Rivision threads the cones in Columbus. Still image from video below.
To call J.F. Launier’s Ridler Award-winning 1964 Buick Riviera “polarizing” would be something of an understatement. Few customs featured in the Hemmings Daily have generated as much feedback, positive and negative, as Rivision, which critics of the build insisted would never be driven hard, if at all. An early video that showed Launier doing donuts in the screaming yellow Buick seemed to prove otherwise, and now we’ve run across footage of Launier piloting Rivision on the autocross track at this summer’s Goodguys PPG Nationals in Columbus, Ohio.
No matter how heavily modified, a 1964 Buick Riviera isn’t an optimal choice for a motorsport event that favors lightweight cars with quick steering and lots of mechanical grip, and Launier himself expressed concern about piloting an irreplaceable, 1,000 horsepower custom on a track that features concrete Jersey barriers instead of a runoff area. Why take the risk that something could go wrong? Because cars, in Launier’s eyes, are meant to be driven, not just wheeled off a trailer and on to a show stage. “It’s interesting to see the reaction of people when they see a full blown Ridler car sideways on an autocross track,” Launier says, “It’s never happened before… it’s definitely precedence-setting.”
A second video shows the action from a spectator perspective, and it’s clear that Launier is pushing Rivision harder than one might expect for an exhibition run. The announcer calls it a 36 second lap, which is more than slightly impressive for a car of Rivision’s mass (and a testament to the torque created by its twin-turbo LS1 V-8). Love Rivision or hate it, these videos give one more reason to respect it.