TxBuicks Posted November 16, 2016 Share Posted November 16, 2016 There is an auction going on in Granville, IA this Saturday, November 19. The owner of a mechanic shop passed away recently and his family is clearing out everything. He had quite a collection of 1st generation Rivieras. Lots of specialty tools, too. I will stop by there on my way up to Minnesota to spend Thanksgiving with sister. Those of you around Iowa should come check it out, too. Here is a link. https://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2016/11/15/one-mans-hoard-of-dozens-of-buick-rivieras-to-disperse-at-auction/?refer=news 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TxBuicks Posted November 20, 2016 Author Share Posted November 20, 2016 Yeah, there was a blizzard on Friday, but the weather on Saturday was quite nice. Although it was cold, the wind had died down and the sun was out. I have never seen an auction like this where the prices were so low. Cars were going for unbelievable low prices. There was no starting bid, so each car started out at $50. There were lots of 1st generation 1963-1965 Rivieras, and a few other Buicks. The owner, for the most part, collected them, but didn't part them out. Therefore, most of the Buicks were very complete, including untouched, original engines. The only damage to them was due to flat tires and sitting out in the weather so long. The gem of the show was a 1965 Riviera Gran Sport. It was by far the highest priced car. I thought the bidding would stop at $500, but 2 guys got into a bidding war and neither one wanted to give it up. This rare Buick sold for $1,500, with a 100% complete 2x4 engine and wheels. It went to a BCA member. All of the other Rivieras sold for under $300. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TxBuicks Posted November 20, 2016 Author Share Posted November 20, 2016 1948 Super and 1955 Century. Notice the nice front bumpers and grilles. The 1948 Super sold for $125. The 1955 Century sold for $175. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TxBuicks Posted November 20, 2016 Author Share Posted November 20, 2016 1957 Special went for $185. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TxBuicks Posted November 20, 2016 Author Share Posted November 20, 2016 1958 Super. Look at those tail lights and rear bumper! Front end had been picked over. Still had most of the engine. $135. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TxBuicks Posted November 20, 2016 Author Share Posted November 20, 2016 1960 Electra. Good front bumper, rear bumper, grille, tail lights. $175. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TxBuicks Posted November 20, 2016 Author Share Posted November 20, 2016 1962 Invicta, $150. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TxBuicks Posted November 20, 2016 Author Share Posted November 20, 2016 1964 Wildcat coupe. Complete, very nice grille, original wheels. $200. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TxBuicks Posted November 20, 2016 Author Share Posted November 20, 2016 1966 Wildcat coupe. Complete, great grille, original wheels. A BCA member bought this car for $250. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TxBuicks Posted November 20, 2016 Author Share Posted November 20, 2016 Want some bumpers? Most of these are 1st generation Riviera front and rear bumpers. The entire lot went for $400. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TxBuicks Posted November 20, 2016 Author Share Posted November 20, 2016 1963-1965 Riviera doors. Look how nice these are. The whole lot sold for $150. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TxBuicks Posted November 20, 2016 Author Share Posted November 20, 2016 1972 Skylark 4 door sedan. This car was running, driving, with good interior. It was one of the last cars sold so I guess everyone was out of money. It went for only $400. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TxBuicks Posted November 20, 2016 Author Share Posted November 20, 2016 (edited) Look at all of these early Rivieras. Most of them were 1963-1965 Rivieras with complete engines, wheels, interiors, etc. Every one of these went for $150 - $250. Unbelievable. Edited November 20, 2016 by TxBuicks (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thriller Posted November 20, 2016 Share Posted November 20, 2016 I thought Wiinipeggers were cheap. Two auctions in Iowa with rock bottom pricing. Wouldn't just the dual carb assembly of that GS have the value that car sold for? I don't have a Riviera in my collection and it looks like this might have been a good place to change that. That said, until I rearrange things, there isn't much in the way of storage space any more. