Son Ed and his GF are roughing it in Paris for a week. He sent me this shot, which is evocative in more ways than one. It reminds me of the wonderful week we had there in 2010. And of how many American cars I saw there, which is not surprising, given the long-time love of American culture by the French. And the particulars of this Riviera are what I would expect, inasmuch as it reflects a rather European sensibility, with its stark black paint and black-wall tires; a gaudy car, toned down as much as possible.
It also reminds me of a similar all-black new 1969 Dodge Monaco that sat around the corner of our former house in Innsbruck the summer I was there in 1969. It shocked me the first time I saw it; it really stood out; not only against all the tiny Fiat 850s and such, but also the architecture; as does this Riviera. It seemed both bigger than life, as well as handsomer than it looked back home. Maybe it’s just the context; knowing that it was out of its usual milieu.
I’m not going to show all of my shots form Paris in 2010, except for one, since it’s also a big, brash American car:
And it really looks out of context. Should have been black, though.
In this context the Hummer really looks like a military vehicle.
The Riviera looks sort of exotic. Reminds me of a scene in a movie I otherwise don’t recall. Several very wealthy Europeans were parked outside a castle like residence. All of the high end cars were black and chauffeur driven. One car was a full on 1967 or so Buick Electra 225.
Seeing the Buick in Paris reminds me of a bright orange Plymouth Superbird I saw in 1971.
In Belgrade, in what was then Yugoslavia. In a city full of drab coloured Fiat knockoffs,
this was like a spaceship. The locals were 3 & 4 deep around it.
I don’t know who owned it, or how it ran on the local petrol.
And to an 11 year old almost straight from New Guinea, it was out of this world too.
Until the normal and lowest 86-88 octane petrol had been available on the state owned gas stations, during my trips there, I filled my then Pontiac carburated V8 and worked well with it…
A ’69 Monaco was a pretty handsome car, and maybe a bit European in its restrained detailing. The ’72 with the weird bi-level grille and covered lights probably wouldn’t have come off so well.
Looking at your picture, it seems like an American car of this vintage has more in common with the 19th century architecture than it does with the cars Over There.
So where are the Russian gangsters who own the Hummer?
Shaking someone down for gas money.
Hummers are no longer that sought after by the Russian mafiosi. Here in Vienna they’re usually owned by pimps.
Have the Russians all gone back to driving black Mercedes, I presume? It does seem like the logical next move from an H2 would be something like a G55.
Or American celebrity.
I like the disjointed look between the buildings and the Riviera too, I find it cool. Anyone who drives a trip-black 72 Riviera in Paris had to be pretty bad ass, I’m thinking retired CIA agent/hitman/operator? Played by Robert DeNiro, possible Ronin sequel?
No CIA agent lurking around here Carmine I’m afraid, more probably a good old Paris dweller who – just like yours truly – has grown sick and tired of seeing the streets of his great European city jammed with cars that look all the same (silver Audis and mini-SUV lookalikes, anyone?), as opposed to the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s when Citroen DSs wheezed alongside Panhards, Peugeots, Italian sports cars, MBs, the odd “belle américaine”, and even some preWWII iron here and there (Tractions and suchlike). How I understand this guy’s choice. The thing is, you hardly need a car when you live in Paris. Walk to work or take the metro on weekdays, and travel in style on weekends, for VW Golf money. As long as you have a safe, dry place to park your classic, it makes perfect sense to me :-). Now of course, picking up a Riviera like this one (instead of, say, a 504 convertible) isn’t an innocent choice. The owner has to be someone who’s seriously into the American culture of that era.
I wouldn’t expect it is a regular driver, the cost of fuel would be enormous, but not quite as large as the problem of finding somewhere to park it. You wouldn’t want to subject the car to the usual touch parking practices either.
Absolutely. I can’t really imagine a car like this being used as a daily driver in Europe. That would be both impractical and expensive. On this picture the car is parked on an empty delivery zone (see these yellow stripes on the street), so the picture must have been taken on a weekend.
Two guys in my village had early seventies Buicks as daily drivers. One of them had a white Riviera boattail and the other had an even bigger brown Electra, I believe it was from 1974. Both cars were in a good condition.
