I love the first Rivi's. My cousin had a 1963 back in the '80's that my Dad painted for him in our backyard. It was all white, had Cragers or Rockets with 5-20's and narrow white walls. Cooler than shit! He drove it for a while then he parked it and let it rot in his backyard. When I got a little older, I bugged him for it, but he didn't want to let it go. His punkass kids ended up busting all the glass out of it with rocks and he ended up junking it. I just learned now by Ryan's article that they only produced 40,000 in 1963. I should've bugged him more!!! I probably would've gotten it for nothing with broken windows! It's what you learn after you "know it all" that counts. Great article...jc
That's some excellent information... especailly of interest to me as i own a 63 Riv and it was my first American car which i bought around 4 years ago
the better half and i have had several of these. a custom from the factory, just lower a little and ad some wheels. as for chics with bra's i'll take mine without.
I had a 71 boattail with a 455 for a couple years. Now THAT was a tank. Little tiny factory steering wheel and a hood that stretched out in front of you forever. It got like 80 yards to the gallon, but that was partly due to how I drove it.
Check out Richard Arbib's astro gnome with a Riviera type grille: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O55MEe95dcs&feature=player_embedded
In 2016, the 'GM Photo Store' published 2 different photos of a GM Styling study they claim is from the XP-715 program. XP-715 is well-known to be the LaSalle / Riviera program. If you Google 'GM XP-715', the pics show up. Problem is- without question they are mis-labeled. GM Photo Store pic in question : ^ That is a '60 T-bird... THIS is XP-715. Note the caption's dates ("early 1960") and how amazingly little the Riv's design changed : Just wanted to point out this mis-information that's out there. I tried, but found no way to contact the GM Photo Store to have them take another look at their captioning. What the first concept's actual XP number is I don't know, but I cannot see how it has anything to do with the '63 Riviera.
I know this is an old thread, but I have to say, in my humble opinion, those Rivs were then, and still are today, the best looking car GM ever produced.
This thread takes me back to when I turned 21 and in that day and culture it was expected that you would get down to the car dealer and buy your new car with your first payment plan. (We can't say the "M" word here but think "Cougar" without the headlights and taillights.) It's June of '64 and I have one of the first ones around. Back then I didn't know anything about how to equip a car with some extra beans, but I did get the 289 and I paid $35 extra to get the 4-barrel carb and cam. (Not the HiPo.) So I've been driving it for a couple of days to 'break it in" with 500+ miles on the clock and I roll to a stop at a light on this limited access, 4-lane. A new-ish Riv rolls up and "stages" in the inside lane and I'm in the outside lane. The light turns green and it's "run what ya brung/off to the races". The Riv driver is a suit, cigar, and all business, and his wife is closest to me in mink and a French twist hairdo. I'm immediately 3 feet behind his front bumper and I can't gain an inch and he can't dust me off, either, all the way up to 90+. Somewhere in the higher end of the little joust, she gives my little, 21-year-old, punk ass a smile and a thumbs up. I didn't win but I accepted that as a good finish for my effort. The Riv was a white one and I was all around impressed with it, as well as the pretty lady (Mrs. Roninson, maybe?)
The Jalopy Journal
