Buick Riviera: Тарихы мен эволюциясы

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. It was a ground up design on a new GM E platform debuting for the 1963 model year and was also Buick's first unique Riviera model. Unlike its subsequent GM E platform stablemates, the Oldsmobile Toronado and Cadillac Eldorado, the Riviera was initially a front engine/rear wheel drive platform, switching to front wheel drive starting with the 1979 model year. 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.

The name Riviera, Italian for coastline, was chosen to evoke the allure and affluence of the French Riviera. It first entered the Buick line in 1949, as the designation for the new two door pillarless hardtop, described in advertising as "stunningly smart". The Buick Roadmaster Riviera coupe (along with the Cadillac Coupe de Ville and Oldsmobile 98 Holiday coupe) constituted the first mass production use of this body style, which was to become popular over the next 30 years. Buick added a two door Riviera hardtop to the Super the following year, the Special in 1951, and the Century upon its return, after a 12 year absence, in 1954. From 1951 to 1953 the Riviera designation was given to the existing long wheelbase versions of the four door Buick Roadmaster and Super sedans. The 1951–53 Buick Roadmaster and Super four door Riviera sedans feature more standard features, more plush interior trim, and a wheelbase (and overall length) that is longer than a regular Buick Roadmaster or Super four door sedan. The 1951–52 Buick Super four door Riviera sedan is still shorter in wheelbase and length than the regular Buick Roadmaster and shorter than the Roadmaster four door Riviera sedan. In 1953, with the move from the Fireball straight eight to the more compact Fireball V8 engine, the Roadmaster and Super four door Riviera sedans became the same length. In the middle of the 1955 model year, Buick and Oldsmobile introduced the world's first mass produced four door hardtops, with Buick offering it only on the Century and Special models, and the Riviera designation was also applied to these body styles. Four door Riviera hardtops were added to the Roadmaster and Super lines at the beginning of the following model year. However, since it was a body style designation and not a model, the Riviera name does not usually appear on the car. In 1959, Buick became much more selective in applying the Riviera name. From then until 1962 it only was used to denote a premium trimmed six window hardtop style which it initially shared exclusively with Cadillac (the Oldsmobile 98 would receive it in 1961) and was available only on the Electra 225. The last usage of the term Riviera to describe a luxury trim level was 1963, as the formal designation of the #4829 Electra 225 Riviera four door hardtop, the same year the E body model two door hardtop coupe Riviera made its debut.

In the late 1950s, GM lacked a personal luxury car to compete with the highly successful Ford Thunderbird—a uniquely styled, two door that had dramatically increased in popularity when expanded from a two seater to a four passenger car and the Chrysler 300C. To fill this gap, an experimental Cadillac design, the XP 715, was created, dubbed the "LaSalle" after a former GM luxury marque. Its angular look was reportedly inspired by GM styling chief Bill Mitchell's visit to London during the period, when he was struck by the sight of a custom bodied Rolls Royce. He later said that "knife edged" styling was what he wanted for the new model, but with a lower profile. The design itself was penned by stylist Ned Nickles. When Cadillac passed on the venture in 1960 the project was thrown open for competition by the other GM Divisions. Buick, desperate to revive its flagging sales, won the competition by enlisting the aid of the McCann Erickson advertising agency to create its presentation. Initially referred to as the "Buick LaSalle" and later "Buick Riviera" concept cars, the finished design was adapted to a shortened version of Buick's existing cruciform frame. It was again introduced as a concept car in 1963 called the Buick Riviera Silver Arrow. Of the first generation Riviera, 112,544 units were produced in three years, divided into exactly 40,000 vehicles in the 1963 model year, as well as 37,658 for 1964 and the last model year 1965 with 34,586 vehicles.

