1972 Buick Riviera Boattail Drag Racing Racelegal.com 12-19-2014

Friday night drag racing at QUALCOMM stadium 1/8 mile a 1972 Buick Riviera turbocharged Boattail Drag Racing Racelegal com
RaceLegal, the safer and sanctioned track alternative to illegal street racing, was developed with one goal in mind. Saving the needless loss of young lives to an illegal street race gone bad is RaceLegal’s mantra. To that end we have been remarkably effective. The concept was one of providing a youth oriented environment in a neutral and centrally located location where we could replicate a street environment, but with safer and sanctioned conditions that insured the safety of our racers and their fans. The under pinning is one of skillfully redirecting illegal street racing behavior to the safer and sanctioned sport of drag racing in a youth oriented setting. As sated above, the results are impressive
The Riviera was radically redesigned for the 1971 model year with flowing and dramatic "boat-tail" styling.[18] Designed under Bill Mitchell's direction, it was penned by Jerry Hirshberg, future head of design for Nissan, mating the two-piece vee-butted[19] fastback rear window, inspired by the 1963 Corvette Sting Ray split window coupe, to the Riviera's platform.

The design was originally intended for the smaller GM A platform, and the use of the Riviera's body—expanded for 1971 by 3 in (76 mm) in wheelbase and more than 120 lb (54 kg) heavier—produced controversial looks. (Collectible Automobile ran an article about 1971–76 full-sized Buicks in which one sketch design for their 2-door coupes which was rejected resembled the 1971–73 Riviera).

This generation introduced a much more visual representation of the "sweepspear", with a more faithful representation to the version that appeared on 1950s Buicks in both the side molding and beltline.

The 455 engine had a lower compression ratio to meet EPA emissions requirements, reducing power to 255 hp (190 kW), with 265 hp (198 kW) in the Gran Sport. Performance remained reasonably brisk, with a 0–60 time of 8.1 seconds for the GS, but the Riviera's sporty image was rapidly fading. One noteworthy advance was Buick's Max Trac, a traction control system that prevented wheelspin during acceleration on slippery surfaces.[20] The 1971 Riviera also features GM's "Full-Flo" ventilation system and two large deck lid louvers are prominent on the trunk lid. (Unfortunately, under certain conditions a vacuum was created that sucked rain and exhaust back into the car and the "Full-Flo" ventilation was redesigned and the louvers were removed from trunk lid for the 1972 model year.)