J3Studio
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Posts posted by J3Studio
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1 hour ago, RivNut said:
Well, I heeded my own advice. I joined the AACA. I would add my AACA member number to my signature but I wasn't given one. ???? They sure were anxious to sell me a bunch of other stuff though. I thought that they'd at least be interested in what kind of car I owned.
I've been an AACA member for quite a few years—they'll get around to it. You'll get your number on the card they send—I put mine in my signature so you can see the format. The magazine (Antique Automobile) is interesting in its own way; it often features superb photos of the extremely varied range of original and restored cars they judge. I believe the Ken Eberts painting on the cover of the holiday issue every year is a wonderful bonus.
They do cover Rivieras—one of the T-Types at the Gettysburg meet last year was featured in Antique Automobile a few years ago. Here's a link of cars entering the Hershey judging field back in 2014:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/j3studio/albums/72157648706586666
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I'm not really concerned—I think the AACA feels that they have to re-assert what the center of their forum purpose is. I'll note that they created a Reatta forum when no Reatta met the 25 year rule.
I expect to continue to ask 1996-1999 Riviera questions without fear of reprisal.
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I concur with @Jim — I'm really not worried about the Reatta or the Riviera forums.
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Thanks, all!
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On 2/6/2020 at 9:11 AM, J3Studio said:
1999 Buick Riviera Silver Arrow w/78K:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1999-Buick-Riviera-Supercharged-Silver-Arrow-1-of-200/124060717049
The price has dropped $2,000—now $15,000. Some undercarriage pictures have been added, indicating that Shane (the seller) read our posts.
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Thank you @Larry Schramm — good point on the Turbo Hydra-Matic marking relatively early commonization of an important component.
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Thanks @EmTee — this is my general belief, but I wanted to make sure no one has better data.
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In 1964, big Buicks moved from the Turbine Drive (Dynaflow) transmission to the Super Turbine 400 transmission, which other General Motors divisions designated the Turbo Hydra-Matic. By 1969, Buick had generally moved to using the Turbo Hydra-Matic designation.
I have some suspicions, but does anyone know why Buick used the Super Turbine 400 name first and why they switched to the corporate name in around 1969? The Buick: A Complete History mentions the two transmission name changes, but doesn't hint that the Super Turbine 400 and Turbo Hydra-Matic are closely related.
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1 hour ago, Barney Eaton said:
When you see a Reatta shoot a picture of the vin no and we can keep our records updated.
@Barney Eaton My apologies—should have thought of that. I'll make sure to do that next time.
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One (but only one) of my local supermarkets just outside of Philly often has interesting cars. This morning, there was a Reatta convertible, at least somewhat modified with non-stock wheels and tires and what looked like an upgraded exhaust. I figured I'd post a photo.
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On 1/25/2020 at 3:59 PM, Shane1 said:
1999 Buick Riviera Silver Arrow w/78K:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/124060717049?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649
The price has dropped $2,000—now $15,000. Some undercarriage pictures have been added, indicating that Shane (the seller) read our posts.
I'm still looking for a dark metallic jewel tone (examples over the years would include Majestic Teal Metallic/Pearl, Dark Cherry Metallic, Ruby Red Metallic, Bordeaux Red Pearl, and Midnight Blue Pearl). More sordid details in this thread:
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On 2/2/2020 at 11:30 AM, Ray_Knott said:
Regarding the request to have a cruise of the countryside around Kalamazoo, we are planning a scenic fun cruise after dinner on Tuesday. It will be a slow relaxing tour with directions and questions based on the sites. This is much like we have done in the past.
I am also attaching an updated schedule with an announcement of a speaker on Tuesday afternoon.
Bill Porter. Nice.
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22 hours ago, RivNut said:
The " How to ID a Gran Sport" article which is reprinted on the ROA's website states the same thing - that there were no interior emblems in 68 or 69 identifying the car as a GS.
Hah! I'm late to the game and should have read the !@#$% article:
"There was no GS emblem on the rear deck, and despite what dealer brochures list, there were no interior emblems."
And yes, the brochure is wrong in both 1968 and 1969—the pre-computing version of a cut and paste mistake. In 1970 they get it right.
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15 hours ago, RivNut said:
The " How to ID a Gran Sport" article which is reprinted on the ROA's website states the same thing - that there were no interior emblems in 68 or 69 identifying the car as a GS.
Thank you—I'll check that out.
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We had a great discussion last June about how Riviera brochures sometimes "lie." Seafoam65 talked about his disappointment in the 1965 deluxe saddle interior.
