I recently attended the annual car show in the tiny Swedish enclave of Bishop Hill, IL. I will likely be posting some of the more remarkable cars from that show at some point (so many cars, so little time) but in the meantime I wanted to share this lovely red 1983 Buick Riviera convertible.
This was the first–and last–Riviera convertible. Introduced in that Detroit Doldrums year of 1982, the Riv drop-top was remarkably sleek for a downsized ’80s car–owing to the shapely flanks and loss of that bolt-upright C-pillar on the coupe. These went for serious money, as in “nearly $25,000 in 1982” serious money, and in ’83, a specially-trimmed one paced the Indianapolis 500.
For retail customers (who had to go with a coupe if they wanted an Indy Pace Car replica), they had a choice of only two colors: This lovely dark metallic red, or white–both with a red leather interior. At those prices, not too many were sold, so it was a treat to see this well-kept survivor! Nice car.
Pretty car.
Had a second cousin who owned one of these before he passed away.. I think it had the 3.8 turbo in it also.
It was the perfect book end for his white on white 76 Eldorado convertible.
Cool…
Great looker! While I really like this time period of Riviera, I never cared much for the flashy chrome “R” in the tail lights.
I liked that detail!
This is a car that looks far better as a convertible…at least with the top down.
That’s broughamtastic!
Beautiful car…who built these for GM? I seem to recall the Hess & Eisenhardt built some Toronados and Eldorados during that era, but I don’t remember who was responsible for the Riviera.
In the early 80s GM had a light brown metallic paint color, and I always thought that light metallic brown, with dark brown top and dark brown leather interior would have been beautiful. Or charcoal gray with black top and red leather…
American Sun Roof (ASC) made them. They arrived at the ASC factory as coupes and left as convertibles.
Here is a website that talks about the Riv convert
http://www.rivieraconvertible.com/
NIIIIIIIICCCCCCCEEEE!!!!
This is a true (albeit inexpensive for now) future collectible. Expect prices to rise fairly consistently on these in the coming decades. Now’s a good time to buy one, and they’re all over ebay.
Here is a photo of mine.
It originated in the Phoenix area and was sold to the second owner at a Nissan store (he traded a ’65 Riviera on it). The car was moved to his Denver home and I bought it there in the year 2000 at the estate sale. Miles now are 37,000 and the car is all original.
Mine has most options. The engine is the Oldsmobile 307 and that feature is not satisfying – slow. It is very comfortable though. Best application by far is as a parade car and it has served that purpose for me one time. I take it to local cruise ins once or twice a year.
These cars were all built as complete coupes at Linden, NJ and painted one of the two colors noted – with no rear seat. The rear seat is unique to the convertible as it must be narrower to accommodate the top mechanism put in at ASC. Also the header around the windshield is a replacement piece of fiberglass. The hardtop was simply sawed off at ASC.
I remember these when new and their silly prices – about double the coupe or the also re-introduced convertibles from Chrysler and Dodge at the time. Prime cars for the dealer-owner’s wife to drive for a year. But I admired them and eventually found this one.
Very nice riv! 37k miles is quite impressive. Is the chassis flex bad, though? I haven’t heard of any mention of extra bracing being added to compensate for the missing roof. Obviously these cars were not meant for spirited driving, but flex and the accompanying panel movement would not befit a luxury cruiser either.
Well, it is a Buick so less than crisp handling is to be expected. Remember the car is body on frame construction. It is really best traveling in a straight line down the interstate – or just to the country club (original use but not mine).
In comparison to something from this era I had back then – an ’86 Lincoln Mark VII LSC – my ’82 Riviera is completely unsatisfying to drive but it does look cool.
Chris, for a great discussion about chassis flex on these, visit Matt Garrett’s Cadillac collection page. If you haven’t seen it before, this guy is the most hardcore Caddy collector in the history of the world. His 80s era Cads are absolutely the best.
