When Buick introduced the droptop version of the sixth-generation Riviera personal luxury car in 1982, it was the most expensive vehicle sold by GM. A base run-of-the-mill hardtop Riv was just shy of fourteen grand in '85, which was a lot of money back then, but the roofectomy at ASC in Lansing, Michigan bumped the sticker to the then-nosebleed-worthy price of $24,494, and that was before you went crazy with the options list.
By comparison, a base Corvette coupe started out a little over eighteen grand, and a Cadillac Eldorado was a shade over $19k.
Base engine in the ragtops was the 125bhp 4.1L V6, or an optional Olds 5.0L V8 topped with a 4bbl Rochester Quadrabog, wheezing out 140bhp.
By the time the 6th Gen Riv went to the elephant graveyard after '85, to be replaced with a unibody badge-engineered Toronado/Eldorado/Riviera pod car replacement, the convertible was available with the turbocharged 3.8L V6 from the T-Type hardtop. The boosted motor was rated at 180hp.
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