With just five days to go on the clock, this 1964 Buick Riviera in Regal Black is up for grabs. The first bid was for $5,000 on March 31, but in just 48 hours, the price went up to $20,000 after the 10th bidder.
The '64 Riviera was refurbished 10 years ago in 2014 and owned for nine years before being put up for sale, which shows the owners weren't in any hurry to flip the car or anything of the sort.
It proudly dons a 7.0-liter or 425-cubic-inch Super Wildcat V8 engine with dual four-barrel carburetors and a three-speed automatic transmission that can deliver a factory-rated 360 horsepower (365 ps) and 465 lb-ft (630 Nm) of torque. The battery is brand new and freshly replaced to impress potential new buyers.
In its heyday, the Riviera could have sprinted from 0 to 60 mph or 97 kph in under 10 seconds, which wasn't anything to scoff at in that era, but quite the opposite.
Other features include power-assisted steering, 17-inch five-spoke wheels (aftermarket) with 235/55 BFGoodrich g-Force T/A tires, a lowered suspension, a custom dual-exhaust system with outlets, quad-round headlights, rear bucket seats, a stylized “R" hood ornament, faux quarter panel scoops, chrome bumpers, air conditioning that actually "blows cold air," according to the seller, and a cringy aftermarket sound system with a Pioneer CD stereo.
Photo: Bring a Trailer
Why cringy? Because not everyone is going to love a modern CD stereo in a '64 car. Also, who uses CDs anymore?
According to the trim tag, this 1964 Riviera two-door sports coupe was "born" in the fifth week of November in Flint, Michigan, and came in a Regal Black paint job. It had EZI Glass and even seat belts, if you can believe it.
On the inside, it's as stunning as on the outside, maybe even more so depending on who you ask. The two rows of bucket seats come in two-tone brown leather, perfectly matching other cabin elements like the wood trim from the dashboard, center console, and door panels.
The steering wheel follows the same color scheme, and behind it lies the 140-mph speedometer, but more importantly, the odometer, boasting 8,428 miles or 13,563 kilometers. The story goes that the current owners only drove it for about 1,500 miles (2,414 km). Unfortunately, we don't know the entire history behind the mileage.
Photo: Bring a Trailer
The Buick Riviera's auction ends on Sunday, April 7. If you have any curiosities, the seller is alive and kicking in the comment section of the auction webpage. They go by "SundayDriver59," which is hilarious, to say the least. This model should fetch a pretty penny after all is said and done.
Most people know that the Riviera was introduced in 1962 as a stand-alone model capable of going toe to toe with the Ford Thunderbird, already in its 2nd-gen and ahead of its time. Some say it was the dawn of the personal luxury car concept. But there's more to the story.
Upon translating ancient texts, automotive historians have been able to trace the name back as far as 1949. Buick used it on a luxurious and incredibly stunning two-door pillarless hardtop version of the Roadmaster. Under the hood, it had a 320-cubic-inch (5.2-liter) Fireball straight-eight engine capable of delivering 150 horsepower and 280 lb-ft (380 Nm) of torque. It goes without saying that it's an incredibly rare survivor.
Codrin just loves American classics, from the 1940s and ‘50s, all the way to the muscle cars of the '60s and '70s. In his perfect world, we'll still see Hudsons and Road Runners roaming the streets for years to come (even in EV form, if that's what it takes to keep the aesthetic alive). Full profile
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