The trick back then was that the cars were older than 25 years (no road tax) and that they ran on LPG. These big carbureted gasoline engines run great on LPG. It was and still is, by far, the cheapest fuel per liter and the mileage is just as worse (in this case).
I must say though that they didn’t drive them in Paris…although I do remember that the Riviera owner drove his Buick to southern France on a summer vacation. Driving a Riviera to the Riviera, so to say.
“given the long-time love of American culture by the French.”
It’s just *Americans* they don’t like… (c:
And yet–
Here’s a Parisian anecdote. In 1997, I was with a group of seven or eight organists on a specially-arranged tour of church organs in Paris and nearby cities and towns. (These included a number of the certified world-class instruments among organists: the abbey church of St. Ouen in Rouen, the cathedral in Chartres, Ste. Clotilde, St. Eustache, and (biggest of all) St. Sulpice in Paris, among others.) On a free afternoon, three of us had wandered from our hotel in Montmartre to a Paris street that was full of musical instrument and sheet music shops. We went into a well-stocked sheet music shop; it was nearly nirvana for me. My partner and I were talking to each other in English, of course; I was marvelling at the breadth of stock in the shop. A clerk had obviously overheard us; she came over and greeted us IN ENGLISH, and made us feel welcome. I spent a LOT of money in that shop that day!
There were other times when I fumbled along in my extremely rusty college French, and we never encountered anything but pleasant courtesy and sincere efforts to help bridge the language gap.
We did two tours, both of them bits of heaven. And I remember seeing numerous Chrysler products, especially minivans and Jeep Cherokees. And once I saw a colonnade-era Buick Regal.
Nice. My experience in Grenoble (on business) was nothing like that. Perhaps Paris, being more of a tourist destination, is more welcoming to “foreigners.”
I think you’re right (Frenchmen speaking here). Don’t forget that 90% of french people doesn’t speak a foreign language. And for most of the 10% that have learned english, they just had the basic courses up to highschool. Most of my fellow countrymen never took private lessons to update or improve their language skills.
I meet many english speaking people in my job. From NZ to UK. When I hear they can be form UK I ask the questions. I discussed with people from England, Scotland, Wales, New Zealand, Autralia, etc. Fun is I speak in english and they answer in French. We both improve our skills.
Back to cars : I own a Chevy Tahoe. Thankfully, it runs on LPG. Gasoline prices are around $8-9 a gallon here. LPG is 40% cheaper. No one couldn’t afford an classic american car without LPG.
That Buick looks great in that setting. When I was in Genoa in ’96 I saw a ’66 Impala parked amid the subcompacts and Vespas. It looked just as audacious as that Buick. I was in Rome two weeks ago and spotted a ’76 Blazer, although under a tarp as it was missing its top. How many angry looks do those driver get as they vie for road space with all those tiny cars?
A friend that lives in Rome part of the year sent me a photo once on a bright red 1973 Caprice convertible he saw parked on the street with the top down, it looked like a giant red parade float among all the little Fiats.
The maain problem with yank-tanks here is the cost: fuel, tax, spares, room.
And practicality: we get used to real roadholding since riding in our parents cars as kids, and on our often narrow and twisty roads such big cars don’t quite fare well enough.
As it happens for you americans with italian sportcars of the past decades, american iron can only be had and driven if you are really fond of the culture they represent – and if you have bread for it.
Yes Paul I agree with you a North American vehicle in a European setting does stand out for one reason or another. My last trip in 2010 I saw many Jeep Grand Cherokees and Chrysler mini-vans.
There was also an old American Chevy that caught my attention one morning in Prague. A 59 Chevrolet used to promote a restaurant. Now that car stood out!
I almost expect an older Jean Gabin lookalike to step out of that store wearing a trenchcoat and drive off in that Riviera, or maybe Adolfo Celi with his “Thunderball” eyepatch. The black paint with blackwalls combo is authoritative, in a dark way.
Maybe Fernando Rey as Charnier? The “real” French Connection car from the actual case was a 1961 Buick Invicta after all….
Or a young Alain Delon, also in a trenchcoat.
