1964 Buick Riviera

V8 401 cubic inch

Automatic

7K1092998

Note: This car was previously listed for auction on eBay on May 14 and sold with the buy it now option at a price of $3,350 on May 15. However full payment was never made even after 3 weeks of waiting. Please read all the conditions of payment for this vehicle before making any kind of bid. Communication is key to a smooth transaction. This is an auction for my 1964 Buick Riviera which has been registered continuously in California since late 1963. I know this because it still has its original 1963 California license plates. I have owned the car since 1986. In 1986 the car had just over 14,000 miles on the odometer and I assumed in had turned over at least once. It now has 72,002 on the odometer. So I assume true mileage is at least 172,002 or higher. It is impossible to know for sure but it is still going strong. The car will be driven little or not at all during the auction. I am not going to try to pile up a bunch of miles before the auction ends. I guarantee if you win the car the odometer will not have more than 100 additional miles on it if any. During the last auction period I did not drive the car at all and probably won't this time either. Although the car looks great in the pictures I want to be clear that it has a very old paint job with lots chips and flaws and I would describe it as fair. But from a distance it still looks pretty nice for a car that will soon be a half century old. I am convinced the seats in the car have never been redone. The bottoms of the front seats are completely worn out. Car has always been kept in a garage since 1988 and driven on a regular basis. Never broken down or not running. We rarely get snow where I live and salt or chemicals are never used on roads here. Only area showing some body corrosion or rust is way down low between the right front wheel well and the right hand door. Appears like some kind of filler got put in there and painted before I got it. Still looks like it did back in 1986. A bit of corrosion behind and above some of the chrome trim above it. That is the only area on the car like that. Over the years I have always made any repairs needed for safe operation. But I have done very little in regard to cosmetic issues to make it look sharp. But it still gets compliments. I wish I had the money to fix it up the way it deserves but money is a problem right now and that is why I am putting it up for sale. I will try to add details as I think of them but here is a general overview. The engine, while worn, runs normally and is still strong. The transmission also works fine is a three speed automatic. Neither one has ever given me any trouble or ever cost me a penny. The power windows all work. The back ones can stick a bit as they are rarely put down. The front windows go up and down freely with no problem. Those small wind wing windows do have working motors but they need a bit of help opening at first or getting closed tightly because at that point there seems to be some slippage. The air conditioning system long ago lost it's charge but all the parts are still in place. Headlights, horn, brake lights, tail lights are all working. All indicators working with the exception of the left front. When the headlights or parking lights are turned on there is a bright light in that same area (called a cornering light) that comes on when I manually click the turn indicator lever on and off to indicate a turn. Crude but it works for the time being. Left rear indicator light is working normally but the indicator on the dash does not light up for left turns. This was GM's way of letting your know a light was out somewhere. A good auto electric person could probably fix this in a hurry. Radiator had its core replaced with a heavy duty core and has never overheated since that was done. I just remembered that while I had the radiator out I replaced the water pump. That was back in the 1990's but because the car was not driven very many miles from 1997 to 2005 because of a family medical situation not that many miles have been put on since it was done. It works fine. Heater core also replaced some years ago so you have heat and defrosting. Windshield wipers work fine. Blades probably due for replacement. Starter motor was replaced a few years ago. I could never get the cruise control to work and made no attempt to fix it. So it is not working at this time. In most cars I don't use cruise control so it was not important to me. Before I forget I should mention that this car from day one had one eccentric feature I should have fixed by now but still have not. If it has been sitting for more than a day or so it needs lots of pumping of the gas pedal before it finally begins to start. It almost seems if the gas slowly recedes back down the fuel line if has been parked for a while. Indeed I spare the starter by pumping, trying the starter for a few seconds and so on until it begins to catch. Now the fuel line under the passenger cabin is metal but under the hood and back near the gas tank it is rubber fuel line. Some of this has been replaced but a lot of it has not and and is probably pretty ancient. It is next on my to do list if I don't sell the car. Tires are in excellent condition with very little wear. They are Goodyear triple treads with very deep tread. Best tires this car ever had--excellent grip on anything but ice. Here are some other important areas and