Thinking about old Rivieras...again.

The seller is asking 5,000 dollars.
Located in Bakersfield California.

A design analysis.

Why would I want to buy a car that I've already owned? Actually the count so far is up to four; two 1966s,  a 1967, and finally,  a 1971.


The car that I'm thinking about is a '70 model. Interestingly enough, this face lifted model followed the highest selling year and only had a single year run. The '71 was the debut of the boat tail series and it was totally different from any of the proceeding second gen cars.

This design was not that popular new and hasn't been that popular since. Some would describe it as ugly or at least ungainly.

It all depends on your vantage point.

Since I've been mulling over this CL find I decided to do a little research.

I've often thought that this model referenced certain classic Buick styling themes.

Perhaps inspired by a baleen whale?

The uncovered headlamps, paired with the vertical grille bars that extend below the center of the bumper seems to echo the 1950 Buick. Fortunately, in a more delicate manner.

A face only an orthodontist could love?

This sweep spear trim was optional.

The sweep spear side trim reminds me of the 1953 Skylark. This theme became a very strong Buick styling trademark and continued for many years. It has been even used on more current models like the La Crosse.

1953 Skylark sweep spear.

The roof appears to be the same as the '66-69 models but the rear quarter panel is no longer separated from the plane of the C pillar. A more "fuselage" look is achieved, contrasted against the earlier raised hip styling. The quarter panels also have a heavier appearance along the bottom edges, there's even fender skirts!  A choice of two lengths. The rear bumper continues the downward sloping look of the quarter panel. This combines to give a somewhat humped back appearance to the rear deck.  Combine that humped look with the smaller bumper mounted tail lamps and it kind of mimics the rear of... the 1953 Buick.  I'm surprised that the portholes hadn't been reprised!

A very heavy rear aspect. This car features the long skirts.

1950 "humpy" trunk.

None of these changes were done by accident. The question remains of why GM went with such a radical face lift of the Riviera's biggest selling version. I could understand if they had just tacked the front end on the existing body. I think that it would have looked pretty good and would have maintained continuity.

Instead we end up with a mish-mosh of historical styling elements.

But wait, it gets worse.

With GM design, the answer is always Bill Mitchell. What Bill wanted, Bill got. He had certainly rolled out the hits before, the Corvette, the original Riviera, Toronado and Eldorado. Really, the entire Cadillac line since the early 1960s. He had a fascination with certain Classic styling elements and tried to incorporate them into current models. Usually, but not always with success.

I think that the 1970 Riviera can be seen as a precursor to the new 1971 Eldorado. That car picked up the simulated quarter panel air scoops of the 1955 Cadillac. The trunk took on a blunted, boat tail look, that stood proud of the extend blade style quarter panels, bumper and tail lamps, The bumper rolled under giving a very vintage look to the rear end. Overall, the car took on a much heavier aspect. Such a divergence from the razor sharp 1967 to 1970 models!

Maybe Bill wanted to gauge public reaction to his neo classical designs. The Lincoln Mark III had debuted a year earlier and though a new model, it carried some strong references to the earlier Mark II series. I don't think that public response could have really made any difference, as the design was already rushing towards production. But perhaps he wanted to "pre-condition" the public for the unveiling of the Eldo. This way the neo classic elements wouldn't be a complete shock.

This is one of the more sympathetic portraits of this model Riviera.

I found an article on the website, "How stuff works," which had been printed in Consumer Guide magazine.  According to this article, Mitchell decided to change the focus of the Riviera from "Ferrari/Rolls Royce" to something else. He directed the new chief of Buick styling, Donald D. Laskey to put some "French" into it. Specifically, to put some Delage into it!  It was the 1937 Delage D8 120 Aero Sport coupe that had caught Bill's imagination.  This accounts for the heavier rear quarter panels and deck.

1937 Delage D8 120 Aero sport coupe.

                                                                                     

Hey, this things got a "humpy" trunk too!

It's pretty difficult to recreate Classical styling with a modern envelope body. You can see some of this French influence in the fender bulges of the 1973 Chevrolet Monte Carlo. It is even clearer in the quarter panel design of the subsequent 1971 Riviera. I guess Bill saved a little for that model!. At least he held back on the skirts!

