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For the Boat Tail Fans: Fun Get-Together with original 1971 and 1972 Rivieras


Centurion

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A couple of weeks ago, I asked a couple of local Riviera owners to meet with me for some photos.

My next door neighbor brought out his original 1971 Riviera GS, acquired last year from the son of the car's original owner. The car has mileage in the low-50,000 range. Finished in Copper Mist with the Sandalwood vinyl roof and Sandalwood Custom cloth interior, this car is the same color combination as the ones that the dealerships here in the Pacific Northwest typically displayed at the beginning of the 1971 model year.

The other car is a Champagne Gold 1972 Riviera with 69,000 miles. This one has the Saddle Custom all-vinyl interior, including the 60/40 front seat. The current owner's father purchased the car new here in the Tacoma area.

We shot the photos in the shade at Pacific Lutheran University.

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They look great! Hopefully my '72 GS will look close to that good one day.

The Regal in the background looks kind of like one I had a loooong time ago. Mine was a '75 Regal S/R, white with a burgundy bucket interior and landau top. It was nice way back then, had to move on at the time though.

Thanks for sharing,

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The way it was explained in the 1971 Buick color catalog, there was a sensor on both the rear axle and one of the front wheels that fed information into an early, onboard "black box" computer that continually compared the rotational speed of the front wheels vs. the rear wheels. If the computer detected that rear axle rotational speed starting to exceed the front wheel speed, which would mean rear wheel slippage, it would modulate or reduce the throttle application to lower the engine speed until the difference was reduced to zero. Thereby, rear wheel slip was reduced and the car regained traction on the slippery surface. I don't remember if the system was available on any other model besides the Riviera.

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The way it was explained in the 1971 Buick color catalog, there was a sensor on both the rear axle and one of the front wheels that fed information into an early, onboard "black box" computer that continually compared the rotational speed of the front wheels vs. the rear wheels. If the computer detected that rear axle rotational speed starting to exceed the front wheel speed, which would mean rear wheel slippage, it would modulate or reduce the throttle application to lower the engine speed until the difference was reduced to zero. Thereby, rear wheel slip was reduced and the car regained traction on the slippery surface. I don't remember if the system was available on any other model besides the Riviera.

The system was offered on other full-size Buicks of the era, but I believe that availability was delayed a few months on the 1971 models. Some Centurions and Electra 225's have been documented with the option, but it seems to be quite rare.

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