systems on the car: STARTER: Replaced once. It was a few years ago, but not that many miles. I am easy on starters. It turns over fine. The battery is a few years old now but it was the strongest battery with the longest warranty I could find at the time and is still working fine with no problems. BRAKES: I had the car in to adjust the parking brake and had the brakes inspected not too long ago and the local Midas shop said they were old but fine--nothing needed. A working emergency or parking brake is important on this and many cars from the era because the brake fluid reservoir is not divided into two halves as later cars had for safety reasons. Soon after I bought this car I was driving on a mountain highway at about 7,000 feet and decided to turn around. Pulling off onto a scenic overlook I found I had no brake pedal pressure at all practically. When I had it fixed at a good brake shop they told me somebody had installed the front brake lines wrong. I never do my own brake or any safety related work myself. The brakes have been trouble free ever since that time. By the way there is an extra brake drum that goes with the car. It is worn but still legal. I had it replaced many years ago but saved it since it is not completely worn out. SUSPENSION: When I bought the car the shocks were totally worn out and new ones (even in 1986) were not available at any store. I bought custom built shocks from Classic Buick and had them installed. That was back in the 90's but even today, if anything, the ride is a bit on the firm side. The springs (four coil springs) were not replaced and I think they are probably the original springs it had when it rolled on the assembly line back in late 1963. I also had some front end work done when the Goodyear tires were put on. I can't remember exactly what but it was expensive. So for a big old car the handling is pretty good. Under the hood: Checking various fluids. Oil. Oil pan gasket is way overdue for replacement. Whatever was there in 1986 is still there. From time to time I would tighten up the oil pan bolts with a torque wrench and think about trying to get the oil pan off myself but kept putting it off. Last trip to Yosemite (about 300 miles away) I added a quart of oil after I got there and drove home with no engine problems. Although the car surely burns some oil I never notice smoke when driving the car. Radiator coolant. I have never seen any leakage when driving or running the car. However these older cars have a very different cooling system than modern cars. The coolant level should always be checked if the car has been parked and not running for a while. I tends to go down a little even just parked. I remember a '67 Camaro I had did the same thing. Power steering fluid. The upper (high pressure) power steering hose has had a slow leak for years and years. It needs to be replaced. But it can be driven as is if you check the fluid level often. Despite the leak the power steering works very well and almost never makes any noise unless the fluid level is low. But I will tell you right now that the first time you turn the steering wheel hard as when parking the car, some drops of fluid will drop down on the hot exhaust manifold and smoke will waft up from under the hood as it burns off. By the way the lower hose line on the power steering unit was replaced by me since it is all rubber with clamps--and is not leaking. Transmission: The fluid here does not need to be checked often. Every couple of years I add a bit of transmission fluid and I did that earlier this spring and it should be fine. The car has the original Buick AM/FM radio with a back speaker between the rear seats and a front speaker on the dash board. I believe all these are working and in good shape. Unfortunately I can't use them because there is a reverb switch under the dash that is connected to a maze of wires soldered in a bunch of amateur looking connections. A few years ago a wire came loose and the back speaker no longer worked. I tried to fix it and only blew a few fuses out. But the front speaker still worked and I did not turn the radio on often. Then the whole switch fell off and down on my leg one day, trailing wires and the front speaker went out. If I had the money I would take it to a good auto electric guy I know and have the stupid reverb switch and wires taken out and the radio and speakers connected properly. I don't recall the reverb ever working anyway. The power antenna still works by the way. I should say for the record that no part of the car is missing. No piece of chrome trim or knob or handle. It is all there. The muffler system is not the same as the original Buicks had. When I bought the car it had a couple of cherry bomb type mufflers with exhaust pipes running straight back. The original muffler system had the pipes crossing through a big muffler unit and emerging from the other side and than running straight back. I had the present mufflers installed just before moving some Southern California to Northern California and did not have time to wait for the special order original type system. The mufflers and pipes are still in good condition and I can't detect any holes or rot. The car is probably a little louder than some but not as loud as the worn out mufflers it had when I got it. Somebody asked me what it sounds like when you start it? I did not know what to say. Later I thought, compared to what? I guess a deep old time