(first posted 8/10/2015) The final Riviera was a powerful volley fired directly into a battlefield where most soldiers were long dead or mortally wounded. Featuring a unique interior and the most dramatic exterior styling seen on a Riv since the 1971-73 “boat-tail” generation, it ended a long and prestigious legacy in a bold and charismatic way.
The previous generation had experienced the same shrinking pains suffered by grand personal luxury coupes like Eldorado and Thunderbird. Conveniently sized and well-packaged, the 1986 Riviera grossly underestimated the power of presence in a very style-conscious segment. Its tangible merits, like a solid powertrain offering and futuristic in-car technology, were ignored because it looked too bland for the price charged.
Much like they had done with the related Oldsmobile Toronado, GM extensively revised the exterior for 1989. Stretched by 11 inches, the Riviera retained the same 108-inch wheelbase and 3.8 V6 engine, so it was no more spacious or powerful. Where the 1989 revision made a huge difference was in visual presence. It’s funny what a longer rear overhang, revised taillights and a thicker C-pillar can do. Consequently, sales more than doubled, but then promptly sunk again. The Riviera would be axed after 1993.
The historic nameplate didn’t stay gone for long. Relaunched in 1995, the Riviera was now on GM’s G platform, shared with the Oldsmobile Aurora, which was heralded as GM’s stiffest platform yet. It represented a much more earnest effort by GM to differentiate products on the same platform. Inside and out, the big Buick looked completely different to its Aurora platform mate.
The Riv also boasted a completely different engine. Where the Aurora offered only a 4.0 version of the Cadillac Northstar V8, the Riviera came with a choice of two engines: the 3800 Series II naturally-aspirated V6, with 205 hp and 230 ft-lbs of torque, and a supercharged 3800 with 225 hp and 275 ft-lbs of torque. Transmissions were the four-speed automatic 4T60E and 4T60E-HD, respectively.
It now weighed a hefty 3800lbs, but the G platform had much more modern underpinnings. There was an independent rear suspension with semi-trailing arms, coil springs and an anti-roll bar, with a strut suspension up front. The new coupe was also bigger in almost every dimension, being 9 inches longer, 1.9 inches wider and on a wheelbase 5.8 inches longer than its predecessor.
It wasn’t just the old Riviera that was small by comparison. The new Riviera was actually longer than the Eldorado by 7 inches, 5 of those in the wheelbase, and was sized almost identically to the Lincoln Mark VIII. This allowed for quite a spacious and comfortable cabin. You could purchase a Riviera with either a front bench or individual buckets, and although getting into the back was a chore, the shapely coupe sat four adults in comfort.
Occupants were met by a sweeping, retro-style dash – inspired by the 1963 Riviera’s cabin – with an abundance of air vents and deep circular pods. The seats were comfortable albeit not heavily bolstered, and the trunk was cavernous but with an awkward opening. Material quality was mixed, with some cheap plastics present, but it was arguably one of GM’s better interiors of the 1990s. Initially featuring a monochromatic color scheme, wood trim would be added for 1996.
Styling was much bolder than its predecessor, both inside and out. The new Riv had been designed under studio chief Bill Porter, and was the last car he designed as well as one of his personal favorites. For inspiration, the designers had looked at the Torpedo-bodied Buicks of the 1940s, as well as the ’66 Riviera and the Jaguar E-Type. They wanted the Riviera to be drop-dead gorgeous but not obnoxiously retro.
Initially, various different designs were considered but Porter decided to bring the Lucerne concept of 1988 to production as unchanged as possible. Its swoopy roofline cut too much into interior headroom, though, and adjusting for that ended up compromising the design. Porter went back to the drawing board and penned the 1995 Riviera as we know it.
Bill Porter (left) with Paul Tatseos, Buick Interior Studio Chief
He credits the finished result to a young designer by the name of Eric Clough, who penned the ovoid grille and tapered nose, helping to complete the look they had been seeking.
The Riv was a big car, but the sloping lines and tapered ends helped reduce visual bulk. It was a polarizing design but it certainly made a statement, which was more than could be said for previous generation’s derivative design.
On the road, the Riviera made a compelling case for owning a personal luxury coupe. Handling was competent with minimal body roll – although the steering was overly light – but the ride was smooth and compliant. “What pothole?”
The automatic transmission was one of GM’s smoothest-shifting units. The whole car, indeed, was smooth and refined with an extremely quiet interior. “What road noise?”
It was no sports car, despite its competent handling and power, but it didn’t aspire to be. Fuel economy was quite good, too: 19/28mpg for the naturally-aspirated V6 and 18/27 for the supercharged variant.
Perhaps the most compelling aspect of the Riviera was its price. With a base price of around $28,000, the Riviera was a whopping $10k cheaper than other coupes like the Acura Legend, Cadillac Eldorado, Lexus SC and Lincoln Mark VIII. It may have been either less dynamic or less powerful than those offerings, but it came fully-loaded. All Rivieras featured power seats, keyless entry, dual airbags and climate-control air-conditioning. Options included a heated driver’s seat and a sunroof, as well as front buckets and a console; the supercharged V6 was an $1100 option. Even fully-loaded, there was a considerable gap in price between the Riv and its rivals. The aging Mercury Cougar XR-7, however, did undercut it by a significant $9k and its 4.6 V8 matched the supercharged V6’s torque although it was down on horsepower.
Changes were limited during the Riviera’s run. The late-arrival naturally aspirated V6 was dropped after 1997 and the bench seat option was dropped for 1998. Memory settings for the driver’s seat and exterior mirrors, activated by the key fob, would become an option for 1996. A new 4T65E-HD transmission arrived for 1997, as did suspension refinements. For the Riviera’s final year, 1999, a Silver Arrow special edition was offered. Just 200 of these heritage-inspired, silver-painted models were built and all featured numbered dash plates and Silver Arrow logos in the interior.
