Vehicle Description
1965 Buick Riviera Gran Sport Coupe
Matching Number 425 CI Super Wildcat V-8 Engine with Factory Dual
4-Barrel Carburetors
Automatic Transmission
Green Exterior over Black Interior
21 Factory Options
Power Sunroof Installed by ASC in 1967
1 of 3,354 Gran Sports Produced
California Car until 2018
Ownership History to 2013 Documented 3 Owners over 48 Years
Sold by Max Balchowsky (Hollywood Motors) in 1965
Balchowsky was the Builder of the Famous "Old Yeller" Buick Powered
Race Cars
Copy of Original Window Sticker
In the Collection of Noted Automotive Historian Ron Kellogg until
2013
15,600 Miles - Title Reads Exempt due to Vehicle Age
One of the Finest Unrestored Examples Remaining
History:
A very original California car with an interesting history and
loaded with options. Sold new in Burbank California and remained in
Southern California until 2018. It retains its original matching
number dual quad 425 cubic inch V8 engine. The desirable "ride and
handling package" is among the 21 options documented by a copy of
the original window sticker. A copy of a cancelled check dating
1965 indicates the seller as legendary race car builder and owner
of Hollywood Motors Max Balchowksy - famous for his "Old Yeller"
Buick Nailhead powered race cars that beat some of the finest
sportscars from Europe. On a side note, Max Balchowsky did the prep
work on the 2 Mustangs used in the film Bullitt, he was also best
man at Steve McQueens wedding. Don McKinney purchased the Buick in
1965 from Balchowsky. In 1967 McKinney had a power sunroof
installed by American Sunroof Corporation (that's about the time
ASC began installing power sunroofs for major manufacturers as a
factory option). It's not clear when the Buick traded hands to its
third owner - noted automotive historian Ron Kellogg - but it
remained in Kellogg's collection until 2013 marking 3 owners over
48 years. Most of the paint, interior and trunk compartment are
original. The odometer indicates 14,997 miles, the title states
"odometer exempt" because of age. Overall an exceptional unrestored
'65 Gran Sport.
Excerpt from article by Chad Glass when he visited Ron Kellogg in
2011:
"Easing into the center of the space, we chatted a while among his
collections and then he flipped on a light switch. Something lit up
on a wall behind a partially pulled-back dark yellow curtain, a
glass wall. I didn't quite understand the spatial relationship as
the area was strange to me. But what lit up was apparently a garage
alcove with a perfect, sea-foam-green-metallic, 1965 Buick Riviera
sitting in there. Was the Buick in his house? In a garage? We made
our way into the Buick's stall and he said it was an unrestored
original. The paint (which I touched with the non-oily back of my
finger) felt as new as a baby's ass. He said the Riviera was "a
keeper" in light of his having owned hundreds of other makes."
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