Designed at a time when a car's looks was just as important as its performance. Will Detroit ever build a car like this again? We hope so. Images: eBay Motors

It seems the buzz around Buick’s latest offerings is all we hear about in the automotive press, even those wine and cheese car publications actually say good things about the Tri-Shield brand these days. While we welcome the resurgence of new energy and fresh designs from Buick, those same guys that brought us the high-performance Gran Sport and turbo Regal models have us yearning for something more than just a couple of crisply styled sedans and a decent looking crossover.

What Buick really needs at this point is a rear wheel drive luxury sport coupe like the Riviera GS. Sure, they teased us with a concept in China a few years ago, but where is the production version? I guess we’ll just have to keep our finger crossed. Until then, there’s eBay and the classifieds for our search for Buick luxury muscle.

The "465" in Wildcat 465 depicted the torque rating, not the cubic inch.

We fell in love with this very clean, numbers-matching ’66 Riv’ GS on eBay a few days ago. While it’s not sporting a flashy color, the elegant yet muscular body lines manage to pull off the basic but sinister black hue quite nicely.

Black interior too –nice! Speaking of which, the car appears immaculate inside and out, whether that’s because it’s been restored at some point in its life or because of the 53k actual mileage, we don’t know for sure (we think it’s the former), but we’re in love.

We also can’t help but smile at the site of the plastic-wrapped steering wheel. It makes us think this GS was owned by an old man who more than likely left the plastic on his living room couch as well.

We love this style shifter handle that was popular on automatic-equipped cars of the era. Underneath that old-school shifter is a TH400 that sits behind the last of the Buick “Nailhead” engines; the Wildcat 465.

The Wildcat 465 displaced 425cui, and was available with either a single 4-bbl (340hp) or the Super Wildcat dual-quad carburetor (360hp) arrangement. This car is powered by the former. The “465” was merely the torque output. This motor was essentially carried over from the previous year, and 1966 would be the last year a Nailhead motor would be offered in any Buick, as ’67 saw the introduction of the all new small and big-blocks from Buick that would eventually spawn the coveted 455.

This particular car only received one high bid of $18k before the auction ended with a no-sale. However contact information is still available, and we’re more than certain the seller is a little flexible with the price.