Good morning! I haven’t decided whether this week’s pairings will be same-make or same-price. Today, we have both, with a couple of old Buicks for three grand each.
I must confess I’m disappointed in you all; I featured a car called Rocky on Friday, and no one made a Project Hail Mary joke. No one. Do I have do do everything? Sigh … fine. “Wow, a Rocky? I haven’t seen one of those in years! Amaze! Excite!” There, was that so hard? I guess it doesn’t matter, because the little Daihatsu 4×4 lost. The Nissan Pulsar edged it out due mainly to parts availability, it sounds like.
I’m definitely on Team Pulsar here. I like little 4x4s like the Rocky, but life would be much easier with a Geo Tracker instead, I suspect. That generation of Pulsar is actually on my (surprisingly short) list of cars to watch for, and if it were closer and I was richer, I’d probably be really interested in it. Ah well, maybe someday.
It’s not fair, in some ways, that Oldsmobile and Pontiac are long gone, but Buick still wheezes along. All GM’s least-exciting division offers these days is a bunch of crossovers that are basically Chevrolets with giant chrome grilles. But it did have its moments, and for a very long time, if you just wanted a comfortable car, didn’t care at all about handling, and couldn’t afford a Cadillac, Buick had you covered. Let’s take a look at a couple of Buicks from days of yore, and see which one you’d rather have today.
1977 Buick Electra Limited Park Avenue – $3,000
Engine/drivetrain: 403 cubic inch OHV V8, three-speed automatic, RWD
Location: Downers Grove, IL
Odometer reading: 97,000 miles
Operational status: “It runs”
I guess it’s fitting that a big, ostentatious car like this should have a big, ostentatious name. Little cars have little names – Colt, Metro, Yaris – so the big cars should have big names. The way this one breaks down is that Electra is the model name, Limited is the trim level, and Park Avenue is an option package on top of that. The name stayed long for ’77, but the actual car shrank by a foot and lost several hundred pounds of weight compared to the 1976 model. There’s still a good chance it won’t fit in your garage, though.
Under this car’s smaller but still massive hood is a smaller but still massive V8 engine, a 403 cubic inch monster courtesy of Oldsmobile. GM divisions started sharing engines in the mid-1970s, and it caused quite a ruckus for a while. I can’t imagine anyone caring these days. The 403 is a good engine; I had one in a Buick LeSabre, and I can tell you that its biggest fault is atrocious gas mileage. Expect about 11 mpg with this car, but that’s still better than the probably 8 mpg from the previous year with its Buick-built 455 V8. All the seller says about this one’s mechanical condition is “it runs,” but that’s about the best you could expect from any 1977 model year car, even in 1977.
The interior is the saving grace of a car like this. The ride may be too floaty for some tastes, but these seats are more comfortable to sink into than most people’s living room sofas. The padding looks a little beaten down, but the upholstery is in fine shape. This car has no cupholders, but it does have five ashtrays, which says a lot about priorities in the ’70s. Hopefully this one’s ashtrays remain untainted by the ghosts of Marlboro Reds past.
It’s pretty well preserved outside as well, with just a few blemishes in the paint. The seller says the vinyl roof is “showing its age,” which I assume means cracks. It has opera lights on the C-pillars, like any self-respecting ’70s barge, and the front fenders have Buick’s famous “Ventiports,” though they became rectangular when the headlights did. I like the fact that it has the sporty Rally wheels instead of fake wire wheel covers; you see these more often on Skylarks than on Park Avenues.
1992 Buick Riviera – $3,000
Engine/drivetrain: 3.8 liter OHV V6, four-speed automatic, FWD
Location: Clarkston, MI
Odometer reading: 211,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
The personal luxury coupe is a category of car that I still miss. The idea of a comfortable car that’s just for you and your significant other, and maybe occasional passengers, feels decadent. It’s a little treat for yourself. And few cars ever did it better than the Buick Riviera. Starting as a trim level on the Roadmaster in 1949, the Riv became its own model in 1963, and continued for eight generations, not a bad run for a two-door coupe. This is the seventh generation Riviera, which was restyled in 1989 to make it look less like a humble Regal coupe and more like its own thing.
The Riv’s style may be unique, but Buick was wise enough to stick with a tried-and-true drivetrain. Yes, it’s our old friend the 3800 V6, driving the front wheels through a four-speed automatic. This engine is known for longevity, and this one has already done well over 200,000 miles. It was daily driven by the previous owner, and the seller just took it on a 2,000-mile road trip. A bunch of work was done to get it ready for that trip, and it runs and drives great. One thing I did notice is that the ABS warning light is on. If I remember right, that’s a common problem with Rivieras and Toronados, and there’s a part that’s no longer available; the computer, maybe? It does have new brakes, but they’re no longer anti-lock, and probably never will be again.
Inside, it’s a strange mix of high tech (for 1992) and traditional American luxury car elements. It has acres of fake woodgrain on the dash, but a digital instrument cluster. Unfortunately, not all the power doodads work; the power locks have left the chat, and the passenger-side window only goes down part of the way. It’s also missing the key for the locks and trunk, which there’s no excuse for. A locksmith should be able to re-key it cheaply and easily; that’s something that should be taken care of before putting it up for sale.
Outside, its looks are dominated by the aftermarket Dayton wire wheels, which I personally don’t like. I do like the deep blue paint, and it looks like it has held up well. The clearcoat is failing in a few spots, but it’s hardly noticeable in the photos.
If your dream car is, say, a Miata, or something else that actually goes around curves well, I can forgive you for not wanting either of these. No one is going to autocross these two (though I’d applaud anyone who tried). But if you’re tackling a choppy Interstate at 75 miles an hour, you’ll appreciate the soft suspension and cushy seats. On one hand, you have a traditional body-on-frame dinosaur of a sedan, and on the other, a more modern FWD unibody take on the personal luxury coupe theme. They’re the same price; which one appeals to you more?
The Electra has all the keys and no computers to be unobtanium, so the choice is clear to me.
I voted for the Riv as my first car was its sister in a ‘91 Olds Toronado Trofeo coupe.
While the Electra is more my style of car, the Riveria looks to be in much better shape and seems a better spend of the money.
I prefer the Riviera, but it would be a stretch. All of those mechanical and electrical issues, along with the digital dash really turn me off. But I like the looks, EFI, and it might not smell bad. At least this dash is rounded, without the square corners of some 90’s GM cars.
While not a Riviera, I do have a pretty hilarious and endearing friend who brought a ‘90 or ‘91 Reatta (fundamentally a version of the Riviera) to a Tail of the Dragon meetup last year. And he drove it quite spiritedly, too. I was in front of him and was entertained with the screech of FWD 3800 antics as he proceeded to show up and outpace people in much more pedigreed metal in the curves.
It seemed to hold up fine.