The Riviera had been developed to help amortize the costs of the G-Body platform, but GM’s decision to offer only a coupe was somewhat puzzling given market trends. The personal luxury segment had been shrinking for some time, and GM had already learned this the hard way with the launch of the GM-10s as well as flagging sales of the Olds Toronado. Sedans had once been for families and fleets only, but the rise of the sport sedan meant they were now more desirable. Domestic automakers were offering a suite of sporty sedans like the Ford Taurus SHO and Oldsmobile LSS, and the rise of the sport-utility vehicle was also having a significant impact on passenger car sales.
One by one, the personal luxury soldiers fell. Oldsmobile had axed their Toronado in 1992, and the Ford Thunderbird, Mercury Cougar and Lincoln Mark VIII would all die during 1997-98. This generation of Riviera had seen an uptick in sales initially, with 41,422 units sold in 1995. Around 18k units were sold in both 1996 and 1997, but sales would fall further to 10,953 units in 1998 and then a paltry 1,956 in 1999. In contrast, the Olds Aurora outsold the Riviera by a few thousand units annually during 1995-97, but after that the gap widened considerably: in 1998, the Olds outsold the Buick by more than 2-to-1. Overall, during their identical runs, the Olds sold over 50,000 more units.
Interestingly, Bill Porter had been certain his pride and joy would fail in the marketplace. He could see the market was shifting to sedans, and pitched a Riviera sedan to management. They declined, probably because the Park Avenue occupied a similar market position and because Oldsmobile had a G-Body sedan. In price, the Riviera ended up slotting between the base Park Avenue and the Ultra.
The Riviera was gone, but its design legacy lived on. Porter and his team wanted to establish a design vocabulary with the Riviera, and the sweeping curves and ovoid details would remain a part of the Buick design language well into the 2000s.
It seems appropriate that this Riviera was photographed in the coastal town of Morro Bay, CA. After all, there’s something very aquatic about its styling. From some angles, its tapered tail resembles a speed boat. From other, less flattering angles, the coupe resembles a dugong.
Angle is everything. This promotional photo reveals the Riv’s best viewing angle, although it’s not one you would often see.
The Riviera was certainly a striking car, and perhaps one of the best personal luxury cars of the 1990s. But that segment was dying and consumer tastes had changed. A crashing wave of sports sedans and SUVs had washed the Riviera away. At least Bill Porter sent the storied name off with a Viking funeral.
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Sorry but I just don’t care for it. The tapering nose and tail give the impression that it’s apologising for being so big.
This is one of my pet peeves. The 98 -11 Lincoln Town Car also suffers from “tapered” styling as do many Cadillacs. The Buick Roadmaster also didn’t look right. Too often nowadays a 3/4 size rear gets stuck on a full width car with usually poor results.
This is for aerodynamics.
I’m glad the designs of the last personal luxury cars were still stunning good for some ( Riviera and Mark VIII ) as it was before in a different way, even though by the time thunderbird’s aero headlights didn’t go well with the doors and roofline already, and Chrysler almost had abandoned the market ( they had LeBaron though ) and engineering wise, both Riviera and Mark VIII were very outstanding ( except the durability issue on Mark VIII, and horrified rust resistance on both ) enough to outclass few competitors ( Lexus SC for example ). Comfort wise, seats on Riviera are the best among modern cars, as it gives as much support as those in Mark VIII, but still soft as those in Fifth Avenue, at a giant size though.
And I’m glad neither Mark VIII or Riviera had sedan on them. Otherwise how we see them today could be similar to late ’80s GM H-Bodies. On Mark VIII, I bet the structure integrity and cost were on the way, and they used many components from Riviera for later bigger Buicks anyways. I wonder if the economy gets improved would either GM or Ford make something similar again ( Chrysler is making modern day mixture of Mirada and Challenger already )
I would say this could have been a better design if GM hadn’t based it on such a large sedan….the same fault is shared with the last Monte Carlos. When I think personal luxury coupe, I don’t think in terms of a gargantuan wheelbase, quite the opposite.
I must admit I had no idea how inexpensive these cars were. $10K cheaper than an Eldorado? Did customers really want the Cadillac crest and a V8 bad enough to spend 10 K more for an Eldorado? Apparently so, as twice as many (or in 99 nearly 5 times as many) went for the crest over the triple shields.
I remember someone in Ford in charge of Mark VIII said, they all clearly knew among Mark VIII, Riviera and Eldorado which was the worst, but sales wise Eldorado just got lucky.
I like these a lot, but not in white. Any of the dark colors seem to suit it better. What I’d really like is an Aurora with a 3800, but this would probably do.
I personally think this generation of Riv is the most beautiful car of the 1990s… Wouldn’t mind having one but for the fact the electronics are getting old at this point.
I agree with you. I have always liked this design and still think it is one of the most beautiful cars GM has ever produced. I can understand why some don’t care for it, but to me it has a sort of “Killer Whale’ look to it – darker colors look best (I’m not fond of white).
Even the interior was a marked improvement from other GM design’s of the 90’s.
A final generation Riviera is on my wish list. That styling is the most gorgeous that I’ve ever seen.
Be still, my beating heart….
It’s nearly 2019 and I’ve only replaced the driver’s side window motor, driver’s side window motor switch, the starter relay, and an HVAC module. The fuel level sensor was very poorly designed and reads incorrectly on nearly all Rivieras. Everything else is still working. I wouldn’t worry too much about the electronics if you can find one that has been taken care of. It hasn’t been easy to find a clean 8th gen Riviera for years.
