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The first Riviera I ever rode in was my sister's 63. This would have
been in the late 60's. Hers was a root-beer brown, black deluxe interior,
turbine-wheel covered used car at the time. I remember sitting in
the back seat and thinking that the way the console came right up
into the dash was the neatest thing! And those switches up there looked
just like an airplane's! My dad drove Impala's, so I had never seen
anything like it. My dad was a shade-tree mechanic who ended up rebuilding
just about everything on my sister's Riv. He always grumbled that
she should have bought a Chevy.
So when it came time for my first car, what else but a Riv? I looked
at a light green 70, and ended up with an emerald green 72. I had
a lot of fun with it, but couldn't afford to drive it and go to school.
I traded it for a Dart! After I got a decent job, I found a maroon
72 with white bucket seats. It was originally from Florida, so needed
paint and interior work. But I loved those buckets and console.
I kept that Riv for 12 years, restoring it and driving it along the
way. It ran and looked great when I fixed it, but it was in too nice
a shape to drive in LA traffic. I sold it to a nice retired couple
who now have it up for sale on the internet.
I found another 72 with buckets this spring. It's an Alabama car,
so the interior is needing replacement. It's not hard to find parts
now that there's the internet. I'm making this car exactly the way
I would have ordered it new. Remember the phrase 'Wouldn't you rather
have a Buick?'. At least I think that's how it goes. Anyway, I sure
would rather have a Riviera.
Carl
72 Riv, turning out to be a big project.
For me it was my aunt, she always had a new Riv each year until 1970
( she didn't like the boattail ) I remember her 65, a dark green with
dark green deluxe interior. I just could not get enough of the hidden
headlights ( she called them her $5000.00 headache ) The first Riv
I bought was a 65 when I was 18 and I have had at least one since.
I am currently working one having one of each GS with a 63 and the
Silver Arrow as end caps, Only 4 more to go.
Kevin Kinney #996
63, 65-67GS,71-74GS & 99 Silver Arrow
I have a '95, and I love it. I live in a city of around 70,000, and
I have seen no more than 4 others in this city. For thanksgiving we
travelled around 2,000 kms - through Vancouver to the Island - and
I was not aware of passing any other Rivieras of this generation.
You say you haven't been able to find one! No surprise. They are out
there, though. We were lucky. We were actually shopping for an Aurora
and test drove one immediately followed by a Riviera. The Aurora had
slightly more power - but I loved the look of the Riviera. The rest
is history. It's a head turner, comfortable, sporty, classy, luxurious
- and she's mine - and she's not for sale. Andre Hebert
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I was 10 or 11 when my folks bought me a Cox ’63 Riv with
a .049 ci gas motor for my birthday. I can’t remember much
these days, but I can sure remember having a ball with that
car. I didn’t know it then, but Bill Mitchel’s styling
masterpiece had given me the Riv bug for life.
I didn’t buy my first REAL Riv until 1989 while living
in northern Virginia. She was a basket-case ’64. I spent
100’s of loving hours fixing her up. I got her about 80%
complete, when I accepted a job in Germany. I couldn’t
ship the car, so I stored it for $100 per month. Three years
later, I moved to Nevada and had to sell the car and took it
in the shorts.
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In 1998 I bought my next Riv. She’s another ’64 with just
under 100K miles. In the past three years, I’ve spent many-a-weekend
fixing, polishing, tuning and preening her. She’s nearly done
now – Only carpet and heater-core replacement (Argh) remains.
This time though, I’m not moving anywhere and intend to keep
her for a long, long time.
Ken Taylor
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