Photos from the Cohort by nifticus392.
Here’s a Riviera that lives neither in glory nor in infamy. Rather, a forgotten one amidst far more memorable versions. The legendary first gen., the ’79-’85 rebirth, the controversial boattail, and the infamous ’86-’87; all form part of the collective automotive imaginary. And this one? A blip in the radar one has to work hard to recall.
The story of the ’77-’78 Riviera has been told at CC before. The two-year model was a placeholder due to some production reshuffling under GM’s 1970s downsizing program. It was solely put together to buy some time, while a proper new FWD Riviera was developed to appear along the new E-bodies of 1979.
Using the ’77 LeSabre as its basis, the resulting ’77-’78 Riviera was somewhat generic and vaguely evoked former glories. On the other hand, one can see cues of the future ’79-’85 appearing. So, an OK rehearsal?
Sales numbers were not great throughout its run, with 26K units sold in ’77 and 20K in ’78. That said, it’s now a scarce model, from a long-gone RWD age. It’s probably rarer and more interesting now than at any other point in its existence.
Further reading:
Curbside Classic: 1977-78 Buick Riviera – The Placeholder
Curbside Classic: 1977-78 Buick Riviera – A Short Life In Hard Times
Even if the styling was not as breathtaking (or outrageous) as previous Rivieras, somewhat generic in fact, I liked these at the time. Part of the very positive and successful first wave of downsizing at General Motors. One of the biggest (and most optimistic) highlights of the 1970s, in domestic automotive events. Hard to not like them in 1977. Especially, given the cars they replaced.
There was a freshness and a strong sense these cars were a move in the right direction, that even mediocre styling was a not turn-off. With cleaner styling, a nice interior, and a more rationale scale. Add Buick road wheels, and they had an attractive presence and modernity, the previous Riviera never had. Closer to the original, than earlier Rivieras.
For selection in domestic-style personal luxury cars, Buick offered three good choices in the LeSabre Sport Coupe, the Riviera, and the Electra Limited Coupe.
Like this assessment and agree with it.
I agree. I didn’t find this Riv to be significantly superior to either the LeSabre or Electra coupes in any way that justified any premium.
The LeSabre Sport Coupe is my favorite of that generation of this basic body. So good looking.
Would have also been my pick of the Buicks, if I was in the market for a domestic luxury coupe at the time. Though, my conflicting choice in a downsized luxury coupe, might have been a Diplomat coupe. The Diplomat having a more attractive front parking lights location, than the LeBaron.
Ironic that the Diplomat and LeBaron coupes, in some ways, looked more like previous Rivieras. Due to their distinct ‘boat-tail’ designs.
In some ways, I actually preferred exterior design of these to the 1979 FWD E-body Rivera. Especially, as the 1975 Cadillac Seville-inspired formal roof started to rule at General Motors. I found the 1977 Riviera, LeSabre Sport Coupe, and the Electra Limited Coupe, maintained a touch of sportiness and interest in their exterior design. Due to their less formal and predictable rooflines. By 1981, as formal roofs proliferated at GM, in less exclusive car lines, the styling of this era Riviera became even more unique. Uniqueness and character, I began to miss.
I’m also one of those rare people, that preferred the Volare-like roofline on the original 1977 1/2 Dodge Diplomat and Chrysler LeBaron. The formal roof adopted for 1980, reminded me far too much of taxi cabs and police cars. Lower-end fleet cars.
Yes, Buick had prettier coupe choices. The one you pictured is a much cleaner design – incongruously it’s more European-looking than the one with the European name!
Well said, I agree. I always liked the repurposed, ‘74-‘76 big Cadillac steering wheels used in these, too.
I had a 76 olds omega it had similar opereta windows in the rear with black vineal roof + lemon twist yellow they were on the nova platform I have never seen one since it had the olds 350 unfotunatly had nothing but trouble rebuilt motor 2 trans 1 and both front wheel bearings at differnt times only had 35 k traded for a 77 nova in the spring next year
Remember seeing this car for the first time on my paper route. Dove gray if I recall. The front was much improved over the outgoing but the rear lost that car’s dynamic design, and the sheer look made the body look a bit stiff. Looking back, I think this gen needed Pontiac’s skirts first and foremost. Also, white walls and clean hubcaps along the lines of LeSabre, and an overall decluttering of the exterior.