The overall styling of this car does absolutely nothing for me. The short nose/long deck proportion does it no favors. I’ve never driven one, so it may very well be a nice car but it seems bland and uninspired : just another jellybean car.
The one exception is that unique full width tail light. Very nice. Here’s a clever and creative adaptation of it on a 1937 Chevrolet street rod that I saw back in 2007. And hey, you kids! Get off my lawn! 😉
Tough sell as a new car , great $ell when sold as lease turn in. I remember selling a few lease turn in cloth seat split bench seat Riviera’s of this vintage. Great design especially the tail lights which were refreshingly similar to the 1970 Catalina. Probably one of the smoothest and quietest riding cars ever…except for the Bonneville Broughams of course.
1970 Catalina
I should like these but I just don’t. The ingredients were their, unlike some of their cars at the time they were trying. The seats were good. The dash was unique. The platform was solid, remember all the talk of matching the W124 in solidity, which GM said was the best they tested. The 3800 engine had been gradually developed into a fine engine, and Buick was right to feature it.
The swooping proportions however just come off to me has fat. The long hood short deck formula for the personal coupe is just off here. I wonder if it’s the front drive packaging or just making the back seat too big. It seemed to me that America had lost it’s way with big coupes by then. The Mark VIII had a crappy interior, The Eldo was boxy, and this was fat. So many of the great American coupes of the sixties and seventies had brougham touches that were verbotten by the nineties, I wonder if it left the stylist rudderless. At the time my favorite coupes were the 300CE, 635csi, and the Volvo 780. Heresy I know.
Well said. I wanted to like this car more than I actually did. It proportions just look odd, and the whole thing is oversized with the rear being waaaay too long and tapered. I wish it had been smaller scale like the other European coupes you mention. The Riviera’s styling details, executed on a properly proportioned 2/3 scale package (screw the back seat, that’s not what these cars are about), with the Supercharged 3800 could have been the real statement car that Buick needed.
Mark VIII? Crappy interior? I beg to differ. Some of the plastics could have been better quality, and it needed the wood trim that was introduced for ’95, but it was one of the more expressive variants of Ford’s “wraparound” interiors of the time. And the seats are fantastic, if you’ve never had the chance to sit in one.
Also you’re not really comparing apples to oranges with your foreign entrants. The last year for the 635CSi was 1989, and the 780 (aka coupe) was canceled after the 1991 model year. The W124 coupe stuck around until 1996 (renamed the E320), but while it was still beautiful, it was a 10 year old design. Fantastic cars, all of them (I own a 780 and the E24 BMW is one of my favorites of all time) but they’re really cars of the 80’s and early 90’s.
Very nice article. I remember when these came out, and I believe Car and Driver was evaluating one – it might have been Pat Bedard when asked what he thought of the styling said, “I’m not sure, I need to go out and look at it some more….”
I agree with that assessment – the exterior styling was certainly interesting, I’m just not sure if it’s interesting in a good or bad way.
While I can be ambivalent on the exterior styling, the interior always left me cold. It had that “Rubbermaid” plastic 80s/90s GM vibe to it.
A Lexus 300 SC put pretty much all the domestic coupes to shame, though I have a fondness for the Mark VIII.
I agree with Bedard. There’s something not quite right about the front end styling in particular. It’s almost there, but I can’t quite put my finger on what’s wrong.
There’s something unsettling about the relative proportions of the different elements up front – grille-to-hood, lights-to-fenders, and overall, the design feels aggressive, but the details are soft. Also, GM never really got aero – perhaps a case of styling NIH.
At least to these eyes, yesterday’s Delta 88 coupe is a much better design.
The lights look a little too “squinty” to me- it almost makes it look like the panels didn’t fit if you’re at just the right angle.
That’s the thing about the Riviera- drop-dead gorgeous at some angles, and just weird at others.
I like the rear, though- it looks like a LeSabre with the “Hips don’t lie” package.
The front end is where it kind of falls apart. I like the long tail–looks very streamlined–but the nose is too short. The FWD origins are all too evident, as it’s almost cab-forward. Plus the grille protrudes perhaps too far from the lamps–shades of the Matador or the beaky Thunderbirds.
I do like it overall, and applauded it as a bold design. Couldn’t be mistaken for anything on the road at the time and, really, still can’t. And it’s more attractive than the Eldorado. The Mark VIII is just more attractive to me, though perhaps in a slightly more conventional fashion.
A Riviera like this parks across the street from my house sometimes. I don’t pay much attention to modern Tauroids, but this car catches my eye positively.
Normally a new shape is designed first as a big car, then shortened to make a compact. The Tauroid shape began as a compact and stayed there, until this Riviera showed how a long version would look. Despite the different sequence, the old rule still holds true. Long version looks better.
At 3800 pounds, this version of the Buick Riviera with a V6 engine weigh as much as the 2015 Chevrolet Impala with a 4 cylinder engine and yet the Riviera was still the longest at 207.2″ or slightly longer than the 1974-77 Chevelle Malibu Coupe (between 205.3″ to 206.0″) vs. the 2015 Impala at 201.3″
At 3800 pounds it is still lighter than some of the earlier Rivieras. The 74 GS weighed 4842 pounds and was 226.4 inches long. The supercharged engine had 225 hp initially, almost matching the GS’s stage 1 455 which made 250 hp in 74.
The weight gain however was pretty dramatic compared to the 86 which came in around 3300 pounds and shared the Buick 3.8.
The slightly shorter at 206.6″ 1979-85 Buick Riviera which was the last FWD E-Body with BOF Construction was also lighter with a 231 V6 engine weighing in at 3564-3792 pounds.
