Don't know where I said we, but that's fine. I guess Buick decided to put a Stage 1 badge on the grill of the 73 Riviera just for the hell of it. I don't disagree that the engine isn't the same as an A body Stage 1 engine. I am simply saying that I have never seen it refered to as an HP455 , only a Stage 1 in the Riviera. I'm not arguing about it anymore.
Thanks. I always liked the WS6s. I used to see a fair number of them on the road growing up. They are getting much harder to spot now.
Thanks. I will. I am a member of the ROA and a couple FB pages. I was fortunate to get one in good shape. I need doors and to get my clock and 8 track player repaired, and a new pair of doors. I purchased a passenger side mirror already, as mine wasn't optioned with one.
Jim, I am confused by all of this that you are saying. ".Non A bodies never received a Stage 1 engine". I agree that they didn't receive the same Stage 1 engine as the A-body, but the engine they received was still a Stage 1 engine, just a different version. When I read Denny's article below, it refers to two Stage 1 engines. A Stage 1 Skylark GS Engine, and a 73-74 Riviera GS Stage 1 engine. While I think we will all agree that the two engines are different, that doesn't mean the 73-74 Riviera GS Stage 1 engine, isn't a "Stage 1" engine, just because it didn't receive the "A-body Stage 1 engine", does it? They received another variant of the Buick 455 motor, the HP engine, but isn't this a Stage 1 engine (albeit different than the A-body stage 1 engine). If Buick decided that the Stage 1 engine option on a 73 Riviera consisted of a chrome air cleaner, and nothing else, and you purchased that option, you have a "Stage 1 Riviera" engine, even though to an A-body guy, a Stage 1 engine might mean different internals, cam, valves, distrib, etc. It doesn't have to mean the same thing to different models, if Buick decided it that way. Or am I missing something here too?
What I said was for some big cars starting in 71 Buick introduced an HP engine option meaning high performance. By 73 and into 74 Buick borrowed the stage 1 label from A bodies and applied it to Rivs with HP engines. I said it was my opinion this was a move probably initiated by the marketing department. I also said that the stage 1 A body and stage 1 E body engines are not identical. They have a different design due in large part to differences in weight.
I guess I found it very confusing why there was even a reference and discussion of 71 and 72 HP engines when the original poster stated that he had 73 stage 1.
Chris--I was responding to the OP's original request for interesting information. You have to start with a time line of the 71 model year in order to see how the use of the terms stage 1 and HP as applied to Riviera's came about. Like so many, the OP was unaware of the HP and the fact that big car stage 1 (or HP) engines are not identical to A body stage 1 engines.
Jim, Thanks for backing me up. That's the point I was trying to make. Never said it was the same package, only that the Riviera was also sold with a Stage 1 engine option.
