(first posted 5/8/2013) As we all know, boys in their teens tend to focus on two subjects- girls and cars. Since I graduated High School in 1979, the girls of my youth came wrapped in bright polyester, and the cars often came wrapped in mediocrity. As manufacturers budgeted money for mandated emissions and safety equipment, other areas of car design languished in the shadows. I recall reading about the new models for 1975 or 1976, and noting that “new” for most domestic manufacturers meant offering two tone paint options. These new paint designs and vinyl graphic packages were the automotive equivalent of polyester suits and attempted to distract from the aging platforms and reduced power outputs. Thankfully, the 1979 Buick Riviera burst into this automotive wasteland, and let us know the future held better days.
This model first appeared in 1979, and was offered until 1985. Sharing a platform with the Olds Toronado and Cadillac Eldorado, this was GM’s first shot at downsizing their executive class personal luxury cars. The Riviera was offered in a base V-8 powered trim, or a sporty turbocharged model (called the S-Type in 79 & 80, and T-Type on later models). While the Riv did not see a big increase in power, the trimmer, lighter body made the best of the available engines. The new tighter chassis provided improved handling, and available four wheel disc brakes provided solid stopping power.
The Riviera lost its mojo though the seventies, but the new body returned the Riviera to greatness, so much so that it remained unchanged through all seven years of production. Looking at the emblems, grille and tail lights, I’m guessing this is a 1984 or 1985 V-8 base model. According to my research, Buick chose to leave the exterior completely unchanged over the final two years of production, but I won’t be surprised if someone can identify the specific year based on interior or exterior features.
In 1978, to meet power and fuel economy targets, Buick decided to become the turbocharged division of General Motors. Placing a turbocharger on their 3.8 liter V-6, they offered the engine in their larger cars as an economical alternative to V-8 power. As the halo car for the division, the turbo V-6 was the only engine offered for all seven years of Riviera production. The first five years sported a carburetor, offering 185 HP in 1979 and ’80 and 180 HP from 1981 to ’83. In 1984, the engine received fuel injection, but remained rated at 180 horses.
It’s remarkable how many engine options were offered on a single platform in the sixties, seventies and eighties. In the case of the Riviera, emissions and fuel economy demands kept changing, and GM’s recent decision to supply division specific motors to all divisions offered new options to the engineers. In the Riviera, every model year offered a Buick turbo V-6 and an Oldsmobile (gasoline) V-8, but the V-8 lost displacement over the first three model years, dropping from 1979’s 350 cubic inches down to 1981’s 307. In addition to the base V-8 and turbo V-6, Buick also offered a diesel V-8 from 1980 to ‘84 and a normally aspirated 4.1 liter V-6 from 1981 to ‘84. Hmmm… Perhaps the black bumper stain above the tailpipe indicates this is an ’84 diesel.
But enough technical data- let’s just look over those body lines, and enjoy one of the more successful examples of 1980’s downsized style. All three of the new E-bodies looked good in 1979, but to my eye Buick really hit the target. The soft curves helped differentiate it from its Cadillac and Oldsmobile cousins, and provided some European flair to go with the new right sized dimensions. Reviewers agreed, and the Riviera rolled out to strong approval, including Motor Trend’s Car of the Year award. As I said, this car came out the year I graduated high school, and while I missed the target demographic by about 20 years, I did offer it props at the time, considering it pretty attractive for an “old guys” car.
Looking in the interior, nothing stands out, but nothing offends either. As the halo car of Buick’s line, buyers could choose many electronic gizmos, including digital gauges. Perhaps Buick offered these toys to make up for the V-8’s low horsepower. This particular car includes the base cloth interior and analog gauges, but it looks to be a nice working environment. I’d prefer the three spoke wheel offered on the T-Type, but the dash provides clean lines and the tilt wheel promises a comfortable seating position.
So clearly, I like this car. The E-body provided a solid and reliable platform (at least with gasoline power), the lines were very attractive, and the overall package delivered on this promise. At model release, Riviera sales more than doubled over 1978, and sales remained strong throughout the model run. In fact, the strongest sales occurred in the last two years of production, with 1985 providing the highest sales of all seven years! This sort of result is unheard of for most cars, but is even more amazing considering the Riviera’s place in the Buick lineup. Its segment (personal luxury coupe) typically saw a strong drop in sales in the later model years as fickle buyers abandoned aging models for newer, flashier models. The ability to maintain solid sales over seven model years speaks very well of this car.
In closing, perhaps this model should have remained in production for several more years, especially considering the sales performance of the next generation Riviera. With sales dropping more than 70% in 1986, the results for the new car might be best described as “scorched earth.” For more information on this dismal performance, see Paul’s article on the 1986 Riviera.
Well – these cars along with their Cadillac siblings offered a glimmer of hope to me, as I found them to be interesting. Compared to the X-cars, ANYTHING was an improvement!
A friend of my wife’s husband had a Cadillac Biarritz and I thought it was splendid. I wanted the first Riviera convertible I saw – THAT was REALLY sharp! I think every single one had white tops, too.
Still, we motored happily along in our various Chryslers throughout the decade and for most of the next…
Nice car, and in my opinion one of the best versions of the Riviera since the Sixties. In 1981 I toured the Buick plant in Flint, MI with my high school shop class. I got to sit in one of these in the showroom…a white one with a red cloth interior, if I remember correctly. It was the first time I’d been in a car with a flat floor. I’ll take either the 3.8 Turbo or an earlier one with the gas 350.
