1997 Buick Riviera: A Reconciled Production Dispute

This record's own dek gives 1997 production directly as either 18,827 or 18,199 depending on source, this record's own overview crediting the eighth-generation car's construction to Orion Township, Michigan, on the G platform shared with the Oldsmobile Aurora. This record's own engines section gives the standard 3800 Series II under code L36 at 205 horsepower and 230 pound-feet of torque, and the supercharged 3800 Series II under code L67 at 240 horsepower and 280 pound-feet, both figures sourced to Wikipedia's own engines table.^1,2

This record's own production section breaks the total down by engine: 3,857 Rivieras carried the standard L36, while the clear majority, 14,970, carried the supercharged L67, summing, as this record's own note states, to the Owners Association's own production-page total of 18,827, a total its own Evolution article instead gives as 18,199, the same split-figure pattern this record's own conflicts section carries formally below.³

This record's own conflicts section carries an unusually detailed treatment note: it states that Wikipedia's own prose also gives 18,036 for 1996 and 10,953 for 1998, matching the Owners Association in both of those years, and that this pass re-read the Evolution article's own 1997 narrative text and found it states, in its own words, "Production increased to 18,199 cars," agreeing with Wikipedia against the Owners Association's own production-table figure of 18,827; the current live production page was confirmed still to show 18,827 via the 3,857-plus-14,970 engine split, so the club's own two publications remain split on this year and neither figure is promoted over the other in this record's own treatment.^1,2,4

This record's own key facts section is entirely empty for 1997, and its own options section is likewise entirely empty; the production, engines and conflicts sections carry the year's own narrative detail instead. This record's own prices section carries a single figure, $30,110, sourced to the Owners Association's own Evolution article rather than to an options-and-prices page, with no separate figure given to compare it against for the year.⁴

This record's own paint table carries 12 colours from the Owners Association's 1997 chart, led by Bright White, every entry sourced to the same color-and-trim page. Its interiors section carries 7 trims, opening with a standard 55/45 split-bench cloth seat in Medium Gray and Taupe, and continuing into a Sierra-grain leather upgrade in Light Gray, Adriatic Blue, Jadestone, Bordeaux Red and Taupe; its own note adds that the same leather codes are listed for bucket seats as well, every row sourced to the same 1997 color-and-trim chart.⁵

This record's own specifications section carries seven 1997 figures in total from the Owners Association's weights-and-measures table: a 3,788-pound curb weight, a 113.8-inch wheelbase, front and rear track of 62.5 and 62.6 inches, a 207.0-inch overall length, a 75.0-inch width, a 55.2-inch height, and a P225/60R16 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, leaving the production, engines and conflicts sections as this record's own richest sources for 1997.⁶