Vehicle Description
The information below was taken from this Detroit Speed blog and
there may have been some changes since then. Updated information
will be added as we get it from Detroit Speed.
https://www.holley.com/blog/post/this_detroit_speed-built_1965_buick_riviera_is_built_to_drop_jaws/
This 1965 Buick Riviera project incorporates serious power and
proven handling upgrades while also leveraging the car's inherent
style.
"The big thing for us is that we want to keep the elements that
made the car cool in the first place," says Detroit Speed's Matt
Butts. "From there we expand on the details and refine the overall
package, but we never want to lose the original vibe of the car.
And from a performance standpoint, we of course always put a lot of
emphasis on the handling, drivability, and the ride quality of the
vehicle."
While Detroit Speed offers direct bolt-in suspension systems for
platforms like the GM F-Body, first generation Ford Mustang, and
Chevy C10 pickups, some builds call for a more custom solution. "So
with this Riviera, we ended up grafting our first gen Camaro
hydroformed subframe assembly into the car," Butts explains. "And
our engineering team basically scratch-built a rear suspension for
it using our QuadraLink system components. The Riviera's original
rear suspension is kind of unusual - it's a three-link design. We
wanted to stick with that three-link setup, so we basically just
built our own using our Swivel-Link components. It goes back to
staying true to what the original vibe of the car was."
That custom setup required DSE engineers to design and build that
assembly from the ground up to ensure the geometry and other
characteristics of the rear suspension system were up to snuff.
"The goal is to get a geometry that we like within the space
constraints that we have," he tells us.
Under the hood is a 468-cube Black Label LSX from Mast Motorsports
that belts out 730 naturally-aspirated horsepower thanks in part to
a Mast custom 3-bolt core cam, Mast Black Label LS1 295cc cylinder
heads, and a Holley Dominator EFI system. "We almost always use
Dominator systems with our builds," Butts notes. "And part of the
reason is because of the sheer number of inputs and outputs that
the Dominator offers - we normally end up utilizing most of them
with these types of builds. It definitely lends itself to a car
that has a ton of features." The engine bay maintains a vintage
look thanks to custom touches like the Nailhead-style valve covers
and oversized dual snorkel air cleaner, the latter of which keeps
the fuel rails hidden.
Despite the emphasis on big power, Butts says the Riviera is still
more of grand tourer than a drag car or an autocross terror. "Being
a big body car, it's still a luxury cruiser in many respects, so it
kind of blurs the lines in that way. You've got the presence of
this big coupe, but it also has carbon brakes from a Corvette ZR1,
a Bosch Motorsports ABS system, and JRI's hydraulic coilover
system. So it's got a lot of high tech, performance-oriented
hardware, too."
The JRI system incorporates a hydraulic piston in the coilover that
allows the car's ride height to be controlled and altered on the
fly from inside the car, enable the suspension to raise and lower
the vehicle by as much as three inches without any change to the
ride characteristics.
The dark red paint hue comes by way of Ferrari and helps to
accentuate the Buick's sinister look, but there's also an array of
subtle aesthetic touches that help to set this Riviera apart from
the crowd. "We hand-fabricated the front and rear bumpers," says
Butts. "They're sort of stock style, but sleeker and tucked really
tight to the body. We also 3D-scanned the factory headlight
assemblies because those clamshells have a really tight bar spacing
to them from the factory, and then we designed our own headlight
assemblies that perfectly match the spacing of the grille bars.
From there we 3D printed them to make sure it had the symmetrical
look we wanted across the front of the car, and then we machined
them out of billet aluminum and chrome plated."
The DSE team gave similar attention to the rear of the car as well.
"We moved the tail light assemblies from the bumper into the tail
panel," he says. "The process was similar to what we did with the
headlight assemblies, beginning with a rendering of our custom tail
light housing design, which was 3D printed to mock it up, and then
it was ultimately machined out of a solid piece of brass and
chromed."
But the cabin is arguably the centerpiece of this build. With few
reproduction parts available for interior pieces, the team
re-chromed and refinished many of the existing parts, but others
required more fully fabricated elements. Since the DSE team
scratch-built the car's frame and put a modern 6L90E six-speed
automatic transmission in it, they also had to fabricate the entire
floorboard as well, which in turn necessitated a fully fabricated
center console.
The idea was to create an interior that looks original but is
actually far from it," says Butts. "So all of the wood inserts in
the door panels and the center console are constructed from
bloodwood planks which were milled down to veneers, cut to fit, and
satin clear coated. Satin tends to bring out more of the grain
pattern than a gloss finish does."
The steering wheel was also custom designed in CAD, incorporating
elements of the factory look while also integrating paddle shifters
into its design. "There's probably more than a dozen billet
machined components that make up the whole steering wheel assembly
now," says Butts. Speaking of integration, DSE also repurposed the
factory climate control sliders, which now control the adjustable
JRI suspension system as well as Hooker Blackheart exhaust cutouts.
The Classic Instruments gauges provide accurate information while
retaining the classic aesthetic of the Riviera's interior.
