ranchero

For those who don't already know, the famed Italian jeweler Bulgari is a Buick fan. He has lots of them, garaged both in Rome and in Allentown, PA. He has the last '99 Silver Arrow Riviera.<P>In the current issue of Auto Week there is a full page on his unlikely autostrada stormer - a 1970 GS convertible. He had the car modified to make it more usable and safer on the highspeed roads in Europe - amber turn signals out back, roll bar, rear axle ratio and a six speed manual replacing the original four speed.<P>Read the article. He is interviewed; you can just feel his glee in anticipation of overtaking a Mercedes or Porsche at 150mph on an autostrada or autobahn. It is a fun story and great that Buick has such a high profile fan. <P>Now, if i can just get over hating the lame cars that Buick sells currently . . . .

there you go, gm - v-8 rwd! what has changed in a year? Lutz is there; he won't let Buick put out another loser. He is a product guy who can preserve brand tradition too. now the concept and drivetrain sound good, just need to get a roadster body with some character!

buicknut - not offended here, enjoy reading your opinion. <P>your personal situation is micro economics - how you react to the financial environment in which you live. you may not be able to alter your personal demand for fuel. but collectively, in the market for gasoline in our country, we can and do alter our behavior and we do at times reduce our collective demand for fuel. this is macro economics.<P>for example, one driver may elect to park his suv & drive his honda for commuting work. or he may decide not to take the family on a 400 mile round trip to wally world. or he may trade the suv for the honda. or he may ride his bicycle to work. or he may defer a vacation from this summer to next summer. collectively these reductions in demand can affect the price of a product.<P>i can't comment about clumsy excuses made by oil company personnel; i'm not familiar with them. they may lack credibility from time to time but i certainly don't attribute sharp changes in the price of fuel to poor excuses made by oil execs who may not be pr experts but do know how to deliver a profit to the shareowners. <P>you mention (i guess) bottled water. if there are any capitalists taking advantage of consumers, it certainly must be those bottlers. when you figure the cost of exploring, permitting, drilling, transporting, refining, transporting again, federal and state taxation and retailing oil sourced gasoline to the cost of bottling what is usually tap water and delivering it locally, certainly the $1.05 i paid for each of several gallons of conoco today is a much better deal than the similar price asked for a gallon of water at the safeway. <P>finally, another word about supply please? i forgot to mention this previously, but do you remember the spikes in fuel prices in southern california and the chicago area which immediately followed local refinery explosions? i do. those two instances were immediate and vivid demonstrations of the affect of unintended reductions in supply on the retail price of the product. nobody's fault, just the laws of economics!

"fair supply & demand". I am sorry to be so callous, but "fair" does not enter into the scheme of the price of gasoline. Business means competition. A sense of fairness is not part of the supply and demand curves plotted on a graph which track the price of gasoline. Business and competition is not fair. The manager of the business wants to maximize his profit, in order to provide for his obligation to the owners of the company. His only duty of fairness is to the owners of the company, not for the pricing to the consumers of the product.<P>Yes, I believe I can give some justification for the increased price in summer. The demand for gasoline is greater in the summer months. Note that the demand for gasoline, and other refined petroleum products, has declined greatly since 11 September, as has the price of the product. The most severe spike in retail gasoline prices often happens at the start of the summer driving season. This happens when the refineries have to gear up production of the various specialty blends required by epa departments (and reduce production of home heating oils in the east). The great variety of fuels which may be in limited supply and the increase in demand in late spring/early summer are classic incentives for a spike in retail prices.<P>As to activity by management of oil companies intended to increase the return to the shareholder/owners, this activity is no different than what should be practiced by the management of any corporation in a capitalist economic system. It may seem offensive, but I believe they are just being good capitalists. I note that the share owners of ExxonMobil, despite the public outrage at the results of the Exxon Valdez boat crash, have over the years been well rewarded investors by the return on the stock and the dividends paid.

The price of gasoline is like the price of anything else. It is determined by the irrevocable economic laws of supply and demand.<P>Do you oil conspiracy nuts think the same sinister forces are at work when the price of a gallon of milk in your local grocery stores is raised? . . . or when the price of your case of Coors goes up (mine did this week, but my gasoline price is going down).<P>The greatest contributor to periodic rises in prices of gasoline is limited supply of a particular blend of "boutique" fuel required by fed/state EPA requirements. If the damned government would get out of the silly business of regulating gasoline formulation, we would experience fewer severe and rapid price spikes. <P>It is the government! Oh yeah, drill at ANWR tomorrow!

everyday: 1997 Buick Riviera<P>older cars: 1982 Buick Riviera convertible<BR> 1972 Ford Ranchero<BR> 1969 Ford Falcon Futura wagon<P>got four decades covered, waiting to find a '00s car i like.

