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When The Riviera Was New


60FlatTop

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In 1964, when my Riviera was new (I didn't buy it until 15 years later), I was 15.

This morning I was out in the garage working on the convertible and took a little break to go through shelves of paper, books, and stuff.

So I took a picture of a picture. Its a '54 Olds, not a Buick, but it is a "Me and My".

Back then we knew if a car was a crapper you just rolled it on the side to remove the engine and transmission. I had a nice pry bar made from a Buick inner driveshaft. It was a lot nicer than most guys had.

About 9 years after that picture was taken I met my wife. She started hemming my jeans to length to make me look less like a yokel and it also helped keep a lot of grass clippings off the living room rug.

50 years ago, different day, doin' the same stuff.

post-46237-143142446225_thumb.jpg Bernie

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Those Olds slicks would have been 7.60 X 15 and worth about $2 each as recapable casings. With luck, they were right on the edge of selling as farm wagon tires. The farmers preferred the 8.20 X 15's for the bigger loads.

Within a few months of that picture being taken I did license my first car after having quite a few in varying conditions. That was a 1950 Buick Special two door fastback.

It had 4 "new" Firestone 7.60 X 15 recaps from Johnny Atonelli Tire. My Grandfather ran a tire shop and used car lot so I got a full set for $12 each. I always was a guy with good rubber. Even though we sold used regrooved tires for $3 to $4, I went for the high end.

Bernie

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