1966-67 Buick Riviera GS article in Hemmings

[philr]

There are some small errors in this text but the I fully agree with the last part of it: --"Everybody loves Rivieras. You have your Eldorados and your Toronados, but they're not the same caliber of car--they're front-wheel-drive cars. A rear-wheel-drive car like the Riviera will always be a superior driving car."--



http://www.hemmings.com/mus/stories/...rs_guide1.html

[MCGARRETT]

Good article, Ipretty much like every Riviera through 1972, and I like the later 1982-1985 Convertibles and the 1995-1999 last of the series.

The 1966-1967's are really good looking cars, they look about 2 years ahead of everything else on the road at the time, with the exception of the Toronado and Eldorado.

I do like the Rivieras RWD, but the 1967-1968 Eldorados are awsome cars too, the body is so sharp it looks like it can cut you.

The 1966 Toronado is really neat too, I dont think that the FWD in the Toronado and Eldorado hurts them that much either, its just makes them a different kind of animal than the RWD Riviera, it would be a tough choice for me.

[philr]

I like the looks of the Toronado and the 1967 Eldorado too but I'm not a big fan of the eighties and nineties Rivieras.

The 1979-85 model had strange proportions. It too narrow for my taste and it also seemed too tall. The interior wasn't very happy either. The 1995-99 model had a relatively nice front end, but from the rear, it looked strange. The taillights were not wide enough and that, combined with the very rounded shape of the rear quarters made the car look obese...

[MCGARRETT]

Is your Riviera a GS?

I saw that it has the funky air cleaner.

I

[philr]

Yes it is.

This air cleaner was used on the 1967 GS 400 and Riviera GS. It was also available as a dealer accessory in 1967 as it was included in the 430 engine dress-up kit (this kit included chrome plated valve covers, oil cap and the dual inlet fiberglass air cleaner. Today, it's commonly known as the "Star Wars" air cleaner.

[MCGARRETT]

Nice, yes a friend of mine has a 67 GS400 convertible with the air cleaner. It's pretty neat.

I always find it interesting that it's called the "Star Wars" air cleaner, since Star Wars came out a decade after the air cleaner came out, what was it called from 1967 to 1977?


I like that Expo 67 tag on the GS 400.

[philr]

Originally Posted by MCGARRETT

Nice, yes a friend of mine has a 67 GS400 convertible with the air cleaner. It's pretty neat.

I always find it interesting that it's called the "Star Wars" air cleaner, since Star Wars came out a decade after the air cleaner came out, what was it called from 1967 to 1977?

Buick called it dual inlet air cleaner...

Originally Posted by MCGARRETT

I like that Expo 67 tag on the GS 400.

There used to be one on my Riv's front bumper (and the matching rear license plate in the trunk) but I didn't reinstall it when the front bumper was replaced. Before the late seventies, we used to have two license plates on our cars in Quebec but since the front one is no more required here, some people reinstalled their old plates that matched the car's model year. 1967 plates are unusual as the front plate had small numbers on it to leave place for the "Expo 67" while the rear license plate had larger numbers.