This Riviera introduced two high-mounted taillights above the trunk, below the rear window — a quirk shared with its Toronado platform twin that anticipated a feature later made a federal mandate.
Lead trim: Riviera 455 cu in Buick V8 (205 hp, 1975) · up to 230 hp
Buick Riviera1974–1976
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Nobody in Burbles has spotted a Buick Riviera yet. See one on the street, point the app at it, and the first card is yours — with your @handle permanently credited on this page.
FactThis Riviera introduced two high-mounted taillights above the trunk, below the rear window — a quirk shared with its Toronado platform twin that anticipated a feature later made a federal mandate.
Carrying over the third generation's platform, mechanicals and some body panels, Buick replaced the distinctive boat-tail roofline with a conventional "Colonnade" treatment more in line with its LeSabre and Electra, turning the car from a hardtop coupe into a pillared coupe with wide B pillars, fixed quarter opera windows and an optional landau half-vinyl roof. The standard 455 V8 lost more power, dropping to 230 hp for 1974 (245 hp Stage One), Max Trac was dropped after 1974, and sales fell to 20,129 in 1974; 1975 brought an updated front fascia with horizontally mounted quad rectangular headlights, the Stage One package was dropped and the standard engine's output dipped to 205 hp (17,306 sold), and for 1976 a crosshatch grille insert arrived and the Gran Sport handling package was replaced by an S/R package (20,082 sold). The generation introduced two high-mounted taillights above the trunk and below the rear window, later federally mandated. Wheelbase 122.0 in, length 226.4 in (1974) and 223.0 in (1975), width 80.0 in, height 54.0 in.
Collectors Spotted in the Buick Riviera Lineage
No member has published a public street spot of the Buick Riviera yet — the First · Worldwide stamp is wide open.
Trims & Figures
2 published trims in the catalogue. A blank is a figure not recorded, not zero.
| Trim | Years | Engine | Power | Torque | 0–60 | Drive | Gearbox | MSRP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Riviera 455 cu in Buick V8 (205 hp, 1975) | 1975–1975 | 7.5 L V8 | 205 hp | 345 lb-ft | — | RWD | — | — |
| Riviera 455 cu in Buick V8 (230 hp, 1974) | 1974–1974 | 7.5 L V8 | 230 hp | — | — | RWD | — | — |
Owning one
We don’t estimate running costs for a car like this. What it costs depends on its condition, its specialist and how it is driven, and an average would mislead.
Owners’ builds
Nobody has claimed one yet.
Photographs
Buick skipped the 1994 model year entirely before bringing the Riviera back redesigned for 1995.
GM shrank the Riviera to a 108-inch wheelbase for 1986, then had to stretch it back out again by 1989.
The special grille from the limited 1983 "Riviera XX" 20th-anniversary edition - with 24-karat gold badging - became a standard part of the 1984 facelift.
A twin-turbo Riviera convertible tuned to 410 hp paced the 1983 Indianapolis 500, more than double the production S-Type's output.
The Riviera had ridden on the same E-body platform since 1963, but for 1977 and 1978 only, Buick shrank it onto GM's new, smaller B platform.
This Riviera introduced two high-mounted taillights above the trunk, below the rear window — a quirk shared with its Toronado platform twin that anticipated a feature later made a federal mandate.
Buyers found the Riviera's boat-tail look too radical, so for 1973 GM blunted the deck lid and shortened it — the Stage One cars that followed wore the toned-down tail.
The dramatic boat-tail Riviera wasn't designed for the big body it got. GM's stylists built it to fit the smaller A-body platform; management decided late to stretch it onto the full-size B-body instead.
Both the Riviera's E-body siblings, the Toronado and Eldorado, switched to front-wheel drive — Buick alone kept the Riviera rear-wheel drive.
1965 was the year the Riviera's Gran Sport debuted — its Super Wildcat V8 ran twin four-barrel carburetors just to hit 360 horsepower.
Buick deliberately capped first-gen Riviera production at 40,000 a year — in a year it sold 440,000 cars overall — just to keep the Riviera feeling exclusive.
Rivals
Same body, same money, other badges — tap any card to flip.
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