One of the all time greatest hits to come out of GM, the original Buick Riviera has acquired full classic status in the minds of car lovers if not the CCCA. It wasn’t always thus. In 1963, the Riviera was just a new car that much of the public was unfamiliar with. Naturally, GM would want to boost knowledge of the car to the most people possible to increase the chance that some of them will decide to buy the car. In a word: marketing.
I found a surprising example of the great lengths Buick went to at that time to market their new flagship.
From time to time, I like to hit thrift stores because you never know what you’ll find there. Often I strike out, but digging through the record bin the other day I found a record album presented by…Buick?
Yes, apparently Buick sponsored a sample album from RCA Victor records. Car advertising was most commonly seen on TV and print media but car makers in the 60’s got creative in their promotions. GM, at the height of their dominance, had a relatively unlimited marketing budget. So why not sponsor an album and let the music listeners see the new Buick model?
Nowhere on the album does it mention the name Riviera, just a black and white version of the profile picture found in the Riviera brochure (which is the lead photo at the top of this post). Buick is clearly not trying to reach the youth market here, judging by the orchestral, jazz, and operatic artists. Which is expected, since The Beach Boys, Leslie Gore, or Bob Dylan probably wouldn’t attract the type of folks likely to buy a Riviera in 1963.
While Buick was promoting their car, RCA Victor was promoting their new Dynagroove technology, a.k.a The Sound Of Tomorrow.
According to the record jacket, it’s the best thing ever. Many critics disagreed, but it was aimed at the popular consumer not serious audiophiles and seemed to have the goal of achieving better sound on the lower and mid-quality stereos most commonly found in homes. Not simply a gimic, Dynagroove was a real thing with a long list of changes to the way the company recorded, processed and manufactured their music. Critics didn’t like that the most conspicuous effect was to alter the natural sound of the music by adjusting the bass and treble levels depending on how loud or soft the volume levels got within a recording. At any rate, it may have been the sound of tomorrow but not of the following day, as RCA dropped the process around 1970. The 60’s and 70’s were a period of rapid progress in home audio technology, with the quality of stereo equipment available to consumers improving exponentially.
Was it a coincidence that Buick was connected to the Dynagroove promotion when their automatic transmission was called Dynaflow? I’ll let others speculate and just note that 1963 was the last year for that unique transmission.
Buick Highlighter?
Undoubtedly due to this promotion, the Riviera was a hit in 1963, selling 40,000. Not bad for a car costing more than any other Buick model and selling almost as many as all the Electra body styles combined. It probably also had something to do with the superlative styling, the growing popularity of personal luxury cars, and the fact that Buick provided…The Ride of Tomorrow – TODAY!
Related reading:
COAL: 1963 Buick Riviera – “Here’s Where Man And Riviera Get To Know Each Other” and update – Aaron65
COAL: 1963 Buick Riviera – “Wouldn’t You Really…” – JJPowers
Curbside Classic: 1964 Buick Riviera – The Peak GM Experience – PN
Gratuitous Riviera photo: Because you can never have too many. There are a million photos of early Rivieras on the internet, but this is not one of them until now. I snapped this #1 condition 64 at Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale in 2010.
For many decades I’ve considered the Riviera the epitome of mid 20th century American design, along with Lowey’s ’53 Studebaker.
I’ve owned a 63 and now have a fully loaded 64. Serendipity is that guess what I found in my parent’s record collection?
The album perfectly captures what was the soundtrack for this demographic. Well done! This was a “swinger’s car”, where the Greatest Generation empty nesters used as bait. This was their music.
There was a lot to admire regarding this generation, but their 1960’s swinger’s period was a tad cringing. Watching these well-dressed, tobacco smoking heros and heroines blaze a new trail enjoying their well deserved entrapments, was fascinating for those of us who were wondering why our grandparents were divorcing, wearing toupees, drinking excessively and have their mid-life traumas. Frankly, this generation damn well earned it.
This is Frank Sinatra’s car. Dean Martin’s. This is that European class the boys remembered enjoyed while being stationed overseas. This is the fictional Don Draper’s car as it raced his latest girlfriend out of his wife’s boudoir.
This was their music. FANTASTIC FIND!
Agree with all of the above. However, I think the choice of Leontyne Price was a bit daring. As the first African American woman to sing at the Met, she wasn’t quite fully accepted yet in operatic circles (that wouldn’t happen until a couple of years later.) I love that she was included here.