Now those quarter panel haunches make some kind of sense.

This ones got a "humpy" trunk too!

Ultimately, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Is the 1970 Riviera beautiful? Is it ugly? Or is it just one influential man's interpretation of a Modern Classic? In my judgement it is just distinctive. They don't make cars like that anymore, and truthfully, they didn't make too many like that then!

Would I buy one? I think so. It is the last of the second gen design. I've had a few, and it remains the same size, and it debuted the potent 455 cid. engine. The third gen Boat tail feels like, and looks like a much bigger car. The difference to me is that the second gens are more like a big muscle car, while the third gen is more like a Coupe de Ville.

If I was to get one I would play up the classic elements by using wire type wheels and wider whitewalls. I'd prefer the deeper fender skirts also. I'd also modify the segmented look of the tail lamp lenses into a single red lens. I think a set of Bellflower pipes that follow the bottom of the quarter panel would be a nice accent. No vinyl top. The paint would be a simple deep dark color.

I think it would look pretty good and be a great highway car.

Everyone's got an opinion.

 Space, the final frontier.  Part One.

photosource:popularmechanics.com
I was thinking about Space when I was a kid in grade school, but not in the same way.

Capt. Jean Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) has a Jaguar XJS convertible exactly like mine! I highly doubt that he is as constantly concerned with space as I am. 

I'm talking about the space that are cars  occupy. The real estate.

As well as the unreal estate.

Space is a limited resource like money, time, and energy.

I suppose that if you are lucky enough to live on a couple of acres you might have a different opinion.

Each of our cars takes up space. Not only physical space but mental, and physic space.

We know that it's there.  If not in the forefront of our thoughts than it is buried slightly in our subconscious.

This line of thinking leads too:

                                       -----------------------------------------------------------------------

Garages that I have known and loved. 

At different times in our lives we are faced with certain opportunities and certain limitations. 

Like most of my peers, I grew up in a neighborhood of small houses with attached garages and driveways. As a kid growing up I didn't have any space that I could call my own.

Whatever space I used was communal space, well, family space. My folk's garage and yard.

But I was lucky to have that. Once I moved out on my own it was on me.

Limitations arose due to my financial status, and living arrangements. There were a couple of years where minimal wrenching was going on. I was almost like a normal person, I had a car that I'd drive and wash every couple of weeks. But some guys had it worse.

The least favorable arrangement is when you are forced to do any servicing and repair of your vehicle while it is parked in the street. I've seen lot's of instances where guys have to change starters and do brake jobs while their car sits parked at the curb. Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. Many car guys have managed to keep their cars running and some have even built modified cars under these trying conditions.

An improvement to this situation is if you have a parking space available in a parking lot. At least you don't have to worry about passing traffic and it might be closer to your apartment. You might even be lucky enough to have a car port, which beats having the sun beating down on you. However your rental agreement and manager might have different ideas.

A driveway right in front of, or next to your house, is even better. More privacy and more convenience.

If that driveway leads to a garage, then you really have it made.

The first house that I remember is the one from my early childhood.

It was a small two bedroom house with an attached single car garage and a single driveway. It had two clam shell type doors.  The back of the garage was the home of the washing machine and a set of those double compartment concrete sinks that the washer emptied into. The washer was a  tub type with power rollers built in the top. My Mom would would feed the wet clothes through the rollers to squeeze the water out. I used to enjoy watching my Mom doing  that and as young kids we once got the idea of trying it for ourselves. Putting small objects, plastic army men and eventually my older brother's arm through it!

photo source: Walmart

I don't recall my Mom looking that happy doing laundry.

There was still enough room in the garage to park a single car, though not much else. My Dad took a correspondence course and taught himself to repair electronic devices like radios and televisions. He needed a place to work on these devices. He built a wall separating the area where the car was parked and the laundry area. He left a door sized opening on one side. He built a cantilevered work bench that allowed the hood of the car to fit underneath, the upper part of the wall was covered in peg board which allowed for airflow and the opportunity to hang items. The bottom of wall was covered with plywood. 

