Designing the 1963 Buick Riviera - The Style Endures

Interesting History - La Salle, Centurion, Riviera

http://www.retroautos.com.au/docs/1963%20Buick%20Riviera.pdf

Contains many rare photos of the clay models and other work-ups they did before Riviera.

WOW ! Thanks for the pics !

Thanks for sharing, Chuck! A nice glimpse into the "what might have been."

That is great, thanks for sharing.

Wow, awesome pics I had never seen before....thank you so much for posting!

Thanks for sharing Chuck - some neat history and photos !!

I have some pictures from the same era and studio that show the car with Oldsmobile, and Pontiac name plates on them as well as the LaSalle and Centurion name plates. I'll have to see if I can scan that magazine for those pictures. I'm afraid they'll be rather small.

Ed

Very Cool!

What's with the third pedal in one of the interior pictures? Looks like an automatic gear selector to me

Doug

Excellent pics many of which I have never seen. Also excellent narrative to go with it. Thanks so much for posting Chuck!

Very cool!

That's a really neat history of how the 1st gen Riv came to be.

That's the most photos of the proposed La Salle I've ever seen.

I wonder if this car still exists?

Won't most of the concepts done in clay? I don't know. But I surely do like the "scoops" on that hood better than the production scoops.

Great photos Chuck. Thanks for posting!

Wow, thanks for the great read with some awesome pictures Chuck. Interesting to read that Ned Nickles was behind the Riviera styling. I have always felt Ned never got due credit for what all he did. When I bring his name up in conversations of 50's Buick designs I most often get asked "Who is Ned Nickles?

Notice how "low" these models sit. I have always like the rear tail lights of the 63-64's. Riviera's are the most beautifully designed and sexiest cars ever built. uhhh, right after the 54 Roadmaster I mean.

Wow, thanks for the great read with some awesome pictures Chuck. Interesting to read that Ned Nickles was behind the Riviera styling. I have always felt Ned never got due credit for what all he did. When I bring his name up in conversations of 50's Buick designs I most often get asked "Who is Ned Nickles?

Notice how "low" these models sit. I have always like the rear tail lights of the 63-64's. Riviera's are the most beautifully designed and sexiest cars ever built. uhhh, right after the 54 Roadmaster I mean.

That's a Freudian slip if ever I read one.

Also notice the pancake hood. The front lip above the grille is a separate piece, not a part of the hood as on the production car. Bill Mitchell's Silver Arrow I had this, as well as the single hidden headlight in the fender pods. Several of these shots are a completed car, not just a clay model. To answer Bleach's question of what happened to it, I think it became Silver Arrow I. Just my opinion. Thanks for posting this Chuck.

I'm pretty sure that Silver Arrow 1 was a car pulled from the production line. But in order to get the pancake hood on SA1, the front fenders had to be lengthened two inches. If anyone thinks that SA1 looks longer that a production, that's why. It also has a two inch chopped top - fiberglass. And if you look really closely, you'll see that the top is peaked down the center.

I missed this thread when it was originally posted by CheezeMan...did it have a link to some pix or a video? Or am I missing something??

David, it is a PDF. Still works. Mine comes up with Adobe, but there are others. See below for the link.

http://www.retroautos.com.au/docs/1963%20Buick%20Riviera.pdf

Steve, thank you. Apparently, the original post doesn't show the link on either of my portable devices. No problem viewing the link from the desktop computer.

Very cool pix...thanks for sharing

I'm pretty sure that Silver Arrow 1 was a car pulled from the production line. But in order to get the pancake hood on SA1, the front fenders had to be lengthened two inches. If anyone thinks that SA1 looks longer that a production, that's why. It also has a two inch chopped top - fiberglass. And if you look really closely, you'll see that the top is peaked down the center.

Ed is correct. SAI was plucked out of the factory production line. It was body number FB43. I have pics of the tags, including the special paint tag which reads "Dupont Silver Fire Frost - GM Styling Staff" (plus the paint code numbers).

A couple more photos of the LaSalle clay model, but in a 4 door version.

Maybe it was best this never made it past the clay model stage :confused: