any way to tell a turbo rivera from a distance?

[Vendor Defendor]

is there any way of telling a turbo rivera just by looking at it? just wondering because by my house there is a guy who has been spending a lot of time doing some body work to a rivera, and i personally wouldnt waste my time in restoring a mid 80's rivera.. so i was wondering if there is any thing special about the car.. is there a way of telling if it is a turbo rivera by looking at it?

I tyred posting this over in the lounge, but someone said that a couple Turbo rivera owners hung around in here. so i figured i would give it a whack

TIA

-Neil

 

[racemybuick]

body markings

The best way to tell from just looking is the body markings. If it was a turbo Riv, then it would have a black square with a red "T" inside on both front fenders, just behind the wheel. You may also find the "3.8 SFI TURBO" markings on the trunk or dash of the car. Other than that, you may have to get a closer look. Good luck!

John

 

[turbofish38]

Well the easiest way to tell on an 1982 and newer(they put turbos in non T-Types before 81) is first it has to be a T-Type and it should have the T-Type emblem on the sail panels along with the "turbocharged" power 6 emblems on the front fender. Even when they are missing the front park lamps(under the headlamps) will be amber instead of clear and all T's came with the turbine style cast aluminum wheels. Other than that you'll have to pop the hood or check the VIN to tell.

Eric Fisher

 

[turbofish38]

Oh, and BTW the red T in the square type emblems where only used on the 1987 models only. All other years used the word T-Type. This applies to all the Buick models, not just Riv and Regals.

Eric

 

[TRiv]

One other clue, the 84-5 T type Riveras do not have the half Landau roof or opera lights.

To my suprise, the last of the big Rivieras , at least ones in nice condition, get quit a few looks (at least in my part of the world), mine gets almost as much looks as my 1967 Chevelle, and it is a nice blue paint, show quality car, and many of the looks come from women and not all grandmothers either!

Hi Eric , haven't talked to you in awhile, we'll have to swap some Riviera mod ideas here soon. I have got to get some pictures of this custom I'm building on a link soon so I can show you, blackhawk38, and some of the others here what kind of crazy stuff I'm up to.

 

[cool 84]

What about exhaust? The one I saw had bigger exhaust than say a regular Regal or Riviera, at least from looking underneath. The rear was too crushed to tell if it had duals or not.

 

[Vendor Defendor]

humm, maybe i can try and snap a picture of it one of these days... i know it has a hard solid roof all the way, none of that like half canvas top or whatever...

-Neil