Special order paint - 1965 Riviera

[moran75]

Hi All

 

I have a 65 painted as detailed on original invoice as a  'special order' Aleutian Gray - i think a Cadillac colour.

 

Does anyone else here have a special order paint job or know anything about numbers back in the day? Also what would qualify a customer to ask for and get such a service? Cant inmagibne it was an easy thing to get....

 

All the best

 

Kev

[Chimera]

Nice, can we get some light on that paint?

 

Is it basically charcoal?

[Rivdrivn]

Wow, cool. Could you please post pictures of the invoice and firewall data plate. We can decode it for you. Thanks and welcome

[Rivman]

I agree, that color looks good on your '65.

 

As far as an SCO color, it was available, and yes, they could be ordered by pretty much anyone that wanted to pay the extra for it.

 

There have been several threads discussing special ordered colors on the forum, you are lucky you have the invoice that lists the color, for most it is a guess, at best, to match the color a special ordered car was. I have a '72 Riviera GS that was an SCO car and I am going with a color that I "believe" is what it was originally.

 

As far as the number, it has been said that it is most likely a job number or something to that effect, nothing to do with the paint color. For mine I even went to the Sloan Museum and they were not able to tell me anything about the color it was painted.

 

Again, Looks Good, and Welcome! 

 

 

[jframe]

That color is STUNNING. I would love to see a closeup of the data plate too.

[jj5794]

Kev,

 

Very sharp color on your '65!

 

Thank you for sharing.

 

Jim Vesely

BCA # 39477

ROA # 7437

[1965rivgs]

3 hours ago, moran75 said:

Hi All

 

I have a 65 painted as detailed on original invoice as a  'special order' Aleutian Gray - i think a Cadillac colour.

 

Does anyone else here have a special order paint job or know anything about numbers back in the day? Also what would qualify a customer to ask for and get such a service? Cant inmagibne it was an easy thing to get....

 

All the best

 

Kev

1961-62 Cadillac color. EVERY SCO first gen Riviera I have seen has been a Cadillac color, makes perfect sense, why "downgrade" to anything but? Those appear to be early `70`s vintage bias ply double whitewalls? I have encountered these as the second set of tires on a first gen Riv on more than a few occasions. Low miles Kevin? Nice car,

  Tom Mooney

[bodayguy]

Yeah, the double whitewalls are very cool, too. Do they even sell those anymore?

[Seafoam65]

                   Diamondback can make you the double whitewalls which are correct for 1971, or the triple whitewalls which are correct for 1965.

I'd love too see more outdoor pics of that charcoal 65 Riviera.....very pretty car!

Edited September 18, 2017 by Seafoam65 (see edit history)

[moran75]

16 hours ago, 1965rivgs said:

1961-62 Cadillac color. EVERY SCO first gen Riviera I have seen has been a Cadillac color, makes perfect sense, why "downgrade" to anything but? Those appear to be early `70`s vintage bias ply double whitewalls? I have encountered these as the second set of tires on a first gen Riv on more than a few occasions. Low miles Kevin? Nice car,

  Tom Mooney

..the double whitewall is the spare - the shipping company managed to bust the single whitewall that was on it - however that has now been repaired and will be going back on...miles 85000...

[Chimera]

Looks like a great white shark.

Edited September 18, 2017 by Chimera (see edit history)

[moran75]

Hi All

 

Thanks for your responses and kind comments ...I've attached a copy of the invoice and data plate to confirm the colour/special order status.....i'm thinking aloud about how many 'special paint' cars from 1965 are still up and running now? I guess a hard question to answer, unless you guys know any ...since posting on this forum my research via the owners club web site shows (i believe) that in 1965 only 90 special paint cars were produced which is a very small number to begin with..

 

Maybe i should ask the question via the owners club mag and see what happens...

 

Interesting stuff!

 

Cheers

 

Kev (London, England)

[Hazdaz]

That's almost $41,000 in today's money. 

[Seafoam65]

                  Kev........the pic of your car has me drooling on my computer keyboard!

[1965rivgs]

3 hours ago, moran75 said:

..the double whitewall is the spare - the shipping company managed to bust the single whitewall that was on it - however that has now been repaired and will be going back on...miles 85000...

Oh, I see...I assumed the car had a full set of double whitewalls. If that was the case chances are the miles might be under 50K.

  Tom

[KongaMan]

1 hour ago, Hazdaz said:

That's almost $41,000 in today's money. 

Yeah, but he got $100 for the Plymouth he traded in.

 

[1965rivgs]

2 hours ago, moran75 said:

Hi All

 

Thanks for your responses and kind comments ...I've attached a copy of the invoice and data plate to confirm the colour/special order status.....i'm thinking aloud about how many 'special paint' cars from 1965 are still up and running now? I guess a hard question to answer, unless you guys know any ...since posting on this forum my research via the owners club web site shows (i believe) that in 1965 only 90 special paint cars were produced which is a very small number to begin with..

 

Maybe i should ask the question via the owners club mag and see what happens...

 

Interesting stuff!