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RivNut Posted November 20, 2016 Share Posted November 20, 2016 Probably. And if you look closely at the picture, you'll see the car also had the four note horn option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrEarl Posted November 21, 2016 Share Posted November 21, 2016 unbelievable, thanks for reporting Roy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JZRIV Posted November 21, 2016 Share Posted November 21, 2016 Thanks for the pictures and report. If I was independently wealthy looking for a project, I would have bought them all and started a junkyard! Of course actually making any money would be low on the priority because parting Buicks is not the most lucrative business. Hope the block isn't cracked on the 65 Riv GS 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rivman Posted November 22, 2016 Share Posted November 22, 2016 On 11/20/2016 at 5:23 PM, Thriller said: Wouldn't just the dual carb assembly of that GS have the value that car sold for? Actually twice the value of what the car sold for! Ad the 4 note horns Ed mentioned, the BS transmission, the 3:42 Posi differential, and any number of other things, and that is a very good investment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrEarl Posted November 22, 2016 Share Posted November 22, 2016 12 hours ago, JZRIV said: parting Buicks is not the most lucrative business. brotha, I can attest to that!!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JZRIV Posted November 22, 2016 Share Posted November 22, 2016 29 minutes ago, Imperial62 said: What are you going to put them on? These are coming off a restorable 65 Riviera GS. It's sad when such an iconic Buick is just valuable parts. Kind of like a bunch of buzzards cleaning the carcuss of a 14 point Trophy Buck in a ditch. Interesting analogy. But the one carcass gives life to many buzzards! Unfortunately that car likely has so much body rot it would need rebodied for any chance of restoring. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Phillips Posted November 22, 2016 Share Posted November 22, 2016 "Unfortunately that car likely has so much body rot it would need rebodied for any chance of restoring. " I have restored some that look worse than that one--might never get all my $$$ back, but I have restored them! Virtually all of those cars were incredible bargains. That '58 Super, for example, has hundreds and hundreds of dollars' worth of parts still left on it. So do all of those '63 and '64 Rivieras. But you've got to have available storage space, a trailer, and a tow vehicle to play this game. Had I been at this auction, I would have come home with that '58 Super or that black '64 Wildcat 2-dr. Woulda, shoulda, coulda...! Pete Phillips, BCA #7338. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NC-car-guy Posted November 22, 2016 Share Posted November 22, 2016 Anyone know who got the 55 century? I like the bumper.... ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NC-car-guy Posted November 22, 2016 Share Posted November 22, 2016 Bryan, you are right, in the US anyway.... there's a few of us nuts still starting from scratch, but as the newer generation gets to a point that they have disposable income, cars are not their hobby. Heck, they said cars in general (as in daily transportation) have gone way down. I have actually been selling a good bit of stuff overseas... even big, expensive to ship stuff, but still nothing like it used to be. I wonder how many cars in these hidden hoards could have been candidates for restoration when the owner first acquired them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JZRIV Posted November 22, 2016 Share Posted November 22, 2016 Hi Bryan, I do understand your point and it is very thoughtful conversation for the hobby and a good topic to discuss here. What I continue to learn is that there are people (waaaay more than we think) doing Riviera restorations these days especially on the 65 GS due to its desirability. They just don't come on this forum or have interest in joining BCA or ROA. Its not terribly uncommon to find a restorable car (much more so than the auction car) that had the 2x4s, air cleaner, etc stripped 40 years ago. If finding a decent 65 Riv GS was like hens teeth, the free market would look at the auction car differently but that's not the case. I know almost anything is restorable but finding someone who has deep enough pockets to not give a hoot about cost is a very tiny faction. Another hypothetical ?. Where would the floors, trunk pans, structural supports, etc come from to restore that car? Likely from a rust free arid climate car and if the body is so solid on that car, maybe it should be restored instead. Most of us have seen rusted mopar carcasses left for dead brought back to life but typically those cars have an excellent reproduction part supply significantly easing the effort and cost not to mention a massive following. Not so with Riviera's. Sad as it is its a long tough expensive road restoring a complex car like a Riviera in deplorable starting condition. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rivman Posted November 22, 2016 Share Posted November 22, 2016 11 hours ago, Imperial62 said: What are you going to put them on? These are coming off a restorable 65 Riviera GS. It's sad when such an iconic Buick is just valuable parts. Kind of like a bunch of buzzards cleaning the carcuss of a 14 point Trophy Buck in a ditch. I wasn’t necessarily meaning it would not be worth restoring, I was just pointing out some of the value of the investment made by the person that bought it. Kind of to answer the question asked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rivman Posted November 22, 2016 Share Posted November 22, 2016 11 hours ago, JZRIV said: Interesting analogy. But the one carcass gives life to many buzzards! Unfortunately that car likely has so much body rot it would need rebodied for any chance of restoring. This is where I am with one of the ’65s I have, it is one of the 454 LX cars that is not a GS, but, is it worth all the needed repairs, or is it not? