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Buick Riviera (6th gen) 1979-1985
The Buick Riviera is a personal luxury car that was marketed by Buick from 1963 to 1999, with the exception of the 1994 model year.
As General Motors' first entry into the personal luxury car market segment, the Riviera was highly praised by automotive journalists upon its high-profile debut. The ground-up design that debuted for 1963 was also Buick's first unique Riviera model, and it pioneered the GM E platform.
Unlike its subsequent GM E platform stablemates, the Oldsmobile Toronado and Cadillac Eldorado, the Riviera was initially a standard front engine/rear-wheel drive platform, only switching to front-wheel drive starting for 1979.
While the early models stayed close to their original form, eight subsequent generations varied substantially in size and styling. A total of 1,127,261 Rivieras were produced.
The Riviera name was resurrected for two concept cars that were displayed at auto shows in 2007 and in 2013.
[B]Sixth generation (1979–1985)[/B]
The 1979 model year was the debut of the first front wheel drive Riviera, which was also the first front-drive production model in Buick history. Built on a 114 in (2,900 mm) wheelbase, it once again shared its mechanical design and platform with the Cadillac Eldorado and Oldsmobile Toronado. The Olds 403 and Buick 350 were dropped, but the Olds 350 remained, as did a new turbocharged Buick V6 of 231 cu in (3.8 L) displacement with 185 hp (138 kW). The Riviera became Motor Trend's Car of the Year. Sales more than doubled, to 52,181 for 1979 and 48,621 for the similar 1980 models.
1981 saw the Turbo renamed T-Type and the demise of the 350 engine in favor of the Oldsmobile-built 307 cu in (5.0 L) with 140 hp (104 kW) (phased in during the 1980 MY). The standard engine was now Buick's 125 hp (93 kW) 252 cu in (4.1 L) V6, and a new option was an Oldsmobile diesel engine with a mere 105 hp (78 kW) offered through 1985. 1982 also saw the first-ever Riviera convertible, although relatively few were built, owing to a high price - US$23,944. The Riviera convertible was available in only two color choices-white or red firemist with the only interior color of red leather. A twin-turbocharged Riviera convertible was chosen to be the pace car at the 1983 Indianapolis 500, tuned to produce 410 hp (306 kW). Most convertible Rivieras had the V8 engine, which saw an increase in rated SAE net HP to 150 for both convertibles and coupes fitted with it from 1982 through the 1985 model year.
In 1983 a special edition of 500 "Riviera XX" were offered, celebrating twenty years since the introduction of the first Riviera (502 were built in the end). These have a special two-tone paintjob, real wire wheels, a leather and walnut interior, and 24-karat gold plated "Riviera XX" badging. The Riviera XX also received a special grille, which then became part of the 1984 model year facelift model. Overall sales made the 1980s Riviera a great success, reaching 65,305 for the 1985 model year.
[SIZE=1]Source: Wikipedia[/SIZE]
