This story begins back in mid spring of 2009. I was driving home from work one evening when I was cut off by a passing motorist merging from an ending lane. My initial reaction was like anyone else’s who just got cut off, but my anger was cut short. My emotions went from being angry at the driver to the amazement of the vehicle. I then began to speed up to it. I wanted to get a closer look and find out more about it. I’m sure the driver had some different thoughts as to my approach. I soon found it to be a Buick Riviera. It was gold colour and the paint job was chipping away. The engine roared with power as I heard it run. I got a chance to pull up beside it at the lights and got a good side view of it. I had to make a right hand turn home. The driver was heading in the opposite direction. I quickly got a pen and paper and wrote down the make and model of this vehicle. I got home and dashed to my computer to begin my search. I typed in “Pictures of Buick Riviera’s” to see if I can find what I saw. I found the picture with the year captioned underneath it. This is where my research and interest began.

I found out that this body style was only built between 71’ to 73’ and built out of Michigan, U.S.A. (Wikipida does wonders). A month later I bought a die-cast 1:18 model of a 71’ Buick Riviera in hopes that one day I would have a real one to drive on my own. Some weeks after, I began to wonder just how much they go for present day. I found a lot up for sale in the states but not a whole lot in Canada, seemed to me to be a rarity this far north. More time had pasted and I found one close to home sitting along a highway. It shocked me at first to see it there. I turned the car around pulled over in front of it and got out to get my first close up look. It looked good from a far but up close, it was far from good. It required a lot of T.L.C. A lot more then I could afford. My search continued. I then stumbled across a beauty from Strathroy, Ontario. She was in great shape and reasonably affordable. That following weekend I drove for 3 hours to see this Rivi in person. She was more beautiful in person. Great colour, solid body and well taken care of. I had a chance to speak to the owner and got some history/background on it as well.

The following week I went back for another look but this time I came with an appraiser. After I got the good word from the appraiser and the pre-purchase inspection was complete, it was time to talk a deal. The owner and I tossed some numbers around and came to a happy median. A week later, I drove it home and I am now a proud owner of a 1973 Buick Riviera Boattail.

Glen Card