1964 Buick Riviera

1964 Buick Riviera

I bought this car completely restored and kept it for a couple years. It is the oldest Buick I've owned to date and really kind of made me start to appreciate 60's cars more than I previously had. 

This was a Mecum Auction impulse buy. I certainly wasn't looking for a Riviera, but it was in such great condition that it caught my eye and ended up going home with me. I was happy with my purchase initially, and thrilled even more the longer I had it. It came from Arizona and had been restored to a very high level. I was later able to track the car's history and found it had been purchased from a classic car dealership in Florida by the previous owner in excellent original shape. He then decided to completely restore it for some reason, something most people don't usually do with nice original cars (but should).

GM called the exterior color Wedgewood Blue, and the dark blue interior with wood accents looked good in contrast. The interior was nearly immaculate, and other than a little too upright of a seating position, it was really comfortable as well. 

Unlike a lot of old cars, it was drive-able in modern traffic. That was due in part to the Wildcat 465 engine that put out about 340 HP and 455 lbs of torque. It wasn't quick, but it would go when you needed it. It also started up every time and ran smooth. It had power steering and power brakes (although the fronts were drum and you wouldn't want to rely on them to avoid hitting something). The car also had AC, but it wasn't going to win against Houston summers.

My favorite thing was probably how all of the chrome and bright-work had been replaced. It really looked like a new car because of that and the paint. It's expensive to do it, but if you're going to bother restoring a car you have to go that far or you're wasting your time in my opinion.

I offered the car (as well as one of my Porsches) for the 2017 Keels & Wheels Concours event and both were accepted! I was thrilled just to get in, and I was shocked when the Rivi won a Silver Award - 2nd in Class - in the "American 60's" category. I was with the Porsche during judging so I have no idea what they liked or didn't like about the Buick, but there was some stiff competition. 

In hindsight I'm not as surprised that it judged well. The restoration was done to a very high level and no details were overlooked. Even the trunk had been returned to its showroom glory, and the underside was no different.

The car remained a favorite cruiser of ours for some time since it looked great and also seemed reliable and fun to drive. 

Nel didn't take this one out too often. I don't think she trusted it as much as I did. An upgrade to disc brakes would have made a huge difference. 

Unfortunately, (and I know this sounds like a 1st world problem) when you have a lot of cars they sometimes get shuffled to storage. When that happens they just sit, and cars don't like to sit. We can only keep a maximum of eight cars in garages at our current house and our off-site storage is not climate controlled. It's the back of the bus for rides.

I reluctantly decided to sell the car recently while it was still perfect and it ended up going to a nice collector in Oregon. He sent me this picture of it in its new home. Right after he got it he had to evacuate due to fires and I never had the heart to call and find out if his cars, and our Rivi, made it.