Fine Lines: 1966-69, 1971-73 Buick Riviera....

In 1966 GM introduced the Oldsmobile Toronado. A revolutionary luxury car-it had futuristic swoopy fastback styling, hidden headlights and it was front-wheel drive. Even 50 years later, they are still a great-looking car. "George Stark" the killer in the Stephen King movie "The Dark Half" drove a sinister black '66 Toronado with a bumper sticker that read "A High Toned Son of a Bitch".  However-I always liked the cousin Buick Riviera better. The Riviera had the same fastback, hidden headlight body-but the styling was much cleaner-a lot less chrome and doo-dads. I always thought the 1966-67 Rivieras were one of the best-looking cars GM ever produced. And the Rivieras were still rear-wheel drive. Much better from a performance standpoint. And with 430 cubes under their long hoods, they moved pretty good too. 1967 was basically unchanged from '66. Front disc brakes became available-a much-needed option on a 4,000+ lb car with a 430 inch motor!  1968 saw minor changes to front end and bunper, although they retained the hidden hedlights. I personally don't think it was an improvement-I like the cleaner style of the '66-67 model-but they are still a great-looking car. And they still had the big 430 V8 backed by a TH400-a stellar combination. 1969 was a carryover year. Maybe a couple different colors were added but everything else is the same. No one knows what Buick was thinking for 1970. While Olds kept the '66-69 body of the Toronado through 1970-Car Life's 455 powered '70 Toronado GT test car-while weighing 4,700 lbs-blasted through the 1/4 mile in 15 seconds flat, Buick completely changed the Riviera. And they were ugly. They looked like a LeSabre or any other big GM boat. That's why Riviera enthusiasts want either the '66-69 model, or the '71-73 models. 1970 versions are snubbed like the plague, and with good reason. 1971 brought a complete re-styling again, and this one was a hit. This is the famous "Boat Tail" design, with big fastback rear window that looks like a "V". 455 cubes were standard equipment, so you got Cadillac like luxury and GTO like acceleration. A great combination for the expanding "Personal Luxury Coupe" market which Pontiac had started with the re-designed Gran Prix in 1969, which now also included the Chevy Monte Carlo, the Plymouth Sport Fury and others. 1972 and '73 were basically carryover years. Why mess with success?  Well in typical GM fashion-they did in 1974-making the Riviera much bigger, heavier and uglier. And then wondered why Chevrolet and Pontiac were still selling Monte Carlos and Gran Prix's as fast as they could make them. Because other than minor changes-they didn't mess with a good thing!!  Anyhow if you want one today they make very nice drivers-and Edelbrock offers Aluminum heads and Performer Intakes for the 400-430-455 Buick engines,Crane and Comp Cams offers cams so you can upgrade the performance. It's blasphemy to Buick freaks, I know-but I always envision a Jet-Black '66-67 Riv with fat tires on 17" American Racing Torq-Thrusts, and a snarling GMPP 572 inch Rat Motor under the long hood!! All you'd need are some Impala motor mounts and a Chevy bolt pattern TH400. ( BOP engines have a different bellhousing bolt pattern than Chevy engines ). These are a great alternative bodystyle if you want something cool that you don't see every day. Mastermind