@@bobhill3941 it depends on system... The electric motor and torsion bars on the '66 and '67 Rivieras was flawless. The individual vacuum actuators for the Cougars and Toronados sucked. Then, the single vacuum actuators for the 70s Lincolns worked fine unless you had a leaky vacuum hose...
Bill Mitchell, Virgil Exner and Harley Earl are for me the top class geniuses who made the cars so memorable because of their design. I think the '64 Riviera is the most beautiful Riviera ever built, love the written Riviera signature on the back of the trunk. That riviera is definetly in my top 25 of the most beautiful cars ever built. The 300C from '57 deserves a spot too, the '57 Fury, the Ferrari 250GTE, the '59 Bonneville etc.
I never knew the 57 Fury existed until the movie Christine. An absolutely cherry car (with a grille instead of the vertical slats under the front bumper).
I'd say yes to a '64 over a '63 primarily because of the transmission differences, not to mention the 425 engine becoming standard for '64. The '63 had that 1948 design Dynaflo that needed rebuilding every 40,000 miles. The '64 had a Superturbine 400, the first turbo hydramatic. The '63 and '64 engine crankshafts were also different because the rear of the 63 crank hade a huge hole to accommodate the huge stubby nose on the Dynaflow torque converter. Hence, you could put a '63 engine into a 64/5, but not the other way around.
1963 to 65 Rivieras are some of the best looking Buicks ever 65 being my favorite. My dad had a 1963 Oldsmobile Starfire with a AC unit that would blow ice (crushed or cubes.)
Knowing about these unique approaches to design and assembly makes me want one even more. I'm sure GM had to spend quite a bit of extra money to build this model.
Actually Buick was selected for the car - they pushed hard for it and their ad agency put on a partiuclarly polished presentation to get it. True, Cadillac didn't want it (they were essentially at production capacity and had no need) but the other divisions were interested. I'd argues, as others have, that the T-bird in image, if not in fact, was its progenitor and direct competitor (and outsold it every year save 1969)/ Still absolutely striking and it has aged fantastically well. You can show one to a non-car guy who insists everything looks alike, and even they will take it in and admit it's pretty special.
Fell in love with this car in 1963 when I was a Senior in high school. Actually test drove one with my mom. Great car ! Especially when you're an 18 year old !
I fell in love with this car when it was introduced when I was 10. This and the 63 Grand Prix along with a neighbor's 62 all gold 409 62 Chevy Impala SS with gold interior with bucket seats, console, and spinners. Another neighbor had a beautiful 57 Plymouth Fury. Those were the cars that brought me to have a love of cars.
I never knew about the detachable door skins very interesting These are the things that you would read about in popular mechanics magazine I always liked the clamshell headlight operation
I guess Cadillac already had the El Dorado on their drawing board when the Riv was offered to them? Wow, I never knew about those door skins being bolt-on items!! These Rivieras are one of my favorite cars of the 1960s.
My stepbrother had a 63 Riviera when I was a young teen. I remember discovering quite by accident that the cruise control didn't have a minimum speed to engage. Punching the button from a dead stop would plant the go pedal firmly to the floor and annihilate the rear tires!
Thank you especially for this one! The 1st generation Rivieras, along with the 67 Eldorado, are to me some of the most beautiful American designed and produced cars.
Not a GM corporate fan, but the early Riv's as well as corvettes and oddly, the corvairs are favorites. For a while GM was making some of the world's finest cars, especially with many olds and buick cars. Sad how they gave up everything for nothing buy short term profit. I've worked on a few early Riviera's and am always impressed with the excellent interior construction and design, and the body styling and build quality, they were definitely of a different time, sadly one we will never see again. Good thing is there are many surviving examples, and when you consider the price against that of some new car, it's worth considering.
Another Class-Act video! My anticipation of your new releases, nearly rivals the anticipation of my monthly edition of Motor Trend in the ‘70s & ‘80s! I swear, I looked so forward to getting those mags in the mail, that if the local newsstands had received them before my subscription arrived, I had to use a great deal of self-discipline to resist buying one there, rather than wait an extra day for my subscription. I’m rambling, I know, but that’s what these videos do for me,…they take me back to the time when I was pain-free, carefree, AND debt-free! Keep up the great work; you truly are living the Dream!
