The Limited Riviera was Buick’s contribution to celebrating General Motors’ 50th anniversary in business. It was a nameplate they hadn’t used since before World War II. It was a luxurious automobile that was more expensive than a Cadillac Series 62. This non-running Limited is said to have belonged to “Grandpaw” although we don’t know if he was the seller’s grandfather. It looks to be in decent cosmetic condition having been stored away for years. Located in Eads, Tennessee, this status symbol of the 1950s is available here on eBay where the current ante is $15,300.
Before 1958, the last time Buick used the Limited name was on a 1942 limousine. When it was revived, the thought was that the car would appeal to buyers who wanted a Cadillac-like car without its reputed flamboyance. Since GM was celebrating a milestone, all its divisions got in on the act with “halo” cars that year. Cadillac had the Eldorado Seville, Buick brought out the Limited Riviera, Oldsmobile marketed the 98, Pontiac had the Bonneville Catalina, and Chevrolet rolled out the Bel Air Impala. The Limited was only offered as a 2 or 4-door hardtop and a convertible and Buick sold 7.438 of them in total.
As the story goes, “Grandpaw” bought this Buick in 1963 after it had only one prior owner. The 4-door hardtop was the most popular of the Riviera body styles, so this edition is one of 5,571. For reasons not mentioned, this automobile went into a dark garage for an undisclosed period, but we’re told it was running when parked (so why park it?). It doesn’t run now so who knows what it will take to get the 364 cubic-inch “Nailhead” V8 going again. That motor was the only one available in the Limited with a 2-speed Dynaflow automatic transmission.
Two sets of photos are provided. One group shows the vehicle inside the garage wearing years of dust and dirt. The other set shows it out in the daylight where it may have been given a bath. The latter shows a car whose body, paint, and ample chrome look to have survived surprisingly well. And except for a couple of places where some duct tape has been applied, the interior looks rather nice, too. Once the seller locates the keys, the buyer can begin the process of fixing up the automobile. While we’re told the Buick is offered by a private seller, the lingo sounds like that of a dealer. Such as offering to facilitate delivery.
I like those small, pointy Dagmars. I’ve always been partial to smaller Dagmars as opposed to those big giant ones.
Then they aren’t Dagmars because the actress that they were named for had decidedly big bumpers.
Some are a little better than others, but I like them all.
The rubber tipped ones were equally as offensive,,
Rumor has it that Christmas in 1958 was cancelled because that thing and cars like it got all the tinsel.
Wow, that quarter panel treatment is something else! Looks like a speedometer fastened to the dash?
Yeah I noticed that too, it’s a speedometer on top of the dash for some reason. Has an odometer in it, what is with that? Maybe was easier than replacing the cable to the original? Order one up from JC Whitney and go on. This was truly an impressive land yacht new but not too much interest today with restoration of a vehicle of this type. Shame but that’s just the reality of the of the times.
Hi Mike, hope you are well. It’s an aftermarket, possibly military, cable driven speedo. These cars had a ribbon type of speedometer, that is obviously broken.
Interesting appears to have factory air suspension compressor under the hood.
Modern radio, factory unit included???
I can tell you why it was parked. I mean…I like a little flash, but c’mon.
I so wish I could bring this home.. phenomenal car!
Put this giant behemoth next to a ‘57! What a difference. What happened to design in 1958? Excess chrome, doodads, and humps and bumps.
Yeah, in a word fugly but perhaps no more so than many other cars produced in 1958 by all American car companies.
I’ve always been a Buick aficionado, but my aesthetic appreciation for this model is, well, limited.
I’ve never seen the spotlights built into the rearview mirrors before.
This Buick looks like it had every option ticked on the order form.
The original owner must have been a corporate suit, that was told not to get a Cadillac, because only the top dog gets one, but then went to the max on this Buick.
There’s nothing like classy restraint in automotive styling- and this is nothing like it.
The carburetor is a Q-jet, should have a carter afb
Designer: hows this boss?
Boss: needs more louvers.
Designer: how about now?
Boss: needs more louvers.
More louvers, more cowbell, you really can’t have too much of either.
I love these over the top 50’s cars . If I had unlimited money I’d put a custom chassis under this rig then stuff it full of Mercury Racing 1650 . Take it out and show some Hellcats my taillights or chase some ricers around a drift course then show off my speeding ticket for going a buck eighty in a 58 Buick .
