Yes, I know it’s an endless point of debate, but let’s face it, the original (1963-1965) Riviera is the greatest of them all. It was an absolute styling sensation when it arrived, arguably the best-styled American car not just of the sixties but even the whole post-war era. And it wasn’t just a pretty face; its performance was outstanding, and not just in a straight line. The Riviera was a world class gran turismo.
In 1965, Buick upped the ante with the Riviera Gran Sport. Standard equipment was the ultimate 360 hp dual-quad “nailhead” 425 Super Wildcat V8, a reduced backpressure oversize dual exhaust system, a 3.42:1 Positraction rear axle and a few other goodies. CARS magazine wrung one out and was duly impressed.
The Riviera’s chassis had the same X-Frame, suspension and brakes of the 1963-1964 version, and as used by big Buicks through 1964. In 1965 the rest of the full-sized Buick line switched to the perimeter frame except for the Riviera, which kept the X-frame through 1970. Lest anyone think that was a negative, it’s important to know that the X-frame was a very stiff structure, especially so in the Riviera. Structural stiffness is a key ingredient for good handling, and the Riviera’s specially tuned suspension had plenty of that. CARS didn’t mince their words in that regard, calling it the best handling full-size American car and “far above the handling of any comparable European car”. Really? Is a Mercedes perhaps “not comparable”?
The Buick’s front suspension had a very low kingpin-to-wheel offset, enhancing directional stability over rough roads and ridges. Its power steering with 3.5 turns and Buick’s highly developed finned aluminum drum brakes with iron inserts both functioned well above average. And a new tire 7.10 x 15, especially developed for the Riviera with a wider tread and lower profile enhanced its prowess further.
None of this came at the expense of ride quality, which yielded “excellent high speed control, yet a pleasant boulevard ride“. It was not stated whether the tested car had the optional heavy duty suspension, which included firmer springs and shocks, faster steering and rear track bar bushings.
CARS doubted that disc brakes could improve on the Riviera’s drums, and based on the results of other period tests, I rather agree, as many of the first generation front discs weren’t all that impressive. Buick had made it a priority to develop better drum brakes for years and the results were impressive. On its 12th panic stop, it only required 30lbs of pedal pressure unlike the 150lbs typical back then. They were strong and remarkably fade-resistant.
Buick’s engineers had done similar wonders at the other end of the acceleration pendulum. The 425 cubic inch V8 throned with two four barrel carburetors would be the ultimate development of Buick’s “nailhead” V8, so called because of the unusually small valves that had to be used due to its pent-roof combustion chambers (1.875″ intakes, 1.500″ exhaust). That would seem to present a serious obstacle to good breathing, but somehow Buick’s engineers managed to overcome that with aggressive cam shaft timing and valve lift. 1965 would be its penultimate outing, to be replaced with the new generation of large Buick V8s in 1967.
The Super Wildcat V8 was backed by the excellent THM-400 three-speed automatic. On paper, the hp and torque number in relation to the Rivera’s 4080 lbs would indicate decent performance, but in reality, the numbers achieved “demolishes all the figures“. Why CARS tested their cars with four adults on board is a mystery, but they did. Nevertheless, the Riviera GS achieved very impressive acceleration figures for a large car: 0-60 in 7 seconds flat and the 1/4 mile in 15.4 seconds with a terminal speed of 92 mph. Top speed was in excess of 130 mph.
These improve upon the already quick 1963 Riviera — with the 325 hp 401 V8 — tested by M/T, which managed an 8.1 second 0-60 and the 1/4 mile in 16.01 @85.71 mph. A true gentleman’s express.
There is also endless debate about whether the Riviera or Thunderbird of the time is more desirable. Styling is subjective, but when it comes to dynamic qualities, the 400lbs lighter Riviera absolutely stomps the Thunderbird, which struggled when pushed hard in every way. For me, the Riviera’s styling is at least as much better than the T-Bird’s as its dynamic qualities. No contest. But feel free to disagree.
Not surprisingly, the Riviera’s cabin came in for lots of praise. The bucket seats (front and rear) were deemed to be the most comfortable in any American car, the adjustable steering wheel and 6-way power seats enhanced the comfort factor further, and the other included amenities offered made for a highly compelling package. This is despite the fact that it shared its basic dash architecture and many elements with the full-size Buicks. It obviously cost Buick less to develop, tool and produce the Riviera than it did for Ford to do the same with the mostly unique Thunderbird.