The Riviera was radically redesigned for the 1971 model year with flowing and dramatic "boat tail" styling. Designed under Bill Mitchell's direction, it was penned by Jerry Hirshberg, future head of design for Nissan, mating the two piece vee butted fastback rear window, inspired by the 1963 Corvette Sting Ray coupe, to the Riviera's platform. The design was originally intended for the smaller A body or its related G body, as shown by a full scale clay model of an A body based boat tail Riviera recently revealed. Given the late stage of the 1968 72 A/G platform evolution and accretive cost to add another version to it, GM Management decreed that the next Riviera use the full sized GM B platform body—expanded for 1971 by in wheelbase and more than heavier— which produced controversial looks, making for a sharp departure from those of the Toronado and Eldorado. (Collectible Automobile ran an article about 1971–76 full sized Buicks in which one sketch design for their 2 door coupes which was rejected resembled the 1971–73 Riviera). This generation introduced a much more visual representation of the "sweepspear", with a more faithful representation to the version that appeared on 1950s Buicks in both the side molding and beltline. Large, round wheel openings were intended to convey more of a sporty air. The only engine available was Buick's own 455 ci V8 engine producing , with with the Gran Sport (GS) package. The 455 engine had a lower compression ratio to meet EPA emissions requirements, together with the shift from SAE gross to SAE net ratings this reduced claimed power to , with in the Gran Sport. Performance remained reasonably brisk, with a 0–60 mph time of 8.1 seconds for the GS, but the Riviera's sporty image was rapidly fading. One noteworthy advance was Buick's Max Trac traction control. The 1971 Riviera also features GM's "Full Flo" ventilation system and two large deck lid louvers are prominent on the trunk lid. Despite these features, Riviera sales for 1971 dropped to 33,810, the lowest to date. The 1972 Riviera received a new, egg crate grille, more substantial front bumpers to prepare for the new 5 mph impact legislation, restyled taillight trim, and the louvers were removed from the trunk lid. The 1972 Riviera also featured a redesigned ventilation system, and the 455 engine switched to net power ratings, or in the Gran Sport, although the actual drop in net power was only Sales remained stagnant at 33,728, a drop of 82 from the prior year. For 1973, the Riviera underwent a number of changes. The front bumper was redesigned to be thicker and featured bumper guards as standard in order to meet 1974 impact bumper standards, the grille was switched back to horizontal slats, and the front lamps were moved from the bumper and were now integrated into the headlights, wrapping around the corners of the car. Sluggish sales of the third generation Riviera led GM to believe that the boattail deck lid was too radical for most customers' tastes, so in 1973 it was blunted and made slightly shorter. The taillights, meanwhile, were moved down from the sheet metal and into the bumper, and the rear license plate location was moved from the left side of the bumper to the center. The engine became standard, with with the Stage One package. This also included a limited slip differential and a chrome plated air cleaner. The "Gran Sport" package was still available as a separate option package consisting of a ride and handling package that included a rear stabilizer bar, JR78 15 whitewall steel belted radial tires, a specially tuned "radial roadability" suspension, additional sound insulation and special "Gran Sport" badging. The design changes however only led to a marginal increase in sales, with 34,080 being produced for the model year.

Although carrying over the same platform, mechanicals, and some body panels seen on the "Third Generation" Riviera, Buick replaced its distinctive 'boat tail' roofline with a more conventional looking "Colonnade" treatment which was more in line with its LeSabre and Electra brethren than its front wheel drive cousins. This turned the car from a hardtop coupe into a pillared coupe, as it featured wide B pillars and fixed quarter opera windows. A landau half vinyl roof option was available. The car did retain its forward jutting grille, albeit in a slightly modified form. Thus modified, the car looked far less distinctive than its predecessors, and even its platform mates, the Oldsmobile Toronado and Cadillac Eldorado. The tamer looking Riviera was no lighter, and its standard 455 V8 lost more power, dropping to and for standard and Stage One models respectively. Max Trac was dropped from the option list after 1974 due to a lack of buyer interest. The revised styling did not improve sales, which fell to 20,129 in 1974, although it is impossible to determine how much this was a result of the energy crisis and how much was due to the tame appearance. This generation introduced a novelty that later became federally mandated in a modified form, two high mounted taillights above the trunk and below the rear window, which was shared on its platform twin the Toronado. For 1975, the Riviera received an updated front fascia, which lost its forward jutting theme through the redesign of the fiberglass front end cap. Quad rectangular headlights were mounted horizontally. The new vertical bar grille echoed the "stand up" theme that many GM cars of the day incorporated. Parking lights wrapped around the fender sides. The Stage One performance package was dropped for 1975, though the Gran Sport handling package would continue to be offered. The standard engine's output dipped to Sales for 1975 were 17,306. Minor changes greeted 1976 models, the most notable of which was a new crosshatch grille insert. The Gran Sport handling package was replaced by an 'S/R' package that had similar sporting pretensions. Sales rallied slightly to 20,082 for 1976.

YearEnginePowerTorque19953.8 L L67 3800 Series I Supercharged V6 @ 5000 rpm @ 3200 rpm1995–19973.8 L L36 3800 Series II V6 @ 5200 rpm @ 4000 rpm1996–19993.8 L L67 3800 Series II Supercharged V6 @ 5200 rpm @ 3600 rpm

At the 2007 Shanghai Motor Show, Buick debuted a concept coupe named Riviera, based on the GM Epsilon II platform. The concept was later shown at the 2008 North American International Auto Show. It was designed by the Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center (PATAC). The design was inspired by classic Buicks, ancient Chinese artifacts, and modern electronic icons. It includes "icy green" backlighting, Shell Blue body, gull wing doors, a 2+2 seating configuration, and 21 inch 10 spoke forged aluminum wheels.

Another concept Riviera was shown at the 2013 Shanghai Motor Show, again developed by the Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center PATAC. It has gull wing doors and a plug in electric driveline as well as four wheel steering, electromagnetically controlled suspension with air springs, built in 4G LTE connection, transparent A pillar and wireless charging.