Last week, the Riviera Project went over 50,000 words. With that number written and the 148 pages currently created, I can estimate that completion will come when I get to at least 57,700 words and 170 pages—and likely considerably more. It has taken a little over twenty months to get to this point and over five months to generate the last 5,000 words as the writing has become less easy.
I have made significant progress recently on several fronts. Appendix Two, which displays the Riviera’s exterior colors, now has placeholder displays for all eight generations—details on some of the color diagramming considerations are here and here. I also continue to give attention to the options tables, adding more data and cross-referencing what’s already there. This work with the colors and the options is adding notable context to the chapters themselves.
Some statistics while we’re at it; the two most lengthy chapters remain the ones on the sixth-generation and the seventh-generation cars, which were the Riviera generations longest in production at seven and eight model years, respectively.
Unsurprisingly, by far the most pages per year are for the first generation. However, that count is generated when I include both the chapter on the Riviera’s initial development and the one on the actual three model years from 1963 to 1965. Otherwise, the short (only two years) fifth-generation leads, driven by its notably lengthy options lists and the 75th Anniversary Package—the first of many special edition Rivieras. This is interesting (at least to me) because the fifth generation (1977-1978) is one of the “forgotten” generations, along with the fourth generation (1974-1976) and the seventh generation (1986-1993). The eight chapters on each generation currently make up 84% of the book.
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