Somebody’s losing storage and thus needs you to take their 1964 Buick Riviera off their hands. Mitchell G sleuthed that person out, and you can see the ad for the Riv here on craigslist. It’s currently residing in the vicinity of Pittsburgh, PA, Lawrenceville to be exact. But it can have a home in your garage for $10,000, or less, of course, if you can drive home a bargain.
“These are beautiful cars,” the seller offers. Sure they are, but not this one. At least not now. There’s surface rust on the top side, which some call “patina” these days. But there’s more rot to worry about, namely “older rust repair in lower panels.” You can’t tell how bad that is at all from the images offered. That’s a problem, or an opportunity to move the guy off his five-figure price, because you’re gonna spend either time or money getting this car de-oxidized. But you’d best follow the interstate to Lawrenceville and have a look with a magnet in your hand before you go making any commitments.
The seller, who doesn’t say how long this car has been his to care for, indicates that he was driving it last summer, surely a good thing, until it developed an engine knock. Surely a bad thing, and a little hard to fathom if it indicates worn-out bearings, because the car has only around 85K miles on the mighty 425-CID engine. The drive here is classic, the original number registering 360 horsepower. This was not lost on buyers, who had embraced the all-new 1963 Riviera and who made the 1964 almost as popular, with nearly 40,000 units sold. But this one’s apparently seen better days between the shock towers. Of course, the mileage could be 185,000, but the interior, surely the best part of this car, doesn’t bear that out. Somebody just wore out an engine prematurely, you’d have to conclude. That assumes that the interior is original, I realize.
So back to this losing storage story. What you might want to know is whether the seller here has had the car only a short time and has thus given up hope of making it something special, or whether this is a long-term owner who just isn’t capable of undertaking the work needed to get it back to its first-day glory. Or are those the same thing—ways of describing a project that needs to be moved down the road? Maybe the seller’s “lost interest” comment is more on the button than the fact that he will shortly have nowhere to stow it. Are you likely to take on the challenge of making this Riviera the talk of the town once more?
The 64 Rivieras were ground breaking, they turned a lot of heads. I remember when people in the US that had money would buy a car like this, I wish it was still that way. I remember a few middle aged ladies that had these. One was white with black leather interior, the other was that GM gold metallic with matching interior. They were very good-looking cars, and very stylish at the time. The dashboard is the same as what was used in the full-size Buicks of the same era. When the 67s were released, they were a great evolution of the 64s. Admittedly, I liked them more than the 64s. The 64s are still good-looking. From what I’ve read these were intended to be Thunderbird competition, but they were good competition, they couldn’t beat the Thunderbirds. If I was interested in buying a PLC, I would choose the Thunderbird. After all it was Ford the introduced the PLC with the Thunderbird. In typical GM styling, the Rivieras of the early 70s known as the Boat tail Rivieras, got to be a bit too gaudy. It wasn’t until the 80s that they got their looks back. But they were so close to the Tornadoes, it was hard to tell them apart.
Uncle Howards car. Remember the single uncle of a friend of mine in N.Wis.? He had a small bar and cabins on the Wilson Flowage in N. Wis. never married, didn’t go to war for some reason, and was rumored to be quite the spelunker. He had a 1964 white Riviera like this and needless to say, stuck out in the Northwoods. Time passed, Howard grew ill, nobody knew what happened to the car. Well, about 10 years ago, he killed himself, and upon going through his sheds, guess what they found? It probably looked just like this.
Right here is a movie outline.” Uncle Howards demise”
Don’t laugh, Hollywood has produced worse drek. Actually, Uncle Howard lived an amazing life and would make a great movie. Aside from his shenanigans with the ladies, as a kid in the 30s, he was also a fishing guide. It was rumored that he took Al Capone, whose up north hideout wasn’t far away, and several mobsters on fishing trips. Naturally, no pictures allowed, but when a big old green Cadillac rolled into the Northwoods, it was clear who it was. Most authorities looked the other way, as they brought a lot of money to the area. Life had changed dramatically for him, and considering the life he led, an old folks home was clearly not for him.
Looks pretty basic, no a/c and no power windows. Plus imagine the odor with those nasty cigarette butts in the ash tray..
It’s 340hp not 360, the 360hp rating was for the dual quad GS. I have one of these, great looking cars that ride like a dream.
To quote a certain boxing legend, “Floats like a butterfly stings like a bee”. I love my 64 Riviera, even though the fellow I bought it from changed the color. But that nailhead has plenty of power to move these heavy cars very quickly and enough torque to keep the rear tires spinning as long as you want. I’ve owned mine since 2011 and keep it in a nice warm dry garage. It will be my grandsons car when he’s a responsible young adult, right now he’s only 11 years old but he always wants to see his car when he comes to visit grandpa.
God Bless America
Unfortunately, you just know what you’re dealing with regarding rocker rot until you go inspect it, or pay someone to do it. 64 Rivieras are beautiful cars. Although some prefer the Boat tails that came later. The interior on this one is a thing to behold. A freshly rebuilt engine and tranny would be on the to do list. But if the bones are good, this one could be quite a bargain. Good find
In 1964 everyone loved the Mustang but for me it was this car the 64 Rivera was what captured my imagination. And as cars came out of GM for years to come it was easy to see how this car influenced car design for years to come.
When the 1963 Riviera was introduced in late 1962, my dad brought home a brochure from the Buick dealership. I’ve loved them ever since.