Sensationally Sleek: 1967 Buick Riviera GS
No, you’re not looking at a mild custom, this is exactly how a sleek and sexy ’67 Buick Riviera GS left the factory. What a gorgeous piece of sculpture on four wheels. Styling Boss Bill Mitchell and his GM design team were on top of their game when they created the second generation Riviera in 1966. No wonder it was recognized as the “Handsomest Car of 1966” by Car Life magazine and “Best Full-Sized Sports Sedan” by Car and Driver. 
Cosmetic revisions were minimal in 1967 and this clean example with the Gran Sport (GS) option has only 57,800 documented miles. Currently residing in Buckhead, Georgia, this well-preserved Riviera is for sale here on eBay. As of this writing, 51 bids had pushed the price up to $20,188.
This Riviera looks terrific from every angle. It was longer, wider, and more curvaceous than the first generation. The headlights were still concealed but were now horizontal and pivoted behind the grille when not used and nd the new roofline flowed into almost a graceful fastback. Nothing is shared by the seller about the history of this fine example or what it’s been doing the past 55 years. Based on a paint chart I found online, I’m guessing it is finished in Platinum Mist, one of fifteen paint colors available on the ’67 Riviera. In reviewing the photos, I’m not seeing any major flaws or concerns. As the seller says, “Just a clean machine. Nothing else to elaborate on.”
Inside, Buick’s idea of a personal luxury car (and GM’s answer to the Ford Thunderbird) didn’t disappoint. These came loaded and this one was ordered with optional power windows and factory air conditioning as well. Front seat options were bucket seats or the Strato-bench seat seen here with the large armrest. Based on the photos, the interior is well preserved. I see a little discoloration on the rear seat, but overall it looks very nice.
About the biggest change to the Riviera in 1967 is what was under the hood. The legendary 425-cu-in “Nailhead” was put out to pasture and replaced with a new 430-cu-in V8 that generated 360 horsepower at 5,000 rpm when it left the factory. It is paired with a 3-speed Super Turbine transmission. This low-mileage one is said to be original and check out that wild looking factory air cleaner. Although this Riviera came out 10 years before the movie, that air cleaner is referred to as “Star Wars.” It really does look like something Han Solo and Chewy would pilot around in a galaxy far, far away.
The public obviously liked Bill Mitchell’s restyled Riviera with then record-setting sales reaching 45,348 units finding new homes in 1966. For 1967, sales dipped slightly to 42,799 units with only 4,837 being ordered with the Gran Sport package which included a 4-barrel Quadra-Jet carb, special suspension, Posi-Traction differential, red-line or white-striped tires, and special GS badging outside and inside. We haven’t featured many ’67 Riviera GS examples over the years here on Barn Finds and I think this is the prettiest of the bunch. I envy the lucky next owner of this sleek silvery sculpture on four chrome sports wheels.
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Comments
A work of art. Love that rolling speedometer
The kind of car that you could just stare at & admire.
I can’t think of a badly styled ’67 American car.
Sad to see where we’ve gone from there.
67 was a great year for cars (Mustang, Camaro, Riviera, Chevelle, C10, Cougar, Vista Cruiser/Cutlass, Bel Air….) and music (Hendrix, Moody Blues, Sgt. Pepper, The Doors, Cream, The Who, Traffic…). What a year.
“I’ll always remember the night the ’67 Chevies arrived. We were hanging around the local Chevy dealer’s parking lot as usual…about 3am, a truck drove up in front of the showroom. It was loaded with ’67 big Chevies. We walked out to see them. I can still picture the nose of the new Caprice sticking out of the lower deck of the hauler. Ugly Chinese lantern parking lights caught my eye first. The cars seemed bloated…crisp lines were nowhere to be seen. We all stood around silently, sort of in shock, really…it just wasn’t our kind of car…”
Terry Boyce, “Chevy Super Sports 1961-1976”, 1981.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3599607-chevy-super-sports-1961-1976
I’ve read this before years ago, not sure why he was surprised the Caprice wasn’t exactly appealing to teenagers but ok……I think the 67 full size Chevrolet is a great looking car.
Great styling. I realize that vent-wing windows would detract from this design, but I sure like them on my ’63
Your car still tops my great designs list Rex.