Luv 63-65z😮one of, if not the best Looking Machine ever produced; 65 is the Prettiest/Sexiest of all Her Sister's ❤70' being the strongest. Gran Prix being her slutty Sister❤❤❤❤
A car that's still got that futuristic look; a design that took it into the next century, a sports car, a personal luxury car, and best yet, A Classic Antique. How many cars ever built can make this claim?
The dual four barrel option was available on the Riviera and Wildcat. With this option it could perform much better. I never knew about the unique door assembly thanks.
My first job out of high school was working for a Buick dealership (64-66). I remember driving 65 Riviera Gran Sport 100 miles on the Interstate. I never got it over 85 for fear of getting caught and then fired. The Turbo 400 in the 64 Riviera was a huge improvement over the Dynaflow in the 63. You have one picture in here that is wrong. It appears to be a 63 with a 65 front end on it since it has the disappearing headlights. Good video.
I remember about 30 years ago I went to a building, an owner is selling one I was in my early 20's , I was expecting to see a tipical riviera but when I saw that, like brand new it was a presence that no other car give me ever again. The interior is amazing, the odometer and tacho has this bllue aura of Marantz receivers, it was an absolutly timeless and unforgetable car. In fact I've just came here to see more of it but let me tell you that pictures doesn't make him justice.
Amazing comparison-charts, Adam! After having to braze the weak spots on my Wildcat door, I wish they had kept on with that solid inner panel on the frameless doors... not to mention the easy access instruments!!
I remember in August 1963 trying to decide on either a 1/18th scale gas powered tan colored 1963 Riv or red Corvette sting Ray for my 8th birthday. Both were new models and arguably the coolest cars introduced that year and I couldn’t have both. I love me some Vettes, but even though the color was pretty mundane I chose the tan Riv and still have it. I eventually procured and still have a gas powered 68 red vette model but yep, a Riv fan pretty much since day 1. GM’s Grand Prix, Wildcat and Starfire models were cool sporty lux cars, but IMHO when the Riviera was introduced it redefined that genre of vehicles from then and throughout the 60’s and into the 70’s ‘boat-tail’ years. Great memories. Thanks Adam!
As loumontcalm says, the Riviera and Thunderbird could be considered of the same class, with the Riviera coming much later. If you are tracing the fossil remains, you might say the Corvette was the first sporty car frpm the Big 3, a 2 seatrer, and the '55 T-bird was a luxury 2 seater response whereas the 1955 C300 Chrysler was a modified standard Chrysler, not a separate car, but a full size hot rod. As such, it lacked the separate marque status but also initated the large sporty car concept. The Chrysler 300 letter series was generally faster than Riveria or Tbird and by 1960 had a best in class 4 seat leather interior and full length console. But it was gone when the class was thick with Toronado, Eldorado, Grand Prix and Monte Carlo.
@@retrocompaq5212 Completely disagree with you on that one. As a previous owner of a '64 T-bird and current owner of 2 '66 T-birds AND a '68 Cougar, I have to say there is a world of difference and neither of those are glorified cheap cars. The Riviera is magnificent, but so are the Cougar and the Thunderbird in their respective classes. Why do we have to attack competing vehicles? Maybe if we didn't perpetuate that Ford vs GM vs Chrysler attitude, we would have more choices than just Asian or European cars.
The Thunderbird was built in the same Factory is the Lincoln Continental. It was not an upgraded cheap car ( at least not until 1977 when was lowered into a cougar class car)
Adam…I would encourage you to consider the Chrysler Letter Series cars that ram for eight years prior to the ‘63 Riviera…I’m a big fan of the Riviera but personal luxury sports was invented by Virgil Exner and Bob Roger. Keep up the great work!
Chryslers work with Ghia did produce a lot of concepts of 4 seat sporty luxury cars, but Chrysler never put that concept into production, like Ford and Buick did. The 300 was a full size luxury car, with a high performance engine, on the same body as the New Yorker, with a Imperial front clip. Not very close to being a trend setting new class of vehicle. Great car, yes, but Apples and Oranges, for this discussion. The Dual Ghia and the English Bristol, and Jensen, all Chrysler powered, are a better argument, for your point, and the Dual Ghia, I believe, was built on a Dodge chassis.
Air conditioning ended the vent wing era. Some vent wings on pre war makes and models took up almost half of total side windows. A lot of bees wasps and hornets must have gotten inside going down the road on hot days!!!
@@garyblanchard1084 not exactly, a number of vehicles continued vent windows well into the 90s, well after air conditioning was standard on most vehicles.
