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.
Median 153 hp across 92 similar cars
Lead trim: Riviera Stage One 455 cu in Buick V8 (245 hp, 1974) · up to 260 hp
Buick Riviera Stage One1973–1974
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Nobody in Burbles has spotted a Buick Riviera Stage One 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.
FactBuyers 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 Stage One was Buick's performance package for the Riviera's 455 V8: in 1973 the standard engine was rated at 250 hp with 260 hp in the Stage One package, which also included a limited-slip differential and a chrome-plated air cleaner; for 1974 the standard 455 lost more power, dropping to 230 hp, and the Stage One models to 245 hp. The separate "Gran Sport" package of 1973 was a ride-and-handling package (rear stabilizer bar, JR78-15 whitewall steel-belted radials, specially tuned "radial roadability" suspension, additional sound insulation and special badging), and the Stage One package was dropped for 1975 while the Gran Sport handling package continued to be offered.
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 Stage One 455 cu in Buick V8 (245 hp, 1974) | 1974–1974 | 7.5 L V8 | 245 hp | — | — | RWD | — | — |
| Riviera Stage One 455 cu in Buick V8 (260 hp, 1973) | 1973–1973 | 7.5 L V8 | 260 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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