Mixed feelings on these. At the time, I much preferred the squarer styling of the Eldo and the Toro. These Rivs tried to take a brick and make it look like a Coke bottle. Today, I like the car better, but it would probably still come in third place for me.
Hard to criticize the mechanical pieces on these, as these seemed to be one of GM’s last really good efforts. I have always wondered how much more peppy these felt with the 307 compared to my 84 Olds 98 or 89 Cad Brougham. It is not hard to imagine sales peaking in ’84, as up to then, either fuel prices, a bad economy or both had hobbled most every year of this car up to then. If only Chrysler had not killed the Doba so soon. 🙁
A neighbor found a really nice one-owner one of these, an ’84 if I remember, painted that two tone sand/brown combo. It is a really sharp car that he has rescued from daily service and now keeps garaged, only driven occasionally.
Yeah, that formal roof just fits in better with the squared-off creases of the Eldo and Toro than the curves of the Riv.
In any case, the convertibles look the best, but I really wish GM would have authorized a Toronado convertible, too. I guess there just wasn’t the justification as a Toronado convertible would have almost certainly cannibalized sales from either the Riv or Eldo, most likely the latter since it would have had a very similar profile but at a lower price.
Unlike previous convertibles, the E body convertible of this generation was done by ASC. While GM did not catalog an official convertible model for the Toronado, it was pretty much available if you really wanted one. The rational that was told to me at the time was that, due to capacity reasons with ASC, they elected to use the top two models, Eldorado and Riviera, as the basis for convertible. Also given those, cost, it would be more appealing to the Buick and Cadillac buyer. The Riviera came first in 1982, followed by the Eldorado in 1984. The Toronado was converted by ASC in 1984 and 1985 by order. The ASC Toronados that I have seen were converted using the same parts as the Riviera and Eldorado so servicing the car would have not been terribly difficult.
There is still at least one Riv convertible running around the Indianapolis area. I used to know a guy who had two of them, but that was quite a few years ago.
There was also Hess and Eisenhdart who did some Toronado convertibles as well, here some pictures I saw at http://classiccarsofthe1980s.blogspot.ca/2012/06/1983-oldsmobile-toronado-convertible.html
I am so glad I’m not the only person to see this! When the rear fender ends at such a slope, and the wheel arches’ trailing edges slant back, that monolithic slab of a C-pillar is just plain incongruous. If the roof slanted to match the fender ends, it’d look heaps better.
Or as a convertible.
I remember liking these as a kid. The”coke bottle” line was the only curve on any 80s car until the Aero Bird! That beige does it no favors, though.
I agree on both your points. This example is about as ugly as a ’79-’85 could be ordered in my opinion…but the design is so attractive I still kind of like it.
I bought a very clean ’80 Riviera out of a junkyard that was ordered in a somewhat rare dark green (code 41) and with very few options. The color, lack of a vinyl top or busy wire wheelcovers made it a very elegant looking vehicle.
It had the Olds 350 and I never knew what was wrong with it: just young & stupid…thinking I would have the time and money to get it going again. Here’s what those wheelcovers look like. I prefer these even over the chrome and aluminum wheel options.
I’d love to have my old car back now but it ended up going back the yard I bought it from. Beh.
I took the owners packet and window sticker from a loaded 80 Riviera in the junkyard, it was dark gray firemist with burgundy leather, loaded except trip computer and astroroof. Sadly the car was rusty and run ragged, well, at least it lived a long life.
Beige isn’t a bad color if you have a contrasting color landau roof and correct white wall tires, Here’s mine.
Hey bro is that top black or navy? And is your interior navy? I have the same style with navy Interior and I want to get it repainted, I’m thinking of painting it black on black, but I know the navy interior would look bad, then I’m thinking of redoing it tan but with a navy too, also I’m thinking of painting it navy with a black vinyl, I’m undecided
Growing up in the 80’s one of the employees of the local public library had one of these in black with maroon leather interior. I would have to ogle it and drool every week when my mom drove us in to pick up and drop off books.
I do still prefer the styling of the Oldsmobile and Cadillac offerings, just with the Caddy you have to be careful what year the car was built to avoid the dreaded 4100V8.
A buddy of mine had an ’80 Toronado with the 350. This was when I had my Golden Olive ’73 Bonneville. We’d constantly razz each other about our cars while we rode around together.. We’d be in his car & he’d touch the window switch and gloat “Power Windows”.. I’d gloat back with “power door locks” because my car had power locks. He’d smile & say “six-way power seat” and I’d come back with “Rally Gauges”.
Anyway, he was a great guy and so was his car. We were in the Hardees drive-thru waiting and in the middle of one of these “discussions” when I mentioned 400 cubic inches. When he said his car could lay rubber, I returned with a “ha-ha”.
About this time the car in front of us had advanced so he nailed the gas & his FWD Toronado came alive & laid a nice smoky patch of rubber in the drive-thru. He definitely proved me wrong! 🙂
“We’d be in his car & he’d touch the window switch and gloat “Power Windows”.. I’d gloat back with “power door locks” because my car had power locks. He’d smile & say “six-way power seat” and I’d come back with “Rally Gauges”.
Don’t tell me, let me guess. You guys never got laid with the ladies at all, did ya?
