driveReport 1957 Buick Super Riviera Model 56R

spotlight road ready

Bit by Bit

After restoration, this 1957 Buick Super Riviera was gradually upgraded for better road touring

WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY MATTHEW LITWIN

You

’ ve heard the familiar story about the guy who found the car of his dreams sitting neglected in a garage/barn/backyard, where it had languished for decades. He inquires about the car ’ s availability, only to hear the standard response,

“No, I’ m going to restore that car one day. ”

Week after week, month after month, our protagonist returns to try again, and each time he is turned away. Then, just as all hope of acquiring the dream car seems lost, persistence pays off and the owner relents. But what if that story were to play out the other way around?

Eastham, Massachusetts, resident Larry Perry was going about his day when a gentleman he knew called to say he had an old car that needed to be sold. The seller, who was 90 years old at the time, said it was a four-door Buick sedan and was adamant that Larry should drive to nearby Mashpee to look it over.

“I asked him to describe the car to me, and he kept saying it was a four-door sedan. After a bit I was finally able to ascertain that it had flat tires and had not run in eight or 10 years, ” Larry says. “At that point I suspected there must have been rodents in it. I was

Buick’s 1957 Supers were fitted with the same 300-hp 364-cu.in. V-8 as found in same-year Centurys and Roadmasters. The most obvious aftermarket upgrade administered to the car was a “two-pot” master brake cylinder and new power booster.

resistant to even going to look at it, but he kept calling, asking me to please come over— for six months. Finally, he told me, ‘I’m not getting any younger and I really want to do something with this car. ’ He prevailed. That was in July 2012. ”

Upon arriving at the seller’s location, Larry found the supposed sedan tucked inside what was reported to be a canvasstyle shed, rather than a proper garage. A quick glance told him that the neglected Buick wasn’t a four-door sedan, but rather a two-door hardtop; the four VentiPorts on each fender suggested that it was something further up the Flint food chain than a Special, while the front end provided the year of manufacture: 1957. Beyond that, access to assess the Buick was hindered due to the structure’s tight confines.

According to Larry, “The idea of pulling the car out to look it over properly opened a can of worms. I had a heck of a time getting it out with a nylon strap hooked to my truck. All four tires were flat, and the wheels wouldn’t roll; I assumed the brake shoe metal had rusted to the drums. Well, of course the nylon strap snapped, so I hooked up a chain and I eventually had the Buick out in the open.

“My first impression was that it was basically a solid-looking Buick, but one that had been badly neglected for years. It was last registered in 2004. I opened the hood and saw that the V-8 had all of its parts in place, along with piles of acorn nuts and pinecones that had been deposited by mice and squirrels. Inside, the headliner was laying on the seats, but fortunately there were the remains of old seat covers in place, and that did a decent job of keeping the original fabric upholstery somewhat clean. On the other hand, the carpets had been soiled by rodents. The dash and all the glass were intact, and the body was pretty solid — a few pin-hole rust spots on the bottom of the quarters and a door, but nothing that raised a red flag, ” Larry says.

“Of course, once I had pulled it out of the guy’s makeshift shed, I couldn’t leave the Buick in the middle of his driveway. He was 90 years old and wasn’t capable of doing anything with it. So, I asked to see any paperwork he had and he pulled out a clean title and the last registration. At that point I made a real low offer— and he accepted. I didn’t have any thoughts that I would be buying a Buick; I was really just looking at it to be nice to this older man I had known for years. ”

Larry was now the owner of what turned out to be a 1957 Buick Super Riviera, or Model 56R within Buick circles (the Riviera designation referring to the hardtop design long before it was associated with the ’63 personal luxury car). The catch was that Larry suddenly had to find a means to maneuver the idle Fifties classic off the seller’s property and tell his wife Vivian about the new acquisition.

