1965 BUICK RIVIERA ON BRING A TRAILER IS A FORMER AUTO-SHOW MODEL
- Back in the 1960s, Buick built genuinely beautiful cars. Perhaps the best of them was the Riviera.
- The first-gen Riviera is widely considered the best of the lot, and the hidden headlights that arrived for 1965 make that year the pick of the first-gen cars.
- This is a Gran Sport model, fitted with the most powerful V-8 on offer.
At the 1964 New York auto show, Buick showed off a refreshed version of its already stunning Riviera coupe. Formerly fitted with fixed quad headlights up front, the lights were now hidden behind clamshell covers, such that the car presented a cleaner appearance with a wide, unbroken grille. With the '66 getting a full redesign for a second-generation car, this was a one-year-only design and is now highly sought after. Now, you can get your hands on the exact model that dropped jaws when the covers came off in NYC.
This 1965 Buick Riviera is the very same car that sat in Buick's display at the 1964 auto show, and it's up for sale on Bring a Trailer (which, like Car and Driver, is part of Hearst Autos). It's a Gran Sport model, which means a bump in power thanks to two four-barrel carburetors, and it's been recently refinished in its original Verde Green. Naming a car after the French Riviera might seem a bit high-falutin' for Buck's marketing department, but a car as stunning as this lives up to the implied European-style elegance.
One noted Riviera fan was Leonard Nimoy, who bought his first car—an early 1963 model—and regularly drove it to the set during the filming of Star Trek. William Shatner had a Corvette, of course, just like the Apollo astronauts, but the man who played Spock wanted something that had a little more restraint along with V-8 performance. A Riviera was the only logical choice.
This example had the same owner for four decades, a Naval fighter pilot who is said to have cared for it the way you'd expect. A comprehensive cosmetic refinishing in 2023 refreshed the paint and chromework, and also replaced the Gran Sport badging out back.
Underneath, the suspension has been gone through with replacement bushings and ball joints. The car has Bilstein shock absorbers, and while a Riviera is more luxury coupe than sports car, it should ride and handle quite well for a car from this period. The brakes are four-wheel drums.
Being a Gran Sport, this Riv's got the most powerful engine available, a 425-cubic-inch V-8 with the aforementioned twin carburetors. From the factory, it was good for 360 horsepower and a stout 465 pound-feet of torque. The V-8 was overhauled in 2012 and presents well. A three-speed automatic handles shifting duties, and the car wears its original 15-inch Rally wheels.
With a power driver's seat, power windows, and cruise control, this Riviera is a nicely optioned driver. As a single-year example, it'll be collectible, but more so it's just a fantastic looking machine that's set up to cruise as well as it did in the mid-sixties. It's the kind of car that might even get a smile out of Spock.
The auction ends on March 26.
Looking to purchase a car? Find your match on the MSN Autos Marketplace 2025-03-22T15:10:39Z