I’m joking…
…well, I’ll admit…you’re right 🙂
Don’t forget to avoid the 1981 Eldo with the “dreaded” V-8-6-4.
No reason to avoid 1981. Most 81s have had the V864 disconnected so it is just a nice fuel injected V8. I know a few people who have kept the V864 thing going which was not terrible just not as fuel efficient as it could have been. C&D tested an Eldorado Imperial and Mark VI in 1981 and found the Imperial with 318 CFI and 2.24 axle with 904 Torqueflight gave the best overall fuel economy. But it was the slowest. The Eldorado was the fastest having its big block V8 but gave the worst economy.
I don’t really consider the V8-6-4 engine to be that bad or that much of a failure as much as a learning experience. The engine was not like the GM Diesel in which the engine had to be replaced. Or the Chrysler Imperial with the non working fuel injection that had to have the system replace with a carb. The Caddy engine was reliable and and always started and drove. Unplugged the engine was just another V8. The only issue with this engine was that the computer technology was not good enough yet to keep up with the system demands.
I blame the US Gov. for this engine’s reliability issues more then I blame Caddy for it. If they were not so damn gungho about making all car makers arrive at a impossible CAFE mileage number by 1985 (which they really did not make that deadline anyway) then GM would not have rushed this engine into service and better tested it out.
I also blame GM for not continuing to test and try to improve the V8-6-4 engine instead of restricting it to limos and dropping it in 1984. The engine ran well (even though the V8-6-4 part did not work well) which is more then I can say for the replacement HT4100 which was a total POS
The thought behind this engine was sound and made a comeback ten years later
I would love to have a fully restored caddy with the V8-6-4 engine intact and run it with a modern onboard computer as that would achieve the goals Caddy set out for this engine
I agree, although not that the HT4100 was a total POS, my 83 Eldorado is just fine. CAFE hit GM more than any other make who built the biggest of the big back in the day. Interestingly, compared to the mid 1970s, domestic cars shrunk and their MPG went up from then to now while the reverse has been true with the Japanese and Europeans. Especially the Europeans who began paying the CAFE penalty regularly in the mid 1980s.
As for the V864 most of the problems lied with the vehicle in 6 cylinder operations. Rather than outright failure people complained of driveability issues in that mode shaking hesitation and other “sensations” that were new. Occasionally a car would get “stuck” in 6 cylinder mode which was an unbalanced state for the car. It was originally considered to go from 8 to 4 directly but the 6 cylinder was added to smooth out the abruptness of the change. Back then, remember, most Cadillac drivers expected total isolation and basically no interference from driving. V864 might have been tolerated more from a then-import buyer who was more apt to like features. Of course today with advance in technology we have variable displacement now that is seamless.
What Cadillac should have done was kept using the fuel injected 350 Oldsmobile V8 that served it so well in the Seville and Eldorado through 1979, they could even have had an injected version of the 307 if they wanted a smaller displacement engine.
The 350 was used in California Sevilles for 1980 but of course the 350 Olds was discontinued after 1980 for any car. The HT4100 was pretty much green lighted about the same time as work began on the FWD C bodies and of course was originally designed for them. Between CAFE requirements, and the second OPEC crisis in 1979, kind of spooked the market so the V864 came out. But aside from its own mechanical woes, the V864 did not deliver the fuel economy desired which put a further strain on the division so the HT4100 was engineered to fit longitudinally. My 83 Eldorado seems to be on par driving compared to my 81 Imperial and an 82 Mark VI that I had driven but it was slow in the RWD cars. It was not fast but given the market choices at the time it wasn’t terrible. My 83 is smooth and with the OD transmission, I get 26+ on the highway. Hindsight is always 20/20 but I am hard pressed to come up with an adequate solution to fit the times and needs while trying to put myself in those shoes at the time. GM was the most dependent on big cars of all mainstream automakers so they felt the squeeze of CAFE the most and everything from 78-84 is the result.
I suppose they could have created an injected version of the 307, indeed it is not really that difficult to do so as long as you use the 3A heads but GM would not have installed that motor on the other cars that used the 307. After 1981, no more development money was given to V8s of any kind except for Cadillac which is why nothing changed until the 1990s.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=U89CpaKojlw
Interesting video about the HT4100. Interestingly, unlike the diesel and the V864 that was scrapped, the 4.1 eventually spawned the 4.5 and 4.9 that by the time I arrived at Cadillac in 1991, had very low warranty rates.
“…just with the Caddy you have to be careful what year the car was built to avoid the dreaded 4100V8”
Yes, how sad but so true. You are rock-solid with a ’79-’81 as long as you disable the V8-6-4 on the ’81 model, solid Cadillac built motor minus the whole V8-6-4 spiel.
My Mom just said again in a family conversation, that when she drove around in that white ’83 Eldo Biarritz “she could do no wrong, and believe me, if you were there, you’d know… in THAT car, she couldn’t” lol
Now then, subjective, absolutely, but sales #’s back then and opinion today is on my side… The ’79-’85 Eldo (especially in Biarritz drag), was truly, one of THE most beautiful cars ever built by Cadillac, or General Motors, or…by anyone for that matter. But, then, after building infallible 472s, 500s, 425s, 360s, and renting Oldsmobile’s indestructible 350, you have the nightmarish HT4100 fiasco. What a shame and what a mess they made. Seriously.
