The Buick Riviera was a somewhat unusual car from the beginning, but it’s hard to beat the third-generation examples for being over the top in outside appearance. Beginning in 1971, the Riviera received a redesign featuring a large fastback rear window, along with a tail-end resembling a boat. It wasn’t as well-received as Buick had hoped, with ’71 sales sliding to fewer than 34,000 units, an all-time low since the car’s introduction as a 1963 model. Over the years, I’ve grown to appreciate the 1971-73 bodies, and this 1972 Buick Riviera here on Craigslist looks lonesome sitting inside its garage in Campbellsville, Kentucky. With a little love, this one could probably become a nice driver, and the asking price of $8,500 sounds reasonable. We’d like to thank reader Rocco B. for the tip here!
This is another sad story where the owner has long since passed away, with his son telling us the Buick has been sitting here since 1999. He also shares that his father bought the car back in 1976, so it’s possible that this could be just a two-owner vehicle, although that’s not implied or confirmed. All of the panels look solid, with only the right quarter mentioned as having some bodywork performed, which the seller says could stand some additional attention.
Unless buyers opted for the GS model, a 250 net horsepower 455 was the standard powerplant, capable of moving the 4,500-pound personal luxury car around ably by 1972 standards. The owner mentions that a total of 110,000 miles were accumulated prior to the Riviera being parked, and it hasn’t been started since 2015. At that time, the V8 is said to have been running rich, so at minimum, a carb rebuild will be needed. Other seller recommendations include a new exhaust system and a fresh set of tires.
It doesn’t appear that much attempt was made to tidy up the interior before the photo shoot, as the carpet hasn’t been vacuumed, and for some reason, mats are covering the top of the rear seat and part of the package tray. Perhaps with a thorough cleaning, the upholstery will look a lot better, and the dash and instrument cluster seem to still be in good condition already. Twenty-six years is a long time to be sitting, and I hope this one will find a buyer who will give the auto the attention it deserves. Is this 1972 Buick Riviera one you’d enjoy getting back on the road?
IMHO these were one of the classiest-looking offerings from GM for its time. Looks like some good bones to begin a refurbishment project, and tuning that motor a little higher would be all the better but not really necessary.
CB 🎙 antenna 📡
My cousin had one in high school in the 1990’s. He had a giant amp and two 18″ subs in an enclosure and still had more trunk space than his dad’s suburban. The thing is just massive.
Prolly wanna do a compression check. Beautiful classic if it checks out!
How can you go wrong? Wish it was closer to me. These are like driving a Cris Craft on a early morning glass water cruise. Nice driver for minimum outlay.
All power and torque with that drivetrain. This one is a savable one that needs a little work!
I loved my ’76 Riv, it was even featured in the Riviera Owners Group magazine.
Mark, you stated ‘all power and torque’…mine had the 455ci motor but it was substantially de-tuned. All in all, it was still pure elegance going down the road!
Another car I regretted letting go…sigh
Wow. Absolutely beautiful Riv JimZ.
The blue and white top. Wire wheel/whitewall 👌
One of the very few beautiful cars to come out of the 70s IMHO.That 67 Corvette inspired boat tail to me is design genius.I’d love to have this..room and distance are stopping me.Someone grab this beauty please.
Damn! It’s a bench seat with a column shift. My ’72 was the same with leather.
I love the 71 & 72 Riv. The ’73, not so much. I also love GMs crotch cooler vents for the heat/a/c. One item that should have never gone away
👍 on the vents Angel
Are you sure your 72 had leather? My 72 looks like vinyl buckets to me. I wonder if leather was an option in 72?
I sold it today, thanks for everyone’s interest.
@Roseland Pete
You are correct, I got mixed up on my cars. It was vinyl as leather was not offered in the ’72 Riviera.
The bench seat was standard, no charge 60/40 and buckets were optional.
My ’72 had a full standard bench seat and my ’71 had buckets and console as did my ’70.
It’s easy to get mixed up. I’m still amazed that leather wasn’t standard, or at least optional, on what was–to my way of thinking, anyway–a luxury car.
That was the great thing about cars back then, you could order them sporty or luxury or both.
I think the Riviera fell into the both category. Especially if you got the GS option with all the power options.
My ’70 was sporty/luxury as was my ’71 but the ’72 was just luxury.
One of these crossed an intersection in front of me while I was stopped at a red light. These cars have real presence in this day of cookie cutter mini SUVs and pickups.