The workmanship was quite good as my Dad was a careful worker.  My Dad used the space as a workshop as he started up a garage based business for radio and TV repair. The car didn't go into the garage too much after that. But he only had a single car at that time, a new jet black, 1959 Chevy Impala two door hardtop, a car worthy of it's my post someday. He knew that we would often play in the garage on rainy days. Like many parents of the days he felt that the cold concrete floor was bad for us to walk on. He wanted something that would isolate us from the cold, but not get dirty like carpet.

He decided to lay down tongue and groove floorboards that had been salvaged from a torn down house. I remember how my brother and I went with Dad to the salvage yard. We were quite young, I think that my older brother was in kindergarten, of course I was even younger. We were running around the yard, climbing piles of salvaged lumber when my brother managed to step on a board with a nail sticking out of it.  The nail went through the sole of his shoe and into his foot. Perhaps a half inch. Luckily my Dad had finished the order and he carried my brother to the car and straight home. My Mom cleaned up the wound and called the local Doctor, who still made house calls in those days. 

A little cleaning with iodine, a tetanus shot, some bandaging and my brother was recuperating.

My Dad put the planks down and we spent several years of our childhood playing in that garage. 

It looked a bit nicer when we lived there in the early 1960's, bigger too. 
Actually the house right next door is more representative of the neighborhood.

The funny thing is that my Dad didn't spend any time working on his car in the garage. Maybe because it was a new car? Not a bad idea.

The next house we lived in was on a corner lot. It had a detached two car garage. The garage was located at the far end of the yard with the first overhead door that I'd ever seen. It had a two car driveway that was right off the sidewalk. The garage housed a remarkable secret.

The previous owner had a pit dug into the floor! 

In the days before lifts were common in garages and gas stations, a mechanic's "grease pit" was the alternative. It was deep enough for the mechanic to stand straight up and access the undercarriage of a car. It had to be long enough for the mechanic to be able to climb out of the pit once the car was on top. If not one mechanic got in first before the other drove the car into place. He had to wait under there for the car to be moved off to exit!

Not a bad idea.

These pits were primarily used for oil changes and grease jobs. Back in the day cars had to have the oil changed and the fittings greased every thousand or so miles. This was the most common job done at service stations and garages. Also coolant had to drained and refilled with anti freeze every season. Starter motors, transmission and differential plugs, as well as suspension components could be examined from underneath. There was a bit of planning required before you went to work with a shovel. There could be a problem with ground water drainage in some areas.

Most quick change oil service centers still use these pits. They are more like a basement level floor with the service floor built over the top. Access is by a stairway. This is the safest manner to work under a car and it also allows the customer to remain in the vehicle while the service is performed.

This was a rental house and we only lived there for a year. I think that my Dad may have changed the oil once using the pit. I remember that it had the heavy smell of old grease and dirt. Like the wrecking yards that I had visited with my Dad as a kid. ( Boy, does that scent bring back memories!)  It was covered by heavy wooden planks. He never parked the cars in the garage and we didn't use it for storage. There was a very serious rat infestation in that neighborhood, and my brother and I were somewhat afraid to go into this garage by ourselves.

The next house my parents bought was an old house that had an equally old wood frame single car garage built alongside of it. It formed a narrow walkway to the side yard of the house. It also had the clamshell arrangement, with a single driveway in front.  This garage also never held a car though it was used for storage. My Dad parked his car in the driveway. All sorts of automotive related activities took place in the driveway, washing, waxing, polishing. 

Thinking back, some serious auto repair took place there! My Dad straightened out his wrecked '64 Pontiac wagon, and even painted it out there.  We pulled the engine out of his '63 Lincoln and tore it down to have rebuilt. I even spilled a couple of gallons of ATF while changing out the front transmission seal on my '64 Cadillac convertible.  I wasn't as neat as my Dad. 

All of this took place in the clear view of our neighbors.  I didn't even think about that at the time. We worked pretty neatly. The only thing that was noticeable was that the front end of the car was jacked up.We opened up the garage doors and kept the tools; rented cherry picker, and recently removed engine in the garage itself. 

There was a large 10'x15' storage shed in the back yard when we moved in. My brother and I kept our motorcycles back there. We had a ramp set up and we'd push /ride them alongside the house to the front. That arrangement lasted for several years. Until the bikes got too big and heavy.

The shed came in handy though. That's where I worked on my motorcycles. I assembled my 305 Honda chopper, molded the frame of my Kawasaki 650, pulled the barrels on my Kawasaki Mach Three, and assembled the Honda 750 I bought in parts from my brother. 

