A little to new for me but I couldn't pass up the deal. 85 Riv, 83000 miles. Cream Puff! This is the fabled "little old lady" car. Purchased from the family of an 18 yr old that didnt care to keep an eye on the dip stick. The dad said they had bought it from an elderly couple and it had been the wifes car. He was under the impression they were the original owners. With the exception of the locked up engine the car is super clean and all factory inside and out. Seems to be fully loaded.
And its going away! Plan is to install a running engine and find her a good Buick loving home. In a sort of weird coincidental moment today, Wife and I were sitting at the table this morning with a notary closing a refi on the house and the phone rang. In my conversation she, the notary,over heard me mention Riviera. After my call ended she said her husbands late father had left a 82 Riv to him. They dont drive the car and it needs a good home. 70K miles, always garage kept. 3000.00. I said that I couldnt pay anywhere close to that. She showed me pictures of a very clean Fire mist red car with the red valor int. Told her Id give 1500 for it and find it a good home. She's good with it and I'll pick it up when I return from my trip out west.
Nice score! And yes, that ersatz Continental kit would have to go; that just reeks of Florida Retiree or Canadian Snowbird...
Congrats Briz! You capitalist you. Never miss an opportunity. So now you will have 2. For what ever reason these cars never achieved the valuation many expected they would which makes them excellent choices for folks wanting to get into a classic with little money.
Nice clean car, to bad it isn't correct wheel drive! I wonder what it would take to make one of those correct wheel drive? Would be SWEET with a warmed over BBB 455 or even a good running sbb 350 with a 200R4 and a 3.42 rear gear and a set of Buick Rally rims. I wonder what frame that car could be made to fit on? Maybe a frame from a Cutlass of around the same year? Because it isn't correct wheel drive is why.
I owned an 85 for a while back in the day. Cream puff just like yours but it ran. Got it from my grandparents when they moved into a home cuz they knew I always loved the car. It was an awesome car but they used it so little that all the seals in the tranny dry rotted and it killed the transmission. I ended up trading it in on my very first new car a 1997 Dodge stratus. I drove the snot out of that Stratus and gave it to my son. He had it totaled within 6 months. Sorry for rambling. Cliff
I have a complete 68 parts car with a 72 455. Considered for a moment about taking the body off one and putting it on the other. However this car is just to nice and I'm not that motivated. It is the Olds 5.0/ 307ci. Ted, Junkman, down in Ocala has a good one out of a 90 caddy that I will buy and put in it.
Its because it is so nice is why to do the conversion. I wouldn't even consider converting a rusted out turd to correct wheel drive, would still be a rusted out turd after it was done! Plus would be a piece of cake to do for you with your hoist! An Olds 350 or 403 would drop right in and bolt right up in that car, a Olds 455 has a taller deck height so there might be clearance issues? Not sure if the incorrect wheel drive trans could handle the extra power though?
Briz - a thought - you may want to leave that continental kit on and try to sell first before removing. There are a few people out there that like them (I am not one) so never know it could find a happy home and less work for you. Isn't there lots of old fogies down there in FL which seems to be in line with the accessory?
My parents decided in 1982 that it was time for a Cadillac. We went to several dealers around North Georgia to look, then we tried Potamkin in downtown Atlanta. Apparently they were in the ‘special’ Caddy bidness; they had models in the showroom with landau bars, continental kits, Rolls grills, wire wheels with Vogues or wide whites, cabriolet roofs, gold emblems, add on fender skirts, etc. My more conservative folks chose to order one from our hometown dealer, sans add ons. That stuff exists for a reason, though. Patrick P.S. If you take the kit off, you may find a lowrider who’s chomping at the bit for it.
