Well, it's no secret that another great coupe has bitten the dust. The Riviera has always been a two door, and like other coupes has been written off by their respective manufacturers.

Some people point to the "old fashioned, big car ride" of the Riv. Well, so what. The car is, well, a Buick. It will never handle the road like a well-tuned sports car. For what it is, however, it does well. And what is that? It cruises like few other cars ever have. With 240 horses (supercharged, circa '97) it can literally fly down the road with the slightest touch of the throttle. The ride is absolutely comfortable thank you very much. I'll take a ride across town in this beauty any day as opposed to a fancy panzerwagon. The car's design is breathtaking; nothing else comes close on the road.

And the gas mileage? Yes, the supercharged version of this cruiser does require the full Monte, but it gets over 29 mpg on the road, and over 21 in town. Not too bad!

The only real negative is the large size. I like big cars and this one does not disappoint, but I would have liked to see a trimer version of the marque. Well, the thing's dead so I guess it's a moot point. Perhaps in a few years Buick will come out with a different version of the name that's been a model since 1963.


Amount Paid (US$): 22,000
Condition: Used
Model Year: 1997
Model and Options: supercharged, chrome wheels, s/roof, trac, htd seats