Buick introduced the Riviera as a stand-alone model in late 1962, but the name can be traced back to 1949. That's when the company used it for the first time on a two-door pillarless hardtop ...

The '49 Coupe was an important car on many fronts for Buick. As a mid-year debut ... is the fact that this was GMs first pillarless hardtop, combining the style of a convertible with the security ...

1949 was the year that several ... to a hard-top as a styling element. Buick's Riviera series is often credited as the first production "hardtop" model. Kaiser went GM one better by applying ...