Even today, you have this gorgeous Classic Cadillac, but (to any ‘knowledgeable buyer’), you have this TURD motor to inhibit thoughts of buying one unless you’re prepared to do a motor swap. IMHO, this is something that surely should never be an issue with any Cadillac ever, and they allowed it to happen, not once but twice so far.
After owning several Cadillacs, that motor is the singular reason my Mom never bought another Cadillac again.
She traded the triple-white (navy carpet/dash), 1983 Eldo Biarritz in on a Nissan Maxima full-tilt loaded in 2-tone brown metallics (I must say, it was a beauty, drove like a dream and a true Japanese ‘Brougham’ and loaded with techno-wizardry throughout. But, alas… she said it was just too small, so she sold it and went to the local Lincoln/Mercury Dealer to buy herself a loaded $31K 1989 Lincoln Mark VII LSC ….oh, what a car that was. I still want it now, but… that car is another story.
yep- our experience with a ’84 Eldorado soured my wife on the word “Cadillac” forever more. Granted it’s been over 30 years, but it’s a non starter.
Although I like these, what I remember most about them is the type of WT Dillards who tended to buy them used.
My parents had one of these, an ’83 (I think) with a V-8 (350, I think). Purchased new, gold with a matching interior.
I have one memory of this car that stands out. I was driving it one day, rather briskly; certainly more briskly than it cared to be driven. Coming up to a short kink in the road followed by a stop sign, I turned and then applied the brakes, a move I had made many times in my various cars. This car, however, decided it didn’t like my driving style and proceeded to break the rear end loose. I slid sideways up to the stop sign rather dramatically.
I don’t think I ever drove it again.
I have a soft spot for these, too. They did seem to carry on unchanged for an eternity, but I feel like they held up well then and they do now, too.
Even then I was curious about what was under the hood. FWD and longitudinal engine, right? Does that mean the UPP carried over in these until the next generation switched to transversely mounting the engine? Or did this generation have its own unique architecture?
This particular car makes me think of trips to the orthodontist. Someone who worked at the medical building where my orthodontist practiced drove one of these. Every time I saw it in the parking lot I though to myself that it looked like a dentist’s car: Luxurious but not flashy, expensive but practical. That’s what a Buick should be, right?
The UPP basically stayed the same. The transmission was downsized slightly to a 325-3L for 1979-1981 and then 325-4L for 82-85. Torsion bar suspension up front remained the same, however the rear received a true independent suspension which freed up space for the interior, especially since they went for more of a “long hood short deck” look. The basic design of the original 66 Toronado was used but of course downsized. Probably the biggest change in front was the use of a sealed hub unit for the axle (similar to modern FWD cars) with a floating brake rotor.
Basically nothing was truly carried over but yes it uses the same basic design. The front suspension and some of the drive components from these were re-purposed for the 4wd S10.
I owned an 85 Oldsmobile Toronado and currently own an 83 Cadillac Eldorado so I have had a lot of time behind the wheel of this generation of E body. My first new car (as opposed to a hand me down) was a 77 Riviera, but that was a B body car. But I can compare the old style RWD Riviera with the FWD version. The FWD E bodies are very nice to drive, much nicer than the older versions IMO and probably the best all around big car you can have.
Convertibles are always nice, turbos are always nice and drive well, especially the 84-85 models with the distributorless ignition system. In the beginning, in order to get the turbo you had to specify the S-Type, but by the end it was available as a stand-alone option. The turbo pictures above is an early carbureted model. The later ones were fuel injected and had all the goodies of the Regal GN models minus the intercooler.
http://tinyurl.com/d27je44
Motor Trend liked it so much it was their COTY for 1979. There was a XX Anniversary model in 1983 to coincide with the Riviera pacing the Indianapolis 500.
http://www.rivieraconvertible.com/pacecar.htm
Probably among the rarest of all Rivieras is the 1985 models with the W15 option. At $2900 they only made 647 of them but it was beautiful. I saw one at Hershey, PA fall 2012.
What was the W15 option?
I remember a Car and Driver from 85 showing that about 500 (I think) 85 Rivieras were equipped with the CRT touch screen that became standard in 86 with the downsized E-body cars. The dash actually looked pretty good with the CRT in it, looked very at home there.
It was an option for a “real wood” interior dash/steering wheel application as well as a unique seat design.
“Craig” probably has more details though.
…the seats…
That’s pretty much it. Mostly was the wood dash which I snapped a pic of plus the seats and doors. The CRT was available late in the year in 1985 on Riviera and Toronado but not Eldorado. In 1979, the Eldorado was available with the Trip Computer system that was available on the Seville but extremely rare. The CRT was more like about 100 and was not widely available. It ended up being costly for that generation and the decision was made to strictly engineer it for the 1986 generation.
The seats were an awesome mix of leather and suede, I think the leather/suede seat was a stand alone option too. I have heard of the GCC in an 85 Riviera and I remember Motorweek testing one, but I have never seen a GCC Riviera in person, and never heard of them installing them in the Toronado too.
The 1978 Cadillac Trip Computer, which made its debut in the Seville first, was optional on the new 1979 Eldorado, its rare, I have seen one of those before, that same trip computer was also optional on the 1979-1980 Riviera combined with a digital dash, the digital dash remained through 1985, but the trip computer didn’t .
