OK, we admit the beginning of this project is kind of rough on the outside, but most of our projects start out that way.   Here's a bunch of pics from the eBay Motors listing, and some more shots when we first had the car delivered by Intercity Lines. 

These cars were originally marketed as personal luxury coupes, but they're big enough to be considered full-size sleds.  An uncommon body style, the 2nd generation Rivieras were the follow-up to the crisp 1963-1965 coupes, which boasted crisp lines and great power from their "nailhead" Buick V8s.   The 2nd gen cars were longer and sleeker, and by 1967, they featured Buick's new big V8 engine - a 360 HP 430 cubic inch plant.  The 430 hung around until 1970 when it was bored up to 455 cubic inches, and that stuck as the biggest Buick V8 ever. 

This car holds some nostalgic value, as our producer Kevin Oeste has owned several of these cars, but "never quite figured out what to do with one to make it cool."  

So why "R500?"  It seems that project cars need to have names to be distinctive, and although we're not big fans of some of the names people come up with, we felt we had to name it to play along.  So, the R = Riviera, and the 500 is the target horsepower number.   We'll get to the details on how that's going to happen later.  

This isn't going to be a 1-week wonder, but we hope to make steady progress on the car both on V8TV and here on the website.   If you're into oddball cars, you'll want to follow along!

PICTURES FROM THE eBay MOTORS LISTING 

Email (will not be published)

Name

Title

Comment
 remaining characters

Post