Ronski Posted January 29, 2020 Share Posted January 29, 2020 Hi. i am new here and my mom said i am special :) i am looking at a 1971 riviera for sale and wondering why it does not have the louvers on the back lid my understanding was that the louvers on the back lid were one of the unique features of the 71 riviera and that is the only year that the riviera had them. am i wrong? where there 71 rivieras that did not have the louvers? i included a picture of the car i am looking at... Thank you for your Help :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD1956 Posted January 29, 2020 Share Posted January 29, 2020 (edited) Likely a 72 trunk lid. Do you have a picture of the front that you can post? And a picture of the data plate under the hood, on the firewall? Edited January 29, 2020 by JohnD1956 (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronski Posted January 29, 2020 Author Share Posted January 29, 2020 i have not yet went to see it in person, it is a 4 hour drive and i wanted to make sure i am not wasting time before i go and look at it. but i am very interested, that was my favorite car as a kid and i always wanted to have one. front looks 71 as the grill is horizontal but i am not sure i guess it is possible to replace the grill. the owner also stated in the ad that it is a 455 4 barrels 315 Hp didn't the 71 had only 255 Horse Power?? i just dont want to drive all the way to find out it is a hobby assembled riviera from random spare parts here is a picture of the front Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD1956 Posted January 29, 2020 Share Posted January 29, 2020 Does look like a '71 grill. ask the fellow for a picture of the data plate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronski Posted January 29, 2020 Author Share Posted January 29, 2020 i zoomed in one of the photos and looks like Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronski Posted January 29, 2020 Author Share Posted January 29, 2020 i zoomed in one of the photos and looks like some kind of louvers??? is its just hard to see because of the bright yellow or one of the owners covered them?? lol that would be bad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Y-JobFan Posted January 29, 2020 Share Posted January 29, 2020 (edited) That was not a 71 color, 72 had Sunburst yellow on “A” body cars and some Rivs and other big cars were special ordered with it. If correctness is important to you you may want to check the paint code. It could also be an Opel color for 71 that was special ordered, that also happened. There would be the letters SCO after the paint code if it was a special order color. That looks more the Opel yellow than the 72 Sunburst Edited January 29, 2020 by Y-JobFan (see edit history) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dship Posted January 29, 2020 Share Posted January 29, 2020 10 hours ago, Ronski said: i zoomed in one of the photos and looks like some kind of louvers??? is its just hard to see because of the bright yellow or one of the owners covered them?? lol that would be bad That would be the right spot for louvers....it looks like a louver to me....would expect to see one on the driver's side also....front grille is correct for a '71. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8E45E Posted January 29, 2020 Share Posted January 29, 2020 (edited) 6 hours ago, Y-JobFan said: That was not a 71 color, 72 had Sunburst yellow on “A” body cars and some Rivs and other big cars were special ordered with it. If correctness is important to you you may want to check the paint code. It could also be an Opel color for 71 that was special ordered, that also happened. There would be the letters SCO after the paint code if it was a special order color. That looks more the Opel yellow than the 72 Sunburst It could also be Sunflower Yellow, a 1971 Corvette color, which would have been more readily supplied by GM's paint vendors in North America. Opel paint and colors were sourced in Germany. As others have stated, the data plate will reveal what the original color was, or a if it was a non-stock color. Craig Edited January 29, 2020 by 8E45E (see edit history) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Centurion Posted January 29, 2020 Share Posted January 29, 2020 The 315-hp rating was correct for '71, with 330-hp for the Riviera GS' modified high performance 455. The 255-hp sounds correct for '72, when the horsepower ratings were revised to reflect net horsepower. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JZRIV Posted January 30, 2020 Share Posted January 30, 2020 (edited) Need to get higher resolution pics. The car looks fairly straight but the low res pics are not going to reveal deficiencies especially if you want to get enough info to make a 4 hour drive or not. It has 66-70 wheel centers so either it has the wrong wheels or someone opened the center hole up to fit the larger retainer of the 66-70. Looks like a fit problem on the driver door but again hard to tell. If car is from rust belt region expect bondo and check the floors and trunk closely. Often owners say "floors are solid" but they don't look close enough. Be certain you like the yellow. Painting one of these boats can be a very expensive undertaking especially when doing a color change. Edited January 30, 2020 by JZRIV (see edit history) 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RivNut Posted January 30, 2020 Share Posted January 30, 2020 On 1/28/2020 at 8:53 PM, Ronski said: i zoomed in one of the photos and looks like some kind of louvers??? is its just hard to see because of the bright yellow or one of the owners covered them?? lol that would be bad Louvered or not, the trunk does not line up with the fender or the rear window. As Jason suggests; get a whole bunch of high resolution pictures. IMHO, I can see why Buick chose not to offer this yellow on the Riviera. