FAQ: Riviera Interior Trim Options, Colors & Materials

I didn't know they built late model RIv's with column shift! Are you serious? SO, you don't have a console???

and some had a cloth option too :shock:

Wow. I guess I need to get out more. Any pics of the interior of a column shift Rivi out there? Cloth? NO offense to any cloth seat members out der.

here is a striped model riviera..
no s/c, no buckets, the leather was a different grade (note the plastic on the doors where there is usually leather), no options, low end wheels, and an ugly cloth aftermarket top.
no offence to anyone with any of those "features" it is still a riviera.
link

Mr.Riviera wrote:

here is a striped model riviera..
no s/c, no buckets, the leather was a different grade (note the plastic on the doors where there is usually leather), no options, low end wheels, and an ugly cloth aftermarket top.
no offence to anyone with any of those "features" it is still a riviera.
link

Ha yes I see, mine has a little patch of leather on the door where this one has plastic of some kind. But what is this different grade of leather you speak of? My riv is the same color in and out as that one (yet mine does not have the beautiful wood kit ) and my leather looks the same besides the door patch.

I think that is still leather on the door, just very taut.

i read somewhere that they had 2 different leather options for the main parts of the seat.
for 95' and 96'... maybe 97 too?
55/45 split bench seat cloth (standard)
sierra grain leather (extra cost)
bucket seats w/sierra (extra cost)
and the "in seating area" had softer siera grain leather (extra cost)
leather cam in taupe,blue,jadestone,gray,or dark ruby red.
i would site my source but its a web page i printed and can no longer find online...ill upload after classes today/

Try this link for 95 trim options.

http://www.rivowners.org/features/colortrim/95.html

Mr.Riviera wrote:

here is a striped model riviera..
no s/c, no buckets, the leather was a different grade (note the plastic on the doors where there is usually leather), no options, low end wheels, and an ugly cloth aftermarket top.
no offence to anyone with any of those "features" it is still a riviera.
link

The wheels are the standard wheels, they came on all Rivs that did not get the L67 engine, Supercharged, as shown on the ROA page listed above. The seven spoke chrome was available late in the year but you don't see too many '95's with them.

NO 4 EVR wrote:

[......mine does not have the beautiful wood kit ) ..

The full dash wood kit is aftermarket. Factory only had a couple pieces of wood grain, from what I've seen. I have the full kit in my 98, really like it in my interior. Some guys don't care for it, and it does give an entirely different look to your interior. I personally think the dash looks too plain w/o it.

1998 Riv wrote:

NO 4 EVR wrote:

[......mine does not have the beautiful wood kit ) ..

The full dash wood kit is aftermarket. Factory only had a couple pieces of wood grain, from what I've seen. I have the full kit in my 98, really like it in my interior. Some guys don't care for it, and it does give an entirely different look to your interior. I personally think the dash looks too plain w/o it.

The '95 didn't have any wood from the factory, I think that started either '96 or '97. it includes a narrow ring around the radio and a panel of wood around the shifter. I like it my '95, but probably won't add it to my Silver Arrow.

The leather trim on my door panel is taut. I noticed some of the members door panels are "puckered" or "pleated" for lack of a better word. Both look nice, I have the graphite leather and console shift in mine. I'm not a big fan of the wood trim, IT LOOKS NICE. I'm just leaning towards a sports car look.

Randall, I didn't know the 95's never had any wood trim. I wouldn't add it to a Silver Arrow either... How many miles on your SA? Did you buy it new?

jax95riv wrote:

The leather trim on my door panel is taut. I noticed some of the members door panels are "puckered" or "pleated" for lack of a better word. Both look nice, I have the graphite leather and console shift in mine. I'm not a big fan of the wood trim, IT LOOKS NICE. I'm just leaning towards a sports car look.

The panels on my '95 are smooth, on my '99 they are not, I'm not sure if GM changed it or if they just turned out that way?
I wanted to dress up the dash on the '95 is why I added the dash kit, I figured it is suposed to be a fancy car so that was the direction I went.

1998 Riv wrote:

Randall, I didn't know the 95's never had any wood trim. I wouldn't add it to a Silver Arrow either... How many miles on your SA? Did you buy it new?