Undiluted big US coupes with a V8 that were officially imported in the nineties were the Ford Thunderbird, the Lincoln Continental Mark VIII and the Cadillac Eldorado. As far as I can remember the Riviera wasn’t among them (and it didn’t have a V8).
Holland does a great job of having a little of everything on it’s roads. Even if in central Amsterdam they seem to be easing out the cars. When I was there in 2013 I even saw an outing of a 60s Charger club, yes one and only one was painted like the General Lee. Also saw a good number of B bodies, some pristine but many beaters. Curiously I never saw any of the old DAFs which I have yet to see in the metal.
Way into the nineties all kinds of US cars were officially imported. Hessing De Bilt (gone bankrupt) did Ford/Mercury/Lincoln in the nineties, and of course there were also plenty of Chrysler/Jeep/Dodge dealerships. Plus several Chevrolet, Cadillac and Buick models. Also officially imported.
Then ship loads of grey imports too, mainly pickups (all ages), classic cars and even big Class 8 trucks and tractors (all ages). No age-restrictions (like at least 15 or 25 years old) at all, feel free to import whatever you want. From all over the globe.
DAFs have become collectibles by now. Lots of them were destroyed in the funny-races / backward driving races, about 35 years ago. You don’t see many of them at the curb anymore, but there are still plenty of them around. Garage kept.
An example of an “original Dutch” (imported as a new car) 1997 Lincoln Continental Mark VIII. With 177,000 km on the clock. For only € 6,950 it’s a deal.
Even though it is somewhat of an orphan now, with official Lincoln importation over, this example has held it’s value well. I would guess a much lower USA value, $2500? The later HID headlights which this has, are very hard to get now.
I think the Mark VII have stopped going down in value, so it is probably a mater of time with these.
Continental Mark VII is becoming increasing valuable now, and fox Continental sedan is appearing in classic car magazines nowadays.
In US, depends on area. In coast areas these cars are $2500 or lower, but in mid-west especially in countryside, a pristine example could be as pricy as $6000.
HID headlights are around $1000 a set and I am glad I have the ’94. Regular headlights are $100 a set if lucky, up to $300 for fair price.
I had a closer look at the car. It’s a ’94 ( in ’95 they redesigned the dashboard, and in ’93 they didn’t add wooden trim ) and it’s 177,000 miles. But it’s the cleanest one with that miles I have seen, and usually by that age, air ride doesn’t work properly anymore, and upper arms/ball joints/bushing needs replacement. The headlights look replaced, or I can’t figure out they look so bright.
http://www.autoweek.nl/occasion?id=6QWZW
I checked the plate on the (official) Dutch website, and its (very) first date of official registration is June 25, 1997. That’s also the first date of registration in the Netherlands. That means that it must have been in the inventory of the importer for quite some time. Folks here are only interested in the first date or registration, nobody thinks in model years, or date of manufacturing.
It appears to have a km odo- and speedometer (look at the scale, and the numbers in the inner ring), in that case 177,000 km is correct.
I’ve always found it interesting that date of first registration means so much there. Looking at that Mark VIII, at a glance one can tell it was manufactured in ’96 or earlier as the styling was significantly refreshed for ’97. Though I suppose, as it can’t be driven before registration, that does more accurately reflect how long the car has been in service.
And it makes more sense than the two-letter combinations used in AUS/NZ. Those still mystify me!
If you guys have some time to spare, here’s the Dutch website that’s basically a collection of all major used car websites in my country.
I selected Lincoln (at “Merk”, that means brand), there are 151 of them for sale, all ages. You can also select “Model”, which speaks for itself. That’s how I found the Lincoln above.
http://www.gaspedaal.nl/Lincoln/?srt=df
Three years is long for inventory. Coming to date of manufacturing, those engines made in ’93 have the rattle in cold start up and it quite annoys me, and not so durable buttons on AC. The one for sale on the website has a rare color, I never see one of those.
I checked up, it looks like a Canadian edition with km instead of miles all around. It’s quite different from what I am used to seeing all the time. It is fairly easy to drive fast enough pushing the speed gauge all the way down though.
Right, the Canadian edition. Cars and pickups are often imported directly from Canada, now you mention it.
I paid attention to big US sedans and coupes on our roads, they really stood out, of course. The ones from the nineties I saw “in the metal”, rolling down the road:
Cadillac Seville and Eldorado.
Chrysler, the Vision and later 300M.
Buick Park Avenue.
Ford Thunderbird, Mercury Grand Marquis, Lincoln Town Car, Continental (9th gen) and the Continental Mark VIII.
The drivers were always 50+, and mostly 60+ men. Folks who bought it because they wanted something different. Who didn’t drive around like a madman and took very good care of their cars. The body always shiny, a clean interior, and with a very well maintained powertrain.
I guess the Lincoln above had such an owner. The ad says that the car comes with a fully documented service history.
Most of these 15 to 20 year old US sedans and coupes still look very healthy for their age, you rarely see one that’s beaten up.
Those cars are fairly common for overseas ( I saw all of them in China, sometimes in Korea too. Some of them even pop up very infrequently in Singapore ) unlike Buick Riviera or Oldsmobile 98. I saw DeVille and Town Car coming with factory amber turning signals before. Most of the owners tend to be seniors indeed, and those cars generally attract older people too, and they are quite more likely to take good care of the car. I saw an Oldsmobile Intrigue two weeks ago with a WWII veteran plate. But there are very few very young drivers too, as I saw on I-75 last year, a very young looking and boyish driver zooming by in an early ’90s pristine Riviera even though I was cruising at 85mph already. And I realized a lot of Chrysler F/M-Bodies are showing up in France, Czech and Spain even though they barely keep the value in US.
