1964 Buick Riveria still faster than new Corvettes!

[NorTex]

Given the '80s resurgence in pop culture and to a lesser extent in the car, I hope to see some truly-nutty wheels offered from the factory again like these favorites of mine:

Reinventing the Wheel - a gallery on Flickr
(not my flickr, our tastes just happen to align.)


Cool! Which engine did your step dad have? I think those wheels were called "Rallye Sports" but I'm not sure. I think the word "Rally" or "Rallye" was involved.

Ralleye wheels sounds familiar! My best friend in high school purchased one of those "found it in a barn" car stories back in 1990. It was a 1972 Pontiac LeMans, copper in color, 350 2 barrel, rotted tires (but still inflatable!), faded paint but only 60k or so miles. It even had "Granny Hub caps". By the time he was done restoring it, painted white, new vinyl top, correct-for-the-era Ralleye II Pontiac five star wheels, it looked like the best "GTO" ever!

Edit: I believe my best friend bought that "Granny car LeMans" for 350 bucks too! It looked rough, torn vinyl top and faded paint. The interior and bench seat were immaculate, however. We ended up using the old "candle wax" trick to shine up the paint and it looked decent before he repainted it. It also had one of those gas guages that showed maybe 32 "clicks" between the Full to Empty symbols, if that makes sense. We'd rev the engine, burn out and watch the gas gauge change too between Southern California street lights! LOL ....I keep going off topic and editing...I'm sorry! We thought the car was fast in stock form back in the day, until a high school friend named Canuto drove his parent's bought 1991 Firebird (with that cool looking front end and with 240 SAE net horses on tap) and blew our doors off! The guy pulled up along side us during school lunch, spit at my best friends car, and my best friend through his soft drink at him as pulled up at a stop light in traffic....Race was on! We raced up and down Torrance, with the LeMans chasing the Firebird, block after block, corner after corner, bottoming out on the oil pan in street ruts, buring and smoking rubber, and came screaming into the school parking lot....Luckily a fist fight was prevented, as others rushed to the scene. It has been over 20 years since that scene but I can still feel the tension. It reminds me of the "old versus new" arguments and male testosterone not kept in check posts I read online! In a way, I can't wait for the new school reunion and ask "so how collectible is your '91 Firebird now, buddy!"

I'll have to ask my step-dad which engine he had. I do believe his '69 had the 455, however....I so love his racing stories too, with his 1969 L-88 Vette....It was a "trailer queen" of which he drag raced. Pops was well known in the Corpus Christi, Texas area at one time, racing title for title too! That was back in the '60s.....I believe he bought the vette for 5k back in the day too.

[NorTex]

Given the '80s resurgence in pop culture and to a lesser extent in the car, I hope to see some truly-nutty wheels offered from the factory again like these favorites of mine:

Reinventing the Wheel - a gallery on Flickr
(not my flickr, our tastes just happen to align.)


Cool! Which engine did your step dad have? I think those wheels were called "Rallye Sports" but I'm not sure. I think the word "Rally" or "Rallye" was involved.

I just called my step-dad (he is 68 years old now). I asked him about the Riveria and he confirmed it was a 1965 model. According to his recollection, the wheels didn't have a name back then. "They," meaning his contemporaries, just called 'em "mags". (That should make sense, as Mustangs and Cougars used "Mag 500s," were similar, and was a colloquial and actual term.) As for the engine it was the 425 cubic inch "nailhead".(Edit: I'm not sure what Pops meant by the term. Maybe some "old-timers" can chime in and explain what a nailhead engine is)...I asked if it was the 340 horse (single carb) or 360 horse dual quad version. It was the single carb.

I also learned he traded in his 1964 El Camino for it. I forgot all about him owning one!

In regards to his 1969 Corvette, it was a stock vette that he paid 5k and some change for back in the day. It was after he bought it that he installed the ZL1 engine and made extensive modifications to it. For some reason I thought he had the L-88 model. He sold it a year later for 8.5k with a trailer to haul it, as it wasn't street legal and pumping over 600 horsepower. Pops never took it through a drag strip test, but back in 2006 I posted to another forum that he claimed it would have easily clocked over 125 mph in the quarter mile. Upon review I never made mention of an L-88 model either! I guess that creeped into my memory!

Pops raced his '39 Ford convertible back in Corpus Christi, Texas in the 1960s and won one of those "title for title" races. His gain? A 1963 Ford Galaxie Fastback 427. 4 speed. Car was red/red/red. Pops was running a "supercharged police interceptor engine" and with 4.88 gears.

Of course I had to ask him the all too important question: "Think ya should've saved that Vette or Riveria?!" ....Hehe, I don't believe I have to admit what his answer was to that!

[Magnum9987]

I wouldn't hold my breath on that being faster than a 'Vette, Nailheads tend to be asthmatic. They had exceptions (like the 70 GSX, which is one of my all time favorites), but don't count on it. And BTW, Nailheads are called thus because their valves were comparatively small, but because of various stuff I won't get into, were very reliable and compact, which is why hot rodders sought after them so much.

Its too bad they someone chopped up a perfectly usable car to race it. Especially with so many willing others waiting in the eaves, in a lesser condition.

[NorTex]

I wouldn't hold my breath on that being faster than a 'Vette, Nailheads tend to be asthmatic. They had exceptions (like the 70 GSX, which is one of my all time favorites), but don't count on it. And BTW, Nailheads are called thus because their valves were comparatively small, but because of various stuff I won't get into, were very reliable and compact, which is why hot rodders sought after them so much.

Thank you for the reply, Magnum. It wasn't my intention to actually compare the cars, as my post was made tongue in cheek!

Its too bad they someone chopped up a perfectly usable car to race it. Especially with so many willing others waiting in the eaves, in a lesser condition.

I can remember back in 1989 that someone took a late '70s Honda Accord and chopped the top off to make a convertible. I saw it driving through Highway 1 just outside Redondo Beach, California. I didn't cringe then, as I don't consider them classics! I do cringe watching Dukes of Hazzard re-runs, as during the series over 300 Chargers were destroyed doing stunts! Even today with all the fancy CGI/special effects stuff, Hollyweird still destroys great cars!

I forget the movie title but Eric Roberts may have starred in it. (I have the movie on VHS and stored at my parent's home)....In it a '68-'69 GTO convertible was destroyed in that movie! Why, oh why?!

[Matra et Alpine]

I forget the movie title but Eric Roberts may have starred in it. (I have the movie on VHS and stored at my parent's home)....In it a '68-'69 GTO convertible was destroyed in that movie! Why, oh why?!

For cars in movies http://www.imcdb.org/vehicles.php?ma...odel=on&page=1 is a great site. Might trigger the memory

[kylawills]

That's awesome cars in movie...it's really great site...