The best-known of the bunch was the Riviera, Buick’s personal luxury coupe, which had debuted two years earlier. In 1965, it got the hidden headlights its designers had wanted from the start, tucked behind small grilles at the edges of the front fenders and opening when the lights came on.
The Riviera also picked up a new Gran Sport package with a bigger, more powerful V8. Buick added the same Gran Sport name to the midsize Skylark that year, after the Pontiac GTO showed there was a market for big engines in smaller cars.
GM gave its full-size cars new, curvier bodies for 1965. Buick’s version included the LeSabre, which was the brand’s entry-level big car, and the Electra 225, which sat at the top of the line and was so named because the original 1959 model measured about 225 inches long (earning it the nickname “deuce and a quarter”).
Most of these names stuck around for decades. The Riviera lasted until 1999, the Electra until 1990 and the LeSabre until 2005, while the Gran Sport went on to become one of Buick’s best-known performance badges.
The ads collected below ran in national magazines during the first half of 1965 and feature the Riviera, the LeSabre 400 and the Electra 225. One calls the Riviera Gran Sport “the Riviera with muscles on its muscles,” which is a fair summary.
1965 Buick Riviera Gran Sport
The Riviera with muscles on its muscles. New Riviera Gran Sport.
There has always been a vast body of admirers who wouldn’t change a hair on the normal Riviera’s chest for the world. But we have discovered, lurking in the wings, a cluster of hotbloods who secretly have been yearning for a little more heat. Thus, the Riviera Gran Sport.
It packs a 425-cubic inch, 360-hp, V-8 with 465 lb-ft of torque. (Numbers were never lovelier.) And we went behind the firewall, too. A limited-slip differential. Power-assisted brakes and steering. And you can specify the heavy-duty set of springs, shocks and stabilizer bar. What happens when you put everything together is the most exciting automobile to travel any road. Wouldn’t you really rather have a Buick?
1965 Buick LeSabre 400
An almost impossible thing happened to Riviera on the way to ‘65. It got even better.
Far as Buick’s concerned, there’s no limit to how good a car can get. Buick has always put more into its cars — and ‘65 is no exception. The accent is still on plus-quality engineering, design, styling. And if it means that we have to spend a little more to give you a little better — we do. Always did.
And we did this year, too — on our Electra 225, on our Wildcat, LeSabre, Skylark and Special. Like we did on this Riviera — on the shielded headlights, for instance. Camouflaged by masks that flip open wide at the touch of the light switch. Like we did in adding a hill-climb range to our Super Turbine transmission. Buick cares more. Does more. And Buicks ride quieter, smoother. Be our guest. Wouldn’t you really rather have a Buick?
Classic ’65 Buick Riviera
1965 Buick Riviera Gran Sport
A 360-hp Wildcat V-8 isn’t all that’s new with Riviera Gran Sport. But what a start.
You can easily spend a party or two talking enthusiastically about the engine in Buick’s new Riviera Gran Sport. (A 425-cubic incher with 465 lb-ft of torque makes for considerable performance-talk.) And, together with the Skylark GS, Cars Magazine’s fifth annual “Performance Cars of the Year” award.
But after your friends have heard all there is to hear, you can start in on some of the Gran Sport’s extra added attractions. A limited-slip differential. Power steering and brakes. If you specified them, the heavy-duty springs, shocks and stabilizer bar. They let you enjoy every bit of excitement Riviera GS has to offer.
And, of course, the dash that is Riviera’s alone in the world of cars. Better than talking, though, is driving. You can start that at your Buick dealer’s. And you should. After all, wouldn’t you really rather have a Buick?
One of the new Gran Sports from Buick — You need not be a professional driver to qualify.
