Bill Mitchell loved the Buick Riviera, it was his baby even as the car grew in size by the end of the 1960's.

I was still walking to school with my friends when the 1969 GM cars hit the streets in the Fall of 1968. Walking to school with friends gave us guys plenty of time to discuss cars and look for our favorites cruising by. The 1969 Riviera was now the size of a Cadillac or Buick - whichever.

But there were so many great looking cars for 1969 that the Riviera was just one of many. 

But take a look at this YouTube video and tell me that this 1969 Riviera doesn't look awesome, even with a vinyl top. Maybe to color combo helps but the Riviera was one of those Bill Mitchell designs that looked good in any color, even white.

1969 was an embarrassment of riches when it came to cars that year. Even Cadillac for 1969 looked good, maybe the best looking Cadillacs of the decade. 

Now, all these years later, that 1969 Riviera looks fantastic.

Found a nice video of a 1971 boattail to post later

Btw, Bill Mitchell hated vinyl tops. His cars were always styled to look good with metal roofs. Bill Mitchell tried in vain to get the GM brass to side with him and drop the vinyl roof option from the catalogs. But it was the National Dealers Association that fired back to GM that they couldn't sell cars without vinyl tops. Too bad the Riviera looked especially beautiful with a vinyl roof.

Also, 1969 was the final year for the Wildcat 430 cid V8. All GM divisions had to roll-out the 454/455 cid V8's for 1970. Compression ratios were dropping and the bigger block allowed for retained horsepower while adding the necessary accessories for future emissions controls demanded by Federal regulations for the years beyond 1971. 

For me, 1969 belongs to the Chevelle SS!

The 1965 Riviera was a very proud moment for Bill Mitchell. The Riviera was to have hidden headlights but the engineers needed more time to make it work reliably for minimal cost. When they first hit the streets in my hometown, the '65 Riviera caused a sensation! A Riviera with no headlamps caused mob scenes at parking lots as everyone had to see the headlights in operation. Really excellent execution by the boys at Fisher Body engineering.

But the real collectible has to be the 1965 Riviera Gran Sport.