This cocky coupe is a throwback to a time when Buick made hits, and it’s much more appealing than anything in the brand’s current range, which is made up of only SUVs. Even after 50 years, the distinctive boattail shape is still beautiful, and brown on tan has never been a better color combo. This 1972 Riviera will no longer be up for sale on Bring a Trailer after Thursday, September 14. Buick’s current lineup comprises decent cars that are easy to forget and mostly the same. In 1972, however, leaving your Buick Riviera in the garage was cool. Also, unlike most fashion trends from the early 1970s, a brown-and-tan Buick Riviera from 1972 still looks great today. Check out the sale for this Buick Riviera on Bring a Trailer, a Hearst Autos magazine similar to it. It’s a 1972 Buick Riviera from the factory with a plastic roof, electric sunroof, and smooth V-8 performance. It’s as brown as brown can be in the best way. It’s like the leather jacket your grandfather wore but for cars. In 1963, the Riviera became a luxury car that stood on its own. It replaced the hardtop form of Buick cars like the Roadmaster. Early Rives had a unique 1960s space race vibe, and they are great cars on their own. During the making of Star Trek, William Shatner’s tough Corvette and Leonard Nimoy’s classy Riviera couldn’t have been more different. As the 1960s went on, the Riviera lost much of what made it unique and grand when it first opened. With the boattail design of the third generation, which came out in 1971, the Riviera’s reputation grew again. Since GM’s vice president of strategy, Bill Mitchell was in charge of making it, it looks like a mix of the Corvette and earlier Rivieras. Mitchell’s plans for the 1963 Corvette and 1963 Riviera were used on Christmas Eve, 1961. The third-generation Riviera was made by Jerry Hirschberg, whom Mitchell hired. Hirschberg thought the car was a little too big, but no one can deny that a boattail Riviera is beautiful. This one, which has been fixed up a lot in the last ten years, is said to have belonged to the current owner’s father. Under the swollen hood is a 455-cubic-inch V-8 engine with 250 horsepower from the factory. That’s not much of a reason for a big barge to move, but once the Riviera gets rolling, it will be as successful as its predecessors as a roadmaster. Consider how much attention this car will get even when sitting still or going slowly. Accent lines on the sides of the vehicle draw attention to its wide hips, and the tiny V of the back taillights looks like it came from a rocket. A Riviera from this time could be easily turned into a CGI Star Wars land speeder, and the driver would be more relaxed than Lando Calrissian. He could become Billy Dee Williams, for all we know. The original window sticker shows a long list of extras, such as the motorized sunroof, air conditioning, an AM/FM radio, six-way power seats, and an AM/FM stereo. On the 15-inch wheels, there is a CD player and new Hankook Optima tires. The number on the odometer is 89,000 km. When the 1971 Buick Riviera came out, some of Bill Mitchell’s workers didn’t like it. But he told them that he wanted the car to become a classic, and it did.