“I called in a flatbed service, and while they loaded it, I raced to the bank to get cash. After collecting the title, I escaped town and called my friends at a local full-service gas station to let them know we were on the way over with this beast that needed to be checked out; they were excited because it was a nice deviation from the usual work they did. Then I called my wife, Vivian, and told her she may want to come down and see what I ended up with. ”

Larry’s adventure didn’t stop with the successful retrieval of the Super. To get the car off the flatbed, the crew of friends managed to inflate three of the four tires sufficiently; a spare replaced the fourth. Gravity helped break the grip that rust held on the brakes once the ramp was tilted sufficiently, but upon landing, the entire exhaust system fell off. “Two mufflers, four resonators, and what was left of the pipes. At this point we had no idea

if the engine would even turn over and I immediately began thinking, ‘What did I get myself into? Maybe if we can just get it running, then I could flip it. ’”

The next day, Larry and his friends attempted to resurrect the mechanical systems. Draining the fuel tank revealed extensive rust that necessitated its replacement. Fresh oil and a new battery were installed before an attempt was made to turn the engine by hand. It wasn’t frozen, and with the aid of a temporary fuel tank, the Buick’s 300-hp, 364-cu.in. engine jumped to life. With the V-8 miraculously running smoothly, a lift helped the team determine that the Variable Pitch Dynaflow functioned perfectly. Grinding brakes accompanied by leaking wheel cylinders and hydraulic lines signaled a need for a completely new system, and despite the

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With all the upgrades installed, this Super is very enjoyable to drive. It goes

down the road nice and straight, the braking is far superior to the original front drum system, I can see if we get caught in the rain, and I can listen to music along the way. It’s never really done, though. Sooner or later I’ll put new shock absorbers on it. But first, I want to change out the original front anti-roll bar to a larger-diameter aftermarket unit; I’m thinking .75- or 1-inch diameter. Right now, the Buick leans in the corners—they all did from this period—and that should help reduce the lean. If you don’t drive quickly around corners, you’re fine, but if you plow into a turn at speed it does lean. Maybe that’s part of the charm, but that fix will be next. And then I’ll be really happy with the car. —Larry Perry

progress made in just three hours, Larry still questioned his purchase decision.

Those feelings would fade, however, and that first day of reviving the Buick morphed into a two-year restoration effort that he described as a labor of love, as he’d become rather attached to it.

“We did all the things you would expect the car would need, including a tune up, new bias-ply tires, drum brakes, complete exhaust, and a lot of detailing and rodent-damage repairs. I found a shop that was able to match the Dover White and Garnet Red paint perfectly, in lacquer, which enabled us to minimize any body repairs. That was important because every time I hit the original paint with a buffer it just got better and better; it looks like a million bucks now. Once the initial work was done, I worked on a punch list of other items, including front ball joints, U-joints, speedometer repair, and I even had the original Wonderbar AM radio rebuilt. Almost right away I thought to myself, ‘That was silly, because there’s hardly any AM stations, ’ so an aftermarket AM/FM unit that fit perfectly behind the dash was my first upgrade. ”

Larry adds, “As soon as the car was in respectable shape and able to pass state inspection, I started to make some day trips. Our first was up the Kancamagus Highway in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. It ran fine, but when I hit the brakes the first time, it slowed down somewhat; the second time, not so much. The very first Prius that hit the brakes in front of me almost became a hood ornament – the Buick’s brakes were so hot I had to use the emergency brake to stop. Those rebuilt drums, even in the best conditions, were not up to the task of slowing the big Super even if they were not overheated from the previous stop. ”

Not driving the car anymore was out of the question — Larry was already bitten by the Buick and enjoyed the road experience too much. His first thoughts were to

refurbish the factory system in the hopes of yielding better performance, but that plan soon evolved.

“I was able to limp it home and then said, ‘That’s it — time to get a new power brake master and booster. ’ I was going to have the old one overhauled, but rather than going with a single-pot master, I decided to buy a dual-pot upgrade. That then turned into doing a Wilwood front disc conversion, ” he explains. The results soon proved better than anticipated… at least initially.

