Today's car of the day is Revell's 1971 Buick Riviera.
The Riviera by Buick is an automobile produced by Buick in the United States from the 1963 to 1999 model years, with 1,127,261 produced. The Riviera was radically redesigned for the 1971 model year with flowing and dramatic "boat-tail" styling, mating the two-piece vee-butted fastback rear window, inspired by the 1963 Corvette Sting Ray split window coupe, to the Riviera's platform.
For more information and pictures of the real car please visit: Buick Riviera
Like most of the Revell castings, this Riviera is stunning, but was only ever available as a lowrider. The opening trunk and adjustable axles add play value to a nice casting. I am not offended by the lowrider theme, but a showroom stock example on par with the stock Impalas by Revell, would have been sublime.
One noteworthy advance was Buick's Max Trac, a traction control system that prevented wheelspin during acceleration on slippery surfaces. The 1971 Riviera also features GM's "Full-Flo" ventilation system and two large deck lid louvers are prominent on the trunk lid. Unfortunately, under certain conditions a vacuum was created that sucked rain and exhaust back into the car and the "Full-Flo" ventilation was redesigned and the louvers were removed from trunk lid for the 1972 model year. Despite these features, Riviera sales for 1971 dropped to 33,810, the lowest to date.
The 455 engine had a lower compression ratio to meet EPA emissions requirements, reducing power to 255 hp, with 265 hp in the Gran Sport. Performance remained reasonably brisk, with a 0-60 time of 8.1 seconds for the GS, but the Riviera's sporty image was rapidly fading.