 

Cheers

 

Kev (London, England)

Hi Kevin,

  I dont know what the article on the website says but my records indicate 98 special paint cars were produced in `65. Of those 98 cars, 79 were equipped with power windows.

  Tom

[moran75]

On 18/09/2017 at 2:10 PM, Seafoam65 said:

                   Diamondback can make you the double whitewalls which are correct for 1971, or the triple whitewalls which are correct for 1965.

I'd love too see more outdoor pics of that charcoal 65 Riviera.....very pretty car!

Many thanks...ive attached a few pics ...i must admit its not quite as shiny and new looking in the flesh! But fundamentally it seems a very solid original car...been standing more less for 10 years in storage, so currently working on bringing it back to life.....

 

Cheers

 

Kev

[Pat Curran]

Check out this small emblem GS that was a special order color by a Buick dealer.  He wanted a Cadillac color and he placed this car in his showroom to attract people to come in.  It was featured in the Buick Bugle a year or two ago and has been touring the show circuit since the family restored it.  Absolutely awesome!

[RivNut]

Pat,

 

Is that Samoan Bronze? (That's the closest I could come to by looking at a 1965 color chart on line - knowing what monitors will do to colors)  Both cars in the Cadillac colors makes me wonder why Buick chose not to use those colors as standard colors.  What else did Cadillac have that would have looked good on a Riviera?

 

Ed

Edited September 19, 2017 by RivNut (see edit history)

[Riviera63]

1 hour ago, RivNut said:

Pat,

 

Is that Samoan Bronze? (That's the closest I could come to by looking at a 1965 color chart on line - knowing what monitors will do to colors)  Both cars in the Cadillac colors makes me wonder why Buick chose not to use those colors as standard colors.  What else did Cadillac have that would have looked good on a Riviera?

 

Ed

 

Ed, 

 

You are correct. This was on display at the BCA National Convention. It is a beautiful car. One of the first things we noticed though was that the positive battery cable was on the wrong side. We didn't have the heart to tell them. On Sunday we were parking at the entrance to the hotel to go in and check out as they were trying to load this car to be trailered home. They were having a heck of a time as they could not keep it running long enough to get it on the trailer. Let this be a lesson: Riviera are meant to be driven!

 

Bill

[Seafoam65]

I love the look of the correct tires on the bronze car.....I will be doing this next year on my car.

[KongaMan]

Does Buick have historical documentation to corroborate the claim that this was the "only 65 GS ordered & painted by GM in a Cadillac color, "Samoan Bronze""?

[Seafoam65]

Kev..........follow my tutorial on adjusting your clamshells on the headlights to fix the gap you have on the left side clamshells when they are closed.

It is a five minute repair. I'm still drooling.......thanks for the pictures.

Edited September 19, 2017 by Seafoam65 (see edit history)

[1965rivgs]

2 hours ago, Riviera63 said:

 

Ed, 

 

You are correct. This was on display at the BCA National Convention. It is a beautiful car. One of the first things we noticed though was that the positive battery cable was on the wrong side. We didn't have the heart to tell them. On Sunday we were parking at the entrance to the hotel to go in and check out as they were trying to load this car to be trailered home. They were having a heck of a time as they could not keep it running long enough to get it on the trailer. Let this be a lesson: Riviera are meant to be driven!

 

Bill

Bill, All,

  This is Andy Starr`s car. He contacted me a few years ago after purchasing the car and at that time had no idea it was originally an SCO paint color. He just wanted a `65 GS to do for the World of Wheels custom car circuit, etc. His original intention was to paint the car red for competitive purposes but decided because it is such a rare find (due to the combination of earliest documented GS status, SCO color and equipment) to stick with the original color. Andy used the info I provided from original tires along with another providers info to reproduce the tires which are on the car.

  His intention from the start was to "over restore" the car for competitive purposes so there are many deviations from factory original which he deliberately decided to execute. Among the changes are the rocker moldings which are chrome plated. Andy told me he went thru over 100 sets to choose suitable candidates for the plating process as extruded garbage metal does not take well to the chrome plating process. Many other changes but the result is rather stunning.

  Regarding the running issue...when one runs an engine, any engine, on the choke all the time it operates the plugs will quickly load up. I have purchased a few nice collector cars over the years at attractive pricing for the sake of a set of spark plugs. Andy`s car is strictly a show car and I suspect he is more concerned about discoloring the paint on the engine than how well the car is running. Maybe when he or the next owner retire the car from the show circuit things will change.

  Tom

[1965rivgs]

4 hours ago, RivNut said:

Pat,

 

Is that Samoan Bronze? (That's the closest I could come to by looking at a 1965 color chart on line - knowing what monitors will do to colors)  Both cars in the Cadillac colors makes me wonder why Buick chose not to use those colors as standard colors.  What else did Cadillac have that would have looked good on a Riviera?

 

Ed

Ed,

  Cadillac had "firemist" colors which have much more metallic as compared to the Buick colors. A Buick equivalent which comes to mind is in the `80`s when one could order firemist colors on a Riviera. I have encountered SCO `65 Rivs in Jade Firemist and Peacock Firemist which both have a heavy metallic.