Some US cars are more frequently beaten up, usually smaller ones like Tempo, Corsica, Sundance. Anyway the last inventory of them was dumped all the way to China. But pristine ones still exist.
One of the few Buicks I’d actually love to own, along with any sport or “sporty” coupe from the 80s (LeSabre T-Type, Turbo Regal, Grand National, etc.).
Love this car. I tried so hard to talk my father into buying one when he was shopping for what ended up being his last car…almost had him hooked, then a neighbor put up a used 4-door Century and father snapped that up. Too damn practical. At least the Century had the H/O version of the SFI 3800 engine in it (according to the build sheet I found) along with a whole host of interesting options
But an early-nineties A-body Century was never going to look as nice nor ride as nice at a Riviera.
I owned a ’97 for about three years and liked it very much. I bought it used at a Jeep dealer in Boulder after searching for the exact and only color combination I wanted – pearlescent white with red/maroon interior.
Retrospectively, four traits of the Riviera remain in mind:
1) This car convinced me that a large car need not have a V-8 (nor a medium sized car have a six).
2) The interior was a pleasant place to be for a long drive. Very well designed, very simple, very comfortable. I did think it odd that the battery was under the rear seat.
3) Trunk was long but useful.
4) The system for housing the rear license plate was secure and simple – elegant in design. Open the trunk and slide the plate down into it’s slot. Couldn’t be removed without unlocking/opening the trunk; no screws needed. So smart and easy I wonder why other cars have not had this system.
Not every place has the same size plates stupid idea I can see why nobody else did it
In the USA, all plates are the same size. I believe Canadian plates are the same sized. For models not being exported, I see it as a great way to avoid plate theft.
Plus, I doubt my LeSabre wouldn’t fit a European plate too well, anyways.
So they sold Park Avenue instead.
If the standard plate doesn’t fit, you’re allowed to use a smaller type of plate. Both front and rear; very common on US cars, regardless their age.
I don’t know how that works in other countries.
They can add sort of frame or base to let plate stick out.
Same Buick, smaller sized plate on the front bumper too.
Very great article Will! I actually just saw a beautiful ruby-red Riviera yesterday.
I’ve always liked these final Rivieras, but they had one huge detriment to them: the Aurora. It seemed like everything the Riviera did well, the Aurora did it better.
Although exterior styling was actually somewhat similar in profile view, the Aurora looked far more modern and groundbreaking. The Riviera did sport very nice-looking leather seats, but the instrument panel has always bothered me. It just looks very Fischer-Price quality and it’s monotonous look is sleep inducing.
By contrast, the Aurora boasted a far more premium-looking interior with real burl walnut trim, darker upper and lighter lower dash, higher-quality looking switchgear, and a far more interesting cockpit design. And then of course, the Aurora had the exclusive Aurora V8, not found in any other vehicle.
The Riviera was still a good car and worthy way to go out in style, but it’s hard for me to love it when its platform mate was just that much better.
I owned a 1995 Riviera and then a 1998 Aurora. Both cars have ugly plastic on the door panels. The Aurora’s dash has the same stuff, but the Riviera’s dash had nicely finished plastic on the dash. The seats on both cars are good, with the Aurora’s seats a bucket design while the Riviera’s seats are designed for a broader range of people sizes (whose BMI index may exceed 25). What I found after buying the Aurora was that its interior space was much smaller than the Riviera’s (narrower). I think Olds tried to make the interior feel like a 5 series BMW or the body’s styling used up interior space.
The Aurora got a nice driver information center with a lot of information. The Riviera did not get a driver information center. Both cars were the first of the G-bodies, which were designed to replace all of the full size FWD cars.
The Oldsmobile Aurora and this generation of Riviera are, together, an example of platform-sharing done correctly. They differed in styled, and by the mid-1990s, coupes and sedans were appealing to different sets of buyers. It never seemed as though they were competing for the same basic customer, which was a real problem for GM’s other lines by 1990.
The problem came when the platform was extended to all GM front drive full size. The weights went up noticeably. This had been a real strength of the previous style, while trying hard to ape the aging style of the cars they were replacing. Not GM’s finest hour.
I looked at both before buying the Riviera. IMO the Aurora’s interior is nicer, but it loses in every other category. The Riviera’s reliability rating was much higher than the Aurora’s, part of that being due to the Aurora’s detuned Northstar engine. The Riviera’s SC 3800 is one of the best engines ever made, the Northstar is more like one of the worst. When the series II 3800 SC arrived in 97, the Northstar was less powerful and the Aurora was slower.
Although I like the exterior styling of the Aurora, IMO the Riviera has aged better. This is mostly because the Riviera kept its creases, unlike most of the organically styled 90’s cars.
I was never impressed with this generation Buick Riviera. Its styling is ugly, at best.
These have worn well on me, I actually find them more attractive today than when new.
The 225hp supercharged V6 was only used for the first year, 1995. In ’96 and thereafter it was replaced with the much improved Series II version that was good for 240hp and 280 lb.ft at 3600rpm. The revised engine was smoother, quieter, more durable, more fuel efficient, and had longer service intervals. The naturally-aspirated V6 was gifted the Series II treatment a year earlier in ’95, and driving both versions, the slight added power of the Series I SC V6 wasn’t worth the increase in roughness, the decrease in fuel economy, or the need to use premium unleaded. Once the supercharged engine was upgraded, it made a much better case for itself. Even the non-supercharged version had the smoothness and power of a small V8 though.
The dashboard had a great shape that didn’t look its best until one of the many aftermarket wood paneling kits was installed. I preferred the split bench seat that was available (in either leather or cloth) on early models – a rarity by this time, especially on a coupe. Also a nice choice of interior colors – the ’95-’96 red being my favorite. My family test drove a ’95 Riv but instead bought that year’s Park Avenue, which I also preferred overall to the Riv.
