Here’s your chance to own Lucinda” a 1965 Buick Riviera that has been transformed into a one-of-a-kind crown pleasing custom over the course of twelve years by its current owner in conjunction some of the most talented folks in the custom car hobby. Over the course of Lucinda’s build, every receipt has been kept and will be supplied to the purchaser. The transformation started 12 years ago in California with the purchase of a very clean low-mileage, two-owner 1965 Buick Riviera. The car was silver when I purchased it and had been recently repainted by its second owner. It was completely original otherwise. The interior was the original black vinyl and it had obviously been appreciated by its two prior owners. As it was in perfectly good running condition, I performed basic upkeep and was able to apply cosmetic changes immediately. The car had no body damage and the only rust on the entire car was a little bubbling along the lower rear window, a common trouble spot for early-sixties Rivieras. It was subsequently repaired when I had the car repainted in its current Charcoal Gray Metallic. The goal from the very beginning was to lower the car tastefully, do some custom work to it and to enjoy driving it around Southern California. Somewhere along the way, one thing led to another and twelve years later, I find myself with a fully custom car that seems to draw a crowd and cause gawking everywhere it goes. One of my very first stops was Flip’s Tire and Wheel Center on Sepulveda Blvd. in San Fernando Valley for a front end rebuild using parts from Classic Buick and a new set of wheels and tires. Wanting to land somewhere between vintage hot rod and classic low rider, I chose period style American Torq Thrust II’s. Having worked with Flip’s before, I asked them to try a couple of different tire sizes until we landed with the rears it still has today. Maximum rear rubber with no rubbing. In front we ran a narrower wheel for that big and little look. I went with BFG TA Radials all around. It was a big improvement in my opinion. The next thing I did was call Eaton in Detroit and order a set of 1.5” front lowering coils. That put the nose nice and low and gave the car a slight rake. Liking the slightly hot rodded look, it started to bug me that the Riviera had stock idiot lights, not gauges. I started think about where a set of period correct oil, temp and amp gauges might look nice. Eyeballing the stock am/fm radio, I made the decision to ditch the stock radio for gauges. Fabricating the panel, I installed the gauges and I’ve always thought the placement couldn’t be any better. The next question. Now what about the stereo? Wanting to keep the interior relatively uncluttered, I decided to be real stealthy about the stereo’s placement. By running a Sony Head Unit, I was able to install the unit under the driver seat and run it off of a joy stick controller. Six speakers are stashed within the interior, including a center channel bass. The speakers run off a big ass amp that is mounted on the shelf that exists between the back seat and the trunk. Also on that shelf are a 6-CD changer, as well as the dual air tanks and the compressor for the Air Ride System. Again, to keep things clean and stealthy, a hinged drop panel in the trunk hides all the equipment. Speaking of the trunk, I recovered it in industrial gray carpeting after completely cleaning it. I also replaced all of the worn wood panels in the interior with a black plastic material that I had custom made using the old pieces as templates. The Riviera received routine maintenance for the next couple of years while I focused on other hot rod projects and I carried specialty car insurance and kept it in a garage when I wasn’t driving it. Then one day, I received a job offer in Austin, Texas and moved my family and fleet of Vehicles – a 1965 corvette stingray coupe, the Riviera, and my wife and my daily drivers to the live music capital of the world. It was while here in Texas that I started to become further pulled into the custom car scene, having met Jimmie Vaughn, who left an autographed Riviera Owners Club Newsletter on my windshield along with a hand written note, “Join the club ands share the pride.” Having been a big fan of Jimmie’s Gary Howard-built 64 Riviera, I not only joined the Riviera Owner’s Club, I sought out the other gear heads in Austin to find local connections. I had occasion to meet Steve Wertheimer, owner of the Continental Club and another gear head who I’d read about in the magazines. I asked him if he might know where I might be able to get my Riviera bagged, which was not as common as it is today. He