Current status: SOLD AND GONE.
The Riviera is sold to a gentleman in Florida. It was picked up about a month back and hauled off--I didn't get what I wanted for it, but I got it gone and he got a good car to restore. I'm keeping this page up just in case somebody needs it.
Page 1: Introduction.
Page 2: Completed changes.
Page 3: Planned/needed changes.
Page 4: Restoration diary.
With Jez (the Corolla) needing a lot of expensive parts and labor, a job that was looking promising, and a small life insurance check, I decided I was in the market for a new daily-driver that I could use to take Jez off the road and wrench on her piece by piece. I needed something less high-strung, something phenomenally cheap (under 2K), something mechanically solid and easy to wrench on, and I wanted some degree of comfort on the road and something that wasn't just another bland transportation appliance.
As it happens, while reading Jalopnik at work, I stumbled across pictures of the old Riviera boat-tails, and recalled that somebody at Nike had been selling one at one point, and recalled that Dad had fondly spoken of his daily-commuter-in-DC '72 boattail. A trawl through images revealed that yes, the rear glass was still gorgeous, and the cars were still as elegant to my eye as ever (I recall being breathtakingly amazed by one years ago). It was just an idle exercise in 'someday' until I somehow stumbled across a ad from somebody attempting to sell a '73 Riv for a truly insanely low price that was within my budget. I did a great deal of research in a great hurry, and after some correspondence with the seller--less than 2 miles from where I used to live a couple years ago--got the chance to take the beast for a test drive.
There were some issues (detailed exhaustively on pages 3 and 4) but overall a good car. Unfortunately, difficulties with title transfer prevented me from doing much driving beyond the initial permit, and mechanical issues (carburator problems, pinging, unexpectedly disintegrating tires) got in the way of much driving during the permit. I have the title and am working on Dee while I can while Jez remains my DD. If finances require it I'll have to sell Dee to somebody else, but for now I have the potential of something really special as a second vehicle to cruise comfortably in, attract lots of attention, and unleash 7.5 liters of fury on anybody who wants to step up---once a few more things get fixed.
And that's where we stand for now. Below here, only more pictures.
I have been told by my spouse that this car needs to go. I'd like to see $5,000 but would be potentially willing to settle for less or trade for a Lincoln Mk 7 LSC.