I think I've found another one. Both the 1968 Riviera brochure and the 1968 Buick "prestige" brochure state that the Riviera GS has a (natch!) Riviera GS monogram on the instrument panel, but many other sources claim there's nothing GS-identifying in the interior.
What's the truth here?
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41 minutes ago, Walt G said:
The club magazine is outstanding, as are the club events, both local and national in scope.
I could almost justify the subscription for the Ken Eberts painting every holiday season.
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29 minutes ago, Mikefit said:
I guess I do not know what AACA stands for is it not Antique Car club ?? My thought any vehicle that car keep up in today's traffic is not an antique vehicle.
The AACA judges any stock vehicle 25 years or older, without exception.
Taken heading into the judging field at Hershey, five years ago.
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There's a point where cars are no longer new, but aren't quite 25 years old and this is one of the few places I can count on getting educated help. For example, when I (finally) find my 1996-1999 Riviera, one of the locations I can go for good pre-and-post acquisition advice is the ROA portion of this forum.
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Lots of useful knowledge in this thread.
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13 hours ago, MikeJS said:
From what I can find, I don't think that year was issued by any of the major manufacturers of model kits. It may have been done as a dealer promo, but the below website appears to have a pretty extensive database that is easily searchable. (Search; Buick, 214 results, and they will be grouped by model/etc.) Again, your 'holy grail' doesn't appear to come up...
Wow! The internet doth usually provide—you just have to know it exists. Amazing.
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On 1/25/2020 at 10:09 AM, 60FlatTop said:
I have been reading articles about Riviera cars since their introduction. I remember one that told Bill Mitchel was disappointed the GM used the boattail styled on the large body. He wanted to see it built on the A-body platform.
A short and unfinished treatment from my ongoing project:
The third generation Riviera was announced on September 23, 1970, and featured the most radical styling ever for Buick’s big coupe. Within a mere seven years, Buick itself would acknowledge that the styling was “controversial” in its 75th-anniversary brochure. For the moment, the division stood by its brand new top-of-the-line model—general manager Lee May stated that it was “a classic new design … a triumph of automobile styling,” though he is reputed to have hated the exterior design.
That boattail styling came from a Bill Mitchell concept with the actual execution led by Jerry Hirshberg, but it did not come without substantial issues in its development. The design’s genesis came from Don DaHarsh, who was working in Mitchell’s “Studio X.”
Initially proposed for the A-body like Pontiac’s Grand Prix—a somewhat smaller car—the third generation design was scaled up to the full-size B-body at the behest of General Motors president Ed Cole. To reduce production costs for a relatively low volume model, Cole required that the Riviera share the chassis and inner body stampings of the much higher volume LeSabre and Centurion models, along with their windshield and side windows. This decision meant that the production Riviera ended up being 14 inches longer and four inches wider than the original styling concept.
Scaling size significantly up or down has been the bane of many promising automotive designs over the years, and one can argue that this was the case with the third generation Riviera. Years later, Car and Driver would mention in passing that Bill Mitchell still wouldn’t talk about what had happened. On top of all this, it seems that manufacturing the boattail was not easy—the rear glass backlight gave major issues.
Press coverage of the day hinted at some surprise that the Riviera now seemed to be chasing a younger and more sporty crowd than the Toronado—marking a reversal of sorts from the previous five years. Initially, writers gave the new design a chance; Popular Mechanics stated that the new Riviera was “a looker.” -
While we're on pricey Silver Arrows, a 104,000 mile Florida car asking $18,500 just showed up on Hemmings:
https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/cars-for-sale/buick/riviera/2368594.html
There are a few undercarriage pictures of this one, some of them blurred—what's the point? This is one of the better ones:
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1 minute ago, NC1968Riviera said:
Riviera ownership is NOT a pre-requisite for membership or meet attendance, my friend. Besides, you can always ride with us in the AZ!
Thank you, as always. That's why I say these are my issues …
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4 hours ago, NC1968Riviera said:
Are you planning on attending the Kalamazoo meet in June?
It depends on whether I have a Riviera by then. It feels silly to me to attend another ROA International Meet without one. I felt very welcomed at Gettysburg, so this is my particular issue. I did recently re-up my ROA membership for the next three years.
Rivieras and Riviera parts for sale on local Craigslist, eBay, etc.
in Buick Riviera
Posted
1972 Emerald Mist (I think) RIviera with a medium green sport vinyl top, a green Custom vinyl 60/40 split bench seat, and a claimed 29,000 miles:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1972-Buick-Riviera-Collection/114113513007