Not a showstopper, but this car still has the basic goodness of the downsized B body in spades, with a gorgeous interior with the high-end door cards usually reserved for the longer C bodies. I had expected the new FWD ’79 Rivs to have a similar interior, just as the ’71-’76 E bodies used essentially the B/C interiors, so was surprised when the downsized ’79 Riviera (and Toro and Eldo) were nothing at all like the ’77 B/C bodies.
I always thought the kick-up and rear passenger windows on these marred what was otherwise a graceful, if deriviative, design.
I’d actually argue the least memorable Riviera might be the post-boattail 74-76 generation that preceded this one. Where these at least had a purpose in bridging the gap to a downsized all new E body Riviera, the 74-76 was simply the boat tail without the boat tail, in other words a Lesabre coupe. No excuses, no purpose, just a car named Riviera to have in the lineup
Practically indistinguishable
Correct. The B-body stayed the same from ’71 through ’76, and the redesigned ’74-’76 Riviera was a re-skin of the boat-tail. I find the ’74-’76 (fourth-generation) to be the least palatable Riviera in the series, design-wise.
The front half of the ’74 wasn’t much changed from the boattail. The ’74 at least still had a similar front appearance to the ’71-73; the ’75-76 had a new front clip without the forward thrust and with rectangular headlamps that made it look like just another big Buick. To my eyes the Rivieras from those two years looked more like the Electra than the LeSabre due to the absence of rear roll-down windows, though size-wise it was more like a LeSabre.
As a Riviera fan, I have an interest and appreciation of all the different model years.The Riviera’s role has always been to be Buick’s halo car and a GM styling sensation. Sometimes it succeeded in this task, other times it fell a bit short. Even in it’s best years it never really sold in large numbers, certainly not like the more affordable Olds Cutlass and Chevy Monte Carlo. It’s platform mate the ElDorado, also outsold it, and it was certainly more expensive. It was the Buick lover’s alternative, and also favored by buyers that didn’t want a front wheel drive vehicle, at least until 1979.
The downsized ’77 full size GM cars were an important step in reigning in the excess. Even the PLCs had gotten so big and baroque that they had lost even the suggestion of youthful sportiness that they once displayed. I agree that the ’77 Riv was a real improvement from the bustle back 74-76 models that had just become big generic brougham mobiles. The ’77 was much cleaner styled, while it still retained the kicked up quarter panel “hips” a traditional Riviera styling element.
I had a ’66 model which I consider the best looking of the second generation, and perhaps the best looking Riviera ever.
Recently I went Riviera shopping again and I considered a nice ’77 model. I also considered the final 95-99 generation. The ’77 reminded a lot of my beloved ’77 Coupe de Ville, but I wanted something a bit more unique. The ’97 reminded me of my ’71 Boat Tail, with its outrageous over the top design. I decided to go with the ’97. Not only was this specific example a good car, it was offered at a good price. I’ve found the ’97 to be a thoroughly modern car and a delight to drive.
As much as I like the earlier cars, I just can’t justify paying the prices that these models now command.
I really liked the design of the eighth-gen (’95-’99) Riviera, and I think it’s a shame that it didn’t get the attention to detail on the interior that the Aurora did.
If someone were to buy one and dress-up the interior in a period-correct way (and not just slapping on those wood-veneer decals that are available for it), it would make an excellent modern classic.
I may myself do this soon.
A friend of mine had one of these in the late 1990s – it was red with a white interior and was originally his grandfather’s car. Being a native of Chicago, the car was plenty rusty, but it was a fun car to ride around in.
Eventually, my friend moved, and just took the Riviera to a junkyard. He assumed it would be scrapped, but a few months later I saw it being driven around – probably gave another few months (or maybe more) of faithful service.