Anyway, he’s had several 80s Eldo convertables, and according to him ASC really beefed up the structure. So much so that these cars are allegedly stiffer than the coupes they came from. Also, with the added structural pieces, the weight distribution is nearly 50/50, so they apparently drive better than the front heavy coupes.
My Swedish ancestors, named Moline, were early settlers of Bishop Hill. It was a religious utopian community, like a Shaker village.
Always wanted one,especially in this colour.
My favorite part of these Buicks has to be the glovebox. It’s just a slab of wood.
So much better without the awkward roof. Now about those 1960s-throwback door handles…..
Buick is making a huge mistake by not reviving the Riviera. And I don’t mean a rehashed Opel 4-door. I mean a big, sleek, 2-door coupe with a ton of attitude. I know if Buick built a Riviera as beautiful as the 1967 I’d be a customer.
I think large coupes are still a hard sell. Cadillac dropped the CTS coupe for the new generation car and is replacing it with a smaller, less expensive ATS coupe (which is also considerably more conservative in design but that’s neither here nor there). Also I don’t know if it fits in with Buick’s brand strategy right now of “Lexus fighter”. It’s a great idea but I doubt we’ll see it any time soon. That’s not what Buick is about anymore, for right or wrong. They don’t want people who fondly remember the great Buicks of years past–they’re hoping those people will either move down to Chevy or up to Cadillac. They want the guy who hasn’t bought domestic ever in his life but considers Lexus to be mediocre compared to what they once were. Or, in the case of the Verano, the guy who would buy a Lexus if they didn’t cost so damn much.
Well, actually, there have been rumors of a Riviera returning to the Buick line up and while there is no new CTS coupe on the 3rd gen CTS line up, there will be a Cadillac coupe above the ATS coupe, it just wont be called a CTS coupe, which was kind of a contradictory name, it should have been CTC. So just like there isn’t a 5 series coupe, but there is a 6 series that is closely related, Cadillac is going to do the same.
I kind of wonder if the 95 Riviera might have done better as a 4 door couple, like the Saturn 3 door coupe, with the rear doors suicide type and keeping the roof line the same. This would have made the rear seat more usable. But I suspect that large coupes have gone completely out of style.
The never to be replacement for that generation Riviera was scheduled to have rear opening doors like a Saturn SC, but the entire Riviera/Aurora program was scuttled, and the Delta 88 replacement, the Antares, became the 2000 Aurora.
Such a beautiful car! The lines of the Riv almost made it destined to be a convertible.
The sister to the Riviera convertible was the more attractive (and also more insanely priced) Eldorado convertible of the same vintage. I always wondered exactly who was buying the Eldo convertible when, for the same money, you could get into a very nice Mercedes SL.
Am I the only person unimpressed by the seats offered by Buick during this time? was this the best they could offer?
For some strange reason the prettier 1979-1980 design was changed to this less attractive style which was only used 1981-82-83 and then for 1984-1985 Buick returned to the same seat design that the 1979-1980 cars used. Huh?
Do I love GM E-bodies from 1979 to 1985? Yes (with the exception of the 4100 V8) but these Riviera and Eldorado convertibles left me cold. Never cared for them.
I’d take a Riviera or a Toronado in a heartbeat but can’t warm up to the drop tops.
Nice clean car, and one that gets a LOT of lovin here. I honestly can say I just don’t get it though. Now the 1st gen (’63-’65) models….absolutely, and then some. But these just have all brougham with no realistic possibility of injecting it with some muscle car steroids.
Its like I said the last time a Riv from this generation was brought up, not everyone wants to do burnouts or speed. Some just like to ooze around town in Broughammy luxury.
I agree, Dom. What was implied but not specifically pointed out is everyone likes something different and that’s a-ok. My thoughts on it apply to me and me alone, theres no knockage of anyone else for liking something that’s not my bag.
Read all about it!
http://www.rivieraconvertible.com/
Arnold does not treat this Riv drop top very well!
I watched that movie for the first time a few months back. Poor Riviera!