Has anyone else had a chance to read the article in the latest review which quotes from the Society Of Automotive Engineers technical paper on the original ‘63 Riviera? There were a couple of weird inconsistencies which caught my eye…
1. There was a discussion upfront that indicated GM market research identified an opportunity for Buick to come to market with a luxury sport vehicle. However, this seems to contradict all of the historical information which indicates Riviera was originally designed for Cadillac, who turned it down, and then it was offered to Buick, Olds, and Pontiac—and Buick had the best pitch.
2. There was a considerable amount of time spent discussing the design of the instrument panel, apparently neglecting to mention it was virtually identical to that offered in all the other full-size Buicks, with the exception of adding a center console.
Otherwise, there was some interesting information in there, including the design of the doors with frameless glass, and the climate control hardware. Good to know a little more about the history of my car…