One good thing about motorcycles is that they don't take up as much room to work on or to store.

The last house that I lived with my parents had a pretty ideal set up.

It was located on a cul de sac and had a two car garage at the end of a long driveway. Alongside the driveway was enough space to park a car, that didn't block access to the garage opening. In fact there was a fence and gate that allowed a car to be driven into the back side yard. This property could have had an additional garage or shop built in the back of the yard. It could have been a car, boat or RV's guy's dream set up. 

Yes that is me, almost forty five years ago!
That's my folk's driveway on my right. Visible is my brother's
'73 Camaro and a '51 Lincoln up by the fence.

The driveway length could accommodate at least three cars Any work done in front of the garage would be hidden from the view of our neighbors. Besides holding two cars the garage had a enough extra depth for a workbench, storage shelves, and a cabinet against the back wall.

I did a lot of work in that driveway. I pulled the heads on my '57 Cadillac, and rebuilt my '70 Sportster chopper in that garage. My folks were always pretty cool about my activities in the driveway and garage. I always remember that when my Son needs to use my garage and driveway to do a bit of work on his vehicles.

When the opportunity to buy my Parent's house came up I'd already bought my current house, and I'd been living there for twenty years.  But it could have been a car guy's garage-mahal.

Compromises.

My XJS seen in it's natural habitat.

I've been getting out of town a bit since the pandemic has stabilized, at least in my part of the State. But we are still very careful.

My Wife and I were travelling south on Interstate 5 south of Fresno, when I noticed a somewhat familiar form traveling n/b approaching me across the roadway. I identified it a few seconds before it passed by. "Wow, that's an XJS!" My Wife looked up from her phone and asked. "What's so unusual about that? You almost never see one in the Wild."  I replied, "Most of them are seen in garages or parked forlornly in some driveway." She turned her attention back to her phone and I was again left alone with my thoughts.

I spend a lot of time thinking things over while driving on a long trip. We were in the process of a seven plus hour drive, so I had plenty of time.

Why was I so surprised? Probably because I doubt that my XJS will ever be in good enough shape to handle a long road trip. I guess that I should really be embarrassed to admit such a conviction. 

Why? Because it's an admission that I'm not up to the task of sorting the thing out and short of the commitment and energy to seeing the task through.

My car finally earned it's spot in the garage.
It likes it so much it doesn't get out much.

I went to look at a 2005 XJ8 when I was in Southern California last summer. It was white with a light tan interior. There were a couple of dings and scrapes on the outside but the interior was gorgeous. The interior of a late model Jaguar is really like no other type of car. The quality and the detailing is outstanding. The car seemed fine mechanically but there was an annoying dinging chime that would go off occasionally. It turns out to be the proximity sensor. I remember all the threads I'd been reading in the Jaguar forums concerning these models. Timing chains, air suspension, cooling system fragility, electronic gremlins, and those proximity sensors. My Wife really seemed to like the car, and it sure seemed that she would actually like to drive it also. I knew that this car was very vulnerable to sustaining catastrophic damage whenever it suffers a mechanical failure. In other words, if a warning indicator lights up, you have to stop the engine immediately or terminal damage will result. 

I just can't see putting my Wife in that situation. 

While I, and other faithful readers of the Jaguar forum, understand that reality and would do our best to shut it down before permanent damage resulted, most other drivers would not. They would not want to pull over immediately on the freeway, stop in what they think might be a dangerous location, or put up with the inconvenience of not reaching their destination.  They would be likely to just keep on driving until they get somewhere "safe." Consequences be damned!

photo source:pintrest
Just throw the empties on the rear floorboard.

Just pack all of this in your trunk.
photosource:autoweek.com

All that is understandable. Most people drive cars for transportation. They expect their car to fulfill that purpose.  Without a lot of uncertainty, coddling, suspense, or expense. When they were younger and poorer they had to put up with hassles like that. Sometimes their cars would overheat, sometimes minor (hopefully!) leaks required them to refill the oil or even the brake fluid reservoir as needed. The battery or starter would fail, old, worn tires would blow out or suffer a puncture. Maybe they even kept a spare fan belt close at hand, along with the necessary array of hand tools. They carried jugs of water  and jumper cables in the trunk and especially, plenty of dimes! Remember how we carried them to use with the pay phones we depended on before cell phones? They had to be prepared, and they had to have a plan. This kind of uncertainty was accepted and even taken for granted, wondering whether or not we would make it to our destination on time, or even at all! Those were the days when you only drove where and when you had to, and you always had to have an alternate plan. 

