What Is The Best 63 Riviera Color?

[64R]

Marlin blue with white would look great, black with white would look really nice as well, just about anything with a white interior would look great I think

[Guest Fred_S]

Oops, mine was glacier blue a '63 only color (been a while), Wildcat62 has the marlin blue...

[RivNut]

Al is correct, I transposed the week and month. I even googled a Feb '64 calendar and found it was a leap year and the 1st fell on Saturday so there were 5 weeks in Feb. that year.

Ed

[Guest patbommer]

mine is original diplomat blue with dark blue bucket leather ! ist great and very noble !!

The blue is a metallic paint.. without sunshine seems like black , when the sun shine directly it is blue with some dark green shine... very cool color, never seen a better for a early Riv.

look at wikipedia Buick Riviera , German , the pics are from mine..

Edited September 17, 2010 by patbommer (see edit history)

[Roy480000]

Was the white leather interior available with any color exterior or just some combinations?  Was burgundy available with white seating?

[RivNut]

I think that there were recommended colors but I would imagine that if you checked off the right boxes, you could get what you wanted. 

 

Paint code N was burgundy in 1963

Trim code 748 was white leather.

 

But, leather was only an option in '63.  There was not an option for leather interior in '64 and '65.  White vinyl was not available in '63, but white vinyl, trim code *624, was available in 64 and 65.  The * in front of the trim code designates it for Custom interior only, not available in standard interior.  No burgundy in '64 but Claret Mist was a close opton.  Burgundy mist was avaialble in '65,

[arnulfo de l.a.]

1 hour ago, Roy480000 said:

Was the white leather interior available with any color exterior or just some combinations?  Was burgundy available with white seating?

White  vinyl with burgundy mist was available. That's what my 65 is. Don't think they had leather as an option in 65 but I could be wrong.

[jframe]

If I was able to get another '65, the color combo I would want is Midnight Blue Code E with a black vinyl interior, just like my Dad's car was.

[jsgun]

I had a 79 Malibu that was silver with a red interior. Very striking combination. I wasn't a fan of red, until I owned that car.

 

My 64 Riv was factory "tawny mist", i'm presuming named after a stripper. Very pretty color but was replaced with a custom mixed (read, unpatchable) dark purple. The interior was saddle, my least favorite interior color. Fawn, red, or black would have been perfect with tawny mist. 

 

I'm partial to dark blue with a deep or even dark red interior. Seen a few cars done like that, when the colors are right it's outstanding.

[RivNut]

2 hours ago, arnulfo de l.a. said:

Don't think they had leather as an option in 65 but I could be wrong.

You're not wrong.

[1965rivgs]

4 hours ago, RivNut said:

I think that there were recommended colors but I would imagine that if you checked off the right boxes, you could get what you wanted. 

 

Paint code N was burgundy in 1963

Trim code 748 was white leather.

 

But, leather was only an option in '63.  There was not an option for leather interior in '64 and '65.  White vinyl was not available in '63, but white vinyl, trim code *624, was available in 64 and 65.  The * in front of the trim code designates it for Custom interior only, not available in standard interior.  No burgundy in '64 but Claret Mist was a close opton.  Burgundy mist was avaialble in '65,

Standard white vinyl interior was available in `65 for the entire model year. The custom white interior was NOT...until half way through the model year when the green custom cloth and white custom vinyl were simultaneously dropped and added.

Tom Mooney

[60FlatTop]

My '64 was brown when I bought it. The paint was worn through in spots so I put 8 coats of Claret Mist Metallic on it in 1980. Prior to that I had a three year old '68 Riviera that was brown and changed to Ford Heritage Burgundy. Must be some of that royal Druid ancestry coming forward.

 

I have been farting around to do it one more time. This time it will be Burgundy and Silver. You know how Bill Mitchel knocked off the Bentley Continental when he did the car. I'm taking his knock off and using style keys from this.  As long as I'm keeping it now and already changed the color.

[RivNut]

1 hour ago, 1965rivgs said:

Standard white vinyl interior was available in `65 for the entire model year. The custom white interior was NOT...until half way through the model year when the green custom cloth and white custom vinyl were simultaneously dropped and added.

Tom Mooney

So much for using the ROA website as a reputable resource.  Thanks for the clarification.

