The Hot Wheels Legends Tour traveled to Southern California, one of the bastions of automotive culture in the United States, to find the next custom car to add to its catalog of scale models. The final stop winner is a 1969 Buick Riviera that was converted into a standout lowrider.
The large coupe, owned by Mario and Nora Zamudio of Los Angeles, is finished in a color called Pagan Gold and features clear wire wheels. The husband-and-wife team worked nights and weekends for four years to build the Riviera. They removed the outer trim to get a cleaner look, spent a lot of time detailing the engine bay and installed a hydraulic suspension system.
The interior also received the modified treatment. Pagan Gold accents on the dash complement the exterior, there’s an aftermarket three-spoke steering wheel, and beige and brown trim completes the look. Readers familiar with 1960s Riviera models will notice that some switches are not original; they are used to control the hydraulic suspension.
Power for this Riviera comes from the original 430-cubic-inch (7.0-liter) V8, which in 1969 was rated at 360 horsepower and 475 pound-feet of torque. It spins the rear wheels via a three-speed automatic transmission, and we bet it sounds excellent.