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RivNut Posted November 22, 2016 Share Posted November 22, 2016 Does anyone know who the buyer is, AND are we sure he's going to part it out? Right now is only speculation on our part. The original comment was that he bought an entire car and it's worth more in parts han he paid for it. That's a good deal. He made the trip, stood in the cold, and spent his money. If the car should have been saved then one of the naysayers should have made the trip, stood in the cold, and spent his money. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
60FlatTop Posted November 22, 2016 Share Posted November 22, 2016 A row of pristine bumpers? Not much of a chance of that with the expectations Ebay has poured into the heads of buyers. Money back policies and buyer extortion make sellers cautious and the slightest imperfection makes the wary seller creative, as well as taking a needed part out of circulation in the hobby. Perfect bench for me, but even then, a car guy stopped by one day and whined "It doesn't have a back." I ignored him. Oh, after 8 years of being a bench the bumper DID end up being sold to a very grateful '69 Caddy owner. Bernie 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lrlforfun Posted November 22, 2016 Share Posted November 22, 2016 OK Riviera People: I have thousands of First-Gen Riviera parts I've accumulated from years of trolling for what we troll for. I decided to post an add on Craig's List for First-Gen Riv stuff. I began around this time last year and when my post is up I get 1-3 calls per week. There is a good market for parts! Most people are looking for 65 stuff and the rest 64 and 63. I DO NOT SHIP because I'm retired, I'm lazy and I am not in business. If I were in business and I did hustle and ship I could probably build things up to perhaps 3-4 grand a week in gross sales. The jewelry is the lion's share of requests...cathedrals, horn bar, center arm rest, horns, etc. There is some demand for small trim pieces. Except for hoods, good sheet metal is a slow mover. There are several West Coast guys hustling Riviera parts. I can name a half-dozen right off the top of my head They've been doing it longer than me and hustle more too. To this package of Rivieras.... With what I have (MINUS THE SKILLED LABOR) I could have put most of these back together. Alas, Mama says, no more cars and that killed that. haha I believe the majority of all these cars are what I call "shelf cars". A shelf car is one not quite ready for a shave an-a-haircut today but sooner than later it will be a most worthy candidate. I often mention 59 4867s and 59 Cad converts in the early 90s. Not worth putting together then. Today they would need to be really far gone to break one up. Contrary to what anyone says, there is a great market for the right collector cars in various conditions too. Rivieras are the right collector car and I believe that the purchasers of these cars will do just fine. I only wish it were me! Mitch 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thriller Posted November 23, 2016 Share Posted November 23, 2016 Maybe I'm sorry for making the original suggestion. I don't follow these cars and parts closely enough to know the average monetary value...I was just confirming that the GS with dual quads was an incredible value since just one piece of it would be valued in the range of twice what was paid for the car (based upon a comment following mine). I'm one of those who still manages to buy a car, then spend lots getting it up to snuff. I did that again this fall, but haven't yet written up the story...it turned out to have more rust than I thought to look for. Still a neat car that will one day bring some grins. If if only I didn't have other commitments on the weekend and the auctions were close...then again, I'd have been in dog house territory after doing so. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TxBuicks Posted November 29, 2016 Author Share Posted November 29, 2016 I don't know the name of the BCA member that bought the 1965 Riv GS. I was standing beside a BCA member that I DID know, and the buyer was with him. He and another guy I didn't know were bidding head-to-head on it until the final price of $1,500 was reached. He was smiling when it came out in his favor. Getting personal now, the 1965 Riviera GS is my top-most, favorite Buick. Although I have never owned one. But I have to tell you, if I had the cash and trailer with me, I would have bought it. And I wouldn't have thought at all about 'Is it worth it?' I wanted it, I have always wanted a 1965 Riviera GS, and this one was in my price range. It would have been a dream come true for me. An opportunity to buy a complete one for that low of a price may not come my way again. Sure, it would have taken a lot of work, but, man, I could have had one. That's all that mattered to me. