Not long now and we’ll be done with the best custom cars and trucks of the year, as chosen by the Goodguys Rod & Custom Association and awarded in the first week of October. We’ve already talked a bit about a metallic green 1961 Chevrolet Impala, a Cadillac-powered 1932 Ford hot rod, a 1967 Chevy van rocking airplane seats, Kevin Hart’s 1969 Plymouth Road Runner with its Halloween touches and, of course, the hot 1958 Ford F-100 Frigid.
Today we’ll be looking at a build that won the Goodguys 2022 Vintage Air Custom Rod of the Year. It started life as a regular (if a personal luxury car can be called that) Buick Riviera from 1964, but was modified by a crew called Cruzer’s Customs into a true show car.
Nicknamed by the shop Vanquish, the build uses a Roadster Shop chassis as a base, propped on EVOD 19- and 20-inch wheels. Behind the rims sits Baer brakes, and they hold a carefully massaged body in Burgundy Velvet.
Inside, the car presents custom seats meant to mimic the original ones and wrapped, of course, in leather. Passengers sit face to face with Classic Instruments gauges sitting in the massive dashboard, a center console with a decently-sized touchscreen, and Billet Specialties pedals.
The real magic happens under the hood, though. A Riviera from the first generation, like this one, came from the factory with one of two engines, 401 or 425 Nailheads. This custom build however rocks an LS, tweaked by Don Hardy Race Cars into developing 550 horsepower.
Fitted with EVOD Nailhead valve covers and a dual quad intake, the powerplant kind of reminds of the Super Wildcat V8 that powered some Riviera models starting with 1964, and rated back in its day at 360 hp.
The 1964 Buick Riviera Vanquish is Cruzer’s Customs’ most recent builds, and at the time of writing, we have no info on it being or becoming available for sale.
Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies. Full profile
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