The legendary Harley J. Earl was the vice president of GM’s Styling Section when he retired in the late 1950s. He had been a trendsetter and innovator, as the first person to utilize modeling clay in new-model mock-up and design, the first to push for blending of front fenders with the hood, and the first General Motors executive to drive concept cars as personal conveyances. He cut an imposing figure. Earl’s replacement, Bill Mitchell, had to work hard to distinguish himself from his predecessor. Mitchell would make his mark with innovative new models such as the second-generation Chevy Corvette and the modern personal luxury coupe that would become the Buick Riviera.
When the Buick Riviera was first conceived, it didn’t have an assigned brand. Initially, it was intended to be part of the Cadillac lineup, but the Eldorado already had the personal luxury coupe slot filled. Buick, on the other hand, had no such offering.
The first Buick Riviera bowed in October of 1962 as a 1963 model-year offering. Based on a shortened Buick Electra frame, the Riviera was named for a previous Roadmaster trim level. As a competitor for the Ford Thunderbird, the Riviera had the advantage of superior fit and finish, but hauled around 400 fewer pounds. The fit on the Riviera was so painstaking that the door skins were not installed until the windows had been properly aligned.
The 1963 Buick Riviera came with a healthy list of standard appointments and optional equipment. The interior was spacious, with a center dash cascade that ran the length of the cabin, defining the separate bucket seats front and rear. The center of the dash was home to the radio as well as separate air conditioning and heat controls. Door panels extended past the front seats and contained door handles for both front- and rear-seat passengers. Vinyl seating came standard, but leather upholstery was available. Other available options included power windows, power locks, power seats, cruise control, tilt steering, AM-FM radio, and a remote trunk release.
By 1978, the Buick Riviera was in the second year of its fifth generation. Buick wanted a special edition of the Riviera as part of the brand’s 75th anniversary celebration. The LXXV package was limited to 2,899 copies and featured two-tone black and silver paint, light gray leather with black trim, four-wheel disc brakes, deeper-pile carpet, brushed chrome trim, a host of power and luxury appointments, and special package emblems.
Our feature 1978 Buick Riviera LXXV Edition has covered just 32,012 miles from new. It is powered by a 350 cubic-inch V8 backed by a three-speed Turbo Hydramatic automatic transmission. The Riviera is equipped with air conditioning, power windows, power locks, a Bluetooth-compatible 8-track stereo, a leather-wrapped steering wheel, a vinyl roof, wire wheel covers, and whitewall tires. Service records are included in the sale.
This nearly new 1978 Buick Riviera LXXV Edition will cross the Mecum Auctions block at its Glendale, Arizona event Thursday, March 20th.
Comments
Beautiful, but I honestly don’t remember this generation. There was so much hubbub about the 1979 generation (and the awful 1986 one) that this gen seems to have escaped my memory…
It only lasted two years, 1977 & 1978. It was basically a LeSabre coupe with extra chrome.
very wonderful beauty beautiful styled nice car… unfortunate they for us is past
Bloated land yachts with horrible handling and so much wasted room. I don’t miss them.
I love these super low number special editions. It’s a great car.
This was a 2 year only gap filler for the Buick division while GM was readying its 1979 introduced FWD based E-body cars.
They essentially took a 2 door B-body LeSabre coupe and modified the styling especially the rear window and loaded it up with more standard features. The Buick 350 V8 with 155 HP and 280 torque was the std mill as seen here and the Olds supplied 403 was optional. Some also came with the Olds 350 rated for 170 HP and 275 torque. It took the largest engine to get the 0-60 times under 10 seconds with a 9.4 and 17.2 1/4 mile time recorded from a 403 equipped test car as weight decreased by over a whopping 1000 LBS from the 1976 version.
This generation of Riviera is getting quite scare and this like new LXXV Edition is getting quite collectible. A beautiful car overall.
Given how ungainly the 1974-76 Riviera was, Buick was smart not to continue it unlike its Toronado and Eldorado siblings.
Ahh, the old vehicles so many people say are so great. They want GM to go back to those years. The glory days.
Yet a new Buick Envista with a 1.2l turbo could whip its azz.
V8s so much better.
Yeah because it’s all about 0-60 times right? Buicks current lineup of boring dull crossovers doesn’t hold a candle to any of its former lineups as far as styling, choice, style, colors for exterior and interior and availability. All of these crossovers are forgettable throw away appliances that nobody will remember or care about 25 years from now!
They certainly don’t make them like this anymore.
Unfortunately for Buick, they don’t make them in United States anymore.l sans their slowest seller.
Luckily.
Easily confused with a Caprice. NOT GM’s glory days for design.
You get downvoted by guys who Spingsteen wrote “Glory Days” about. People who peaked in high school and long for anything from those days, even the garbage cars.
Yeah because 3 and 4 cylinder turbo imported crossovers are going to be so collectable in the next 25 to 30 years! In 50 shades of gray to boot
What an outstanding cruiser. I think some of these “big” cars should be just as collectable/desirable as most muscle cars. I’d take this car as a daily driver over most new cars that would likely cost 4-5 times as much. These cars from that era were solid(full frame) and more importantly extremely dependable. No they didn’t have air bags or ABS but they have “Pillow Top” seats. Ha! Ha! I’d pay 25k for this car all day long. Stable is currently full though.
Nice looking car looks like the child of a Cadillac and a Caprice.