There are barn finds, and then there are classic cars that get found outside of barns, and so what do you call them then? Garden finds, maybe, and this Buick luxury car is a junkyard find, which is getting the usual retrospective review shakedown by YouTuber Steve Magnante.

Steve is a fountain of information on classic cars of all shapes and sizes, and this typical 90s-looking personal car hides some important features that make it worth saving.

With an engine and body like this, you could be about to embark on a dream car project – but let’s here to see what Magnante has to say first.

This 1998 Buick Riviera Barn Find Needs Support And Appreciation

There are two things counting against this rusty white Buick Riviera though, and they are likely to be dealbreakers for some: it is not a V8, and it is not rear-wheel drive, but front-wheel-drive.

The Oldsmobile might have got away with front-driven wheels because of its V8, but the Riviera, a nameplate that stretches back to the 60s and produced in a million examples, has something special under its aluminum hood.

Fans of the Buick Grand National will be familiar with the 3.8-liter turbocharged V6 that had a rating of up to around 230 hp and 300 lb-ft and created a legend that culminated in the mighty GNX.

Available as an option from 1994-1998 for the Riviera was instead a supercharged version of the Grand National’s 3.8-liter V6, one that offered more power (5 hp) making it the most powerful 3.8-liter V6 from Buick. 235 hp / 280 lb-ft and a 4-speed automatic powered the front wheels.

From ’98, it became the standard engine in the eighth-generation Riviera. It did come with less torque than the Grand National which had 300 lb-ft, but otherwise this supercharged engine was a strong unit.

Here’s How Much The 90s Buick Riviera Costs In 2023