1987 Buick Riviera: Sales Fall as the Seventh Generation Settles In

The seventh-generation Riviera used a transverse 3.8-liter V-6 and front-wheel drive on a 108-inch wheelbase, this record's own overview states, with no turbocharged model and the T-Type continuing as a trim and handling package; production for 1987 is listed at 15,223 by the Owners Association's own table, a figure Wikipedia's own production table agrees with. This record's own dek states that sales fell to that 15,223 total, of which 2,587 were T-Types.^1,2

This record's own engines section gives the 3.8-liter SFI V-6, now fitted with roller lifters under engine code LG3, at 150 horsepower and 200 pound-feet of torque per Wikipedia's own text, its own note adding that the Owners Association instead lists 142 horsepower. This record's own key facts section is empty for 1987; the overview, engines and options sections carry the year's narrative detail instead. This record's own engines section carries only that one entry, with no separate turbo or diesel row, matching the seventh-generation single-engine layout this record's own overview describes for the year.²

This record's own conflicts section carries a price disagreement between two Owners Association pages: its own options-and-prices transcription gives $20,267 for the base car, while its own Evolution article gives $20,337; this record's own treatment note says simply that both ROA pages are shown. This record's own prices section repeats both figures as separate rows alongside the T-Type's own $22,052 options-page price, all three rows sourced to the Owners Association's own transcriptions rather than to Wikipedia.^3,4

This record's own identification section carries the year's 17-character VIN breakdown, sourced to gnttype.org's own VIN table: a USA and GM prefix, a Buick digit, an E-body series letter, a Z for Riviera sales level or Y for T Type, a body-style digit, a manual-belts restraint digit, an LG3 3.8 SFI V-6 engine digit, a check digit, an H for 1987, a U for the Hamtramck plant, and a serial number from 400001. This record's own options section itemizes 46 entries in total, opening with a $1,167 leather-and-suede driver-performance bucket-seat option under code AF9.^5,3

This record's own paint table carries 14 colours from the Owners Association's 1987 chart, its own note saying all were metallic except white and tan, Firemist shades cost extra, and describing four accent treatments under code D84: Medium Blue with Light Blue, Light Rosewood with Medium Rosewood, Dark Brown Firemist with Light Brown, and Red with Dark Red. Its interiors section carries 21 trims, opening with a standard cloth bucket seat in Blue and Rosewood among its listed colours.⁶

This record's own specifications section carries seven 1987 figures from the Owners Association's weights-and-measures table: a 3,298-pound curb weight, a 108.0-inch wheelbase, front and rear track of 59.9 and 59.9 inches, a 187.2-inch overall length, a 71.7-inch width, a 53.5-inch height, and a dual P205/70R14 standard and P215/60R15 optional tire size. This record's own unpublished-leads section is empty for the year, and its own performance and transmissions sections carry no entries either, leaving the identification, conflicts and options sections as this record's own richest sources for 1987.⁷