Beautiful looking car. I’ve always found the 1966-67 Buick Riviera the best looking car since the 1963-64 model years.
Oh! So pretty, but to me the radio antenna is misplaced. I believe the OEM location would be the right front fender. Angled back, it looks odd. At best, it would look better straight; just a minor nit. That “Star Wars” air filter housing however, is to die for! GLWTA!! :-)
You are correct about the antenna. It does not belong where it is.
There’s absolutely no sensical explanation as to why the antenna would be stuck on the right quarter, esp. an aftermarket one bent at an obscene angle!!
Most of the Platinum Mist photos I found online were quite a bit bluer than this one…
Platinum Mist has no “blue” cast to it whatsoever. It touches a bit more to the “fawn” or tan side than blue. I owned a Platinum Mist 67.
Whats not to like? I love this car if it sells in the mid twenties, what a deal. You think of what you can buy for this amount of money. Also, with just TLC and some time ,this car would even be more stunning. I agree how hard would it be to fix the attenna?
I was an accountant for Cessna’s Marketing Division in 1967 and the Secy/Treas bought a new one and we were all admiring it when I asked what the gas mileage was. The answer was “if you have to ask, you can’t afford it”.
tops !
along w/the Torinado (both 1st gens only). Nota cheb guy
but would love one of each in my garage.
I also love the first gen (1966-67) Toronado. I find it way more attractive than later Toros.
Almost identical car as this sold at Meacum Harrisburg Pa. for over $70,000. This seem’s like it should sell north of where it’s currently bid at.
I’ve been swooning over this car since I saw it in the new car edition of Popular Mechanics in the fall of 1967.
Remember the days when September was the start of the next model year roll out?
Pepperidge Farms remembers.
Every year on my birthday, Oct. 5th, my dad would take my brother and me to see the latest new cars. We would go from dealer to dearer and I would grab brochures from all of them. Those were the good old days.
Steve: Did you save the brochures? That would be a great collection – more interesting than baseball cards to us car guys.
I used to grab a brochure of every new car I bought and still have almost all of them.
Imagine doing that today with mostly 4 doors & their ugly mirrors & wipers & tacky plastic addons, & the same old shapes over & over again, if brochures are even given out anymore! I’d rather collect old rags to check the oil & wipe off grease! lol
& imagine driving to the dodge dealer in your very well kept 2008 Challenger & seeing the same sheetmetal on the showroom floor on the 2023 models! Or even worse, driving home with a “new one” after the trade in. Car buyers of the ’60s would not put up with this AT ALLl!, let alone no interior color choices & very limited choice of exterior colors. & no more 50+ separately orderable options. They expected sheetmetal changes almost every model year!! & even if there was no internet to spill the beans on design changes,
i would not run down to any dealer this september or october even if they covered up the very 1st shipment of new models – i would prefer they KEPT them covered up – PERMANENTLY!
Back about 1975 I think it was a cousin was given a 67 Riviera that needed a valve job. He tore it down , had the heads reconditioned and drove it for awhile, before he started having electrical problems with it so he sold it. I always liked the car, but my cousin wasn’t a car guy, just basic transportation to him. Don’t know what ever happened to that car, it was gold with black vinyl top and bench seat. oh well, what will be will be.
God Bless America
The future(EXterior styling) was decades ago – in the ’60s!
I really don’t know why Toronado & Eldorado were FWD & did not share this much preferable RWD platform with Riviera – could have saved Caddy & Olds a lot of development money!
Actually it was Buick that was backwards – probably because Buick has always been the conservative division and didn’t want to risk anything on untested new technology. Olds – as always – served as GM’s guinea pig for new tech when the Toronado was introduced, Cadillac followed the next year when the childhood diseases were cured.
With that said I totally agree that the Riv is great BECAUSE it has RWD! 😏
This is what i want!! Perfect.
To bad my wife holds my money hostage!!!LOL
One of Mitchell’s most beautiful designs. For me the mid sixties were the pinnacle of automotive design. With all due respect to the preceding decades; I guess I think I feel this way because this is the era I could begin driving.
This was originally a vinyl top car (moldings still in place).
Peak GM. One of Mitchell’s best.
probably the “sleekist” car that GM has ever built … the only thing this one needs is buckets with a center consule
Bucket seats with console is nice, but I’ve always preferred the steering column mounted gear selector.