In 1963, Buick hatched the Riviera, a beautiful car in its own right, with a strong styling language unlike GM’s that garnered great acclaim and equal parts criticism. More importantly for Buick, it attracted buyers (more than 112,000 between 1963 and 1965) and stole the show that the Blue Oval initially provided.
By the late 1960s, however, things went south for the Riviera, with sales falling flat in 1970. Despite releasing more than 37,000 units for that model year, coin counters of GM reported a sharp drop from the 1969 figure of nearly 53,000.
“A change is needed,” muttered the white-collar workers in the upper offices from Michigan. They wanted to see a change, but not break the bank for it. Let Bill Mitchell, VP of Design, do that. The chief stylist of General Motors remodeled drastically the Riviera, using cues from one of its early ’60s darlings, the 1963 Sting Ray Corvette. The `73 Riviera’s faux-stripe rear window is a subtle nod to this classic legend of the second generation sports car.
Photo: YouTube/Lou Costabile
In an attempt to economically revive the Riviera, the stylists gave the revamped car a fast-looking stance. Buick promoted the “Aero styling. Longer. Wider. Bold new design. The 1971 Riviera is sculpted in motion, giving an image of movement even when you’re standing still. In a word: excitement.”
An acquired taste indeed, as the Sting Ray’s speedboat tail, ideal for the small sports car, was not to everyone’s taste in 1971, when the new profile emerged under the Riviera badge . In fact, Bill Mitchell himself has two thoughts on the approach.
“What hurt the tail was widening it. It got so wide that a boat became a tugboat.” Mitchell commented sourly as he looked back at the third generation Riviera. Found on the `71-`73 models, the boat tail and several other visual alterations made the already long (223.4 in / 5,674 mm) Buick appear even more extended.
Photo: YouTube/Lou Costabile
This impression particularly affected the 1973 version, in part due to recent federal regulations on the shock-absorbing bumper. In an attempt to visually counter the overall increase in size, and to satisfy a wider mass of critics, the controversial boat tail feature was toned down.
The third-generation Buick Riviera divided the gearhead audience with its uncompromising profile; some accuse him of being “the most controversial style piece since the 1959 batwing job”. But it wasn’t just about automotive clothing. As the old saying goes: you don’t see the outside of a car when you drive it.
Buick made a “personal luxury” vehicle, first and foremost. It was essential to live up to its corporate name in technical superiority. The Riviera was the first car manufactured by GM with the new “AccuDrive” front suspension.
Photo: oldcarbrochures.org
“The best directional stability ever experienced in an automobile” is how the engineers described their invention. They weren’t at all. Detroit’s mechanical wizards made the camber thrust effect work in their favor instead of trying to counter it. (In elementary English, “camber thrust” is the lateral force generated when a rolling wheel leans – or “cambers” to one side).
Buick cleverly used simple physics and lowered the inner pivot of the lower control arm while raising the inner pivot of the upper control arm. As motoring journalists noted when testing the new feature, “because of this relocation, when the wheel moved over a corrugation, it tilted outward at the top, instead of inward, providing an opposing force. The two forces would effectively cancel each other out , keeping the car on a more nearly straight path.”
The ’73 Buick Riviera had the smooth ride of all its predecessors and a massive engine—the ogre-torque 455 CID (7.5-liter) monster had first been installed in the previous-generation model in 1970. For the “speedboat tail,” it was the only powertrain offered, mated to the TH-400 three-speed automatic—the only transmission installed.
Photo: YouTube/Lou Costabile
Buick had already introduced the GS 455 to handle the “muscle car” element on behalf of GM. Consequently, the Riviera was no buttoned-up gymnast when it came to performance. More so in 1973, when an unfortunate series of incidents and coincidences collided to close the curtain on the Golden Age. Power censoring emissions regulations, the adoption of a new energy information system and the oil embargo.
So it’s no surprise that there won’t be many 1973 Buick Rivieras around in 2023. However, when one turns up, the show is on. The owner of this surviving example just attests to what other happy owners are saying: watch the video, courtesy of Lou Costabile, the classic bounty hunter.
Still, a sad illusion of thrilling road action remained: the Grand Sport package. Not many Rivieres received this GS handling upgrade: out of a total production of 34,080, only 3,933 came equipped with the GS. For the sake of statistics, we’ll mention that 1,234 more Rivieres had the range-topping “Stage 1” power lift add-on.
Photo: YouTube/Lou Costabile
The big personal luxury cars weren’t famous for (stellar) track dominance, even if the big engine might imply otherwise. With a gutted compression ratio to run on less polluting low-octane fuel, the mighty 7.5-liter four-barrel carburetor V8 was rated at a net 250 hp (254 PS).
It would explain (in part) why the sales brochures quietly omitted to put these numbers on paper (check out some examples in the gallery). The drop in absolute values was a psychological violation for any buyer.
Torque figures were slightly more encouraging, at 375 lb-ft (509 Nm). An acceleration test of the day returned a 0-60 mph time of 8.4 seconds. I would have argued in favor of the Riviera, but the mileage was a huge drawback. Buick big blocks were big drinkers: 8 to 11 mpg (20 to 30 liters/100 km). And the sudden oil crisis made it worse.
Photo: YouTube/Lou Costabile
The GS in our story is a full banner GS, meaning it sports the handling package, a recalibrated Turbo 400 transmission, H78 x 15 whitewall radial tires, front fender badging, and a rear sway bar. That’s on the outside: power steering, power brakes (12-inch / 300mm discs up front), power windows, power seats, air conditioning or computer-controlled stability; exclusive to Buick, it was advertised as the MaxTrac.
A series of sensors were installed on the driver’s side front rotor and another between the transmission case and the speedometer cable. A mini-computer, about the size of a pack of cigarettes, was mounted behind the passenger side panel. It compared the inputs from the two sensors and when the rotation speed of the rear wheel was more than 10% higher than that of the front wheels, it cut the ignition.
It was a primitive ancestor of today’s electronically governed stability aids. It kept the Riviera from skidding on slippery surfaces, especially snow. It wasn’t a trend-setting gadget: about 5% of cars were fitted with the computer option. Buick only offered the MaxTrac for two years due to poor customer reception.
Speaking of innovations, a new solenoid operated throttle stop prevented the V8 from running on diesel by closing off the air intake. Another interesting feature of the Riviera was the self-leveling rear suspension. An engine-driven compressor would inflate a pair of pneumatic bellows on top of the shock absorbers. This allowed the car to maintain a level position regardless of its load distribution.
