was running late.
I get the feeling that the ’77-’78 ‘placeholder’ Riviera was the inspiration for the disastrous, downsized ’80-’82 Fox-chassis Thunderbird and Cougar. Ford must have figured “if GM can get away with it, so can we!”. Unfortunately, didn’t really pan-out that way.
In addition to the LeSabre and Electra coupes giving this Riviera a run for its money, we probably shouldn’t count out the power of the 1977 Buick Regal. With a similar front end, more cohesive look, and enough available options to rival a Riv, a Regal coupe was chosen 175,560 times by Buick buyers in 1977, eclipsing LeSabre, Electra and Riviera coupe sales combined by the better part of 60,000 units.
15-22 MPG would have been optimistic at best. I’m thinking it was more like 12-16 MPG for these when 350 equipped, even accounting for .833 USG to Imperial.
An alternative would have been to base the ’74-77 Riviera on the 116 wb A-body that Grand Prix and Monte Carlo used.
Hey, lookit; there were 4-door ’77-’78 Rivieras, too!
Oh, wait…