You can see it here above the climate controls
I parted a trip computer and digital dash from 1979 Seville a couple of years ago and sold them to a customer as spares. That system was pretty extensive with of course a unique dash, the button panel, the analog computer, clock, and a separate computer under the dash. Later digital dashes were much simpler employing only a buffer/converter for speed pickup (as opposed to a cable driven system) with a voltage output that was converted to a display on the instrument cluster.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZXCUYkC17A
There is a fellow in Cadillac circles that lives in Illinois, he is a retired electrical engineer, that is especially fond of a 1979 Eldorado with the 350 Olds V8 setup similar to the 76-79 Seville. He has managed to make the car most unusual with CB 8 track, the trip computer, and a sunroof Biarritz. Black with dark red leather. With those options plus 4 wheel disc brakes it made for something of an unusual car.
I worked at the company that made the CRT display for Buick. I don’t think very many were built. The ease of use was very poor, but GM just wanted some neat feature in the vehicle that no one else had.
I have seen an S-type that was not turbocharged too, which is odd, the rarest turbo Riviera’s are the 84-85 turbocharged convertible Rivieras. There was a specially modified one used as part of the Olympic torch relay in 1984.
The XX Anniversary cars also had the all wood dash too, and a 140mph speedometer.
I like all three flavors of this generation of Es: the blocky Toronado is the masculine version, the Rivieras soft lines strike me as a bit more feminine, and the Cadillac has a bit of both in its Supreme Cadillac Style.
One of my favorite features of these Rivieras has to be the Oval -R- backup and Opera lights. I remember an old CHiPs episode where a crooked CHP officer pulled someone over in one of these Rivieras and smashed out both backup lights with a small mallet/nightstick/etc. I don’t know why….but I’ll never forget that scene.
My other favorite feature is definitely the fiber-optic front fender lamp monitors. I can’t find a picture of the actual plastic insert…just the bezel. The plastic inserts kind of looked like little discs that protrude from the three slits in the bezel. I cannot describe it well..nor can I locate the set or sets I have stored in the shop…but they are beautiful.
By the way, this is a very well-written piece. The engine-availability chart is interesting and taught me something. I enjoyed this Dave: thank you.
I can’t believe you mentioned this as it was one of the first things/features I thought about as soon as I saw the article. I thought they were cooler than the Cadillac lamp monitors from the seventies.
I always like that touch, it was a unique Buick Riviera only light monitor, they ponied up the money to design and make these for Buick only, I guess one of the stylists didn’t like the how the regular GM lamp monitor looked on the Riviera’s lines, when these were on, did the whole little “blade” that sticks up light up in color?
I suspect the fiber optics were the same but used the unique, as shown, indicator bezel. Fiber optic was nothing more than a transmission medium so not a huge engineering achievement. My Eldorado used a skinny indicator that sits inboard on the fin as it is too narrow at the front to support a design like this. The Riviera and Toronado use relatively wide and flat fender lines that would support a horizontally installed bezel. My 83 Eldorado uses fiber optics to drive the coach lamps on the sail panel of Biarritz models. The lighting is achieved by the use of two small 194 bulbs in the trunk. The rest of the system just picks up light reflection from inside the lens. A small gripe today is that most H6054/1 bulbs manufactured now for the quad units in these cars do not have the little extra “tab” around the plug in making it difficult to pick up the light signal. On my 83, I have used a little piece of 7/32″ rubber hose that wedges between the bulb and the connector to improve the situation.
On my 83, white was for the regular duty lights, blue for high beams, and yellow for the turn signals. Inside the car the rear monitors are red.
I know they are the same, I was admiring more the unique shape of them, the Eldorado’s were unique too, they were staggered at an angle on the front fender crease.
Blue for high beam, white for low beam and amber for parking lights.
I have a loaded ’90 Buick Estate Wagon with the fender mounted lamp monitors and I was having a royal headache finding headlamps that were compatible with my lamp monitoring system. It is designed for the fiber optic which is integrated into the female connector to sit flush against the back of the bulb when plugged in. Well the Sylvania bulbs had the right length connectors but the hole at the back of the bulb was sealed with a metal pin, and the inside of the back was completely painted so no light would emit at all. The GE/AC Delco bulbs had a hole, but the glue used to seal it was too opaque and the connectors were too long causing the fiber optic to sit about a 1/2 inch from the back of the lamp and very little light was emitted through the fiber optics. The OEM Guide units had the same connector length as the Sylvania lamps but had a hole in the back of the lamp sealed with a clear glue and a clear tab was placed on top of that with a hole in the center to focus the light more directly on the colored fiber optic and allowing it to sit flush against it. I found two of the Guide high beam units on eBay for around $50 a piece but locating the low beams are almost impossible. I ended up taking the GE/Delco Halogen units I bought and removing the glue from the hole. I then placed a small clear round adhesive bumper over the hole and filled in the edges with hot glue to try and make it water proof. So far they seem to work well and my lamp monitors now light up as they should. I also cleaned the plastic lens of the monitors on the outside to allow for the light to show through more effectively. I think these were a really neat option!
Hiya,
So my highschool friends family picked up a 82(ish) buick riv (e body), it also has as you have noted front lamp monitors.
Now did anyone look at the back window from the front seat? at the dead center of the window there is a small color coordinated plastic thing attached to the mouse fur ceiling, it’s a rear lamp monitor! More than once I tried to view it while in motion. i assume it’s blinkers, breaks and running lights as there are only two indicators. Any one seen this?