The instrument panel and wood-grain steering wheel were the crowning touches. Yes, I’m gushing a bit, but I’ll never forget climbing into one in the showroom — aged ten or so — and trying out both the front and rear seats for a prolonged test as well as testing the patience of the salesman watching me. I was more than just impressed; it was a religious experience. Never mind actually driving one.
Related CC reading:
Vintage Motor Trend Road Test: 1963 Buick Riviera – Hot Rod Nailhead Buick
Curbside Classic: 1964 Buick Riviera – The Peak GM Experience
COAL: 1963 Buick Riviera – “Here’s Where Man And Riviera Get To Know Each Other”
Automotive History: An X-Ray Look At GM’s X-Frame (1957-1970) – Xing Out Some Myths
excellent, thank you.
Clear family resemblance – isn’t it? Opel Diplomat B from 1969.
Absolute a gem of post-war American cars and certainly in my top 5 all-time favorites. I’d love to say I’ll have one someday…
When I was 10 and these appeared I was fortunate to live near a cleaners where the owner purchased one of these. Same color. I could not stop looking at it. After school I would go out for a bike ride and his parking lot was my first stop to look at this beauty for several minutes. I was mesmerized by it. With regard to the T-Bird, it is still a good looker, just a lot more formal in appearance. A remarkable design that has stood the test of time. Stunning.
Once again, Paul and I are in complete and total agreement over a car.
The American automotive “Venus Di Milo” of the early 1960’s. And not just a pretty face; as this road test proves.
Unlike so many other “lookers” of the early 1960’s (domestic and foreign); the first generation Rivera drove as well as it looked. I should know; I owned two of them!
1) that is seriously fast car for its time
2)pet peeve a) Can’t sacrifice cruising comfort for acceleration. It doesn’t say it, but I wonder what kind of RPMs it at 60 miles an hour. For me anything over 2500 RPM as a crime
3) pet peeve b)full instrumentation? Could not tell from the pictures but looked up from some contemporary ones and all I saw was a gas gage. And a bunch of idiot lights.
4) Drum brakes? We know Buick were known for their good aluminum drums and in this case it sounds like it worked pretty well, but still given the knowledge at the time and GM’s ability would’ve been cool to see four-wheel disc brakes.
5) handling. They seem to be around the cusp of the time with GM was really figuring out handling disappointed it didn’t have a rear anti roll bar.
6) With that out-of-the-way, what a truly sexy car I always thought they looked so cool with those clamshell covers
Motor Trend put speed in gear in high as 21 mph/1,000 rpm with the GS 3.42 axle, and they recorded an actual top speed of 123 mph @ 5,900 rpm. So, around 3,100 rpm at 65 mph.
And yes, the ’65 had warning lights for everything but fuel:
https://www.oldcarbrochures.org/United%20States/Buick/1965_Buick/1965-Buick-Riviera-Owners-Guide/slides/1965%20Buick%20Riviera%20Owners%20Guide-31.html
Peak Buick – and ’65 was peak Riv for me – those clamshells are awesome!
That blue Riv makes the T’Bird below look fussy and old fashioned. Mitchell’s design defines the super clean ’60s GM styling direction. Proportions, surfaces, details, interior/exterior – it all just works wonderfully! Peak GM design.
Perhaps the first time GM made something that was objectly better than a Cadillac. They repeated that sin MANY times in the coming decades.
Personally I like the 66-67 Riveria better than the 63-65. Just something about the styling, how radically low and wide those cars look. The 63-65 defintely has a nicer interior, heck I think its nicer than the cadillac interiors for those years
Cadillac was offered the styling but turned it down–the initial designers even included an homage to their ’34 biplane bumpers. Made no sense when you look at early, very odd models of what became the ’67 Eldorado.
While the 63-65 Rivzz are attractive; to me the ’66 is the sleekest of them all! After ’66, IMO, they went downhill….visually.
I never got to drive any of them as the Olds’ dealers I $old for, long ago, never took any in on trade. 🙁 DFO
I’ve written about my 65 Thunderbird and I must say that I did enjoy it as a younger man. But if I were to have bought either car new, the 65 Riv would have been my pick.
While working for a painting contactor, I met a man a few years older who’d bought a 65 Rivera, stock not the GS.
