Now that the eighth and final generation of the Buick Riviera is almost 30 years old, we’re getting an idea of its status as a collectible car thanks to some recent auctions. The most recent example is one on Bring a Trailer that sold last week for $15,750.
The coupe in question was a desirable spec of the Buick Riviera and was in good condition. For starters, it has the optional supercharged 3.8L V6 L67 rated at 225 horsepower and 275 pound-feet of torque. A 4T60E 4-speed automatic transmission sends power to the front wheels.
This well-kept example is finished in Light Adriatic Blue Metallic with a matching Adriatic Blue leather interior, and it has only about 23,000 miles on the clock. A few features that made this a sweet luxury car in 1995 include cushy leather seats (heated for the driver but not the front passenger), a power sunroof, dual-zone automatic climate control, and a Concert Sound II audio system.
This generation of the Buick Riviera rode on GM’s G platform, which was shared with the Oldsmobile Aurora. They had the same wheelbase, and both had front-wheel drive, but there were two big differences between the Riv and the Aurora. The Riviera was a two-door with a V6 (with a supercharged option), while the Aurora came exclusively as a four-door with a 4.0L V8 L47, a DOHC V8 from the Northstar family.
This is the third eighth-generation Buick Riviera sold on Bring a Trailer. The first was another 1995 model in a condition similar to this one, which sold in August for an even $15,000. The second was one of 200 “Silver Arrow” 1999 models, which sold for $25,000 in October. All of the above were supercharged.
As for Cars and Bids, the auction site sold two supercharged Riviera models in 2020, both for less than $4,500. A one-owner example sold in March 2023 for $7,000, and a heavily modified example with a twin-turbo V6 and no back seats sold for $3,2500 in July 2023.
Based on these data points, we can conclude that the value of the eighth-gen Riviera is gradually climbing, but only for clean, low-mile, unmodified examples. It also appears that the supercharged examples are the only ones with 5-digit values. The last Riviera marked the end of an era for Buick and for the personal luxury coupe niche, and it will be interesting to keep an eye on its value and collectibility status.
Comments
*S/C 3.8 was rated at 240 hp and 280 tq.
It may be luxurious on the inside but it’s one of the most plain autos I’ve ever seen. Why would anyone want to spend their dollars on one…is beyond me. On the other hand I’d like to see more about the Aurora. Too bad it wasn’t a 2-door. Too bad they were front wheel drive cars.
Better than the boring stuff Buick is offering these days.
I owed 1996 Buick Riviera that was supercharged. It was a beautiful car, white with tan leather. In fact the front end of this generation Riviera always reminded me of Speed Racers Mark 5 anime/cartoon that I watched in the 1970s. The supercharger really added the umph that the V6 needed to get all that weight up and moving and the comfort was outstanding!! I always describe the seats like this: imagine your most comfortable couch/seat that you have ever sat on and then put 4 wheels on it, that is how comfortable the Riviera was.