V8 rumble. If your ears are working you know when its running. It is an old car and it makes lots of mystery noises. A lot a people in past years would say things like "I don't know, that doesn't sound so good." A lot of those people are no longer with us but the Riviera rolls on. Buying a car like this is a leap of faith. Before buying it I asked a mechanic at an honest and skilled repair shop if they could check the engine and tell me if would keep running for 50,000 miles. I was annoyed and disappointed when I was told no. And to let them know if I found anybody who would give me a money backed guarantee like that. I still have not found anyone who will. The guy who sold it to me described the engine as practically indestructible. I nodded but after buying it I just hoped it would last at least a year before I had to have the engine or transmission worked on. That was 1986. Now I urge you to be just as skeptical as I was back then. A used car is always a bit of an adventure. But I thought this was a strong and tough old and car and I still do. If I can find some money all of a sudden I will end the auction and keep it. I encourage anyone who wants to inspect the car or have it inspected to go ahead a do just that. That has to be at your expense but if you buy the car I will refund 50% of the inspection cost up to a maximum of $100 whichever is the lower figure. Also I have a AAA rated excellent local repair shop if you wanted to have work done here before driving the car home or having it transported home. I will assist you in that if you wish me to. After the car is paid for I am willing to store it for up to 30 days if you need time to arrange picking it up. Other stuff to bear in mind. The bottom of the driver's seat is split and you can reach in there and touch metal springs. Now I have put some padding under the front seat cover to have mercy on my own butt and anybody else sitting on it. Works OK but this is way overdue to be redone. Before I forget, let me mention that this is a power seat. The motor runs but I can't get it to move. The track or some other gears may be bogged down in some way. Probably lots of dirt and litter down under there. Nobody else has driven this car since 1988 so I never needed to move the seat. I am 5' 10" tall and about 155 pounds. My knees are bent slightly when I drive the car. It has a tilt adjustable steering wheel you can adjust up and down and that works fine. The driver's seat and front passenger seat have lap type seat belts of an older type. They do not retract. I think back in the day when this was an option you could have added to a car these were called aircraft type seat belts. The two back seats do not have seat belts. One other thing I wanted to say is that all of us are obsessed with the price of gas and yes it does use premium fuel. But compared with more modern vehicles, repairs often turn out to be surprisingly cheap and there are many things you can work on yourself. This is a magnificent machine, not a computer on wheels. Aside from gas it has been a relative bargain when it comes to maintenance and repairs. For me it has always been the car I could depend on when the modern ones suddenly had a problem and could not be used. Not too long ago, of the three cars I own, it was the only one that would start. That did not really surprise me. I have never broken down or gotten stuck with this car, even some times in the distant past when it would start to make alarming noises and I had doubts about making it home. It always made it home. And the alarming noises always proved to be simple nuts and bolts repairs. Oh, another expense I did not have was smog checks every two years. My newest car once cost me nearly a thousand dollars just to get a check engine light turned off. The Riviera is exempt from smog checks in California and I expect in most other states or provinces as well, but please check on that with your local motor vehicle authority. If you are in Canada please check on any duties or other fees that might be involved in importing the car. I am not too mechanical or technically minded but I know a lot about owning and driving the car. Just email with any question and I will try to answer in a timely manner. Paying for the car: Because of financial circumstances I need to be rather strict about people following through on their promises. The $300 deposit is not refundable. Unless you have the world's best excuse and I choose to violate my own rule in this case. That will be at my discretion. But right now I might not even be able to afford to refund that deposit any time soon so be very sure you want this car before bidding. Final payment should be a cashier's check (keep your records of that cashier's check in a safe place just in case) and mailed to me using a tracking number. USPS Priority Mail with signature confirmation was how I did it the only time I bought a car on eBay. That or something similar. Now if it arrives one day late that is not a problem as long as you let me know that it was mailed and give me the tracking number so I will know when to go to my post office box to pick it up. As soon as that arrives and my bank verifies it I will sign over the title and mail it to you or keep it with the car as you wish. I will supply all registration or other information you may require for insurance, etc. The instant I inform you that payment has been completed you should insure the car.