This week for Fan Car Friday  we bring you David and his gorgeous 1972 Buick Riviera Gran Sport.  Fan Car Friday is a segment where we want to share with the world the automobiles that our fans have. We have absolutely no affiliation/relationship with the cars, the build or the owners. This post was made with written consent from the owner.

“I have always been passionate about these Boattails.
When I was six years old I witnessed my first Boattail Riviera.
Since that time I had seen Thunderbolt and light foot with Clint Eastwood and Jeff Bridges. They stole one and beat the snot out of it. While watching that chase scene I told my Father, I need that! He said go get a job and save your money.
So I walked down to the General store and got a job.
I bought my first 1972 Riviera at the age of 14 with my own money and I kept that for seven years.
Following finding a lower mileage and much better condition car. I bought the car locally in 2000 and owned that for another seven years. Sold that car when I fell on hard times back in 2007. It took my seven additional years . Back in 2014 I purchased my third 1972 Riviera which ended up being wrecked on our way to the 2017 Buick meet on Long Island.
So I set out to find my dream car. The 1972 Riviera Gran Sport with a factory sunroof. I scored by way of using the Riviera Owners Association membership roster. I found the one! In Fairport, NY. A mere 400 mile drive.
So I went, looked at and immediately purchased the car. Which is a very nicely presented car.“

The Buick Riviera is a personal luxury car that was marketed by Buick from 1963 to 1999, with the exception of the 1994 model year.

As General Motors’ first entry into the personal luxury car market segment, the Riviera was highly praised by automotive journalists upon its high-profile debut. The ground-up design that debuted for 1963 was also Buick’s first unique Riviera model, and it pioneered the GM E platform.

Unlike its subsequent GM E platform stablemates, the Oldsmobile Toronado and Cadillac Eldorado, the Riviera was initially a standard front engine/rear-wheel drive platform, only switching to front-wheel drive starting for 1979.

While the early models stayed close to their original form, eight subsequent generations varied substantially in size and styling. A total of 1,127,261 Rivieras were produced.

The Riviera name was resurrected for two concept cars that were displayed at auto shows in 2007 and in 2013.

The Riviera was radically redesigned for the 1971 model year with flowing and dramatic “boat-tail” styling.[22] Designed under Bill Mitchell’s direction, it was penned by Jerry Hirshberg, future head of design for Nissan, mating the two-piece vee-butted[8]:792 fastback rear window, inspired by the 1963 Corvette Sting Ray split window coupe, to the Riviera’s platform.

The design was originally intended for the smaller GM A platform (which Buick eventually assigned to the Century and Regal in 1973), and the use of the Riviera’s body—expanded for 1971 by 3 in (76 mm) in wheelbase and more than 120 lb (54 kg) heavier—produced controversial looks, which made it a sharp departure from those of the Toronado and Eldorado. (Collectible Automobile ran an article about 1971–76 full-sized Buicks in which one sketch design for their 2-door coupes which was rejected resembled the 1971–73 Riviera).

This generation introduced a much more visual representation of the “sweepspear”, with a more faithful representation to the version that appeared on 1950s Buicks in both the side molding and beltline.

The 455 engine had a lower compression ratio to meet EPA emissions requirements, reducing power to 255 hp (190 kW), with 265 hp (198 kW) in the Gran Sport. Performance remained reasonably brisk, with a 0–60 time of 8.1 seconds for the GS, but the Riviera’s sporty image was rapidly fading. One noteworthy advance was Buick’s Max Trac limited-slip differential. The 1971 Riviera also features GM’s “Full-Flo” ventilation system and two large deck lid louvers are prominent on the trunk lid.

Despite these features, Riviera sales for 1971 dropped to 33,810, the lowest to date. The 1972 Riviera was little changed, with the 455 engine switching to net power ratings, 225 hp (168 kW) or 250 hp (190 kW) with the Gran Sport, although the actual drop in net power was only 5 hp (3.7 kW). Sales remained moribund at 33,728.

The 1972 models featured a redesigned ventilation system and the louvers were removed from trunk lid.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buick_Riviera

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