The car has a lot of options but seems that the standard transmission for Limited and Roadmaster, the Flight Pitch Dynaflow, has been replaced by the most common Twin Turbine: F.Pitch was PRNDG and TwTurbine PNDLR. It’s a chance because parts for the Flight Pitch are non existent, this transmission was used only in 1958 and (option) in 1959 !!!
30 years ago i had a ’58 Roadmaster and i replaced the Flight Pitch transmission because i can’t find overhaul kits, clutcches, etc…
When I was in business, a customer, whom we called the professor becuse he was stupid, had a 58 Buick towed in. The engine did not turnover. He had a specific list of things that he wanted done in a specific order. The last one on the list was the engine, which he felt only needed a tune up. We followed his instructions to the letter. When we got to the engine, it would not turn over because he camshaft, or at least part of it, was jammed against the flex plate.
The Professor paid us for what we had done and towed the car to a junk yard where he traded t for a 55 Plymouth. That is another story.
I see this being used in Sopranos flashback.
Sure wasn’t limited on the fender strikes
Nothing says ‘excess’ like a 1958 Buick Limited Riviera.
MY first car was a 58 Buick 2 door special same motor and tranny , wonderful car , loved gas ! this one is fully loaded and the some , hope it finds a good home
These four-door hardtops are genius.
That Dynaflow drive was a real pain
where you sit. It slipped so much for
no reason that your gas mileage really sucked. I’ll bet that’s why it got
parked years ago. Add in the air bag
suspension, and you’ll have a whole
legion of gremlins to iron out before
you can call it roadworthy once more.
That new CVT transmission they have
today reminds me of the tranny in this
Buick. I won’t let the girls buy a car
With one of those things in it. If you
really want this car, swap the Dynaflush drive for a T400 gearbox
and ditch the air suspension for some
thing more conventional. Then you might just have a decent car.
Another, um, not ramblings, really, more like Crusty Memories. Remember Uncle Bill? The single guy who lived his entire life on the farm I stayed at briefly in N. Wis. and his purple ’58 Buick? Well, here tis’, kind of. Bills wasn’t this fancy, but was hauled away during a farm “scrap drive”, along with his dads AA Ford dump truck,,,dumazz,,,anyway, a friends dad down the block had a ’58 Buick. I was pretty young, but even then, I wondered why you couldn’t feel it shift, a regular feeling of early automatics. The seller clearly doesn’t know much, but someone decked this car out to the 9s, and gramps knew what to buy. It has the troublesome air ride, or the compressor, at least, many were converted back to springs, and who knows what gramps cobbled into that wiring. Again, I just don’t know about the future for cars like this, that are not perfect, and they are out there. It’s just a different hobby today. VERY costly to restore, and who is going to do that today,,when you can take advantage of someone elses loss, and just go buy one already restored.
I need the grille to restore twenty dressers, bedroom suites and bedside tables from the 1950s missing their pull knobs.
“The power seat and power windows acted like they wanted to operate however I did not force the issue”
Best line in the ad….comedy gold.
A super amazing car. I surprised it never made it to Europe, it likely will now. I am currently redoing my 58 Caballero wagon, after 30 years the paint a little crummy. I bought mine back in the 80s from the original owner who in 1962 had the air ride converted to springs. Mine has factory ac that I never fooled with. The windows are easy as the motors from the 70s rides bolt right to where those crapola beehive things are. As a twenty something my tranny needed a rear seal. The seal was the same as a th350….but undoing all the brake crap and loosening the rear to pull it back to get that enclosed driveshaft abomination back far enough to install said seal by yourself with a floorjack and stands in a driveway is an adventure I will never forget. I did and 34 years later it still doesn’t leak. I like the smoothness of the Dynaflow, the car is so neat as you drive because all you here are the rpms change. I did dump the tredlevac brake booster after a 450.00 rebuild lasted 6 months back in the 80s. I had a get ready to cringe, 65 fully loaded GTO coupe that I junked and its brake booster worked great on the 58. The car stopped 100 times better. I love to have this Limited. Its full optioned, exactly how I bought ALL my cars. I didn’t care about big engines but all those neat off the wall gizmos were boss to me. Best place for this fellow is in Sweden. It will be far more appreciated there. Very few here care about these. No one looks twice at my bright yellow and white wagon but drool over some beater 72 Impala convertible or anyone of my so-called muscle things.