A good article. However, the Riviera was not axed after 1993, the plan was to put it on the G platform which was not ready for production until late 1993 or actually early 1994. This allowed GM to certify both the Riviera and Aurora as 1995 models for a long production cycle.
The G platform was designed for all the the full sized FWD cars. The Buick Park Avenue was upgraded for 1997, then the 1998 Seville. I think 1999 saw the LeSabre and Bonneville upgraded with the DeVille in 2000. Cadillac would have liked the G platform for the 1992 Seville, but it was far from ready.
I liked these cars when they debuted, and still do today. They had real “presence,” and very distinctive styling. The only fly in the ointment, in my opinion, was the interior. The basic design was fine, but it featured far too much plastic and vinyl, and the materials looked cheap. This car deserved a much better interior.
Only giving Buick a coupe did make some sense, given the challenges GM was facing at that time. Buick and Oldsmobile were perceived as appealing to the same basic customer. It made sense for the Riviera to pursue what was left of the premium coupe market, while Oldsmobile went in another direction with the Aurora.
If the cars had been better built (and the Riviera’s interior better trimmed), and the Aurora had been more reliable, it could have worked. GM’s problem was its faulty execution of a reasonable product strategy.
Pretty much verbatim my thoughts. I’ve always liked the exterior styling of these, which has always struck me as Jaguar-like, but the interior, not so much. The layout is fine, and I’m sure at the model stage it looked great, but as with a lot of GM cars of this era, the execution and materials let it down. Aside from the plastic quality, my big beef is the dark-colored gauge bezels and vents in the light-colored surround, which makes the instrument panel look pockmarked. The shiny plastic wood around the stereo and climate controls doesn’t help.
Still, on balance, not a bad effort. If it was to be the last Riviera, it was at least a high note.
I was less keen on the Aurora, which was in some ways a more ambitious design, but less satisfying to look at.
I thought the same thing about these when I first saw the interiors — that it looked kind of cheap. Then I bought a three-year-old one. I ended up keeping it for 9 years and I loved it. Yes, maybe the materials could have been a little nicer, but the interior design was like nothing else, which I liked, and in spite of the retro appearance, it worked very well ergonomically. I went from that car to an Acura, which is the absolute opposite as far as simplicity of interior design, dash buttons, etc., but I like both.
You’re right Chris. There was nothing like this in terms of interior design. Everything at the time started to look dated after a few years and your eyes could tell, “that’s a 1995 design” when it came to competitors but the Riviera interior had it’s own unique look that is almost timeless* with large round gauges, a long, wide dash with multiple jet inspired a/c vents (almost too many!) Besides the Delco stereo that every Buick had after the Riviera and some wood grain dash that looks old now, nothing else looked like it. I do agree that the materials could have used some more reinforcement or better, softer plastics, but come on, this was still mid to late 90’s GM.
I actually prefer the looks of the stunted and much-maligned 86-88 Riviera to the bulbous nineties version.
I think you have a point about them being right sized for the modern world, with the ever improving 3.8 V6. Of the early ones, I liked the Toronado best, with it’s unique covered headlights. Of the later restyled versions, the Eldorado is best to me, regaining the crisp Caddy styling, without the visual bulk added to the Toronado and Riviera. The 4.5 and 4.9 Cadillac V8s were also vastly improved in both performance and reliability.
A real Riviera passed me on Sunday four headlights, boat tail, V8 straining thru a sludgeamatic he peeled out of a sidestreet in front of me with the throttle floored I was too impressed to blast him with the airhorns.
Sorry, but to my eyes this is just another abysmal GM offering from the 90’s. I think GM was trying way too hard with their overstyled, cheap looking vehicles. As a GM lover in general (no pun intended) the 90’s was not one of their best decades. My Dad’s 1990 Coupe deVille was probably one of the last cars they produced in that decade that I felt was attractive (and it came out in 1989). The Aurora was “ok” looking as was the Eldorado and later deVilles (1997+), but other than that I never liked anything else they offered in the 90’s.
Creamy looking car, but the dashboard felt like that of its lower-priced stablemate, the Regal – plasticky in a Fisher-Price toy kind of way. Truly its only failing.
I have always liked the styling of these last Rivieras. I especially like the subtle detailing of the body evident on close inspection. To this day, I still do a double take when I see one.
I think they were going for the look of some sixties dashes, but not being allowed to render it in metal, it just failed to come together visually.
this car would be a must have for me…if it was a rear drive V8.
I used to love to walk by Reynolds Buick in Orange, VA and see these new on the lot. I looked for one when my Regal died but all had either too much mileage or were DONKED so bad.
Being a Riv fan I have always wanted to like these last models. The design was clean but I think the trunk was too long and took presence away from the front end. The long hood short deck look of the 1966 was a masterpiece. I was lucky to own one for several years. To me this was a hard design to beat. The later boat tail was crazy but it was distinctive, I had one of those too. When this design came around I was unimpressed, I might have chosen this except I couldn’t take the cheap looking interior. Instead I chose a 94 Seville, a much better styled and finished car. I don’t think we will see this kind of car from GM or Ford anytime soon. Too bad! I don;t want a luxury SUV.
This “kind” of car was probably made popular by the hardtop design after World War Two. Two door hardtops sold as well or better than 4 door sedans for a time. With the end of the hardtop, two doors became less popular. But I think that a case can be made for this type of car becoming a 4 door personal luxury car (the 1992 Seville to be precise). Then Cadillac turns to RWD for the STS (and CTS). The current CTS sedan is the car that the STS used to be I think. Next year (2016) the CT6 will be more of a luxury version of a personal luxury car and less of a sport sedan version.
