When a car is truly not exceptional, but it appears someone worked very hard at loving it, you tend to feel sorry for everyone involved. There were likely many different vehicles they could have bought over the years, but no – they stand by their car. The Buick Riviera is a storied nameplate in GM’s history, but things took a turn when the E-body platform was introduced. This was the era when GM was consumed with downsizing its cars yet somehow trying to convince consumers that nothing had changed. The car shown here is a rare T-Type variant of the 1986 Riviera, and it was well-loved before an ill-conceived engine replacement. Find it here on eBay for $1,499.
The seller, which has a history of offering up interesting project cars, notes that this is likely better suited as a parts vehicle. However, it seems like it was under the care of a long-term steward who was given bad advice as it relates to maintenance. The original engine developed an unknown issue, and the shop servicing the vehicle recommended engine replacement. Having been in a situation with an older vehicle and in an area with only one service facility, this is not surprising – engine removal and swapping in a used motor or a rebuilt unit from the likes of Jasper is seen as a more cost-effective solution over actual diagnosis. Regardless, the Riviera never ran again.
It’s a shame, too, because it looks like it was quite nice before being dumped as a parts vehicle or perhaps left at the mechanic’s shop. The interior is equipped with nicely preserved sport buckets seats, and at one time, it had the rare CRT system, which of course was yanked before ending up here. As a T-Type model, it left the factory with firmer suspension settings, a 3-spoke steering wheel, unique alloy wheels, and quicker ratio steering. Speed was not a strong suit, and the standard 3.8L V6 was considered fairly uninspired by most road test editors at the time.
In fact, reviews for this era of product at GM were fairly tepid overall. The rush to downsize its lineup without much thought given to the perception consumers would have of their favorite brands shows how short-sighted product planning was at the time. To take a car like the Riviera and convert it into a stubby, FWD coupe made it a hard sell among consumers. Still, it’s always refreshing to see that at least one owner stuck with their car, even if a repair facility ultimately signed its death warrant. Will this 140 horsepower T-Type ever sing again? For $1,500, someone will hopefully try.
T-Type was always synonymous with a Turbo I thought. âŠī¸ đ
“T” was for “Touring.”
This is only useful as a parts car if there is someone out there restoring one, and that’s hard to imagine. Besides, the most valuable part – the CRT – is gone.
Car and Driver had one of these as a long-term test car. Their first review was so scathing that Buick actually took the car back about half-way through the year. The magazine wrote a final summary, calling the car a “Medium-term Buick.”
Our finance manager had an `86 Riviera T-Type as his demo at Fanning Cadillac-Buick in Chicago.
We made a spot delivery of it one day and after he cleared his stuff out of it, the porter came running into my office in a panic.
I walked out to the service drive, and there was a razor blade hanging out of the inside of the windshield.
Buick had a soft, liquid membrane coating on the inside as a version of safety glass.
And when he removed a temporary parking sticker the blade went a good 1/8 inch into the glass. \o/
No possible repair, so we had to order a replacement windshield.
I can confirm T was for Touring and not turbo.
Before the LeSabre T-Types came out `87-`89, you could order a T package on standard Custom or Limited LeSabres, which came with the touring suspension, larger wheels and a gauge package, along with black T logos on the fenders.
(LeSabre T-Types had T-Type logos on the B pillar.)
But you could not get a console shift on LeSabre, except for the T-Type in which it was standard.
All models Skyhawk through Riviera offered T-Type models, but not all offered a T package separately.
Skyhawks and Riviera’s up through `85 were available with optional turbos.
The latter because the V6 engine was not yet transverse mounted, until the `86 redesign.
In `86 pre-production testing, the FWD transmissions could not take the torque of the turbos with transverse mounted engines other than in Skyhawks.
Which is why no LeSabres, Electras or Rivieras (after `85) had turbos.
I had to do a double-take to make sure this wasn’t my car. I had the exact same car in the same area and when the nylon timing gear lost its teeth, the valves met an untimely death by piston. I had sold it to a co-worker for like $100. A few years later, it ended up in an impound lot in Chicago. That was the last I heard of it. Forty Years later, it’s still one of my all-time favorite cars. I’ve seen a few decent examples for sale in the last few years but none in this color combo.
worth to have sitting around if you own especially for the electronics
Too nice of a car for a parts car! There must be someone who wants to get this beauty back on the road!
My internal car math puts that endeavor at about 15-17 grand. It’s worth about 4-5 grand fully sorted.
This vehicle is a stub, lol!