Volkswagen also used removable door skins on the Jetta and Golf MK5 series (05-10). I worked at a shop that serviced a lot of VW cars and worked on such cars. Made it very easy to repair the interior parts of the door.
Between the ‘63 Riviera and the ‘63 Sting Ray GM was really on top of their game. Oh how I miss those days. Today I feel like they are floundering and I hate to see it.
When I was 15 my 25 Y/O BIL got one of these and we drove 350 miles across West Texas in it at 120 MPH at night (he was a state trooper so didn't have to worry about getting tickets). I thought it was the most luxurious car that could ever be!
Wow, check out those crazy exhaust pipes, with little mufflers at the back. I wonder what they sounded like new..... (And I wish they had gone with the eyelids 4 the headlights from the start.)
The pipes are probably curved like that to clear the frame and floor pans. The small mufflers are resonators, and the single, main muffler is sideways between the rear axle and the fuel tank, similar to the early Camaro dual exhaust, with two inlets and two outlets.
@@joesmithjoesmith4284 I thought of that, because the first Toronado used that system (which to me negates the point of dual exhaust...) However, even with a magnifying glass I can only see two shorty mufflers by the diff and MAYbe a pair of resonators at the very rear (like the Gen 2.)
My all time favorite car of the 60's. Blew me away as a 12 year old when it was introduced, and my favorite would have been the 64 with the 465 motor and turbohydramatic, and not the gawdawful vestige of the Dynaflow in the first model. Also the AC controls were more standard and not as goofy as the aircraft style plungers in the '63. Adam some day you should do a Buick Invicta wagon...we had family friends with a '63 and red leather interior and it was soooo luxurious at the time, with a unique rotating HVAC mode selector. We would go on driving vacations with them and I used to get so angry with my sister, who manipulated her way into their car every time, and I had to ride with my parents in our un-air conditioned brown '62 Chevy Bel-Air wagon that had a weenie 283 engine and came from the factory with a rancid smell that never went away...the original vomit comet. Riding any distance in that dump of a car was the stuff of childhood nightmares.
@@garyblanchard1084 Hi Gary...it took 6 more years before my dad surprised my mom (and the family: he was a heretofore ruthlessly practical mechanical engineer who always bought basic cars with cheap trim paired with one of the smallest engines) with a new completely loaded '68 T-Bird with the 4V 429....that car was a torque beast. From that point is was American luxury cars with the biggest engines....I thought I'd died and gone to Heaven.
Adam..could I make a suggestion for an episode about the cars with early center consoles? As far as I know it was exclusively an American innovation and the first car to have one was the 58 Ford Thunderbird ..but then with the retainment of the bench seat, largely ignored for 40 years or so. But who were the early imitators?
Approx 4600.00 in 63, which was one heck of a lot of money back then. The car had positraction so when you put it in low and mashed it, you could "burn rubber" even in a luxury car. Also, the ignition had an "on" "off" and lock position so if you didn't turn it to lock you start, run and drive the car without the keys. You could also remove the keys with the engine running and go unlock the trunk.
When the Riviera came out in '63, because of its combination of power and luxury, one of the automobile magazines of the day referred to it as "the banker's hotrod", I have a '64 with the optional dual quad 425, hotrod magazine called that version of the Riviera "an iron fist in a velvet glove",,,
I remember the the first moment I saw one of these new. I was 9 years old and gobsmack by the presence of this car. Just gorgeous ans the next 2 versions extended and improved on this.
I know that some of the GM X frame cars were available with a reinforced full width frame for convertibles and as a 'police' option. Was the Riveria convertible built on a heaver frame? Racers would get the convertible frame for this reason. I remember in my dad's 1960 Chevy when we went around cloverleaf ramps you could actually see the frame flex if you watched the gap between the seat back and the door pillar as we rode in the back seat.
I was 17 in 1963, but don't recall seeing any Buick Riviera's of this style, that year! However, in the next few years, this model was one of, it not the most beautiful of all, full sized cars made! The style was so futuristic that it looked new for many years afterward & doesn't even look too 'dated', to this day! Gorgeous & timeless!
@denniswilson8013y friends 67 ranchero would disagree with you, thing had like 260,000 miles (turned over 100,000 twice) on the original 289 and still ran like a bat outta hell before he put a roller 302 in it. That 289 could not be killed. EDIT: wasn’t just CAFE standards that killed these cars, insurance companies played a big role in the demise of big V8 powered cars.
