Meet the Fleet – Muscle Cars: ’64 Buick Riviera

• BODY: Auto World (copy of Aurora original)
• WHEELS & TIRES: Vincent

Now of course we all know this is goofy, because no one is going race a Buick Riviera…right?

Hmmm…

Well, some folks clearly have! The Auto World copy of this famous Aurora body is thin on the ground these days and surprisingly hard to find. I have only managed to acquire two of them, the blue one I previously profiled, and this white one, which was one of those weird “i-Wheels” releases that are all white, including the chassis, wheels, and tires. This is the only one of those “i-Wheels” cars I ever bought, because it was the only one I actually thought looked good in pearl white, although from the moment I bought I knew I was going to repurpose the white chassis for another car and mount it on one of the translucent blue chassis. I promptly did that, and then finished it off with a set of narrow Vincent wheels that don’t stick out from the wheel wells the way most of them would. This does result in less grip on the ground, obviously, but she performs pretty well even without the wider tires. The pearl white body with the blue chassis looks terrific, and one can’t help but think how great that would look on a real example! About the only thing I don’t love about this car is the windows, which are heavily smoked, almost opaque; that limits the impact of the blue accents, although it does give the car a bit more of that “mac daddy” attitude, which is also fitting for a Riv!

Whether or not is realistic to race such a car against the likes of Chevelles and Mustangs, there was never a question that this body was going to find its way into my racing fleet. I am a Buick fanatic, and the Gen I Riviera is one of my favorite cars of the ‘60’s, probably one of my favorite cars ever, and one I am most seriously considering acquiring a 1:1 scale example of. Until I have the real thing in my garage, these scale models do a little to scratch that itch.

“Glacier” is the apropos name of this pearlescent white classic, which, like so many “punched up” Rivieras out there, has lost its original 425 “Nailhead” V8 in favor of the 455 torque monster from a few years later. Owner “Iceman” Idris Robards of Redlands, CA, built the driveline (originally from a 1970 Electra) with all the performance add-ons available, and then added one that wasn’t: swapping out the automatic for a Richmond 5-speed, which drives the heavy beast through a custom-made Dana limited-slip rear axle. Significant suspension mods complement a set of 4 Stainless Steel disc brakes with custom made spindles to make this car a track star in spite of its mostly stock look, all complimented by a tastfully customized dashboard which adds a tachometer and instrument cluster to replace the original “idiot lights.” Though highly modified, none of Drag City’s rules were broken for the Muscle Car class, so Robards competes against the smaller, lighter cars, and holds his own doing so. He may never have won a full tournament, but he has more than a few race wins and more than a few fans! No wonder; It’s pretty exciting to see a big, stately luxury car like this smoke tires and competitors alike on the road course!