Found it.. Rear lamp monitor. Check a few pages down on this Hemmings link.
https://www.hemmings.com/blog/2016/05/19/10-unusual-1950s-1970s-gm-accessories/
Hi, I just joined and your post caught my attention because you spoke about the front lamp monitors. Did you ever locate the clear monitor inserts? I’m hoping you have more than one set so that you can sell me a pair. I have been looking for 10 yrs to no avail. Thanks Junqueboi. BTW here’s my Riviera
~Pat
My BIL has a photo of one of these Buick a plain looking piece of crap it is, but the reason he shot it was to record the WORST car he says hes ever driven apparently taking an off ramp at 60mph had the car screeching along on its doorhandles both he and my sister were terrified and he drives cars for his job so hes not too bad a driver.
This is a fairly common comment from Kiwi friends who use US rentals on holiday so perhaps a Buick is no worse than the other stuff.
The last Riv to come out under the direction of Bill Mitchell and one of the last cars with the sheer look styling theme. The scale is just right and love the color on this one.
I rode once in an early 80s Eldorado and was surprised how loose everything felt. It was maybe 10 years old at the time and was rattling everywhere as we drove down the road. I wonder if they all did that.
Does anyone know exactly why the Riviera changed for ’77 and ’78 but the Eldo/Toro didn’t?
1977/78 Buick Riviera:
It would have meant continuing two 1971-76 full-size platforms into the “downsized” era, rather than just one (the front-drive Toro/Eldo). The ’76 Rivs didn’t sell very well (about 20,000, versus 24,000 1976 Toronados, according to owners’ club websites) so rather than canceling the Riviera outright, they took the cheapest possible route to offering it as a separate model – making it a variant of the new LeSabre coupe for 1977-78.
Two major reasons:
1) Tooling – the 71-76 was manufactured with the full sized cars and with the switch to the downsized platform for MY77, it would have been too coistly and impractical to keep the large car going. GM already planned to incorporate the Riviera into the FWD platform for 1979 so the 77-78 were a stop gap.
2) Engine – most importantly with the demise of the 455 big block, the largest engine then available was the Buick 350 or Olds 403. Not enough to power the big Riviera in a meaningful way. The Toronado switched to the 403 Olds for 1977 as well but I think the 76 Riviera was heavier.
3) Concept – the B body Riviera introduced the smaller concept. By 1978, the Toronado and Eldorado were positively huge compared to the rest of the lineup.
While the Riv was always considered an E body it’s RWD meant that it shared a lot with the B/C chassis. By the time the 74 rolled around it was more B than E. Basically it got its chassis pulled from under it with the downsizing of the B platform. So it either had to go all B or go extinct.
I think they wanted to downsize all three of them, but kept the Toro and Eldo on the large platform because they were traditionally FWD cars, and there was no downsized FWD platform ready yet in ’77. The Riviera had been RWD all along, so it was free to move over to the B-body platform temporarily until the new E-body was ready in ’79. The ’77-78 Riviera is probably my least favorite of all Rivieras — it’s just not “special” enough to be a Riviera although in and of itself it’s a good car.
Way back around 1982, it was my privilege (?) to take an extended trip in the back seat of one of these equipped with cloth upholstry. Other than the environment’s being a bit clausterphobic, the overly-soft seat was comfortable for only about 20 minutes. The trip lasted hours longer.
Why couldn’t they have nicked some Volvo seats for this boat?
LOL…and those are supposed to be more comfortable?!
There was one good piece in these cars, that 3.8 V6 emigrated to Australia in 89 and went on to power millions of Holdens the rest of it wouldnt even make decent rebar
I do like this gen of the Riv. Years ago I always thought it looked like a bloated Regal coupe but in the 1990’s the design grew on me. However I will always like the 86-92 Riv (and the 88-91 Reatta) more as it still to this day looks modern and stylish
I always liked the combined courtesy/reading light in the back seat of these, the Toronado had them too.
My Eldorado has a similar light treatment. Base Eldorados used a single light that came on with the interior lights. Biarritz models had the light plus an additional little “eyeball” light that can be switched on and off separately. Since the Riviera didn’t technically have an “uplevel” model I assume it was part of a courtesy group like with the Toronado.
They were a stand alone option, I’ve seen loaded up cars without them, the Biarritz did have a similar combo reading/courtesy lamp. The Riviera and Toronado ones had the nameplate script on the larger courtesy light which was a nice touch.
I have always been a big courtesy light aficionado ever since I was mesmerized by them on a 1963 Cadillac as a little kid.
That above pic that you posted looked like the interior from my 85 Toronado Caliente. Although for the life of me I cannot remember what the sail panel light was like. One thing I did NOT get was the talking computer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zb3gYvJpDK0
Illuminated Entry was always a fun option. My 83 Eldorado has it as well as my 81 Imperial. The Imperial’s dash will light up when the handle is pulled along with the lights. My Eldorado has analog dash so nothing fancy. Oddly, my 88 Brougham did not have that option, nor did it had a power trunk pull down among other things. It had a simple square lens on the inside sail panel that lit up when the door was opened. My 79 Cutlass Calais, the 85 Caliente, and the 90 Touring Sedan were all maroon cars all very classy and sadly all gone and missed.