“During my test drive, I stepped on the brake and it stopped like a charm. Once, and then it wouldn’t stop again. I was losing vacuum, which was solved by having a complete valve job done. After that I had plenty of vacuum for the new system and it worked better than I expected! I immediately felt comfortable driving it anywhere, but the same trip also told me I needed to administer some other upgrades. ”

Larry says that the New Hampshire trip convinced him to make the switch from bias-ply to vintage-appearing radial tires, as the Super was “all over the road” during the return route. This now-common swap has since provided him with straight tracking while also improving the Buick’s road-handling manners. Simultaneously, the old vacuum windshield wiper system — exceptionally efficient while going downhill, but useless going uphill — was converted to an electric system. Larry also installed an electronic ignition system. A final touch was the fitting of seat belts matched to the interior.

“My Buick is safer and much more up-to-date compared to the day I bought it. Rarely do I receive any negative comments at cruise nights or car shows. I’m pleased with the improvements I selected — most of them are not very obvious, so they aren’t even noticed by most people. I am proud to say I have driven this car from Cape Cod all the way to Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. It’s a great automobile and it will do most everything a late-model car can do. Plus, it is much better looking than anything on the road today. ”

ILLUSTRATION BY ROBERTA CONROY

SPECIFICATIONS

WHAT TO PAY

LOW AVERAGE HIGH $9,000 - $17,000 $18,000 - $30,000 $31,100 - $40,000

PRICE

BASE PRICE OPTIONS $3,536 Wonderbar AM radio; power brakes; perimeter heater and defroster; Easy-Eye glass.

ENGINE

TYPE Buick OHV V-8; cast-iron block and cylinder heads DISPLACEMENT 364 cubic inches BORE X STROKE 4.125 x 3.40 inches COMPRESSION RATIO 10.0:1 HORSEPOWER @ RPM 300 @ 4,600 TORQUE @ RPM 400-lb-ft @ 3,200 VALVETRAIN Hydraulic lifters FUEL SYSTEM Single Carter four-barrel carburetor; mechanical pump EXHAUST SYSTEM Dual manifolds; dual mufflers and outlets

TRANSMISSION

TYPE Variable-pitch Dynaflow automatic with two turbines* RATIOS“DRIVE” 1 x converter ratio “LOW” 1.82 x converter ratio * Maximum converter ratio at stall: 3.5 @ 2,800 rpm

DIFFERENTIAL

TYPE

GEAR RATIO Torque-tube drive, semi-floating rear axle with hypoid gears 3.07:1

STEERING

TYPE Buick “Safety Power Steering” TURNING CIRCLE 44.6 feet

BRAKES

TYPE FRONT

REAR Hydraulic four-wheel, power assisted 12 x 2.25-inch cast-iron drum (Currently:Wilwood 14-inch disc with two-piston caliper) 12 x 2.25-inch cast-iron drum CHASSIS & BODY

CONSTRUCTION Body-on-frame BODY STYLE Two-door, six-passenger hardtop LAYOUT Front engine, rear-wheel drive

SUSPENSION

FRONT

REAR Independent; ball joints, coil springs, tubular shock absorbers, anti-roll bar Solid axle; coil springs, tubular shock absorbers, radius rod

WHEELS & TIRES

WHEELS FRONT/REAR TIRES FRONT/REAR Stamped steel 15 x 6 inches Bias ply (Currently: Coker Classic whitewall radial) 7.60-15 (Currently: P225/75R15)

WEIGHTS & MEASURES

WHEELBASE 127.5 inches OVERALL LENGTH 215.3 inches OVERALL WIDTH 77.6 inches OVERALL HEIGHT 61 inches FRONT TRACK 59.5 inches REAR TRACK 61 inches CURB WEIGHT 4,271 pounds

CALCULATED DATA

BHP PER CU.IN. 0.82 WEIGHT PER CU.IN. 11.73

PRODUCTION:

During the 1957 model year, Buick built 70,250 Supers in total (excluding 385 stripped chassis), of which 26,529 were Model 56 two-door Riviera hardtops.

PERFORMANCE*

0-60 MPH

10.1 seconds ¼-MILE 17.6 @ 81 MPH * Listed results are from a February 1957 MotorTrendroad test of a 1957 Buick Century four-door equipped with a 300-hp 364-cu.in. engine, Dynaflow transmission, power steering and brakes, and a 3.07:1 final drive ratio.

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