In Jean-Pierre Melville’s “Le Cercle Rouge”, do you know what is the first thing* Delon does when he’s released from jail ?
He buys a black 1966 Plymouth Fury III hardtop.
Why ? Because, at that time, when you wanted confort and power without the shenanigans of a italian or an english car, american cars were the best choice.
* Well, actually, it’s the second thing he does. At first, he gets some money back and violently disposes of two goons.
Jean-Pierre Melville loved American culture (His name choice of “Melville” is one big indicator) Classic American cars pervade all his movies.
“Le Cercle Rouge”, what a Master Piece ! Here’s Alain Delon’s Plymouth next to a 1965 Chevrolet Impala, the beginning of the famous scene in the woods.
And Yves Montand drove a 1968 Mercury Colony Park.
Good call on Delon. Always come to mind when I see an American car in Paris.
Jean Gabin hid his loot in an American car parked in the garage of his safehouse (Chrysler IIRC) in ‘Touche pas au grisbi’
Here’s a Paris street scene from Goddard’s Masculin Feminin that actually has one of Paul’s favorite Fords in it 😉
http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/31/24/8c/31248c03758efee9ccaf5208e345dfd1.jpg
Breathless. How could I forget?
There’s something caught between art nouveau and art deco in the curves of that Riviera.
I always thought of it as a cartoon of the original Riv, but a transplanted Englishman I knew owned one and loved it. Sometimes Americans are a little embarrassed by our brash products, but they touch something in the Euro psyche.
I have only been to France once, as a student many years ago, and don’t remember any hautiness there. Parisians seemed fine with speaking English in 1972.
The Riv has such strong body language. It’s like the rest of the cars are afraid to park next to it.
Paris is fill with motorcycles and mopeds of all kinds. Mostly small and for whatever reason, either black or silver and something in between these two colors. Typical Paris bikes.
One day I went to Notre Dame, there must be close to hundred of “Paris bikes” park in front of the plaza in their tiny bike slots. There was one bike couldn’t fit, so it parked in front of other bikes. It was a bright yellow Harley with all the leather and chrome. So many Parisiennes and tourists stopped to admire the big shiny American design and workmanship.
I so wish that we still design and manufacturer products that we can brag and be proud. Oh wait, we do have the iPhone, an almost insanely great product.
Am I alone in thinking that this Riviera looks completely natural in a Parisian setting, aside from its enormous size? The sweep of its roofline and fender line give it a streamlined, organic look that would not look out of place next to a Citroen DS or Delage, in my opinion. It would look completely out of place next to the small boxes that are the vast majority of cars in Paris and many other European cities, though.
An Avanti would really look right in this street scene!
Agreed–it does really look good there. It wouldn’t work in many of the more audacious colors these boat-tail Rivs could be had in, but this black on black example looks perfect right where it is.
Here’s Dennis Hopper’s Riviera, apparently it landed in Paris.
Looks great and the comments are illuminating as well .
-Nate
There are photos of this Riviera on Flickr from a year or so back.
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Ffarm9.staticflickr.com%2F8230%2F8565998338_ccc7e1817a.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.flickr.com%2Fphotos%2Fpontfire%2F8565998338%2F&h=685&w=1024&tbnid=0KZ2cuIf1TqQ8M%3A&zoom=1&docid=VHIewTIIEK1pFM&ei=FvVZVPmKMZCNyASruYHoAQ&tbm=isch&ved=0CB8QMygBMAE&iact=rc&uact=3&dur=1212&page=1&start=0&ndsp=20
I can’t tell if the onlookers are awed, perplexed or aghast. The commenters seem to be all three. The Riviera had the thin whitewalls and ,to me, the car looks best that way.
I assume the car is owned by someone in the area ,either resident or business owner,
as it’s parked in the same spot. The Buick reminds me a little of the Citroen SM,with it’s own audacious style, that was introduced around the same time.
High point of this year was a three-day trip around the Normandy landing beaches in my 63 Riviera (while our wives were at an 80s music festival…) – and I was really impressed by how friendly and enthusiastic the French were about the car. But it really did look RIGHT cruising through the centre of Deauville…(832 mile round trip, using no oil or water, staying cool and not missing a beat – Rivieras are the greatest).