I am getting impatient for my October Bugle. It is now 19 October; nothing in the mail yet in Wyoming. Our mail service has been getting much worse since 9-11, so who knows when it will arrive? This event is going to put the USPS out of business; e-mail & UPS are going to be our only means of communication in the future. I think the culprit is the same thing that killed Buick in Flint and looks like it is going to kill United Airlines - inflexible union contracts.

I am afraid that there is no reason for anyone who likes cars to go to a Buick dealership to have a look around. In my life there usually has been something at the Buick store to attract people who like cars: first Skylark, '50s Century; '60s Skylark; first Riviera; Wildcat; GS; big LeSabre & Riviera convertibles; GNX; Reatta; final Riviera. People who like cars can relate to some or most of those cars. Don't know how any of the cars on a Buick lot now can stir the passion of any person who likes cars. And that v-6 fwd Bengal is not going to do it for me.

Just got and read the new (November) issue of Car & Driver. Seems Brock Yates also has a soft spot for Buicks - his dad, learned to drive, first car, etc. His column in the new issue though is not all touchy-feely Buick. He restates what seems obvious to many - the division, with only four 4 door sedans and an untested SUV/mini-van, may not live to see a 100th anniversary in 2003 unless something incredible is done to bring in buyers. Yates is encouraged by the GM's hiring of a real car guy in Bob Lutz and he hopes that one of Lutz' first assignments is bringing something exciting to Buick. Then the mediocre Bengal is discussed (looks like a "kielbasa") and the exciting alternative Buick may have with a "5/8 scale Blackhawk". <P>The column is must (but probably not pleasant) reading for any Buick fan who hopes the marque does not join Oldsmobile.

Hope the Buick makes it.<P>Today, October 05, GM announced big price cuts on the Aztek, this Buick's moribund brother from Pontiac.<P>While this event is a different deal, it reminds me of the durability run that Mercury made from Tierra del Fuego to Alaska with what I remember being '65 or '66 Comets.

EJ - take a look at the site "www.stationwagon.com"; you might get some ideas or leads there. Longroofs are getting a bit more popular; I've got an old wagon that only I seem to appreciate.

Further checking on early Riviera promos: This is by phone from a promo collector, not seeing the models first hand. The '63 & '64 were both produced from the kit tool, meaning a separate hood part. The '63 had an opening hood with a complete engine block (constructed like the '62 Fairlane promo). The '64 had the hood heat sealed and a plug in the chassis to represent the bottom of the engine block.

Centurion: Retail pricing on the new AMT models is about $25 each. These are a bargain. The Edsel is stunning. <P>Re: '63 Riviera promo. I do not have one. However I do have two (one red & one turquoise) correct and original AMT '62 Ford Fairlane promos which came complete with opening hoods and assembled V-8 engines with some chrome parts. The '62 Fairlane promo does seem to use all kit parts, injection molded in body color as a promo but assembled by AMT as a kit. It is possible that the AMT '63 Riviera promo followed this construction method; the original champagne color '66 Riviera promo did not.<P>Bob Zetterman would know correct construction of '63 Riviera promo.

Centurion: I know about these models. I have purchased the '58 Edsel Pacer hardtop, the '62 Pontiac Catalina Super Duty 421 and the '60 Ford Starliner. Edsel is stunning in turquoise & white with fender skirts & continental kit. Edsel is same casting as previously released pre-painted kit in red & black (but without skirts and connie kit). Pontiac is orangish-red. Starliner is baby blue & white. Other releases in this bunch are the '62 Chevrolet and the '66 Riviera you mention, plus a '71 Dodge Charger. <P>Good mail order service is available from Rick Kranz at "www.kranzmodelcars.com". As an alternative for also good service try Bob Zetterman at 303-423-9808.<P>I have not yet seen/bought the Riviera.

that is correct. every 1974 buick convertible was in the lesabre luxus line. no other lesabre or buick convertibles were available. if it is a 1974 buick convertible, it must be a lesabre luxus. <P>buick was not very consistent with placing their one and only convertible model. for the 1973 model year the only convertible was a centurion (upscale lesabre). for 1975 the only convertible was the lesabre custom (the "luxus" designation was gone for '75).<P>the '74 lesabre luxus to which you refer is a nice car, but the last year for the full sized, rear wheel drive buick convertible was the following 1975 and the '75 custom would probably be a more desirable car to a collector than the almost identical 1974 luxus. <P>the worst feature of these cars may be the fragile and infamous gm "scissors" top - shared with other full sized gm convertibles of this era. be careful; alignment is a problem; bows bend and glass breaks.