Needless to say, a beautiful auto decades later and still one of my favorite 60s autos. There was a GM Riviera concept convertible proposed in 1962. Unfortunately, not produced but would think it would have sold well against the 1963 T-Bird conv. Back in 1963 my parents traded their 1960 T-Bird conv. for a new 1963 T-Bird hardtop. Family already had an early 60s Olds conv. and Mom liked convertibles and would keep top down until you had to scrap frost from the windshield. Reason for the T-Bird hardtop: We always used a convertible when family went to Florida for baseball Spring training and the T-Bird had no trunk luggage space when the top was down. Think Dad would have bought a 1963 Riviera conv. because the concept Riv. did not use a fabric top down boot cover and had trunk space with the top down.
Side note: The 1962 Riviera convertible concept showed the cross-member conv. top
mechanism. Had this same setup on my bought new 1976 Eldo conv. which allowed a full-length back seat.
I didn’t realize that the GM scissor top went back that far. It was a creative design that didn’t intrude on interior space and allowed the folded top to sit lower. It also had a good top up shape.
I used to own a 75 Buick LeSabre convertible. I found the top didn’t go up and down as smoothy as conventional tops. Despite its advantages, I didn’t love the function. Seemed like a tradeoff.
Best version of the “fabled Riviera” was the initial one!! (imo)
I’d never seen or read about this album until now, though I’ve been a member of the Riviera Owners Association for many years. The first series Riviera is a masterpiece of American car design. It may have been a bit old by 1963, but Dave Brubeck’s Take Five would be the essential musical accompaniment. Just so mellow, self assured, and terminally cool.
On the other hand, Stompin’ at the Savoy is pretty hot.
Take Five is a great album, and perfect Riviera music. I concur!
BMW chose “Take Five” to promote the first 5-Series (E12) in 1972/73.
I love those special promotional albums that seemed to be a thing in the early 1960s. I have a couple of them, one from Chevrolet and one from Studebaker. Both of them have a more lowbrow-adult theme, with Chevrolet featuring hits through the decades and Studebaker more focused on conservative jazz. I have not looked at either in quite awhile, but will have to do so.
Those albums sound really cool!
What a great find! I love it! My wife bought me the ’63 Riviera brochure for Christmas because, well, we have a Riviera now. The Dynagroove tie-in is funny because Buick didn’t call their transmission a Dynaflow in their advertising in ’63 (although everyone else did and does); they labeled it “Turbine Drive.” Undoubtedly, they were trying to distance themselves from the “Dynaslush” epithets and the like. Honestly, now that I’ve put in quite a few miles in Dynaflow-equipped cars, I kind of like them.
Interesting, what do you like about the Dynaflow?
It’s just a different driving experience…all the ads were right. It never shifts, so it’s smoother than other automatics, and it’s not as much of a dog around town as you might expect (at least mine aren’t – they aren’t the earliest versions).
The ’63 Riviera? About as close as humanly possible to perfection in design. Dynagroove? Some of those early Dynagroove albums were clunkers, to say the least. There was one in that sampler that had unimaginably bad sound, severe dynamic compression and severe overload distortion. It sounded that way on my parents’ ’63 Magnavox console, too. RCA became much less ham-handed with Dynagroove by 1965 or so.
GM didn’t need to back off on the Riviera, though, and left it alone for a couple more years.
What a great find .
I too find and purchase many obscure records and CD’s at the thrift store, I learned the hard way to always, _ALWAYS_ open the jewel case or sleeve as many take the record you want out and slip in some crappy thing no one wants .
The ’63 Buick Riviera was so aspirational to me it was off my radar completely .
-Nate
Being a committed Ford man, with Chrysler bringing in my second place, I never had a GM car make the list of my top 10 all time favorite cars, until the 63 Riviera was introduced. It is a gorgeous car, so was the 67 but as usual GM ruined the Riviera with it’s boat tail look in the early 70s. Even the interior was done well. The dash was just about the same as the full-size Buicks of the 60s. But the Riviera never sold as well as the Thunderbirds of that era. Thanks for posting this fine example of the first Buicks. I enjoyed reading it. But then again, I love all of the reviews that feature all American cars from the 60s.
People talk above about “Riviera Music,” I’ve always thought of Quicy Jones’ Big Band Bossa Nova to be boat-tail Rivera music. I love that album, and I can imagine listening to that 8 track while rolling in that car. It was over the top, but even the boat-tail was cool.