I just loved sitting behind that steering wheel.
When I was a little kid, a friend’s parents would sometimes carpool us with their Riv. It was the first pillow-top seat I ever experienced. That back seat was quite a change from the stark greenhouse of our Volvo 240 wagon. Oh, and those glowing gauges…
if I wanted an E-body, I’d probably go with a steel-roof Eldo, or maybe a Toro Caliente, but these Rivs will always have a special place in my heart.
My mom had a 1981 model. Very nice car to ride in, very nice to drive.
The rear seat reading lamps/courtesy lights were not in a package or group but a single option on the Riv – I was 12 when my Dad ordered our 1979 Riviera. I remember him talking to the salesman when he was ordering our car, and I insisted he order those for me to be able to read in the backseat at night. The funny thing is that every time I tried to use them he would yell that they were bothering him and he couldn’t see so my Mom would make me turn them off.
That Riv was a real looker too – ours was charcoal grey with the silver landau top and oyster white leather interior. Everywhere we went people would stop and ask us about that car. Dad ordered it with the 350 V-8, four wheel disc brakes and firm ride and handling package too. He didn’t get the fiber optics and I was so pissed – but it did have a factory power moonroof which was pretty rare on the Rivieras. I took that car to my senior prom and was so proud of it! It was really in mint condition when it came to its end – my Mom was coming home from the supermarket with Thanksgiving day food when a kid in a Duster ran a stop sign and hit her broadside. She was unharmed but the Riv was totaled. I was so sad seeing it being towed away. I’ll never forget that car!!
Love those tight but comfy back seat areas. My Trofeo was beautiful, even in grey, tufted leather was supple too.
There is a Riv at the top our street, I see it daily and often at the market, and older couple driving it. The bumper extender in the rear are missing , as they have been for years. Same color as this too, or light yellow or almond.
My Mom’s last car was an 84 Riv in Cherry Metallic. She only got to drive that car to 1,000 miles before reality intervened, i Think buying the car, she could see herself getting older in …helped preoccupy her mind, in the months leading up to her final days. It was her 63 Grand Prix in marimba red all over again, that’s what I think it looked like to her. Only the 73 Tbird in Black had she had till this. Along with the 54 Bel Air she drove, Black, those 4 cars are all she had in my lifetime with her. So she had That pattern Maroon ,Black, Repeat.
Rather than offer it to us, my Dad quickly sold what had been a 20k car for 13k to the next door neighbor woman who had admired it since day 1. It remained a sore point for the next 5 years as it was always in this neighbors driveway. My mother should be driving That Car. So These Have Mixed emotions for me. On one Hand I’d love to have my Mother’s but really Would Rather Have a Conv Riv… Those are Sweet. Top up or top down.
I always wanted Them to Change the rear end of the Toronado of this generation.
Love the Orig Biarritz in Red, White Leather, stainless roof…!!
Great GM car, yet Why cant the rear windows roll down, as they do in the convertibles.
I graduated in ’79 too. The 400 ci Trans Am was supposed to be the “end of the road” for performance cars. Per Sammy Haggar.
I wasn’t into the E body Riviera as much as the Eldos, however.
Per Larry Griffin, at Car & Driver. He wrote a review on the 1979 Trans Am – “The car is here – and NOW – and will not pass this way again.”
Well, he was right – for about six years, anyway, which is as long as anyone can prognosticate anything. Nobody could foresee the breakthroughs in computers; and the (temporary) arrest in the march of regulation and restriction on car use and speed.
Even in ’79 when they did the Porsche 930 Turbo it was the similar doomsday writing–but what a great article! At one point the Trans-Am was even faster than the L82 Vette! But the C4 changed all of that…
By ’86 the 930 was even faster (282 hp vs. 253 for the ’79) but cars got faster…”you had 150-mph Corvettes and 140-mph Saabs and Camaros and Mustangs” so the advantage of the 930 was smaller than in the past.
Meh
Interesting you note the sales figures…that sales for 1985, the last year of that body, were the best of any.
The period was also interesting. 1979 was bad, bad economic times…the Malaise Era. Interest rates and unemployment rates were exploding; gas prices were at record levels. Few people wanted to finance a car at 18 percent; and those who had to, didn’t want to throw money around on a “personal luxury” statement-car.
Things were far reversed by 1985. Interest rates were a third; unemployment was around six percent; gasoline prices were half what they had been; it was the Age Of The Yuppie. And to be a Yuppie, you had to have a Yuppie car. Not just fast and agile; it had to be big and intimidating and reek of money.
The Riv and its badge-siblings filled the bill, well.
I worked at a lower-paying county office job…and a co-worker, who was independently-wealthy, bought one. All the office coo’d over it…I wasn’t as impressed as they, but I thought it was a nice job and matched my friend’s personality well.
But the point is…the start and end of that model run represented times as different as night and day.
In my neck of the woods yuppies only drove BMW’s and Mercedes, with the rare Jag thrown in for good measure.
I have a hard time seeing the classic american personal luxury coupe as a yuppie car…but that’s just my perception.
edit…can’t forget the Saabs tood (Snaabs), still the “in crowd” car to have when I was in high school. Never could figure that one out.
It’s about time Curbside Classic had an article about one of these. It’s a little too bad that the one that was found was a little ragged, but there are many that have been cared for and pampered for the last 30 years. That and they’ve got about the same survival rate in general use as a Caprice. But, luckily, most of the ones on the road are no worse than this one.