The 1966 Riviera was in my opinion equally wears the crown alongside the very different looking originals as the finest looking of all. Both great, but each in their own definition.
The front end is something coming from a dream car. The rear end is my least favorite part, a little flabby to my eye when compared to the razor sharpness of the ultra modern front end. And its roofline sloping down to its tail put it on a path yet unseen in its class.
Oldmobile’s Toronado which came out that same time was similar in size and form, but to my eye was at a slightly lower level of execution. Except for its rear end which looked lighter and sharper than did the Buick’s.
I remember seeing one of these as a twenty-something, and being somewhat perplexed, as it bobbled its way along the road on its soft suspension. It was a big American coupe, huge to Australian eyes, but it seemed somewhat generic. Okay, the front said Buick, but which Buick was this? There wasn’t the flair, the panache I expected of a car with the Riviera name. It was just a big two-door car with styling that could only be American, and not particularly pretty at that. There was too much visual conflict between the somewhat curvy central body and the ultra-square front and rear ends.
Look at it this way. Take an original first-gen Riviera TO the Riviera – what would the reaction be? Even today there’s something ‘concept-car’ about the looks; it looks something special, agreed? Now imagine taking one of these to the Riviera – and what would the reaction be?
Name debasement, in a sense. Like Lincoln’s ‘Continental’. Appropriate for the original, maybe, but not really for this one.
Yeah, this is a strange one. GM seemed not to know what to do with their great Riviera during these years. Till then, this Buick had been a highly styled personal luxury car. Now it was just an also-ran compared to the new downsized Buicks of the period. I personally prefer both the LeSabre and Electra coupe to this model Riviera. Of course, the 1979 model put Riviera back on course for a while longer and was a much better looking car.
From what I understand, the Riviera had mostly been a B-body since the ’71 (third-gen/boat-tail) generation. The B- and E-body were both redesigned (and ever-so-slightly upsized) that year, and were more similar than not. The main difference between them was of course that the B-body had a traditional longitude-RWD setup with a perimeter frame, while the E-body had a longitude-FWD setup with a perimeter frame.
The ’71-’73 and ’74-’76 Rivieras were designated E-bodies, but shunned the FWD layout of the other E-bodies in favor of retaining RWD, and even shared front doors, front glass and windshields with the B-body LeSabre. The ’77-’78 was the only generation in which the Riviera was officially a B-body, having moved over to the downsized platform with everything else.
I thought that these Rivieras were place-holders, a dolled up LeSabre to keep the model going until the FWD E body Riviera came out for ’79. I agree that the LeSabre Sport Coupe was particularly good looking during this time and seemed to be more consistant with the original Riviera concept.
Lost to time but, the 1977 Eldorado was a carryover from 1976 as was the Toronado. At least the Riviera stood out as new in 1977.
I did an image search trying to find one without a landau roof (without success) and found this site:
https://www.deansgarage.com/1977-buick-olds-studio-show-photos/
with photos from ’75 of a Riviera that never was.
A high percentage of these Rivs had two-tone paint to jazz them up. The ’78 LXXV special model had a full, heavily padded black roof and fancier interior.
There was a two tone green paint scheme I always thought was sharp.
Has a Monte Carlo and Seville mashup feel.
My personal pick of the Buick Riviera is the 1963-1965 model years. That was the first years that the Buick Riviera was its own stand-alone model as a personal luxury car. My first automotive love was a White 1965 Buick Riviera with black interior. 401 V8, 4bbl Carter AFB AFB carburetor. 3-speed automatic transmission. It was also the first car I ever owned. As far as I am concerned in 1979 through 1985 model years were the last of the genuine Riviera model line.
I have always liked this Rivera , and the Electra and LeSabre of that era! The Idea of a two door luxury car to Me is the statement of success in that period! This Rivera is an interesting example of a NICE car! A nice car was the car You drove if You were vice President of a small business! The owner of the business would be perfectly in there right to drive a Cadillac, however if You were second in command,it would be poor form to show up to work in a caddy! This car or an Oldsmobile Ninety Eight would be acceptable!