Don't leave home without them. I didn't

Still you knew that once you had a good steady job, you'd get rid of that old clunker and get yourself something much newer, only a few years old. Maybe even your first brand new car! With that new car came the greatest of freedom of all, the ability to take an impromptu road trip! It really didn't matter what kind of car you bought. The best car that you could afford was the guideline. Over time, if your fortunes improved, you would have a greater choice, and maybe even someday buy something that you really wanted. 

A new car meant freedom. Plain and simple. 

Freedom from worries about reliability.  Freedom from restrictions on your travel choices. Freedom from suffering in a hot stuffy car. Ah, the luxury of working a/c! Freedom from the constant vigilance of checking fluid levels, monitoring the health of the myriad components and systems that your car depends on, and therefore you depend on. 

My Dad once provided me with a real nugget of wisdom; That people drive what they can afford. 

If you can afford a new car of some type, then most people will. If not, a used car that is only a couple of years old can be just about as reliable. Cars are so well built today that a well maintained car of up to ten years of age can be a pretty safe choice.

Unless you are a die hard enthusiast, we are made of sterner stuff. (Really?) We are not only willing to compromise, we welcome the opportunity!

In order to own cars that we "like" we are willing to buy vintage cars or older versions of the current models that we want. For example, I wanted a Mustang GT convertible. I'd like to have purchased a new one, but as a hobby car, I couldn't afford it. So I found an example that met my needs. The car is old, with a lot of miles, but it was in very good condition. It hasn't needed an extraordinary amount of repair, and has rewarded me with the satisfaction that I was seeking. 

Other car enthusiasts know exactly what I'm talking about, they all do the same thing.

We will continue to do that until we run out of discretionary money, storage space, time, energy, and gumption. It's a familiar story.

I know that I'm starting to run low on those resources

But we can't forget that "that" decision is a conscious choice.

Most regular, "normal" people choose another path. I can't say that I blame them.

Present Day Custom Cars. Are they possible?

These designs are iconic. I've got this early automotive
themed rock boxed CD set.

I was reading Pat Ganahl's blog about modern customs. He used a 1962 Pontiac as an example. Modern? That car is 60 years old. Modern geriatric customs?

This is a nicely cleaned up design.

I like it, but it's sixty years old!

I think that he might have meant customizing an older car Today, in somewhat current fashion.

I sent an e-mail to Pat sharing my ideas about modern customs.

I didn't hear back from him!

I suppose that the first thing to do is to establish definitions.

Any car can be customized by the owner, making changes that suit his preferences.

"Personalized" can be one way of putting it.

These changes can be performance based.

Or, they can be function based. Commercial vehicles, off road trucks, and SUVs fall into this category.

Usually the changes made are a matter of visuals.

Not only to cars, but to trucks also. I'd say that there are more customized trucks around Today, than cars.

I'll assume that Pat means what I mean, when I say Custom. A car modified and altered to "improve" it's styling.

The emphasis is on the visual appearance of the car.  It's all about the looks. Lowering, adding custom wheels, changing the grille, adding or subtracting trim.

This discussion won't be about lift kits, big wheels and stacks on trucks, no "Bro-dozers!"

Likewise, modified pony and performance cars, domestic and import vehicles are out.

The original idea back in the 1930's and 40' was to make the car appear racier or more streamlined.

There are still  lineages of custom cars that have continued to exist.

First of course, are the original builders and their descendants, building traditional customs out of vintage cars. They usually are trying to preserve the traditional appearance and culture. They feel that cars from the mid Thirties to the late 1960's are the traditional building fodder. Cars prior to the late 1930's are generally built as Hot Rods.  However there is some overlap.

Classic vintage Lowriders.