  Tom

[Seafoam65]

                   In my opinion, Andy's car is as good as it gets when it comes to 65 Rivieras......the creme de la creme so to speak. The color

on it is amazing and what a nice paint job.

[1965rivgs]

1 hour ago, Seafoam65 said:

                   In my opinion, Andy's car is as good as it gets when it comes to 65 Rivieras......the creme de la creme so to speak. The color

on it is amazing and what a nice paint job.

I agree, Andy`s car is a beautiful car, beautifully done and he was very, very thorough and persistent in his research. The color is a gorgeous color, appeared to have a heavy dose of "rose" mixed into it, but personally I think it clashes with the Buick saddle upholstery. Having expressed that, whoever ordered the car, be it the salesperson or the original owner/dealer himself, was wise enough to only order a tinted windshield and not a full set of tinted glass. This is very unusual on an air conditioned car and especially one so well optioned as Andy`s car, but IMO the reason is obvious...the green tint in the glass would not be very attractive with the exterior and interior colors. I always thought even Buick`s Sahara mist is not very attractive with green glass...but just another opinion, obviously color is a very subjective topic!

In 1955 my grandfather ordered a new Ford and insisted the main color of the car be green with a red top. My father inherited it with very low miles but sold it because everyone called it "the watermelon-mobile". My grandfather loved the colors...he was color blind!

  Tom

[jframe]

22 hours ago, Seafoam65 said:

                   In my opinion, Andy's car is as good as it gets when it comes to 65 Rivieras......the creme de la creme so to speak. The color

on it is amazing and what a nice paint job.

There are no BAD '65 Rivieras, only some unfound ones.

[Guest Mr Jones]

On 18/09/2017 at 9:18 AM, Rivman said:

I agree, that color looks good on your '65.

 

As far as an SCO color, it was available, and yes, they could be ordered by pretty much anyone that wanted to pay the extra for it.

 

There have been several threads discussing special ordered colors on the forum, you are lucky you have the invoice that lists the color, for most it is a guess, at best, to match the color a special ordered car was. I have a '72 Riviera GS that was an SCO car and I am going with a color that I "believe" is what it was originally.

 

As far as the number, it has been said that it is most likely a job number or something to that effect, nothing to do with the paint color. For mine I even went to the Sloan Museum and they were not able to tell me anything about the color it was painted.

 

Again, Looks Good, and Welcome! 

 

 

 

I managed to procure a copy of the 1965 Buick dealer's handbook  '1965 Buick Features and Facts' - the final entry on the last page supports this.

[moran75]

On 19/09/2017 at 11:31 PM, Seafoam65 said:

Kev..........follow my tutorial on adjusting your clamshells on the headlights to fix the gap you have on the left side clamshells when they are closed.

It is a five minute repair. I'm still drooling.......thanks for the pictures.

will def do - motor doesnt work at mo but i can get that rebuilt over here if needed. I'll check out your tutorial when imove on to the lights....im assuming its on the Riv web site?

Cheers

 

Kev

[Chimera]

Cadillacs Peacock fire-mist sounds awesome. 

[1965rivgs]

'65 Riv in Peacock Firemist with the very rarely seen white custom interior.  Notice the paint mismatch on the front clip...probably a front end collision repair,

  Tom

 

 

[Chimera]

Awesome. I wonder how that color compares to the Midnight Aqua or the Shadow Turquoise. More metal flake like you mentioned, because in really seems to light up with sun. 

 

It looks a shade brighter on the color scale...who know.

Edited September 26, 2017 by Chimera (see edit history)

[1965rivgs]

10 hours ago, Chimera said:

Awesome. I wonder how that color compares to the Midnight Aqua or the Shadow Turquoise. More metal flake like you mentioned, because in really seems to light up with sun. 

 

It looks a shade brighter on the color scale...who know.

The more metal flake the more shade varies with light exposure

  Tom

[Chimera]

Yeah, I think when the previous owner did the repaint on my 67 Green Mist, that they increased the metal flake compared with factory. It is very moody and lights up in the sun.

 

 

[JimJordan]

I too have an SCO 1965 Riviera.  The original owner's daughter said its always been "greenish" but darker.  It was repainted in the 80s or earlier.  The jams and under the decklid look like a grey with green metal flake.  I really want to find the original color.  Mine was also sold at Lammerts in Niagra Falls like the SCO Samoan Bronze GS.  This one went to Mr. Lammerts daughter in law in Oklahoma City.

[JimJordan]

Mine looks darker and more grey than green in low light

[lrlforfun]

OK Jim: When I saw that body side molding in the first picture with the Turbine caps (sans spinners) your 65 Riv hit my brain like a bomb.  Mitch

[1965rivgs]

Jim,

  It appears there is so much inconsistency in your pics, in regard to color, that none of us can be of much help via our computers. In the first shots your car appears a shade of blue to me, I dont see ANY green in the first pics. But the second set of pics look as if there could be some hint of green in the tint.

  Have you checked the `65 Cadillac colors as I suggested in today`s email to you? Or can you post a pic from one of the areas I suggested that appears to be an accurate representation of the color in person?

Tom