Around 73-74, our neighbor had a very nice silver 63 Riviera. It wasn't really the kind of car I was interested in at the time, but perhaps I should have paid more attention! You are right, Adam, I never knew any of these facts about the Riv!
You might have added that 1963 was the last year for the non-shifting DynaFlow then called Twin Turbine Drive. In 1964, Riviera got Buick's first automatically shifting 3-speed automatic which it called the Super Turbine 400. This new automatic would revolutionize GM's automatic transmission segment. For 1964 only, this new automatic had no 2nd gear position with the quadrants P-R-N-D-L. Also, in 1964 Buick introduced the 2-speed S.T. 300 automatic, found in smaller Buicks and Oldsmobiles. Internally, it was similar to Chevy's PowerGlide, with many interchangeable parts. I wonder about the 0-60 times for the 1963 Riviera. I'll bet that they started the car in manual Low, which would still have the advantage of the variable-pitch stators and, depending on the final drive ratio, could be run up to 60 in "L", but I'll bet they shifted into "D" before that.
I doubt they started in low. I have a 63 lesabre with the 401 and twin turbine drive as well. I got rid of the factory 2 barrel carb and went with a factory 4 barrel set up. In drive with the 2.78 open differential, I get a consistent 9 second 0-60 time. If you start in low and get it to keep traction it will actually shave off another 2+ seconds off the 0-60 time if you know when to shift back into drive. Those riviera's typically had 3.23 differential so even better.
@@kevbo2012 When you have a big engine and lots of carburetion(2-barrel on a 401?), starting in high gear ain't-a gonna give-a ya the fastest acceleration. The speed of acceleration is what it is all about. Keeping traction in a gear close to 2nd gear on a 3-speed automatic? With a tall final drive ratio, it would probably take skinny tires on a wet road to break traction. Heck, my '71 Ranchero with 15" wheels with 285 h.p. and a 3.0 diff. had trouble breaking traction in 1st gear of it's automatic.
@automatedelectronics6062 From 62 and 63 the 401 in the lesabre was standard with only a 2 barrel carb. 4 barrel on the lesabre would have been the power pack option from the factory that I later added. The twin turbine dynaflow is actually a cvt with an emergency low gear that you can manually select. In drive the 5 element torque converter does all the ratio changes from the max stall ratio of 3.40 down to 1 to 1. When the low range is selected, it kindof locks the torque converter into the 3.40 ratio and you also get the additional 1.82 from the low range on top of that making the acceleration more aggressive. With the 2.78 differential I found it best to shift back into drive around 45mph or the acceleration will start to slow down again. On a little bit of a side note you can also push start the car in low and use it for engine breaking down steep grades. Low in a dynaflow is not 1st gear like a normal automatic
@@kevbo2012 Why not install the 2-4 Bbl. option? The low gear ratio of 1.82 in a PowerGlide was normally found in light trucks or in high performance cars. When I used to build PowerGlides for racing, I would use the 1.82 gearset over the common 1.76. As the transmission was connected directly to the engine, there was no slippage. With a torque converter, the max torque multiplication starts from normal take-off. Once the stators star spinning, torque multiplication ends. The DynaFlow cheated with movable stator blades which would allow more slippage. They were opened or closed, no variable in-between. When they closed, this would cause a blip and torque would be slightly increased. The variable stators were controlled by a switch actuated by the position of the throttle linkage. The switch had 3 positions. With the throttle closed or slightly opened, the stator blades were in the torque multiplication position. During cruise throttle position, the blades were in the closed position, promoting the 2 halves of the torque converter the ability to be close to the same speed for better mileage. At full throttle, the switch would open the blades increasing slippage and allowing the engine to get to it's powerband much quicker. The theory behind having 2 stators was that they would sequentially start spinning and gave a longer torque multiplication range while also allowing a higher stall speed getting the engine into it's power sweet spot quicker. Sure, the DynaFlow could be considered a CVT, but because of the fluid coupling aspect, it could never reach a 1:1 ratio. Modern true CVT's will reach a true 1:1 ratio and will even go into an overdriven ratio. Yup. Most auto transmissions could be used to push-start a vehicle if they had a rear(output shaft-driven) rear pump. After 1965, most automatics didn't have rear pumps. This is one reason we only used 1962-65 PowerGlides for racing. The triple-turbine DynaFlow had no rear pump. You couldn't push-start. Right, the main reason for the "L" gear position was for engine-braking. The torque converter never came close to locking up. Actually, the vanes on the transmission side would be spinning faster than the ones on the engine side, making the engine rpm's to increased creating a load on the drivetrain. "L" was also very helpful for acceleration. Just like any transmission, you have to know the best time to upshift.