 

Ed

[Buffalowed Bill]

First I would like to say that, unlike a large number of cars, IMO virtually any color looks great on a first gen Riviera. Each factory color crates it's own distinctive character, none of which is bad. Getting a read on the "best" color is simply impossibly. What it really gets down to is owner choice.

 

What has always interested me is how contemporary car color schemes have a propensity to change the the color we choose for our vintage ride. Today's sea of black, white, silver, with a sprinkling of red, subconsciously color our tastes. In the 90's dark green was in vogue, in the 70's brown was in. Today both colors have just disappeared, and I'm doubtful that many would choose either of these colors for their vintage car. As an aside, I like dark green and I'm always impressed when a Riviera shows up in that color.

 

Color is usually one of the last things that draws me to a car. It's all about condition, condition, condition-I usually learn to love any color if the car is right. I own a 1963 Riviera original Diplomat Blue with dark blue leather, which I've owned for twenty five years. Then I stumbled on a beautiful 22K mile 1965 in a garage, it was a no brainer, even though it was midnight blue with black interior.  So now I own two Riviers, and both of them are dark blue, and neither will be changed as long as I'm still kicking.

 

So experts can you tell me what were the most popular colors that were chosen by the new Riviera owners, when they were new? I'll bet it was significantly different then what we tend to like today. 

 

Bill

Edited June 13, 2019 by Buffalowed Bill (see edit history)

[jframe]

58 minutes ago, Buffalowed Bill said:

First I would like to say that, unlike a large number of cars, IMO virtually any color looks great on a first gen Riviera. Each factory color crates it's own distinctive character, none of which is bad. Getting a read on the "best" color is simply impossibly. What it really gets down to is owner choice.

 

What has always interested me is how contemporary car color schemes have a propensity to change the the color we choose for our vintage ride. Today's sea of black, white, silver, with a sprinkling of red, subconsciously color our tastes. In the 90's dark green was in vogue, in the 70's brown was in. Today both colors have just disappeared, and I'm doubtful that many would choose either of these colors for their vintage car. As an aside, I like dark green and I'm always impressed when a Riviera shows up in that color.

 

Color is usually one of the last things that draws me to a car. It's all about condition, condition, condition-I usually learn to love any color if the car is right. I own a 1963 Riviera original Diplomat Blue with dark blue leather, which I've owned for twenty five years. Then I stumbled on a beautiful 22K mile 1965 in a garage, it was a no brainer, even though it was midnight blue with black interior.  So now I own two Riviers, and both of them are dark blue, and neither will be changed as long as I'm still kicking.

 

So experts can you tell me what were the most popular colors that were chosen by the new Riviera owners, when they were new? I'll bet it was significantly different then what we tend to like today. 

 

Bill

I would LOVE to see some pictures of that Midnight Blue with black '65. My Dad bought a new one just like it, and it's always been my favorite.

[Seafoam65]

Ditto........let's see some pics. Is the paint original?

[J3Studio]

I like a lot of the first generation Riviera colors—I think Buick had a very good handle on what looked good on the Riviera. I've been working on a chart of all Riviera colors. I enclose an early beta for 1963-1965, with the colors yet to be calibrated.

 

 

Edited June 14, 2019 by j3studio (see edit history)

[Pat Curran]

Diplomat Blue or Burgundy with a deluxe white interior really does it for me.  Verde Green with a Saddle interior is another fave.

[1965rivgs]

2 hours ago, j3studio said:

I like a lot of the first generation Riviera colors—I think Buick had a very good handle on what looked good on the Riviera. I've been working on a chart of all Riviera colors. I enclose an early beta for 1963-1965, with the colors yet to be calibrated.

 

 

Dont know what your goal is but the exact production numbers for all colors are a matter of record.

Tom Mooney

[J3Studio]

13 minutes ago, 1965rivgs said:

Don't know what your goal is but the exact production numbers for all colors are a matter of record.

 

I'm interested in mapping Riviera color changes over time—eventually 1963-1999 (I've done this for portions of other marques previously). If you are wondering about the order of colors from top to bottom, I'm following the classic ROYGBIV—but I may be getting some of the color order wrong because I don't yet have a good handle on the color calibration.

Edited June 14, 2019 by j3studio (see edit history)

[RivNut]

On the ROA website, in the member's only section, you'll find a series of articles entitled Options Not Included.  The author of the series breaks each year down by color in percentages.  I think you will find that throughout time, white, followed by silver, will be the most popular.

Edited June 14, 2019 by RivNut (see edit history)