Cruise to your favorite sock hop or drive-in in this big, beautiful 1958 Buick Riviera Wagon! Located in Lagrange, Ohio, this wagon is available for a buy-it-now price of $38,500. This car is a driver and is ready for the next caretaker in its lifetime.
1958 was a pivotal year in the American automotive industry in design and engineering. By 1957, most states had ratified laws allowing cars to have quad headlights, and by 1958, most of the OEMs took this to heart and updated their models to offer this new feature (my beloved father-in-law taught me this for identifying cars at the shows we frequented). Whether or not this look contributed to a better design is a fun point to debate with your fellow car buddies. Many OEMs jumped on the bandwagon and treated this as a tack-on feature, generally failing the design. Most of them didn’t figure it out until 1959 or the early ’60s and then abandoned the look by the mid-60s, returning to the single headlight look.
This 1958 Buick Special Riviera Estate Wagon (Model 49D) got this design right. The fenders flow over the quad headlights, which sit on top of the “door knob” grille with plenty of chrome to go around. This highly optioned model includes a roof rack and looks to have a Glacier White over Warwick Blue two-tone paint job. Shoed with wide white walls, this car would be a knockout at your favorite car show or cars and coffee. This car appears to be mechanically sound with Buick’s 364 Fireball V-8 and an automatic transmission. The interior carries the 2-tone design and doesn’t look to have any significant wear. However, the seats have been recovered as they appear velour, not the factory “Cordaveen” vinyl.
From my perspective, it seems that 1950s cars are slowly losing favor in the car community. Because of this, many good deals are making their way into the market. This car would be a tremendous entry into this era. Restoring one of these models would cost a fortune in chrome alone. So, being able to step into a beautiful two-toned chromed-out car like this would be an intelligent investment in smiles alone. I love cars from the 50s for their design, of course, but also for what they represented: a technicolor vision of America. And as we step into election season, we need as much of this vision as possible. Purchase this Buick here on eBay.
Garishly beautiful, if thats a thing
It was and still is a thing for me.
Beautiful Buick,,,,Don’t build them like this anymore…sad
This is a very pretty car with nice colors. I just wonder if there is enough chrome trim…
Actually the dealers called them Estate Wagons, and they were made by IOAB. ( I own a body).
Great car. I bought a yellow with a white top version 35 years ago.
Here in a corner of Eastern Kentucky, a local resident raced Gold Cup, and later , unlimited hydroplanes ( Ollies’s Folly ) and had a red and white version of this car , used only for race weekends. He used the Fagol, and later Allison aircraft engines.
Not a wagon fan, BUT this is one Buick I really would rather have. 😉 I M (not so humble)O, 58 Buicks and Cadillacs (especially Sixty Special) were the epitome of OTT excessively chromed upscale Luxury vehicles of that grand era of Devinely Decadent when bigger was better. Chrome, fins and monster V8s made America truly a wonderful demonstration of TOO MUCH is NEVER ENOUGH, rivaling even Exners fabulous finned fantasies for Chrysler. See, I too can carry on to infinity just like these automobiles with chrome applied with a trowel. 😉. Is there more body paint or CHROME? The velour seats add even more to the elegance and panache. THAT being said, if you are still reading, thi is a beautiful survivor 👏! 👍 Price? 🤔
Excess in a good way.
that must be a typo in the price. Too many zeroes.
The only company that seemed to have tacked on quad headlights was Studebaker/Packard ,and that was likely due to finances . Chrysler products already were set for quads in 57, and GMs entire redesigned 58 line was built with quads in mind. As for abandoning quad lights in the 60s ? I dont think any full size car went to single lights throughout the 60s, 70s or 80s , unless you count the mistakenly downsized 62 Plymouths . Even the midsize offerings through 1970 used quad set ups. Only the entry level cars like the Falcon, American , and Chevy ll used dual lights – Even the first gen. Valiants and Larks used quad lights !
If there wasn’t enough chrome to start with – make a station wagon out of it. A lot of nitwits will spend more for something much more common than this!
Really garish and over the top. I like the colors, but way too much bling. I’m sure it’s built like a tank.
See my previous post! TOO MUCH is NEVER ENOUGH! A reminder of how far tastes have changed, resulting in today’s world of bland, shapeless boxes with at best a few pieces of chrome coated plastic!
I couldn’t agree more, Bob.
I’ve been a lover of Buicks (up to, say, the 1970 model year) my entire long life– except, that is, for the marque’s 1958 models. Indeed, if someone with a sick sense of humor loathed me enough to bequeath me his, I’d spontaneously offer it, free, to whoever promised to get the eyesore away from me fastest.
Wow, that’s a lot of chrome!