Came across this one just today.
In the third world enclave known as West Oakland CA
These were distinctive, if nothing else, and I like the styling overall even if it is awkward from certain angles. They still look like nothing on the road and are still instantly recognizable. Credit to Buick for using this car to set their design language for the next ~10 years but not slavishly copying every detail–left the Riv with a panache all its own. And while the gearhead in me wishes there had been a V8 version, the supercharged V6 at 240/280 isn’t a bad choice. Should have been standard.
The interior was a good concept, but the homage to the 60’s versions falls a bit flat due to the vast expanses of plastic that it produces.
If you want power, the SC 3800 is a better choice than a V8 would have been, especially if that V8 is the shortstar. The modding community and aftermarket support for the SC 3800 is huge. It’s much cheaper to make big power from the SC 3800 than it would be from a NA V8.
I second the “bloated” comments. Every time I see these in traffic that rear just doesn’t work. It’s like, when I spot it behind me in traffic, the nose is good enough looking, but when it gets in front of me I just have to shake my head… “what were they thinking.”
Also, the dash is truly plastic fantastic. And it’s all one tone. Worse yet, the recessed gauges create the illusion of a thin, cheap slab of plastic with holes in it. Oh wait…
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder I guess so to each his own. This was a dramatic and bold styling from one of the most famous car designers in the world Bill Mitchell. It takes appreciating different types of design to appreciate this car I suppose but most people find it distinctive. When this design came out, the one piece elongated oval tail lamp assembly was unlike anything on the road at this time.
Bill Mitchell had retired almost 20 years earlier. This was done under the supervision of Chuck Jordan.
I remember seeing quite a few articles AND pictures showing Bill Mitchell next to the car, talking about the design and process of developing the car. Also, Bill Mitchell didn’t retire until taking part in the 1997 Buick Park Avenue design.
Maybe I meant to say Bill Porter? I honestly say that I’m surprised. I have read multiple articles that mentioned Bill Mitchell designing the last gen Riviera. But now, I came across this article from USA today from a few years back that says it was Bill Porter?
” Bill has his favorite vehicles that were designed under his watch. Right at the top is the 1970 Pontiac Firebird, especially the Trans Am model; he was strongly involved with the development of the Firebird’s tremendously popular Trans Am model. Bill was one of the pioneers in using wind tunnel data in the design of a vehicle.
Bill has favorite Buicks too. The final Riviera, introduced in 1995 and discontinued in 2000, rates number one. He is bringing his personal 1995 Riviera to the Concours.”
Some cite Bill Mitchell as the “Styling Chief” and others say, “Chief Designer, Bill Porter.
But you say Chuck Jordan? Confused.
Chris, Bill Mitchell retired from GM in 1977 and died in 1988.
He here is with his ‘swansong’, the Pontiac Phantom.
Don, you are right. It was Bill Porter. If I actually took the time to read the entire article, I’d see that. My fault! Anyhow, the article actually cites an Eric Clough is the final designer. But either way, Bill Porter made some iconic designs himself.
I think this is exactly what they were thinking –
https://bit.ly/2p0jx6z
It’s a different take on the “boat tail.” It’s severe and polarizing, but IMO a more successful rear than the Infiniti J30’s, or the Lincoln Mark VIII’s rear end with its faux spare tire hump.
If I were to criticize the 8th gen’s styling, I’d say that from a distance it turns into a 90’s jelly bean, much like the ovoid Taurus, but if you get up close and walk around it, it is full of beautiful details. The tucked in rear end produces one of the most exquisite lines ever put on a car when seen from the front. The bone line that starts at the head lights, flows around the cabin, and tucks in at the rear is one of the very best lines on any car at all, IMO. It isn’t the most sportiest or aggressive line, but it is one of the most original and brilliant.
Have to make a correction on the horsepower and torque figures. The HP and Tq. figures that this article gave is only for the first year of the Riviera. The 96-99 made 240 Hp and 280 ft. lbs for torque from the L67 3800 Series II 3.8. The naturally aspirated made 205 and 235 respectively from the N/A Series II 3800. Later model Rivieras only got the supercharged engine however.
The proportions are quite appealing with the right touches…
One more but with the stock wheels…
Some are still in pretty good shape for their age, they’ve held up well.
^ This is mine at 145,000 miles
super
I’ll open by admitting my biases, because:
(1) I adored these cars when they came out (I was 16 in 1995) and always wanted one… had the brochures and everything. (That I’ve also adored just about every Riviera since 1963 is purely beside the point.)
and
(2) I just bought myself a lovely 43K mile example in Light Adriatic Blue on Adriatic Blue leather. (Not totally keen on the color, since I’m really a Black-Cars-Only kind of guy, but hey.) The intention was to get a modern classic and keep the miles off my 2015 Chevy SS – a 75-mile round trip every day adds up to 20K on a year-old car.
Honestly, I must say that much of the complaints here must be by folks who have never actually been in or close to one, one or certainly have driven one. The FWD G-Platform (Riv and Aurora) were the stiffest chassis GM had built to that time – their benchmark was a W124 Benz – and I can attest that my car, an early-production one (09/94) is indeed well screwed together. The car still feels solid and handles well even by modern standards. It’s stretch-out spacious, luxurious without being ostentatious, quick without being silly (supercharged 3.8, and still fuel-efficient), beautifully stylish without being gimmicky, and altogether a lovely way to spend an afternoon cruising. It seems every time I look around the car I notice another design detail.