I'm not sure if they added the trim in '96 or '97, since the dash in the '95 was different, there really wasn't a good way to trim them with the small factory pieces? I thought the dark burlewood dressed it up real good.
The Silver Arrow has just over 63,000 miles on it. I found out about it through another Regional Coordinator in the Riviera Owners Association, talked to the owner on the phone a few times, flew to TX, bought it and drove it home. It had 59,422 miles on it when I got it in June of '05 so I haven't driven it much. My truck is my daily driver so I alternate between the '95 and the '99 Rivs when I desire to go places in style!

jax95riv wrote:

I didn't know they built late model RIv's with column shift! Are you serious? SO, you don't have a console???

I have steering column shift and do not have a floor console. The car can seat six without the console.

99Rivman wrote:

jax95riv wrote:

I'm not a big fan of the wood trim, IT LOOKS NICE. I'm just leaning towards a sports car look.

I wanted to dress up the dash on the '95 is why I added the dash kit, I figured it is suposed to be a fancy car so that was the direction I went.

This is one of the reasons I love the Riviera. You can dress them out as a beautifully stylish luxury car or you can go the direction of a sports car. The Riviera body lines are timeless and in my opinion will always be a collectible.

I'm new to the forum. I did a quick search and didn't really come up with anything. Maybe I just didn't look hard enough?

So, I got two questions. I'm thinking about buying a Red '95 Riviera from a dealer in town. It has 160k miles on it, but it is spotless and runs pretty good. Only has a oil leak which seems to be easy enough to fix.

So, what's the difference between the Series I and II engines/SC?

Are there are lot of performance mods I can do with the S1 or are there more for the S2?

Also, if I did end up buying this 95, should I do an engine swap to a S2?

Thanks!

Well we have a few crazy folks who have put a series II in there 95 rivs , but for the most part id look for a 96-99 generally speaking the newer the better , although there is nothing wrong with a 96 ( has a SII) ( pending i get my tuner to work on it) but the best for modding are the 97-99 , even better i'd say are the 97-99s. The series I has some bolt ons but unless you really wanna fab up your own stuff it will never be anything fast , but you can still pep them up somewhat. I'd hold out for a sub 100k miles 96-99 riv , though mileage tells nothing of our engines. Good luck with your purchase!

Tony's pretty much right on here. The Series II is much more moddable than the series I. The '97-99 has an improved transmission as well, one of the major weak points in modding one of these.

It took me quite a while to find my '98. I'm glad I waited it out.

Good luck!

Agreed with the two crackheads above me and I'll add that the best years are probably 98-99 because 96-97 heads were known to crack. While not necessarily causing a problem when stock, the cracks would show when magnafluxed. The upgraded pcm in 98 was another thing.

I would also agree with the 3 crackheads (lol) above and add that there are some oddball differences with the '97 that I wish I had known about before buying. Not major but enough to make me wish I had found a 98-99. That being said. The price and condition of the car would outweigh anything else.

Quote :

So, what's the difference between the Series I and II engines/SC?

https://rivperformance.editboard.com/series-ii-engine-transmission-f4/what-s-the-difference-between-l67-l32-t571.htm

Quote :

Are there are lot of performance mods I can do with the S1 or are there more for the S2?

https://rivperformance.editboard.com/series-ii-engine-transmission-f4/why-do-i-want-a-series-ii-sc-engine-t20.htm?highlight=why+series

Quote :

Also, if I did end up buying this 95, should I do an engine swap to a S2?

https://rivperformance.editboard.com/series-i-engine-transmission-f13/series-i-and-ii-swap-t847.htm?highlight=swap

Welcome to the board!

Welcome to the board, I hope you end up with a Riviera!

Aaron - see, now why don't OTHER message boards do that? I mean, how many times has a new person come to a message board, posted, and gotten immediately flamed for not searching or other bullshit. You just gave him the links, and gave him a warm welcome. That's why I like this board so much. This is the only forum that I have anything to do with online, aside from occasionally RegalGS.

Well, like I said. I searched and came up with nothing. But apparently there was something. This board is setup a little differently than others though