For their summer special in 2021, The Grand Tour boys of Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May all bought big American cars for an epic drive through Scotland.
Hammond bought a Buick Riviera that he loved so much, he brought it back home with him. And after lying dormant since it arrived at his residence, Hammond is now slowly bringing the car back up to its former glory. In this video from DriveTribe, he fires up its 455 cubic-inch (7.5-liter) V8 engine once again with help from Ant from his team.
Getting The Buick Fired Up
Armed with a tire compressor, a big battery pack and a couple of cans of gas, Hammond is very determined to get the car going again. A 7.5-liter V8 though worries Hammond, as it is quite a big engine that will need a lot of fuel. With the fuel in, Hammond hops into the car to pump the throttle and attempt to start the engine again.
The engine tries hard to fire, but doesn’t quite get there. But with a little bit of Easy Start, it splutters back into life and that wonderful V8 roar is finally heard once again. Mike Fernie is helping out in the background, and is pretending to hate something which Hammond thinks deep down he loves!
A Lot Of Work Required On This Classic Car
Hammond is, of course, hearing that it isn’t firing an all eight cylinders, although it sounds like most of them are sort of fired up. There is clearly a lot of work that needs doing to the old Buick before it is back up to full strength. Hammond gets under the hood to check a few things out, and is unsure if the oil is actually dipped or if the radiator has had water in it recently! He then basks in awe of the supercharger he added to the car during the TV special.
A Radical Looking Boattail
Strictly speaking, this Riviera is a Boattail that came at a time when Buick wanted to really jazz up the appearance of the Riviera. The American public didn’t resonate with it, so that body style only lasted three years (1971-1973), but Hammond has always loved it.
Ultimately, Hammond wants to restore the Riviera and do something with it. He does try to move the car, but it doesn’t want to go and cuts out again. So, we will have to stay tuned to find out if the Riviera can get going again properly. We really hope that it does!
Source: DriveTribe YouTube Channel