When one of East Bay Muscle Cars local customers asked them to update his luxury cruiser to be more modern, they got a tremendous head start. The owner loved the looks of the car, it was just the handling and performance that was making it less than a joy to drive. We've got to agree, the 1965 Buick Riviera is regarded as one of the most beautiful designs of the 1960s, so there really wasn't a whole lot of exterior customization required to make it look gorgeous. Even the car's original interior looked pretty good and required minimal modifications to make it comfortable.

To start, East Bay Muscle Cars pulled off all the trim for hand restoration while KJ's Auto Body in Oakland, California, did the tedious job of straightening the body before block-sanding it perfectly smooth and spraying it in a factory Porsche color called Umber Metallic. There was no use in messing with the Buick's lines, it just needed the right stance and the performance to back it up.

Buick Nailheads have their appeal. Unfortunately, most of it is aesthetic. Tommy Ivo used Nailhead power to go fast in the quarter-mile in the 1960s—it's just that it took four of them to do so. There's no easy way to make power using the stock heads and their tiny valves, and don't even think about the aftermarket, because even in the 1960s there wasn't much in the way of speed parts.

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An LS swap would be much easier, so that's what the crew at East Bay Muscle Cars did, selecting an LS3 long-block from Turn Key Engine Supply. However, to retain the appeal of the original Nailhead, the LS3 was fitted with adapters to mount the centerbolt valve covers that would have been on the car in 1965. The block, heads, water pump, and fuel rails were all painted blue-green, appropriate for a 19611966 Buick. An Edelbrock Victor Jr. intake was also painted to match and give the engine a single-carb look. The air-cleaner housing even has a snorkel and a custom Buick Wildcat LS3 decal. A 425 Nailhead would have had some trouble breathing through that tiny snorkel, but the LS3 doesn't have to worry about that, though, as the rear of the air-cleaner housing is made from perforated metal to help it ingest as much air as needed. Backing the LS3 is a 4L70 automatic transmission that uses the factory Riviera console shifter, keeping the interior looking original.

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For the suspension, the Riviera keeps the personal luxury smoothness that it was known for and firms it up with a Roadster Shop front suspension crossmember grafted into the factory Buick X-frame and a coilover-sprung Ford 9-inch with adjustable trailing arms. We took the car for a drive in the hills of Orinda, California, and it felt much more surefooted that you'd expect based on the restored interior. Take a look at the photos from underneath the car and see that it looks almost as good as the bodywork, so it makes perfect sense that it drives so well.