Taking It Personally
by Dan Burger

In May 1963, Reid Carroll walked into Grihalva Buick and drove out with a new Riviera. It was a surprise birthday present for his wife, Lee. Smooth move, Reid.

"When Reid picked me up from work that night," Lee remembers, "I said ‘Where's my car?' ‘This is your car,' he said. ‘I bought it for your birthday.' Well, I was flabbergasted!"

You know Reid earned some points with such an unforgettable gift. And as evidence of what a good idea it was, Lee still loves that car today. Even though 158,000 miles have passed beneath its wheels, this classic looks as good as ever.

In late 1962, the introduction of the Riviera must have had Buick executives rubbing their hands together in euphoric anticipation. They had an exciting all-new car in a niche formerly owned by the Ford Thunderbird - personal luxury/sports coupe. The Riviera was a breakthrough for GM, and it came to be a Buick only because Cadillac brass decided that division was selling all it could build without a new model.

Bill Mitchell, the fiery head of GM design, told his advanced designers he wanted a car that combined the razor-edged style prominent with English custom coach builders and the sporting flavor of Ferrari. Mitchell's idea was put into a form by Ned Nickles, a designer with a history of creating memorable Buick automobiles.

Although Buicks usually flashed a lot of chrome, the '63 Riviera was notable for its minimal use of chrome trim. The design is low profile, fitting of a sporting image, with a long hood and a short rear deck. Note how the front fender lines are higher than the hood, with an aggressive-looking leading edge capped by boldly styled housings for the parking lights and turn signals. This element is the most identifiable trademark of the first-generation Rivieras. Compare the purposeful look of the egg-crate style grille to other cars of this vintage. There had not been this powerful a road-car design since the 1957 Chrysler 300.

When it comes to power, Riviera produced it in typical Buick fashion: smooth, quiet, and always plenty on hand. In '63, it came courtesy of a 425-cubic-inch, 340-horsepower Nailhead engine. The Buick Nailhead engines, produced from 1957 to 1966, were noted for their power and their uniquely designed valves and heads. The Nailhead's performance begins with incredible torque. Imagine 465 ft.-lb. At 2,800 rpm. Testing reported in Car Life magazine indicated the '63 Riviera could accelerate to 100 mph in 25 seconds and cover a quarter mile in 16.2 seconds at 86 mph.

You are about as likely to see a UAW member at a GM stockholders meeting as you are a one-owner, factory-original Riviera in beautiful condition. The Carrolls metallic silver Riviera is one of the rare gems. "We want to keep our car pure...as it came off the showroom floor, " Lee said. "This is basically the car that came off the showroom floor. We had it repainted and have done a few things over the years, but if we started adding accessories and options, it wouldn't be our car anymore."

"This car has everything we need in terms of a driver," Reid said. "There's no need for modifications. It's a comfortable, reliable performance car as it is."

One of the common changes made by Rivera owners, including the Carrolls, is a carburetor swap. After rebuilding the original four-barrel Carter several times, Reid said he finally switched to an Edelbrock performance model, which alleviated the starting problems that were plaguing his car.

Reid also prefers radial tires that are very close to the original size and profile of the 7.00x15 bias tires that the factory installed. He and Lee don't drive the car as much as they used to, but in the last 10 years it has been on several road trips from San Diego to Colorado, Arizona, Nevada, Northern California, and Oregon.

The subject of tires causes Reid to recall an occasion, in 1963 when he met Bill Mitchell during a Corvette meeting in San Diego.

At the time I had 8.10x15 tires on my car," Reid remembers, "and when Mitchell saw that he went into an apoplectic rage. ‘Do you realize what you have done to this car? You've detuned the suspension that we've spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to set up. And not only that you've ruined the lines of this car with those big tires. It looks like it's on a roller skate, for godsake'."

So what do you do when the man who was responsible for the car reads you the riot act?

"I profusely apologized and took the tires off," Reid said.