Buick Riviera Price Guide

The Buick Riviera is the most important car Buick ever made. When Bill Mitchell’s design team unveiled it at the 1963 New York Auto Show, it redefined what an American personal luxury car could look like. This was clean, restrained, European in proportion, and entirely without the chrome excess that had come to define Detroit. Car and Driver called it “the most beautiful American car since the war.” It remains one of the great American designs.

The Range

The Riviera ran from 1963 to 1999 across seven generations. The dataset here covers 1965 to 1985; the peak of the model’s design and commercial success. The first generation 1963–1965 established the design; the second generation 1966–1970 added performance with the Gran Sport package; subsequent generations became progressively larger, heavier, and less distinctive before the 1979 downsizing partially recovered the formula.

Buying

The 1963–1965 Riviera is the collector’s car, with values that have risen dramatically. The 1966–1970 cars offer the Gran Sport performance and a boattail body style that divides opinion sharply. Post-1970 cars are more affordable.