referred me to Gary Howard, and before you know it, I was out in Weir, Texas, having Gary slam my Riviera even deeper into the weeds. One day, the transmission started acting up so I had the transmission rebuilt by Mark @ Eagle transmissions using corvette servos and all the best goodies. They added a shift kit but per my request set it up to shift smoothly, which it has without fail since the day I picked it up. With Austin’s summers being what they are, I had a Vintage Air system installed as well as a custom made four-row radiator. A year or so later, I decided it was time to re-chrome the bumpers and fix a couple of scratches so I popped for a paint job by Austinite Horace Joseph who I’d met in my travels. While we were at it, we repaired the minor rust issue at the lower edge of the passenger window once and for all. I chose a darker gray Charcoal and along with the freshly chromed bumpers front and rear, it really made the car’s lines look nice. As I tooled my car around Austin, it wasn’t too long before I started seeing cool interiors all over town that had been stitched up by a guy named Fat Lucky’s. I waited until the fateful day when my Riviera’s original interior sprung its first rip and went to see Fat Lucky who it turns out isn’t fat at all. His real name is Sean Johnstun and it turns out Fat Lucky was his dog that died and people just kept calling him that and it stuck. Anyhow, Sean and I sat down and started thinking about what to do for the interior and I mentioned an idea I had to put girlie art panels in to replace the tasty, subtle black panels I’d had custom made some years earlier. He looked at me kinda funny and said something like, “Well I kinda like my interiors a little more subtle, but if that’s what you want, I can do it.” With that, we mapped out a plan. I would get with my designer friend to make the door and center console panels and Sean would stitch the seats using a combination of Charcoal Gray Zodiac glitter vinyl, black vinyl and orange piping to match the pin-up art, which was done in warm oranges, blacks, whites and tans. I asked Sean if he might be able to make miniature magazine cover buttons and he said he’d see what he could do. Before I knew it, we had a whole new interior in the car featuring a shaggy angel-hair headliner and package tray as well as custom tuck and roll seats with miniature magazine covers. To compliment the interior’s new motif, I hired Frank Palmer to do freehand pin-striping on the car’s hood, trunk, fenders and doors. As you can see in the pictures, it is a mixture of flames, scallops and dutching, done freehand over the course of an entire day. With the car now looking better than it ever had, I started to eyeball the engine compartment, and decided to give the old girl a rebuild before she needed it, so that I could get in their and totally detail the engine compartment and clean up the wiring. While the engine was being rebuilt to stock 401 specs, I totally cleaned up and repainted the compartment and re-routed all the wires as cleanly as possible. Before putting the engine back in, it was treated to a fresh orange paint job to match the cars interior colors. And that, folks, bring us to where we are today. A clean custom driver with a freshly rebuilt 401, jet-hot coated exhaust manifolds dumping into a fully replaced exhaust system featuring Flow master mufflers. I have receipts galore. All are real and I’ve never attempted to add them all up. I darkly suspect the selling price would not exceed the total as I’ve spared no expense to upgrade and/or rebuild any component at the first sign of trouble. Hell, I even rebuilt the engine simply because I wanted to detail the engine compartment and the oil pressure was running a little low. Now you may be wondering why anyone in their right mind would sell a perfectly Bitchin 65 Riviera with so much work done to it. Well, first off, it’s not as if I’m giving it away. Secondly, I’ve done everything I’d ever dreamed of doing to a 65 Rivie to this car and enjoyed the hell out of the process. And thirdly, I’m ready to start this process all over again with a Ford Model a Roadster or coupe. And I can’t do that until I sell this. Feel free to direct any and all questions and I’ll answer them. If you’d like to fly in to inspect the car, I welcome you to do so. Please ask questions before bidding. I want this car to go to a good home. I have kept a book with all receipts, inspirations, rough sketches, etc and will include that book with the sale. I am happy to help arrange shipping. Thanks for taking the time to let me tell you about this very special car.
Cameron Day