1966 Chopped Riviera
When people think of a Buick Riviera, most will picture a ’63-’65. Although that body style may be the most synonymous with the Riviera name, this chopped ’66 could change your perspective. The 2nd generation Riviera received a complete redesign that lead to a longer, wider car. Since long and low is the goal, the ’66 Riviera was the perfect candidate for the build.
You can’t get long and low without chopping the top and putting air ride on it… so that’s exactly what we did. The interior was stripped out, the chop lines were taped off and away we went. It was chopped 2 ½ inches to achieve a subtle change that redefines the entire look of the car. New sail panels and a roof extension were fabricated as well as templates for the custom glass. Once the new panels were welded into place, new inner structure was built for the sail panels. With the chop complete, the attention turned to details like bumper tucking, shaving the door handles and antenna, along with gap and trim fitment. While this was in progress, the 425ci Nailhead was pulled out and rebuilt along with the transmission. The air ride was installed on all four corners and the car was sent over to the paint shop for the next steps.
Once at the paint shop the work began on priming and blocking the body for a show quality gold metal flake paint job.
Keep an eye out for progress to be updated here and for the car to be featured at shows when we finish it up!