These cars are actually quite peppy as they are, a 307 will squeal the tires and a 350 will do a downright burnout. and they do lend themselves to engine swaps due to the size and depth of the engine compartment. Anything with a B-O-P bellhousing from the 3.8 V6 to a 500 Cadillac is just about bolt in, or can be with minor fabrication. An Olds 455 is actually a direct bolt in swap, though the springs from a Diesel model would be required to make up for the weight difference.
I’m rather partial to my ’81 Riviera. Silver with grey vinyl top and grey leather interior. These cars, unless they have the alloy wheels, do not look right without a set of proper white thinwall tires.
I wonder how a LSX swap would be in one of these. The LS engine is lighter than the 3.8, and the 400hp/tq numbers would wake it up quite a bit. I’ll bet it sould be a really fun fwd burnout machine.
Yes, these were very classy cars. When I was a kid around 1980, my dad almost bought a brand new 2 tone grey Riviera . I loved that beautiful car and wanted it very badly, but after endless negotiations, no deal could be reached.
I can’t remember with car we bought instead. It was either our 1980 Pheonix (turd), or our 1979? Olds Cutlass Supreme (meh). In either case, the Riv would have been a much nicer ride.
What I remember most was what was on the outside on the C-pillar. Wasn’t the opera lamp an “R” emblem that had a soft glow at night? Could be mixing it up with another car but think it was this one. Such a classy touch and I remember thinking only an American make could pull off such style.
Yes, it was an electroluminescent coach lamp with an R on it, awesome.
Yup those are the ones. What a neat signature and exclusive touch. Thanks for the pics!
…which matched the backup lights.. Love it.
I too love the looks of this car.
I see a black Riv in this bodystyle all the time, lives in an apartment complex near Mt. Airy Forest in Cincinnati…bumper fillers are going bad but otherwise it looks great. I’d love to have one. A friend of mine had a Toronado around 1984, with a beautiful beige leather interior with light gray trim…sounds awful but it was a very subtle, classy combination. I think the outside was beige.
I remember being in high school and having a friend with a 1982 green Riv with the 307 and 4 speed trans with 2.73 gears. At the time that car seemed pretty quick and certainly livelier than it’s meager 140 Hp would suggest. It also felt quicker than the B-body 307 cars and in some cases even the 3 speed G-body cars with there pathetic 2.14 rear gears. I also remember driving a beautiful 1985 white Riv with blue interior with the revised 307 Olds V8 which changed over to the diesel roller cam and lifter setup, revised computer, 7A swirl port heads and log style tubular exhaust manifolds all designed to improve mileage and low end power. The main problem with these engines was that they were all ragged and out of breath after 4000 RPM and 4400 was the limit whereas the 80-84 5A head 307’s pulled well up to nearly 5000. Still the 27 highway MPG I was able to pull with my handed down 1985 307 3 speed Cutlass proved that Oldsmobile’s mileage tricks payed off.
I wonder if they underrated those 5A engines. 140 hp, 240-255 lb/ft of torque in my father’s ’84.
I wonder if they had more like 155-160 hp. Maybe the ’85s had 140-145 but more torque than the ’79-84s.
I found this site looking for the fiber optic turn monitors as one of them has yellowed. My mother gave me her 85 Buick Riviera that she bought new in 85, with every option available, the car has been in storage for 20+ years and has only 8,228 miles on odometer. I’m going to sell it but wanted to fix the few things that are not up to standard or par to the imacculate condition of the car.
Did you sell it yet? Contact me if you still have it and are looking to sell.
I’ve always thought the Riviera was the best looking one of the 79-up E Bodies. Didn’t like the Toro’s grill and well I’ve never been a Cadillac man. But no Turbo V6 for me, make mine the Buick 350 if it was available. Or the 4.1 V6 since I have one of those in a shed, pulled from a 80 Electra. That way I got parts.
These were not my cup of tea in the day, because they couldn’t fit my needs nor could I have afforded one then anyway. I did consider the Riviera as uniquely well-equipped for the era. It had a turbo, four wheel disc brakes, front drive, and independent car suspension (with auto-leveling, if I recall accurately). I’m fairly sure no other American brand had a car to match all these technical specs.
These were very attractive and desirable cars when introduced in 1979. To me, these were like giving the ‘Seville’ treatment to large personal luxury cars. Making them somewhat more socially acceptable again.
It was small attention to details, I especially liked in these. Creating the look of four individual headlight bezels, rather than one bezel for each pair of lights was a nice, and unique touch at the time. That lent a sense of luxury and detail. It may have inspired the similar treatment on the Dodge 400.
All three of the E bodies were very attractive, so just take your pick. I believe that the Cadillac was the best seller even though it was the most expensive. When I was involved with the ROA, Riviera Owners association, these cars were highly regarded, pretty much just below the Classic 1960’s models. These were just the right size, smaller than the 60’s models but still big enough to pull off this type of styling effectively. I really do miss this type of car, but I guess most buyers don’t!
My grandmother had one of these when I was very young (mid to late 90s). Hers was an ‘85, brown with a brown top and a brown leather interior. With the 307, it was best described as leisurely, but it was relaxing and easy-to-drive. Thanks to the longitude-FWD platform, it did commendably in the Denver snow, as well.