I love early Rivieras. My father had one (it’s actually the second car I have any memories of) when I was little, and I remember not being able to see over the dashboard, but being thrown back into the seat when he let it out a bit. This one has the 401 cubic inch V8, is located in Chantilly, Virginia and is advertised here on craigslist for $9,500. The interior looks pretty usable, the car is said to start and run (although it’s not getting very far on that flat tire!) and is said to need some TLC.
My father’s was a ’63, and even though the headlights in the grille were a compromise over the original styling with the lights hidden in the outside nacelles, I like them better in the center. I remember Dad explaining to me how the disc brakes worked (it said so on the pedal, and that’s one of the few things I could see in the interior) and how it was his first car with them. Maybe this baby blue beauty could trigger some old or new memories for you!
Some may see this as an old clunky car but, you have to remember what it was in 1963. It was very sleek for the time. I remember one in my neighborhood that had two 4 barrels from the factory. It was scary fast. It was silver with black interior and bucket seats. It had a speed warning buzzer in the speedometer. The owner would set it as high as it would go and see how fast the buzzer would start buzzing.
The hideaway headlights were on the ’65 model and the dual quads were on the ’65 GS model….63-65 was a beautiful design…screwed it up in ’66
with apologies in advance to billy joel …….
your best bet’s a true, baby blue riv-e-era!
The “SUPER WILDCAT” Motor with the 2×4 BBL. combo (425 C I only) Was a option in 64. It also could be had in the Electra-Wildcat series. These produced 360 H.P. The Rivera easily out handled (Far superior stopping ) its “rivals” and Faster them many of them. The 425 “Super Wildcat” put T-Birds in their places and beat more then one 421 Pont, 409 Chevy, 409 Ford and some Hemi cars. This was a VERY Special car when new. Buick even slowed the line down just to build these cars. The car was FAR advanced with many firsts in styling including bolt on door skins and Frame-less side window. These cars are true “Bargains” today, but expect that to change as nice ones become harder to find. Hot-Rodders have always loved them. G M PLANNED on this being a Cadillac ( LaSalle) but Cad. did not want it and Buick won out over other G M rivals to “have” the car. P.S. I love my 64″ and the car gets pretty decent mileage when you stay out of the 8 BBL carbs.
Beautiful car but I have a hard time believing his estimate of what you could get for it once restored 35K to 56K. Not when we couldn’t get 40K for our fully restored and yes somewhat modified 70 Mach1 this last fall and that’s with a total of 53K invested with cost of car added.
One of the most beautiful designs in the automotive world.
Why wouldn’t you inflate the tires before photographing the car?
looks like a 64 to me