Wanted to buy:<P>Dealer Showroom Album covering 1997 Riviera. This is not simply brochure nor dealer color/interior book, but rather a large book/binder used by salesmen/management when ordering a 1997 Riviera. I have not seen the book, so I do not know if it covers Riviera exclusively or rather all Buicks. <P>Should be complete and in excellent condition. e-mail to "jwwwy@aol.com" or post here. Thanks!

Marc - my '82 Riviera sticker indicates:<P>Walt Adams Buick, Inc.<BR>Glendale, Arizona<BR>24-421<P>It is no longer a Buick dealership.

I can't believe that Cincinnati and Pittsburgh are incorrectly spelled more often than is the name of the largest city in New Mexico.

What is interesting, but unpleasant, about current Buick is that there are essentially just three cars offered: a midsize four door sedan; a large four door sedan and a goofy minivan. That's it. <P>I love Buicks, especially the majestic Riviera. Buick has offered variety and been an upmarket brand. But what can Buick do in that segment now? Where's a coupe? Where's a convertible? Where's a wagon? Where is a V-8? Where is rwd? Where is any personal, non-boring car? <P>Back in the good old '70s you could get a four door sedan Buick in several sizes. You could also get a two door sedan or two, a two door hardtop or two, a convertible or two, a wagon or two, and a specialty personal luxury coupe.<P>Back then you could get probably just one BMW - a two door sedan.<P>Now in the 2000s you can get lots of different BMWs - two door sedan, four door sedan in three sizes, wagon in two sizes, four seat convertible, two seat convertible of two types, outrageous Corvette like two seat coupe and suv. <P>The previous writer is correct in stating that today's Buicks are boring. The Buick brand needs and deserves much more revival than the simple addition of that lame Bengal concept will provide.

My '84 GMC Caballero Diablo is a four owner local car. I've talked to all three previous owners. The original owner ordered the car at the local GMC dealership. It was delivered in September, 1983. The buyer was unhappy because the name plate on the right side of the dash said "El Camino" and the owners manual was from the Chevrolet version of the car. He made the dealer fix it. The owner's manual is now correct and the plate now reads "Caballero". However the correct plate would have read "Diablo". I'd bet the UAW guy in Arlington who slapped the wrong plate on the right side of the dash is the same guy who put the El Camino owners manual in the glove box.

That stuff MTBE is made here in Cheyenne, Wyoming. However, we do not have to use it; it is sold to refiners who sell to places the feds say need it. Some fuel here does contain 10% ethanol, but not all. Fuel prices here today: $1.249 at independent station; $1.259 at Total; $1.329 or 1.279 at various Conocos.

Went to the Oldsmobile Club national show in Denver over the weekend and cruised South Broadway used car lots later, just for fun.<P>There is a fair 1973 Centurion Convertible for sale at "Oldies But Goodies" at 3150 South Broadway in Englewood. Phone number of the lot is 303 762 0111.<P>The car is tan with white top & white interior. It does have the 455. It has ralley wheels but all four center hubs are missing. It is not great but it is a 455 Centurion and there aren't many of those around.

thanks for the info.

Now the Blackhawk concept is something else completely. That car is pure Buick and it clearly makes a statement, as does the Thunderbird for Ford, as to the heritage and market position of a Buick automobile. <P>I would welcome a production Blackhawk, perhaps with a less complicated/expensive folding top. This car, with a big V-8 and rwd, is a proper Buick - upscale, fun, distinctive, big, powerful and special. The v-6 fwd convertible proposed for production is too boring, too little and too late.

Nationals in the West:<P>Oldsmobile Club National is in Denver this year. Pontiac was in Denver in 1997. Falcon Club was in Breckenridge in 1999 or 1998. There are three local Buick clubs in Colorado plus the Riviera club's home is in Colorado. The Riviera club has had at least two nationals, maybe more, in the Denver area. Buicks in Denver sounds good from Wyoming.