The Chevrolet Corvette and Ford Thunderbird, both of which began life as sporty two seaters, quickly diverged in their evolutionary paths. The Corvette got more serious about being a sports car, while the Thunderbird acquired a back seat and became an entirely new thing: a "personal luxury coupe".
It retained a sporty vibe, but put an emphasis on plush, high-tech accommodations for two... plus maybe a couple of friends. The new category was a winner, with the 1958 and 1959 T-birds selling 37,892 and 67,456 units, respectively, vastly outperforming its two-seat predecessor in the marketplace and completely crushing Corvette sales numbers.
General Motors could not let this situation stand and launched a personal luxury coupe of its own. The task was handed to GM's second most prestigious brand, Buick, who launched the 1963 Riviera with unique sheet metal and on the all-new E-platform chassis. Even as far back as the early Sixties, that was a rarity for GM. (Prior to this car, Buick had used the "Riviera" badge as a trim level on other models.)
The standard engine was Buick's "Wildcat 445", which was what Buick called the 401 cubic inch version of its Nailhead V-8 with a four-barrel carburetor and 10.25:1 compression. The "445" was its output in ft/lbs of torque and it was rated at 325 SAE gross horsepower. Optional was the "Wildcat 465", which was a 425-cube Nailhead making 345 horses. Both engines were backed by a Turbine Drive automatic, which is what Buick was calling the old Dynaflow in the early '60s.
Price as tested was $5,159 in 1963 dollars, or about $55,100 in current bucks.
This example was photographed in May of 2026 using a Canon EOS R and an RF 24-105mm f/4L IS zoom lens.
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