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Buick Posted December 3, 2016 Share Posted December 3, 2016 (edited) Hello Everyone I was at the Granville Iowa auction where I met up with Roy. I was also talking to the person who brought the 1965 GS Riviera which from recollection hit the hammer at $1525. The buyer is from Sioux City Iowa and he brought it as a father and son project, as his son has just graduated from an Auto Body/Refinishing college in Iowa, He also brought a second 1965 Riviera, (it was a nice looking maroon car with a perfect set of spinner hubcaps) and he paid $200 for that car. I pointed out the GS to him and our concern with this car was that both front fenders were bent in the same place and it looked like the whole front end had been bent downwards. Because it had sunken in the mud we could not get a closer look to see the front suspension and chassis condition. Most of the cars there did not have a title, however the 65 GS did have one. I brought a 1966 Wildcat sports coupe because it had the period correct Argent wheels, (thanks Roy for your help here). Before I could collect the car it went missing and it took a few days for Mike, (the son of the collection owner) and the auction company to track it down and I was able to collect it. This person had brought 13 cars from the auction and will be looking to sell parts from these cars. He lives a few miles from Granville Iowa. If you want his name and phone number please get back to me. I will be getting back to those members who have asked me about parts from the 1966 Wildcat. Thanks John BCA # 46404 ROA # 14353 Edited December 3, 2016 by Johnny Buick Missed out membership details (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmTee Posted December 4, 2016 Share Posted December 4, 2016 22 hours ago, Johnny Buick said: Most of the cars there did not have a title, however the 65 GS did have one. That probably explains the generally low prices. Cars that can't be titled and driven are really only good for parts and unless one has the space, buying an entire car for select parts doesn't work either... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RivNut Posted December 4, 2016 Share Posted December 4, 2016 Not in Kansas. After a certain age, a car can be registered and given a new title on just a bill of sale. 1965 is old enough to qualify. There are also "title" companies from whom you can purchase a new one . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmTee Posted December 5, 2016 Share Posted December 5, 2016 9 hours ago, RivNut said: Not in Kansas. After a certain age, a car can be registered and given a new title on just a bill of sale. 1965 is old enough to qualify. There are also "title" companies from whom you can purchase a new one . Well, that's good to know. Here in NY there does not appear to be any way to register a vehicle without a clear proof of ownership in the form of a title or transferable registration: Cars, Trucks, and Motorcycles Model year 1973 or newer The acceptable proof of ownership is either a NYS Certificate of Title – must be the original or a certified copy, not a photocopy 1 acceptable proof from another state - must be the original or a certified copy, not a photocopy 2 To transfer ownership the seller whose name appears on the proof of ownership must sign the transfer section of the proof of ownership and provide a bill of sale if the seller has a title certificate that was transferred to them by another person, the seller cannot use that title certificate to transfer the ownership the seller must apply for a title certificate only and transfer the new title certificate the buyer's name must be on the title certificate if the vehicle is 10 model years old or newer, the seller must complete the Odometer Disclosure Statement on the back of the title certificate if the vehicle is 8 model years old or newer, the seller must complete the Damage Disclosure Statement on the back of the NYS title certificate make sure that the information listed on the title certificate is not altered, erased or changed 3 Model year 1972 or older The acceptable proof of ownership is either a NYS Transferable Registration – must be the original or a certified copy, not photocopy acceptable proof from another state 4 To transfer ownership the owner can use the transferable registration and a bill of sale make sure the registration document is marked "transferable" on the front the seller whose name appears on the transferable registration must sign the back It doesn't look to me as though even a NY salvage title could be created without similar proof of ownership. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thriller Posted December 5, 2016 Share Posted December 5, 2016 The answer for New Yorkers would seem to be make friends in Kansas who can register it, then you'd be able to get it with a transferable title of sorts. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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