Buick Select 60 program

[tbenvie]

I know the Select 60 program was for the top dealers, and in 88 and 90 the dealers were given the option of buying a special Reatta, and I believe in 82 (?) there was a special Riviera but was there other Select 60 cars for any other years? How did a dealer become a Select 60 dealer?  Is there a listing anywhere of the dealers selected in various years?  I am just finishing research for an article on the final 1999 Riviera Silver Arrow. Only 200 were made, and were assigned to dealers before they were even introduced to the public. I am trying to figure out how these dealers qualified for a car. Six cars went to Canada, 10 were used by Flint Execs, the other 184 sent to various dealers. Anyone have any info? Know who the top dealers for 98 may have been?  thanks

[Barney Eaton]

Tom......I have been seeking the same answers with little results.   As you noted part of the "award" was the ability to get a car...usually something on allotment or having features/options not available to the public.

We  can add to the list......the 1987 GNX of which  500 were going to be made but seemingly at the last minute the number went to 547 to accommodate 47 Select Sixty dealers that wanted one.  This was confirmed

in the article written by Gary Witzenburg for Hagerty insurance magazine (summer 2017)

The Select Sixty Dealer was the "General Managers" award.  So far I don't know when the program started and when it ended,  but it was probably over by the time the 1999 Silver Arrow was built,  however, there

may have been a new awards program that followed the Select Sixty.

The pictures below are a Riviera convertible taken at the 2010 Ames BCA national.....I think it was a '82 as that was the first year of the Riviera convertible.

If anyone has info, pictures, documentation on other years (cars) that were part of the awards program,  now is the time to brush the dust off them.

 

[Barney Eaton]

At the suggestion of a former BCA Board President,  I have sent a message to the GM Heritage center.

maybe they will have some records.   Stay tuned.

 

UPDATE

GMHC gave me a short reply.. today (5/11/18) saying that the Buick Select Sixty Dealers program began sometime in 1975 and lasted until 1992.

The said I could visit and review the documents they have.   Since I am in Texas, I will not be visiting any time soon.

Do we have any people on the forum willing to look a little deeper into what they have?

Edited May 11, 2018 by Barney Eaton (see edit history)

[Brian_Heil]

From what I understand there were numerous Select 60 perks.

 

A)  To be one of the top 60 Buick Dealers you got all sorts of deals on new models, first shipments, choice of top options when there were restrictions on options.  ie, they got the good stuff when others had to wait.  Advance Model sneak peeks at the Design Center.

 

B)  There are the Badged Select 60 cars models, which is what you speak of.  I agree that would be interesting to know all the badged Select 60 programs.

 

C)  Lots of schmoozing by the home office.  I was personally part of the 1995 Riviera Launch.  They flew all the Select 60 out to Phoenix International Raceway for several days of driving and schmoozing and more schmoozing.  Not just the dealer owner, but his top performers and all their spouses.  No charge. 

 

They also did a '95 Riv preview in Atlanta too at the convention center for the same folks.  The list was so large, half flew in for Mon/Tue/Wed  while the second group flew in on Wed and flew out on Friday.  They had tour buses to move everyone around.  Buick had fleets of cars for them to drive while in town too (not new Riviera's, they we still too new and not in production).

 

D)  I also know that Select 60 dealers had personal phone numbers of all sorts of Buick Execs and they got very special attention.

 

E)  Being a Select 60 I would guess they sold 75% of the product?  Anyone know?  It was a big deal.

[Barney Eaton]

Todays email brought the message below............. I have feelers out to some other former Buick employees......thanks Brian for the above info.

Hi Barney,

Thank you for reaching out to us with your research request. I had never hear of the Select Sixty before, so thank you for the information.

I did a search through our collection and didn't find any mention of the Select Sixty. We have never really had much information on dealers. If you haven't already, I would suggest that you contact the GM Heritage Center (not sure if that's the GMHA that you mentioned). It is possible that they have more information.

Please let me know if you have any other questions.

Brittany Phalen
Curatorial Assistant
Sloan*Longway

[Brian_Heil]

We need a retired Buick Sales exec. Or try Kevin Kirbitz at the GM Factory One. 

[NCReatta]

From the 4 or 5 dealers that I have talked to (owners and general managers) of Select 60 dealers, you became a Select 60 dealer not so much by sales numbers but by customer satisfaction. Not sure how they measured that, but it was a huge player in if you became one or not. That way, I suppose, a purely volume delwrr couldn't get in unless they also we're doing a great job on the customer service side. 

 

I'll put a feeler out to a couple dealers I know that were in the Select 60 program and see what they can tell me. 

[Larry Schramm]

The Select 60 dealers were the largest dealers in the country by sales with maybe some customer satisfaction factored into the sauce. When I was a rep in the 80's in Alabama I had three select 60 dealers.  They were the largest dealers in the state.

 

During those years Buick made a special run of vehicles for those dealers with special identification plates with their names on the dashes usually. The cars were usually the new model as it came out to the public, but not always. 

 

An example of special badging would be on the Reatta.  It had a special hood emblem that said Select 60, not the standard Reatta emblem on the hood.

The dealers in the program also got special access to Buick management and had meetings with managers I think at the national new car announcement shows.

 

Forgot other details of the program, this is just what I remember.  Some details might not be 100% accurate as that is +- 30 years ago.

[soernieins]

Hello, I bought this Hood Ornament for over 15 years on ebay. '86 or '88 electra