One of a kind, 2 year original owner, ll stock, ust free, ccident free, esert Southwest (for the entire 42 years!), eticulously maintained, reat running and driving 1973 Buick Riviera GS Stage 1. A friend of a friend's husband recently passed away from cancer and his widow has asked me to help her sell off his collection. They bought this Riviera Grand Sport Stage 1 brand new in early 1974 from Newby Buick in St. George, tah (located in the desert Southwest about 100 miles north of Las Vegas). The salesperson attempted to steer them to a new body style 1974 Riviera but when they realized 1973 was the last year of the beautiful boat tail they had to have it. Fortunately there was one still left in inventory and it was a top of the line GS in Riviera only Burnt Coral with the desirable and rare (only 3.6% came with it) 455 Stage 1 engine.
The interior is in very good (bordering on excellent) condition. Carpet (minor fading) and headliner (one small tear - see pics) are original. Front and back seats were long ago re-upholstered in cloth because it was the owner's preference. Door panels, ash, ash cover, rim, tc. are in great condition with very limited wear. Stereo is the original AM/FM/8-Track and it works great. Doors open and close solidly and all 4 windows roll up and down properly. Passenger door window has a very small chip in the corner (see pics). All dash functions work except the clock. And all 3 cigarette lighters still work! Driver door functions work properly as well although seat switch sometimes hesitates going backward and mirror adjustment switch seems to have a mind of it's own. AC has been freshly evacuated, ressure tested and recharged with R-134A. It works great. Other than the upholstery (which looks awesome) the interior is all stock, riginal and remarkably well preserved.
The exterior is stunning and was resprayed once long ago in the original Riviera specific Burnt Coral. It was a high quality respray and has aged well. The body is and always has been accident free and rust free. The only flaw is a tiny dent on the left front corner above the headlights. It happened in her driveway just last year (see pics). I suspect a good paintless dent repair guy could fix it. White vinyl roof has some sun damage on the driver side (see pics) as does the rubber weather strip fronting each A pillar... easily fixable stuff. This is one of the few curses of a life spent in the desert. All chrome and trim pieces are in good shape. Trunk is beautiful and gives a good idea of how well-preserved the entire car is. Tires have great tread but are cracking from age (it has been driven sparingly but regularly the last few years). Spare is brand-new, ever used.
The running gear is awesome. Decoding the serial number confirms this is a genuine GS Riviera with the Stage 1 455cid 4bbl 270hp engine. The Stage 1 455 was the highest horsepower engine available in any 1973 personal luxury car. And the odometer has turned over just once. At about that point (sometime in the 1990's) the owner had a brand-new 455 Stage 1 crate motor installed (bought from Newby Buick as well) with an upgraded HEI ignition system because he planned on keeping it forever and wanted only the best. The specially calibrated (part of the GS package) Turbo 400 transmission was rebuilt around the same time as well. The GS option also included beefed up suspension and posi-traction among other things. And a newer dual exhaust has nice turbo mufflers and resonators. I've driven her quite a bit and am blown away by how tightly and solidly she drives. She simply starts, dles, ccelerates, hifts, urns, rakes and stops wonderfully. Talk about a very cool, are, asy to maintain, ractical piece of history.
My name is Chris and I am happy to answer your questions. Please call me at 435-669-1470. I also have almost 200 pictures that show every nook and cranny in great detail. Send me your email address and I'll get them to you. And this car is ready to enjoy today so you may want to consider flying in and driving home. That would be a blast and I'd be happy to help facilitate it. This sweet 1973 Buick Riviera Grand Sport Stage 1 is located in the dry, esert community of Hurricane, tah (about 125 miles north of Las Vegas). Good luck and good bidding.