WOW!!! $38.5K??? This is Tri-5 money! $15K big money for this Land Cruiser…. Will pass…
Everybody and their grandmother has or had a tri 5 , and nearly everything is available in the aftermarket world for them- but this ? rare then and really rare ! I guarantee you’ll never see two of them at any car show !!
It appears to have factory air. That was rare in 1958!
I know there where a few other cars of fifties with factory ac. My Dad had an Aunt & Uncle who moved from Missouri to SW WA and they brought a 57 OLDS 98 with AC, That would be neat to find but long gone.
Roger MIKE, I may have to get one like this if I cant find a reasonable Cabellero in good condition.
The 1966 Plymouth Belvedere had single headlights. My family owned one. Don’t remember if it was a I or a II model. I learned how to drive on this car in 1969.
I had a 67 Belvedere II with single headlights back in the early 2000’s
Actually this price is well in the low range considering it’s rarity, options and condition. A convertible version sold through Hemmings for about $75k in the past year. A turn key show stopper for less than $40k? A value in my book, but like many others stated, not to my taste.
Very nice wagon. Buick was pretty optimistic back then with a 200 mph speedometer. : )
See my previous post! TOO MUCH is NEVER ENOUGH! A reminder of how far tastes have changed, resulting in today’s world of bland, shapeless boxes with at best a few pieces of chrome coated plastic!
Stunning car! I never seen one like this.A lot of chrome to maintain. The factory air was much needed on long summer trips.
Usually the antique car market is dominated by guys in their 40s and 50 who want aspirational cars from when they were in their teens. Should be interesting to see how the market shakes out in the future. You’re in the malaise era, then going into the badge engineering era, and then to the present car as appliance era. Can you see anyone paying this kind of dough 15-20 years from now for an 05 LeSabre?
I believe that we have indeed entered into another “Malise Era” beginning in or about 2012. As Rick W and some others have commented, one only needs to look around, and what one sees are multitudes of grey-silver-white-black blobs that only seem to differ in the name badge placed thereon. Sad indeed.
“Malaise Era”; darn it! Edit function did not work!
I have an 05 Park Avenue for my only transportation. It needs a bit of work nothing serious. I figure get the mechanical issues fixed . Whey I bought it the idea was to fix it up in and out and keep forever but I am not sure if it’s worth it?
That looks like original A/C with the suction throttling valve on top of the compressor. If so, that is a rare option in 58. I think the price is very fair.
All it needs is a surfboard on the roof rack…… On second thought just put grandpa’s walker up there and call it a day.
The polishing of the trim work alone would take a month. The individual squares in those ’58 Buick grilles were a nightmare to clean. And if one square was a little bent, it made the whole thing look weird. I passed on a ’58 Buick once when I asked the owner how much it cost him to rechrome the pot metal and have all the stainless straightened and polished and his reply was “double what I’m asking for the car”.
What a statement this car must have made when new. Mind you, this is not really my cup of tea and if I had the “playdough” to buy this I would be heading in a completely different direction. But there is no denying that this rates pretty high on the Wowser scale if for no other reason than that ornate front end. As others have mentioned, you could probably spend the best part of a day polishing the grill alone. As far as the asking price goes; I know that is where I would start. Another thing, If you watch the video of the engine running you will see that it appears that the A/C is working. This is a big selling point. Also, unlike many of these running engines videos that I look at; the owner actually has the idle set properly at least in my opinion. GLWTS.
1958 was a bad styling year for all American cars except Studebaker, and Buick was the worst. It was ugly in ‘58 and still is. However, as the years roll by its become somewhat of an icon. Sort of the best of the worst.
I guess its a matter of taste, but I think few would call a 58 Studebaker a better looking car compared to a 58 Plymouth or a 58 Chevrolet
I know people that would kill for this car, I might even be one of them. I am surprised that most comments don’t seem to understand how rare this car is. The big downside for me is the velour modification of the interior. I think this car is under priced. Of course, I have been wrong many times!
This baby is Cinderella to that ’59 Dodge the other day.
I know there where a few other cars of fifties with factory ac. My Dad had an Aunt & Uncle who moved from Missouri to SW WA and they brought a 57 OLDS 98 with AC, That would be neat to find but long gone.
I have an 05 Park Avenue for my only transportation. It needs a bit of work nothing serious. I figure get the mechanical issues fixed . Whey I bought it the idea was to fix it up in and out and keep forever but I am not sure if it’s worth it?
It is…fix it and keep driving it.
Incredibly ugly even for the time. Compare this to a ‘58 Mercury or even Plymouth wagon. Night and day! This Buick is bad design and bad taste!
WADR, Beauty IS in the EYE of the Beholder! To my eyes 58 Buicks and Cadillacs were and still are Sleeping Beauties! Vive Le Diferance! 🏆 💐 .👍
A car for when your favorite color is chrome.