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1965rivgs Posted January 30, 2020 Share Posted January 30, 2020 4 hours ago, JZRIV said: Need to get higher resolution pics. The car looks fairly straight but the low res pics are not going to reveal deficiencies especially if you want to get enough info to make a 4 hour drive or not. It has 66-70 wheel centers so either it has the wrong wheels or someone opened the center hole up to fit the larger retainer of the 66-70. Looks like a fit problem on the driver door but again hard to tell. If car is from rust belt region expect bondo and check the floors and trunk closely. Often owners say "floors are solid" but they don't look close enough. Be certain you like the yellow. Painting one of these boats can be a very expensive undertaking especially when doing a color change. Those look like pre `71 wheels which does not necessarily pose a mechanical/fitment problem. I would guess the wheels are `67 1/2 to `70 assuming that this car has disc brakes. Tom 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rivdrivn Posted January 30, 2020 Share Posted January 30, 2020 (edited) Here is a more typical yellow for a ‘71 from a previous ROA meet. I believe it’s called bamboo cream. Edited January 30, 2020 by Rivdrivn More text (see edit history) 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NC1968Riviera Posted January 30, 2020 Share Posted January 30, 2020 (edited) This car is listed for sale on Kijiji in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada https://www.kijiji.ca/v-classic-cars/edmonton/1971-buick-riviera/1482632878 for CA$10350 It was listed last September for CA$11450 http://www.v8buick.com/index.php?threads/1971-banana-yellow-riviera-11-450-cdn-wear-sunglasses-to-view-pics.349568/ It has a KPH speedometer so it must have originally been sold in Canada when new (?). Edited January 30, 2020 by NC1968Riviera (see edit history) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Curran Posted January 30, 2020 Share Posted January 30, 2020 The interior fabric has been swapped out for a non-original type. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J3Studio Posted January 30, 2020 Share Posted January 30, 2020 Lots of useful knowledge in this thread. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeJS Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 5 hours ago, NC1968Riviera said: This car is listed for sale on Kijiji in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada https://www.kijiji.ca/v-classic-cars/edmonton/1971-buick-riviera/1482632878 for CA$10350 Good day. I'm in Edmonton. although I have little experience in this generation Riv', I do have a gaggle of cameras that I could probably get more photos if need be. I certainly don't want to lead the seller on that I may be serious and that I'm just there to cure some(one's) curiosity, but I guess that's part of selling a classic. Also it's hard to know where/how the car may be stored for our winter season, again hate to make someone go through a bunch of effort on false hope... Ronski, what I'd suggest, maybe send a note to the seller and ask him for a photo of the data plate. If for whatever reason he balks, (I'd be concerned, but..) maybe ask if you could have a 'friend' come by to have a look and take some additional pictures. I don't have a problem doing that, it's just during the week, I still go to work in the dark and come home in almost darkness now, so I would do it on a weekend. Unfortunately I wouldn't have time until next weekend at the earliest. Again, ask for the data plate, and let the gen' experts here give you some more feedback from that starting point. What you/we learn from that might also help me to look for specific things if and/or when I go see it on your behalf... Oh, for what it's worth, even in winter, Edmonton has a lot to offer for a day visit... https://exploreedmonton.com Later, 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronski Posted January 31, 2020 Author Share Posted January 31, 2020 Thank you Mike for the the amazing offer to help. i spoke with the seller and going to see it this saturday. He sent me some videos and yes the back lid have the louvers 😋 it was just hard to see with that bright yellow lol. guys sounds straight forward and legit and if all checks out i would be a proud owner if a Riviera sooon 🕺🏻 And will add this beauty to my tiny collection of: 1969 Dodge D200. 1970 Cutlass Supreme. 2013 Camaro bumblebee. Thank you all for the help and advice. Amazing people and forum!!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
=diego= Posted March 16, 2022 Share Posted March 16, 2022 So what happened? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIVNIK Posted March 16, 2022 Share Posted March 16, 2022 ronski musta' wised up & moved on. Either that or Ol'Yeller turned out to be the lemon it appears to be & he's too embarrassed to admit he got took. just sayin' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NC1968Riviera Posted March 17, 2022 Share Posted March 17, 2022 On 3/16/2022 at 7:26 AM, RIVNIK said: he's too embarrassed to admit he got took. That's a little harsh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIVNIK Posted March 18, 2022 Share Posted March 18, 2022 sorry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kreed Posted April 12, 2022 Share Posted April 12, 2022 Some may have seen this before but really quite true KReed 14549 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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