1978 Buick Riviera: The LXXV Anniversary Edition

The 1978 Riviera carried over the B-body design, this record's own overview states, with total production at 20,535, including a 75th-anniversary LXXV edition counted at 2,899 by the Riviera Owners Association's own production page and 2,889 by Wikipedia. This record's own conflicts section lists that LXXV discrepancy twice, once as the headline Owners-Association-versus-Wikipedia disagreement and again as an internal one-digit disagreement between the Owners Association's own production and Evolution pages on one side and its own color-and-trim page on the other; both pairs of figures are shown rather than resolved.^1,2,3

This record's own options section describes the LXXV package by name rather than a letter code, "ANNIVERSARY BUICK, 75th," priced at $586 and specifying Designers' Accent Paint in black and silver with leather 50-50 seats, carpeting and seat belts all in gray; its own note, drawn from the Owners Association's Evolution article, states that Buick initially intended to build only 1,000 LXXV cars but that demand extended the run. This record's own conflicts section separately notes the Owners Association's own Evolution text giving 20,353 Rivieras built for 1978 against its own production table's 20,535, with the table figure kept.^4,5

This record's own key facts section, drawn from the Evolution article, states that air conditioning at $581 reached 99.8 percent of 1978 Rivieras, cruise control at $95 reached 91.4 percent, a vinyl roof 90.8 percent, a stereo tape player 64.6 percent and the factory in-dash CB radio 7.1 percent. This record's own prices section carries a single figure for the sport coupe, $9,223.50, transcribed from the Owners Association's own 1978 options-and-prices header rather than from a separately dated revision.^5,4

This record's own engines section is empty for 1978, engine choices appearing instead inside the options section itself; this record's own options section itemizes 51 entries in total, including a $679 automatic climate control system, a $591 credit for deleting air conditioning entirely, a no-charge choice among 2.73, 3.08 and 3.23 rear axle ratios, a $64 Positive Traction differential, a $199 four-wheel disc brake option, and a $25 heavy-duty engine and transmission cooling package.⁴

This record's own paint table carries 18 colours from the Owners Association's 1978 chart, its own note describing three two-tone treatments, Silver with Dark Gray, Dark Blue with Medium Blue and Tan with Gold, plus seven vinyl-top colour codes. Its interiors section carries 11 trims: a standard vinyl 50/50 bench with armrest in Green or Tan, five white-vinyl Accent-A-Color choices in Green, Blue, Saffron, Tan or Black accents, and a standard crushed-velour-cloth 50/50 bench with armrest in Blue, Tan, Black or Red; the LXXV's own gray leather interior is described only in the options section's own text, not as a separate row here.³

This record's own specifications section carries seven 1978 figures from the Owners Association's weights-and-measures table: a 3,900-pound curb weight, a 115.9-inch wheelbase, front and rear track of 61.8 and 60.7 inches, a 218.2-inch overall length, a 74.4-inch width, a 55.0-inch height, and a GR78x15 tire size. This record's own identification and unpublished-leads sections are both empty for the year, and its own performance and transmissions sections carry no entries either.⁶