1988 Buick Riviera: The Low Point, and the Redesigned 3800

Production for 1988 is listed at 8,625 by the Owners Association's own table, this record's own overview states, a figure Wikipedia's own production table agrees with, per this record's own sourced note; this record's own dek calls 1988 the low point of the small Riviera, with 2,065 of the 8,625 built as T-Types. This record's own overview repeats the seventh-generation description carried since 1986: a transverse 3.8-liter V-6, front-wheel drive on a 108-inch wheelbase, no turbocharged model, and the T-Type as a trim and handling package rather than an engine choice, sourced once again to both the Owners Association and Wikipedia together.^1,2

This record's own key facts section, drawn from the Evolution article, states that the redesigned 3800 V-6 gave 165 horsepower, itself described as 10 percent more, and that the $1,765 T-Type option included a Gran Touring suspension, quick-ratio steering, 15-inch aluminum wheels wearing P215/65R15 Eagle GT+4 tires, 16-way leather-and-cloth bucket seats, silver lower accent paint and a 2.97 final drive; the same entry states that almost 25 percent of the year's 8,625 Rivieras, or 2,065 cars, were built as T-Types.³

This record's own conflicts section carries a price disagreement between two Owners Association pages: its own options-and-prices transcription gives $20,267, described in its own claim text as the same figure printed on the options pages for 1986 and 1987, while its own Evolution article instead gives $21,615; this record's own treatment note says the Evolution figure leads because the options-page price repeats unchanged across those three years.^4,3

This record's own specifications section carries a weight discrepancy of its own: the weights-and-measures table gives a 3,298-pound curb weight for 1988, while a separate row sourced to the Evolution article states that weight rose 44 pounds to 3,364, its own note explaining that the weights table itself gives 3,298 for 1988 and 3,364 for 1989. This record's own engines section is empty for 1988, engine detail appearing instead inside the key facts entry rather than as a separate structured row with its own displacement, induction and rating fields.^5,3

This record's own paint table carries 13 colours from the Owners Association's 1988 chart, its own note describing five accent-treatment pairings under code D84 and nine Landau vinyl-top colour codes not offered on T-Types. Its interiors section carries 22 trims, opening with a standard cloth bucket seat in Blue and Rosewood among its listed colours, every row citing the same 1988 color-and-trim chart as its source.⁶

This record's own options section itemizes 34 entries in total, including a $1,167 leather-and-suede driver-performance bucket-seat option under code AF9, a $795 heavily padded Landau top under code C84 that this record's own text notes is unavailable with either Y50 or Y56, an $80 automatic day/night rearview mirror under code DO8, and a $315 six-way power passenger seat standard on the T-Type. 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, leaving the key facts, conflicts and specifications sections as this record's own richest sources for 1988.⁴