Origins The Riviera name 1949 Buick Roadmaster Riviera (one of the first hardtops) 1959 Buick Electra 225 Riviera The Riviera name was resurrected for two concept cars that were displayed at auto shows in 2007 and in 2013. A total of 1,127,261 Rivieras were produced. While the early models stayed close to their original form, eight subsequent generations varied substantially in size and styling. Unlike its subsequent GM E platform stablemates, the Oldsmobile Toronado and Cadillac Eldorado, the Riviera was initially a front engine/rear-wheel drive platform, switching to front-wheel drive starting with the 1979 model year. It was a ground-up design on a new GM E platform debuting for the 1963 model year and was also Buick's first unique Riviera model. Production of the redesigned Third Generation Thunderbird lasted from 1961 through 1963 when it was replaced by the Fourth Generation wearing a more squared-off design.The Buick Riviera is a personal luxury car that was marketed by Buick from 1963 to 1999, with the exception of the 1994 model year.Īs General Motors' first entry into the personal luxury car market segment, the Riviera was highly praised by automotive journalists upon its high-profile debut. The Thunderbird played a starring role in the popular television series 77 Sunset Strip. The innovative and popular 1961 Thunderbird was selected to pace the 50th Anniversary of the Indianapolis 500 that year, and also featured prominently in John F. A final engine, the Thunderbird Special V8 was similar to the other engines but with three Holley two-barrel carburetors and 400 horsepower. The Thunderbird Special V8 engine was also a 390 CID unit with Holley four-barrel carburetors but a higher compression horsepower and 375 available horsepower. The overhead valve 390 cubic-inch V8 was given a Holley four-barrel carburetor and produced 300 horsepower. A total of 73,051 examples were sold in 1961. A total of 10,516 examples of the convertible were sold at the base price of $4640. The 2-door hardtop sold for $4,170 and proved to be very popular with a total of 62,535 examples sold. Standard equipment included a new 390 cubic-inch V8, power steering, power brakes, and a cruise-O-Matic transmission. The 1961 Ford Thunderbird was completed new they were wider, lower, longer, and heavier than the prior year's model and rested on a new chassis with 'Controlled Recession Suspension'. The interior was the work of designer Art Querfeld, who penned separate compartments for the front occupants, going so far as to move the glovebox to the prominent center console to avoid any seams in his gracefully flowing design. It could be ordered with the optional 'Swing Away' steering wheel - with the car in park and the driver's door opened, the steering column would slide about 18 inches to the right, affording better ingress and egress for the driver. The 3rd-gen personal luxury car introduced numerous 'firsts' to the automotive marketplace, most notably the windshield-mounted 'floating' rear-view mirror, an item commonplace on most vehicles today. Its styling was sleeker its design was a far cry from the previous Thunderbird with curvaceous lines, tail lamps, a dramatic and distinct nose, and jet-link fins. The side glass and windshield were very similar in size and shape and both featured dash designs that swept around into the door panels. Both cars had 'dual unit' body structures using separate front and rear sections that were welded together at the cowl. Both the Thunderbird and the Continental had many elements in common, shared the same platform in production, and were built on the same assembly line in Wixom, Michigan. 'We wanted to keep it very youthful, and that meant aircraft and missile-like shapes,' Boyer once recalled. Engel's design for the 1961 Thunderbird was adapted to four doors to become the 1961 Lincoln Continental, while Boyer's rocket-inspired model was chosen as the new Thunderbird. Engel's career included tutelage under Harley Earl and later the role of the chief stylist at Chrysler Corporation. Two designs had been considered for the new Thunderbird - one by body-engineer Bill Boyer and the other by Elwood Engle. The third-generation Thunderbird was known as the 'Bullet Birds' and they wore a design by Boll Boyer.
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