We decided to race and my 390 just couldn’t muster enough power, he pulled away smartly!
He went on to also own a 1963 model, but the 65 would be my choice.
Now that I finally own my Cadillac, I should start looking for a nice Rivera? Nope because then I’m sure I’d be looking at an angry wife!
What issue is this from?
High Performance Cars (aka CARS), April 1965.
Look Buick!! Something that isn’t an SUV. See, you used to be able to do that. Time to start making real cars like this again.
Nice car, my favorite year for that style though the ‘66 was a great evolution. I don’t recall CARS magazine but I can see why it didn’t last. Describing the Riviera as PROBABLY the best handling large full size American luxury car? How about small full size luxury cars? And a hot button of mine, describing (not once but THREE times) the number of pounds on the brake pedal as pressure. Pounds is a measure of force, not pressure. Never would have seen that in Road & Track! On the other hand, the detail is impressive: not just cam timing and valve sizes, but even valve clearance settings. And great photography. I love the picture on the dirt road at the GM Proving Grounds.
How about small full size luxury cars?
What cars would these be? Or am I missing something?
The brakes were pretty good for American driving, but Auto, Motor und Sport (Heft 24/1963) tested a ’63 Riviera in Germany and was not so impressed with the brakes. They remarked:
Translated:
They had diagrams of braking effort, of which they said:
I think there’s a typo there: “70” (kmh) should probably be “170”. That’s 105 mph.
Undoubtedly CARS and other American magazines did not test brakes at speeds that high. They don’t say from what speed these panic stops were made from; presumably 70 mph or so.
FWIW, my point was not to state that these were up to the best European standards of disc brakes, but from some other vintage reviews I’ve read recently they were as good (or better) than some of the front disc brake/rear drum brake systems available on American cars in the mid-late ’60s.
Nope, it’s saying that in a hard stop from 160 km/h, braking effort was effectively gone by the time speed had fallen to 70 km/h (~ 43 mph). I probably should have corrected “at around 70 km/h” in the translation to “by around 70 km/h,” which seems closer to the intent.
Early disc/drum systems were often pretty bad, though more often due to poor brake balance than actual brake capacity — the worst example obviously being the FWD Toronado and Eldorado, where a panic stop would stand the rest of the car’s weight on the nose while the unloaded rears locked and slewed. What stands out to me in this review is that AMS was talking specifically about fade resistance, where I would think the large diameter and finned aluminum drums would be more of an advantage.
(I haven’t looked up the ’62 Thunderbird test it mentions, but I was surprised that they thought its brakes were better, as I have otherwise heard nothing but dire things about the stopping power of drum-braked four-seat T-Birds, both from vintage reviews and from owners. Someone once told me a vivid anecdote about their ’62 or ’63 Thunderbird running out of brake during a fit of irresponsible driving and finally coming to rest on somebody’s front lawn, fortunately stopping just before actually hitting the house.)
I daily drove a ’65 Riviera for 9 years / 90,000 miles, from 60k miles onward, and I’d have to agree about the brakes; you’d be a fool to question them, because they were never more than a suggestion to this car.
They may have been slightly better (aka less worse) than a ’65 Galaxie 390 previously owned. But the braking performance of several luxury European cars of this era, and earlier, were on a completely different level.
But to be fair to the Buick, its brakes (and its rabid petrol consumption) were the only the real negatives. In every other aspect it proved a joy to own.
Luckily in 2024 there is more than one aftermarket disc brake conversion which would do away with the problem! Still one questions GM’s stubbornness sticking with drum brakes so long – on something like the Riviera I doubt the extra cost of discs would have bothered too many customers (on the contrary).
While the ’65 Riviera is certainly a great car, in both appearance and function, I find the ’66 and ’67 to be better looking on the exterior, with a much more cohesive design, and curved side glass. Curved glass would have made the ’63-65 better looking, in my opinion.
Truly one of the most beautiful car designs ever. I regret not being born yet when these first came out so I could have seen them on the street and not just at car shows.
I too remember these when new and still think they’re the shiznit .
Bummer about the brakes but I imagine there are later model disc brakes that are a bolt up solution .
-Nate
It’s unreal the prices that ’65 GSs are bringing at online and in-person auctions. Nice examples are regularly grabbing well over $100,000, and the recent record was over $300,000. Obviously, owning my ’63, I get the appeal…but really?
Still, great cars. 🙂