The second surviving group are the Low Riders. They started back in the 1940's also. Their pioneering efforts are actually an offshoot or continuation of the original customs. Again, they have generally embraced the Post War to late 1970's models. Low Riders are built by all types of people, though this group is heavily identified with the Mexican American community. 

A very tasteful early 1970s Chevy.
Usually most are sedans.

One offshoot of customs dates from the 1980's, The "High Rider" or "Donk." These are usually 1970's and 80's full sized American cars that run really big wheels, from 22'' to 30''. The cars usually have to be raised up on their suspension quite a bit, to clear the wheels. I used to hear these referred to as "scrapers" I guess because the tires scraped on the fender openings.

"Slabtastic" Cadillac Fleetwood.

A more subdued S.L.A.B.
Easily visible are the "pokes."

Last year I learned about another regional offshoot of the Low Rider family. The S.L.A.B. "Slow, Loud, and Bangin'.'" This is a regional style based out of Houston Texas. The most noticeable aspect are the special wire wheels with a very protruding center cap. These wheels have different names, referred to as: Swangers, Swangas, Elbows or Pokes. These are closely associated with the Hip Hip community.

Some Low Riders and Donks will be cars as late as the early 1990's. These are the remnants of the big full size American car. Models such as the Cadillac Brougham, Lincoln Town Car, Ford Crown Victoria, as well as some large Oldsmobiles and Buicks. These were the last of the body on frame sedans that were so common in the 1960s into the 1970s.

The question is what modern car, within the last ten or fifteen years would be suitable to make a custom out of?

I figure that giving it at least ten years plus of age would mean that it is cheap enough to make it accessible.

2010, We'd thought that we would have flying cars by then, and that was ten years ago!

I'll give you my list of cars.

Cadillac DTS, Lincoln town Car, Chrysler 300, Dodge Charger, and the out of production Dodge Magnum wagon.

2000 Cadillac.
Is it worthy?

All more than ten years old.

I can't think of any more. No SUVs, though of course an Escalade makes an impressive cruiser.

What would you do to these things?

First of course would be lowering them.

Then custom wheels and tires.

There isn't much chrome trim to remove, if any. Maybe do something to the grill or taillights?

New paint would probably be one of the biggest changes, to a lot of people, a colorful, intricate custom paint job is how they define a custom car.

Interiors could get some attention, newer cars could use some color and variety of materials anyway.  Hopefully not with TV screens all over the inside. I've seen some Donks and Lowriders sporting some very colorful upholstery.

Did you notice something? Every one of these cars I've mentioned is a four door sedan! An old man's car. These were considered to be the cheapest and least desirable models of the past. But there is nothing else available.

What makes a custom a custom?

This is referred to as a "stance car."

Drew Peacock won't cut you any slack!

Looking back, most traditional customs were lowered.

They had excess trim removed.

Custom paint jobs were applied.

Custom hubcaps and whitewall tires are chosen.

Body modifications could be divided into two levels.

Mild customs were usually lowered, decked, with "frenched"; recessed headlamps, custom grilles or tail lights replaced the stock components.

Full customs combined these modifications and added one of the major custom body alterations;
a chopped top, channeling of the body on the frame, or the most extreme: sectioning. That is when a strip is removed from the middle of the body, and the two pieces are welded back together. Talk about a challenging modification!

Could you apply these modifications to a new Chrysler 300? I suppose that you could, but I don't think that you would.

New customs can be built out of unmodified vintage cars and all the traditional alterations can be included. But these would only be replicas of traditional customs. Not "modern" customs.

I've thought that I might lower a '97 or 2000 Cadillac Sedan de Ville, convert it back to steel wheels with wheel covers and wide white tires. The grille could be modified or changed. I suppose that the nameplates could be removed. I really can't think of anything else that could ( or should) be done. Of course there is always the "gilding of the lily" school of thought which is often applied to Cadillacs.

The "Superfly" car is a classic.
I don't think that I could drive one.

These are  mostly "Brougham-tastic" additions such as RR grilles, carriage, landau, and other tops, Continental spares, etc.  Generally not my cup of tea. What to do?

I was at the West Coast Kustoms Nationals in Santa Maria around ten years ago and George Barris displayed a customized Toyota Prius. It was even worse than you're imaging!

As Chris Bunch, editor of Big Bike magazine used to write, "You can't type an outraged scream!"