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These days,
mentioning the words “Buick “ and high performance” in the same breath
seems to be a rare thing, what with the demise of the of the late grate Grand
National and limited – run GNX. And that’s a real shame, because over the
years Buick has built performance cars every bit as potent as any made by its
competitors. It just seems that the
unfair old stigma about Bucks as doctors’ cars won’t go away- probably
because every time Buick seems ready to bury it for good, it dose an about –
face and turns away again from the performance market. It’s enough to drive
longtime supporters of the marquee crazy.
In the mid
–‘60s, though Flint had both the clear vision and the engineering know-how
to put together some of the finest performance cares ever built. Hot cars had
vintage years in 1965, and any automaker without a performance entry in the
sales race was in bad shape indeed. For Buick it meant the introductions of a
Grand Sport version of the intermediate Skylark to compete in the fast growing
muscle-car market. It also meant most unique and luxurious performance cars the
division would ever produce- the Riviera Grand Sport.
The Riviera
itself was two years old by then (not counting the very different cars that
carried the name), but its award wining styling and smooth performance were
still a solid home run.
The “65” Riviera looked very
much like the 1963-64 models, except for the new hidden headlamps behind big
clamshells in each fender, which used to house the parking lamps. It lost the
non-functional but attractive scoops on the rear quarter, and the taillights were moved into a bigger rear
bumper, but the big news was the Grand Sport version, which was described in
Buick’s 1965 catalog as “a new optional version of the Riviera for those
whose love of performance is insatiable.”
That wasn’t
just advertising Hype, either. If you want to compare number how do 360 hp, 0-60
times of about 7 seconds and a quarter mile in about 15.5 seconds grab you?
With figures like that, The Riviera GS compares well with some of the top
muscle car in the same sense as Pontiac GTO, Which was pretty much the standard
of comparison at the time. But in terms of paper performance, the 1965 Riviera
Grand Sport would certainly give an average 335-hp Pontiac GTO a run for its
money; it would probably take a 360-horse Tir Power Goat to rally shout down the
Buick by a significant margin.
But while
number sit still for printing, in no way do they describe the real character of
the ’65 Riviera Grand Sport. For
this car not only had muscle car –leave acceleration, but also a degree of
handling, style and luxury that few other cars have ever had—particularly when
ordered with the optional ride and handling package.
This added stiffer springs and shocks, a bigger front sway bar and a
quicker 15:1 steering ratio to sharpen the cars already good road manners.
While some people mistakenly believe that this package was standard on
the ’65 Riviera Grand Sport, it’s just wasn’t so.
Perhaps the reason for the confusion is that the GS package for the
Riviera changed a little bit in 1975. (By then, it was mostly a heavier –duty
suspension package, albeit on that was a welcome addition to any Riviera.)
In 1965,
though, what the buyer did get when check in the Grand Sport option box was the
425-cubiic – inch Super wildcat engine, replacing the standard 325-hp, 401-cid
V8 was in its next-to last year before being redesigned, but it was still to be
reckoned with. It produced 360 hp from a 10.25.1comprestin ratio; with dual
Carter AFB carburetors and dual exhaust system with larger-then-normal pipes for
reduced backpressure. Also included in the Grand Sport package was a Super
Turbine 400 3 speed automatic transmission with recalibrated shift points,
special wheel covers, Grand Sport badges on the lower front fenders and rear
deck and, finally a 3.42:1 Positraction rear instead of the Standard 3.23:1 non-Posi
unit.
But above all,
this was a Riviera- so as you’d expects, luxury and convenience options were
as plentiful as horsepower. Many of
the cars came through heavily optioned, but there probably aren’t many around
as pretty or as completely equipped as our feature car, a ’65 Riviera Grand
Sport that’s one of the3335 built that year. It’s the pride and joy of Larry
Smiecinski of Warren Mich.
Larry has owned
this 64,000-mile Buick since 1983, when he bought the car from the original
owner’s son. You might say he’s found of the 1963-65 Riviera-he currently
owns seven ’65 models, and over the years has owned somewhere around 25 of the
early Rivs.
But this Flam
Red Beauty is special, even for him. Aside from being a mostly original car in
fantastic condition, it has- in additional to the standard tilt wheel, power
steering and brakes, factory air conditioning, optional AM/FM radio with
Power antenna,
cruise control, optinal chrome 15X6 road wheels, and the upgrade customer cloth
interior and rare black vinyl top in mint original condition.
About the only option Larry couldn’t resist adding was the optional
wood rim steering wheel, a much sought –after item today.
“I’ve
always loved Buick’s.” Says Smiecinski, who was on duty with the Army in
Germany when the ’63 Riviera was introduced. “When I was in Germany, I saw a
picture of one a fell in love with it” But it wasn’t until he bought this
car that he had his first Riviera Grand Sport. The car had been well talked care
of and needed surprizly little work to be absolutely first rate. Larry had some
minor bodywork done before refining the car in the original gleaming red
lacquer, reechoing the bumpers and replacing much of the outside trim with NOS
pieces.
Mechanically,
the car needs little more then a tune-up and oil change- these early Riviera
always did have an excellent reputation for toughness and reliability.
The interior on the Riv is likewise a flawless original and needed more
then a cleaning. Infect, probably the toughest thing for Larry was to locate a
set of now rare original Goodyear 8.4X15 triple banded whitewall tires (not
shown in these photos) for show purposes. Finding theses tires was a two-year
project, and Smiecinski actually bought and later resold two cars- just ot get
the original spare! But it’s that kind of attention to detail that brought him
a Best of Show award at the Riviera Owner’s Association national meeting in
Flint, Mich., in July 1988, along with a number of trophies at other shows.
Along the way,
he’s been asked many times if he’d like to sell his Grand Sport. The answer
has always been the same. “I’ve had some interesting offers, but I’m not
ready to get rid of it,” Larry says “I still enjoy driving to much.”
But then that’s not too suprising, since these Buick’s always have
been grate road cars. And as the years go by, They just seem to become more and
more desirable – it there’s any doubt about that, just ask Larry Smiecinski.