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J3Studio

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    Another Chart And A Question

    in Buick Riviera

    Posted

    3 minutes ago, Barney Eaton said:

    I have a pretty large collection of showroom literature from the '50's, '60's, '70's and '80's.

    Because of the printing lead time and then getting them out to dealers to have when the new models came out, it was common

    to find pictures and accessories that changed.    Often the photos are from preproduction vehicles.

    One classic example is the 1955 Thunderbird that shows the swooping side trim on a T'bird that was the same design used on the

    production Fairlane models. .... but not used on the production T'bird.

     

    Agreed—and it happened well into the 1980s. Chevrolet printed four separate versions of the 1984 Corvette brochure (I have one of each). The early versions of the brochure include the "standard" 15-inch wheels that never shipped on any C4 Corvette.

    Another Chart And A Question

    in Buick Riviera

    Posted · Edited by J3Studio (see edit history)

    On 2/27/2020 at 9:57 AM, Barney Eaton said:

    Looking at the "standard catalog of Buick" 3rd edition,   it shows the overall length of the '75 and '76 Riviera at 218 inches

    In their 1977 description of the Riviera they say "it received a total restyling.....and lost 5 inches of length and some 700 lbs."

    They go on to list the overall length of the LeSabre and Riviera at 218 inches.    If the '77 lost 5 inches then the '75-76 should be 223

     

    I would say that somehow bad info got released on the overall length of the '75-76 Riviera and it got copied to other publications.

     

    Yep. It looks like 1976 should be 223 inches (I was always pretty sure 223 was right for 1975). I'm going to check a couple of things and revise the chart shortly. So much for "original sources" …

     

    … that's another brochure "lie" to add to the 1965 deluxe saddle interior and the non-existent GS interior monogram in 1968 and 1969.

    • Haha 1

    Clive Cussler has Passed away

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    In almost all of his works, he found a way to include an antique or classic car into the plot—in some of the others, it was an old plane or ship. If it was a car, it would often turn out that he (Clive) had the same car in his collection.

     

    He was somebody who really lived his dreams and sometimes made them a reality. My favorites are Night Probe!, Raise the Titanic!, and Vixen 03.

    • Like 1

    Another Chart And A Question

    in Buick Riviera

    Posted · Edited by J3Studio (see edit history)

    On 2/25/2020 at 7:19 PM, Hazdaz said:

    I think like Seafoam suggested that the data is not correct. 

     

    Another option is that maybe, just maybe where the length is measured from is different.  For instance, maybe regulations changed and one year you included the length of the entire car, while the next year they didn't count the length of the little bumper add-ons.   Kind of like how pre-1972 power was rated as SAE "gross" horsepower (at the crank) vs the way it is rated now (net power).  The same engine would give vastly different numbers if it was using one metric or the other.

     

    If you are looking to expand this chart, I would be curious to see how other dimensions changed throughout the various generations.   The width and height will be interesting to see, but also the wheelbase for older cars has dramatically changed over the years for all cars, so curious how that evolved in the Riv. 

     

    Oh, I get it—but it's not like I didn't check and double-check (and I hate posting incorrect information). If the brochure is flat-out wrong (by that much) and no one ever caught it, than that's what it is. I do see typos in Riviera brochures, but they're usually by an inch or less—not almost six inches. Maybe I can find the SAE model submissions; one would hope they're right.

     

    Your observation about the possibility of changes in measuring standards is worth exploring. If all the Buick lengths have the same kind of discontinuity for 1976, than that might be it. I'll give it a try. The cynic in me wonders if 1976 Buick might have been more in favor of a shorter quoted length than 1974 Buick. It certainly makes for an easier transition to the 1977 Riviera.

     

    I'm happy that you find this chart interesting, and do intend to do others. I find that visualizations help me understand these cars.

     

     

    • Like 1

    Another Chart And A Question

    in Buick Riviera

    Posted · Edited by J3Studio (see edit history)

    9 hours ago, Seafoam65 said:

    Your info on the chart regarding the 75 and 76 models is bogus. An internet search reveals that

    the 74 was indeed 226 inches long, but the 75 and 76 models were shortened to 223 inches, the same length

    of the 73 Boat Tail Rivieras, not 218 inches as your chart shows.

     

    218.6 inches is what Buick themselves quoted for 1976 and what is in every reference I could find, including:

     

    http://rivowners.org/features/Ev_Stats/dimensions.html

     

    and Flory, Gunnell, et al. Are those all wrong for 1976? I guess it's possible … it's hard to see any significant difference between the 1975 and 1976 in photographs. My chart does show 223 inches for 1975.

     

    I have made a note in the original post that the 1976 length data is in question.

    • Like 1

    Rivieras and Riviera parts for sale on local Craigslist, eBay, etc.

    in Buick Riviera

    Posted · Edited by J3Studio (see edit history)

    On 2/18/2020 at 8:13 PM, J3Studio said:

     

    Hmmm … quickly back up to $18,099:

     

    https://www.ebay.com/itm/1973-Buick-Riviera-Gran-Sport/184175324361

     

    —is somebody trying to tell somebody else something?

     

    Bid up to $21,100 with 27 bids, but did not meet reserve. And … immediately relisted:

     

    https://www.ebay.com/itm/1973-Buick-Riviera-Gran-Sport/184185562019

    Another Chart And A Question

    in Buick Riviera

    Posted · Edited by J3Studio (see edit history)

    Below is a chart I built recently showing the relative lengths of all eight generations of the Riviera (click on the image for somewhat higher resolution). Of course we know that the early seventh-generation cars were the shortest and I've noted that the first, sixth, and eighth generations are really close in length.

     

    RivieraLengthCompressed016.thumb.png.f112e27251d02fdb99796851d3af0e08.png

    The initial length data for 1976 was displayed incorrectly—I have updated this chart to avoid passing on bad information.

    • Like 1

    How about a picture of YOU with a car?

    in General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by J3Studio (see edit history)

    On 1/14/2020 at 7:47 PM, V16 said:

    My wife and I at Pebble Beach with our 1915 Packard Special Roadster. The car was built and driven by Carl G. Fisher, the man who built the Indy 500, The Lincoln Highway, Miami Beach and more! He drove it as the Pace car in the 1915 Indy 500 race as well as the Fall Classics of the same year. He also used the car to survey parts of the Lincoln Highway. It is basically all original except for late 20's repaint by Eddie Rickenbacker when he owned the Speedway.

     

    Allen & Nancy Strong large sh.jpg

     

    That's so cool! Carl G. Fisher must have been an absolute force of nature—I built up some familiarity with him when working on my Lincoln Highway 101 book.

    • Like 3

    Rivieras and Riviera parts for sale on local Craigslist, eBay, etc.

    in Buick Riviera

    Posted · Edited by J3Studio (see edit history)

    6 hours ago, 1965rivgs said:

    But keep in mind it is much more labor intensive to R & R the cam as compared to the rest of the dual quad package when the engine is installed in the vehicle. In addition to the extra labor expense the dealer would also run the risk that the customer might complain about the degraded idle quality as compared to the former cam. In my experience the standard `66 has a much smoother idle quality as compared to the "091". I think it is very plausible that the dealer might be tempted to skip swapping out the original cam for the "091" cam.

     

    Seems highly likely.

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