Riviera Project

Sergio Pininfarina stated that it was “one of the most beautiful American cars ever built.” Famed industrial designer Raymond Loewy said that it was the handsomest American production car—apart from his own Studebaker Avanti, of course. It was the 1963 Buick Riviera coupe, and it exploded onto the American automotive scene; even in a splendid year for automotive design, it still stood out.

Over the next 36 years and eight generations, Buick’s Riviera would often differentiate from its competition with exterior design—with varying degrees of critical and financial success.

Riviera Project (not the final title) is a book for students of design (automotive and otherwise) and most certainly for Riviera fans. It is a complete study of all eight generations of the 1963-1999 Buick Riviera, placing them within their times, context, and competition.

As of late February 2023, the 186-page book includes three appendices, an extensive annotated bibliography, an index, almost 50 charts and tables, and over 100 photos and illustrations, most of them in color.