@automatedelectronics6062 If I could afford what an original 2x4 set is currently going for I definitely would but most of the time I just cruise around so I don't really need it. True not a perfect 1 to 1 but I do believe it was pretty close. The twin turbine dynaflow only had 2 positions on the stator. For the other position to work the throttle has to be pushed in all the way and happens at the same time the secondarys on the carb open up. It is a mechanical linkage. The super turbine transmission that came later was an electric switch by the carb correct? Either way I do think the dynaflow does get little but of a bad rap. The early ones were definitely bad but the later ones got better. I like to call the low range the cheat gear because it surprises the heck out of people when I do choose to use it. To be honest a lot of what I learned was just from reading the factory service manual that I have for the car.
A Very Stylish Smaller GM Car for The Era....Probably much more Fuel Efficiency with this vehicle, with an Excellent Power to Weight Ratio, than the comparable Buick Electra, Adam😊🙌
I'm amazed by the constant work and innovation that was pursued by the American automotive industry during the ever important 1960's. It's incredible that product planners and engineers even found time to sleep, let alone have families and lives of their own.
This video was quite interesting. I liked the photos that went along with what you were stating Adam. Some of the features should be used today, but they are not. Buick always thought about service from the vehicle. This model influenced Rivieras for years. Thank you Adam.
Thankfully the Super Turbine 400 3 speed transmission replaced the Dynaflow in 1964. Buick and Cadillac premiered this transmission a year before the other GM divisions (later called the Turbo 400). The 425 was the standard engine on Rivieras for 1964 and 1966,
Great vid, Adam. The Buick Riviera blazed the trail for a new class of automobiles that were known as the "personal luxury car", making that class of vehicle popular. Cadillac probably was the first with the Eldorado, which debuted if I'm not mistaken in the '50's. Then came the Lincoln Mark II. Both these cars were so outrageously expensive that hardly anyone could AFFORD them! Then, later in the '60's we see the Olds Toronado and new model Caddy Eldorado. Pontiac's Grand Prix was back as well as the Chevrolet Monte Carlo in 1970. Thanks for the great vid and say hello to a new subscriber!
Great video about a beautiful car! I found the door and dash engineering discussion very interesting; my favorite type of content (other than Adam and select guests on Leno’s channel, not many have the knowledge to create an entire video of this depth). Thank you!
First gen Riv, like a lot of first-gen cars, was the nicest looking and one of the reasons for that is the slightly smaller size. It did manage to maintain the looks throughout 3 model years which is not often the case. The annual refreshes sometimes spoil the look of the original design.
Rivs remind me so much of a young boomer childhood. The first car I remember was a '64 convertible Wildcat but then came a 68 Riv then a '73 Riv with that big , funky boat tail and that torque monster 455 with duals, a center console, buckets and Buick rally wheels. As a 10 year old kid, the hood on that '73 look 10 feet long. I always like to hear the sound of that Quadrajet opening up when we'd get on the freeway. It's hard to believe that GM actually used to build cool cars like that. My brother was offered that car when he turned 16 in 1975 but wanted a '75 Trans am with a smogged out 400. I would have gladly taken the '73 Riv with only 29,000 miles on it.
air conditioners of that era were amazing..Controlling the refrigerant before and after the evap core plus the large volume of R-12 in the system, would turn the inside of car into a meat locker...This car, made in Flint Michigan at what would become Buick City..
In high school my enemy had one of those Buicks. I believe it was a 63 and did have the 425.. I had a 1970 elcamino with the 300hp 350, hedders,small performance cam etc. I could out run the Buick in town if I was being chased. Once on the open road @100+ mph the Buick would catch me quickly.
I was on holidays in Queensland back in '64 and I got talking to a Farmer type who said " I think I might buy one of these Buick Riverina's, He was a few thousand miles away from the original bit of territory it was named after. [for those non Ozzies, the Riverina is an area in Australia].
The details you’ve disclosed are quite interesting! I knew nothing about the door skins nor the instruments though I’ve seen instruments similarly mounted on some English cars. The Volkswagen door assemblies of more recent production are nearly the same.