The complaints about the interior are legitimately unfair. One may not like the design based on personal aesthetic preference, but the comments about quality (“plastic-fantastic”) are just wrong. That upper panel sweeping panel dashboard is a nice soft-touch material, the lower dash is padded and nice quality, the leather seats are both beautiful and well done, the carpets are thick, the stereo is still pretty decent (with steering wheel controls for audio and climate control), and thoughtful touches are everywhere – from the dual-zone climate control to the swivel vents to the “puddle” illumination on the door panels at night (think of the door-handle illumination from E90 and later BMW’s – why use a backlight when you can be classy??). 21 years later, rattles and creaks are few and far between, and everything works (disclosure- the traction control is a bit temperamental, but I’ll figure that out). Anyway- It’s an old-school “Proper GM Car”, right down to the chrome pedals, rocker panel emblems (no Body by Fisher, though) and metal GM seatbelt buckles.
Again- I understand the design (exterior or interior) may be polarizing to some eyes, but it must be acknowledged as both unique and classic, which is a lot more than one can say for most cars, then and now. Remember how proud GM were of these cars – well, there was a reason. Yes, I hear you – “but it’s front-wheel-drive!” And I agree, RWD is the way Things Ought To Be. But still – the G cars were proof positive that when Uncle Stiffist actually opened the wallet and the engineers sharpened their pencils, GM could STILL build a fine automobile.
Very nice. Wife had a ’96 and loved it- from zero to about 75K miles. Then it hit that “nickel and dime” phase, with a lot of minor issues. Nothing major, but a nuisance. Key word here is also “wife.” She has zero patience with cars that don’t work 100%, so the Riv made room for a Mustang GT.
I’ve owned a 97 SC for twelve years now and have no intention of selling it, ever. It turned out to be a lot more car than I thought I was buying. IMO this is the hidden gem of the 90’s – it sits in a magical place where it was expensive enough to be very well built, but cheap enough to use more affordable and reliable parts from GM’s parts bin. It’s a better car for not having Cadillac’s magnetic ride suspension, or the Northstar motor, or any more electronic doodads than it has. The 8th gen Riviera is as complicated an aging classic car as you’d ever want to wrench on, and no more.
Being something of a parts bin car, it benefits from a rather large performance modding community. If you want to go fast, this is a relatively cheap car to build. It’s definitely a better option than the Aurora, Eldorado, or Chrysler 300M. The Lincoln Mark VIII and Lexus SC’s have more ultimate potential, but can’t match the Riviera in the bang-for-the-buck category. I don’t think anything does. The more expensive cars cost more to mod and maintain, the cheaper cars (Regal GS, Gran Prix, Camaro, Mustang) aren’t built as well (Regal GS possibly excepted), are kind of crappy by comparison, and certainly don’t offer the interior size and comfort of the Riviera. One of the other cars may be the right fit for any given person, but IMO the Riviera is a special combination of looks, luxury, and common affordable parts.
Sadly it seems like most have been crushed or ill-treated, and I think 90% will be gone or not worth saving before they become recognized as true classics. Eventually there will be more Gallardos than 8th gen Rivieras. In recent years I’ve been seeing increasingly positive coverage of the 8th gen Riviera. Since it is one of the easiest of the desirable 90’s cars to own, I think appreciation for the surviving cars will grow in the future.
The 3800 SC is a far better motor than the Northstars in the Aurora or Eldorado.
https://youtu.be/TN9ZtkmL5aU?list=PLaR8zFUkBlk5joPW9CqeI-U7TSuNh1CNq
BEST car ever owned have 4 1999 Rivs for sale
I remember seeing this car at its launch at the Chicago Auto Show. It is a beautiful car. The interior is nicely done and it was a good competitor in that auto market. Problem was, there wasn’t much left in that market. Two door full size coupes weren’t paying the bills, so spending a heap with a new car was daring, but also quite foolish.
My aunt bought one the first year, but she got rid of it within the year and complained about problems she had with it. I had hoped she would really enjoy it enough so that I could use it and discover what it could do. Sad. It was such a nice looking car.
In a way, I wish this car market didn’t expire. A big two door luxury coupe was always an attractive vehicle growing up, but considering the economics of these cars, I understand why they disappeared.
27 mpg highway 20 city for a big luxury sport coupe this is fine 1999 model less than 100 exist I have 4 for sale all restored with new engines and intercoolers sell one make a commission
If I had that kind of money burning a hole in my pocket, I’d be there in an instant. NICE.
At the time I wondered what they were thinking with the sedan-length wheelbase (114 in., 207 in. overall). We’re they trying to reprise the ’55 Super/Roadmaster hardtop- with its long rear overhang? Years later they copped the horizontal bar grille logo from that model year to better effect.
It’s one of the few cars to successfully combine body lines with panel joints (at the hood/fenders and trunk lid/fenders). Compare with the Bangle 7’s horrid trunk lid.
At 74 years young I have driven many many cars once I drove the Riviera in 1995 I knew this would be my last car I now have 4 1999 models the best of them all of the years built last generation want a car that will appreciate in time buy one of mine fully restored new engines intercoolers added! $12,000 each
I am short on budget and needed a daily driver. My experience with a 2001 Bonneville taught me that the GM G-Platform cars were amazing bargains, for what you get. So when I gave my Bonnie to my son-in-law to use, I sought a sporty-looking replacement. At $1500, this Blue Beauty is hopefully the last car I have to purchase, because as long as it keeps running, I want to keep it. I am not ashamed of it at all as far as looks go, and it’s not embarrassing against the fart-can hatchbacks at the stop-light, (a nice bonus). It has many warts and fix-its to be performed, but it’s never stranded me once.
4 1999 Rivieras for sale completely restored to better than new intercoolers added new engines and investment less than 100 exist