![]() ![]() In the intramural competition that followed, Ed Rollert personally made Buick's pitch to GM's executive policy committee. Buick general manager Ed Rollert and sales manager Roland Withers both felt strongly that their division needed an image maker like the LaSalle II. At that point, General Motors decided to let Pontiac, Buick, and Oldsmobile compete for the right to build the car. Mitchell initially urged Cadillac to produce the LaSalle II, but it soon became obvious that Cadillac general manager Jim Roche wasn't interested. Mitchell referred to the LaSalle II's styling as looking "Ferrari/Rolls-Royce." Mitchell, added the clean, shapely, slightly razor-edged body sculpting plus the eggcrate grille. GM Design Staff, meanwhile, gave it its official experimental number, XP-715, and Nickles' boss, GM design vice-president William L. Because of the fender uprights, which took their inspiration from the 1939-1940 LaSalle grille, Nickles called this concept car the LaSalle II. He originally conceived the car not as a Buick, but as a four-place Cadillac. For more information on cars, see:ĭesigner Ned Nickles, in one of GM's advanced styling studios, kicked off the original Buick Riviera with those big twin parking lamps on the fronts of the fenders. In the next section, learn more about the history behind the Buick Riviera's design. After the Toronado's first year, when sales of Toronados and Rivieras ran neck and neck, Rivieras outsold Toronados by nearly 100 percent in 1967-1969 and by about 33 percent for 1970. There's no question that Buick made the right decision in going with rear drive. It now had a single cardan joint in the driveline instead of doubles. Finally, Ryder notes that the 1966-1970 Riviera stood slightly taller than the first-generation coupe. The Riviera had specific toeboards but a common floor from the third frame member back. The 1966 Riviera also shared the Toronado's rocker sills and the rear section of the Toronado's floorpan. ![]() Ryder, the 1966 Riviera used a cruciform frame similar to the previous generation's but exclusive to the Buick Riviera, with a 119-inch wheelbase for 1966-1970, two inches longer than in 1963-1965. According to Buick's chief body engineer, George R. The frame and undercarriage, though, were very different. Both cars used the same cowl, roof, glass, and inner doors. The rear-drive 1966 Buick Riviera did end up sharing some of the Toronado's sheet-metal stampings. The cycle was repeated a number of times. The test mules were put in Drive, driven hard down the mountain, then driven back up to come down again. To evaluate the finned, aluminum-clad, 12-inch front drum brakes that appeared on the 1966 Riviera, Kintigh had his brake development people test them over and over down Pikes Peak. Buick had almost always prided itself on its brakes. Ride was one of Buick's hallmarks, but another was braking ability. He drove hard and fast, often dusting the lonely mountain roads of Arizona and Colorado at speeds that made his fellow engineers distinctly nervous. To him, what a car felt like on the road meant everything.Īccording to those who worked with Kintigh, he had an almost unbelievable sensitivity for the feel of a car. He remained, throughout his career, a staunch believer in over-the-road testing. They had a tendency to understeer, especially when pushed to the limit.īowser went on to become Buick's chief engineer in 1968, but throughout the first-and second-generation Riviera's development, Lowell Kintigh held that position. Buick engineers didn't like the way the big front-wheel-drive pretest vehicles rode and handled. Bowser, cited a third reason why Buick chose not to make the 1966 Riviera front-drive. DeCou and other engineers changed bearing angles and lubrication systems and redesigned the differential.ĭeCou's boss, Phillip C. The team was having problems burning up pinion bearings due to lubrication issues. In other words, Buick's engineering research and development (R&D) department were charged with developing the front-wheel-drive differential mechanism and drive axles, a project that ended up in the lap of a 30-year-old Buick engineer named Jack DeCou. In 1963-1964, Buick had responsibility for that part of the Toronado's front-drive system between the Hydra-Matic and the inner constant-velocity joints. Also, pre-prototype testing showed durability problems with the front-wheel-drive differential bearings. Yet the 1966 Toronado's list price was only $161 more than the Buick Riviera's. In 1966 dollars, front-wheel drive made the Toronado $400 more expensive to manufacture than the Buick Riviera. Buick opted out of the front-drive program for a few reasons, particularly cost. ![]()
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