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Riviera Motors, San Francisco
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René R.
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 06, 2018 1:54 pm    Post subject: Riviera Motors, San Francisco Reply with quote

When my '54 sedan's birth certificate arrived I was happy to discover that it showed my car had originally been shipped to an importer only a few miles from me – “Volkswagen dealer Riviera Motors, Ltd., San Francisco.” It was an authorized import, one of only about 8,000 imported to the US in 1954. (According to Automotive News, only 200 of those were imported by Riviera that year.)

By all indications Riviera never used an importer badge originally so I decided to make one. I was inspired by the very attractive badge made for Bob Cropsey's Hoffman Registry, posted in the split forum. Like that one, mine is a fantasy creation but I feel it has a vintage look appropriate to the era and it's a great way to highlight the provenance of my car.

Since it's prohibitively expensive to make a single one, I had a dozen produced in the hopes that other owners of Riviera Motors imports might also want one. I have listed them in the Classifieds.

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56Cabrio
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 07, 2018 12:15 am    Post subject: Re: Riviera Motors, San Francisco Reply with quote

That’s cool looking,my vert was also an import of Riviera Motors Ltd,San Francisco. Delivered on August 20,1955.
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1956 Rag Top owned since 1988
1956 Convertible owned since 2000
1963 Hard Top

RIP Dad 4/20/1951 - 2/4/2023
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 07, 2018 11:06 am    Post subject: Re: Riviera Motors, San Francisco Reply with quote

My '55 Bus too, even though I believe it was originally sold in Oregon:
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René R.
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 07, 2018 9:27 pm    Post subject: Re: Riviera Motors, San Francisco Reply with quote

Interesting that mine has "Volkswagen dealer" listed before Riviera Motors.

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56Cabrio
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 07, 2018 9:37 pm    Post subject: Re: Riviera Motors, San Francisco Reply with quote

Riviera Motors Ltd was a distributor not a dealership in San Fransisco ?

Found on the web about the founder of Riviera Motors, Kjell Qvale.
(In 1953 Qvale, along with partner Reynold C. Johnson, gave his first order to Volkswagen Germany for 12 VW Beetles to sell in Northern California. Along with his brother Knute, Kjell started Riviera Motors as the sole Volkswagen importer for the Pacific Northwest in 1954, which eventually grew to over 2,500 Volkswagen, Porsche and Audi vehicle sales per month. There was a time Mr. Q was the distributor for more than 100 dealerships, selling 10 different brands of German and British cars.)
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René R.
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 08, 2018 9:19 am    Post subject: Re: Riviera Motors, San Francisco Reply with quote

I did as much digging as I could on Riviera a year or two ago.

Riviera Motors was founded in San Francisco in 1954 by Knute Qvale, who had been importing MGs, Mercedes, and other European cars since 1947. Riviera was an importer and distributor who primarily sold cars through company-owned dealerships in Oregon and Washington. Despite my B/C saying "Volkswagen dealer" they did not have a retail dealership in San Francisco. According to an article in Automotive News, available online, Riviera Motors sold only 200 VWs in 1954. A 1956 lawsuit indicates that their exclusive dealer in San Francisco was Monte Carlo Motors, about whom there's nothing else to be found today.
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salty54oval
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 30, 2022 11:04 am    Post subject: Re: Riviera Motors, San Francisco Reply with quote

Just received my cars birth certificate and discovered it was part of the Riviera Motors, San Francisco family. Cool to learn more history about her!
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[email protected]
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 17, 2023 3:48 pm    Post subject: Re: Riviera Motors, San Francisco Reply with quote

Hello..
Appreciate this an older post but I just received my certificate and am a proud owner of a 1954 oval beetle that is a Rviera Motors import.. I am restoring it after by brother passed it on to me having had it 30 plus years..

I would like to know if the badge you made is available / could another run of them be made??.
Thanks!!
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René R.
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 18, 2023 9:08 am    Post subject: Re: Riviera Motors, San Francisco Reply with quote

I'm afraid they're all sold, and it wouldn't be economically viable to do another production run in the quantities required.
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RockStock
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PostPosted: Sun Mar 19, 2023 3:38 pm    Post subject: Re: Riviera Motors, San Francisco Reply with quote

I was one of the lucky guys!
Cool emblem - thanks René

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Who else got one?

I’d like to know if these early Riviera cars came in by boat to the port in San Francisco, and then directly distributed across CA, OR and WA…maybe by train…or if they all went up to the original 1954 Riviera premises at 1301 W. Burnside St, Portland, Oregon - and distributed from there. Any theories?

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I see on the right it says “Parts & Service Depart. ➡️”

Riviera info:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/info/dealers/rivieramotors_portland_or.php

René R. wrote:
It was an authorized import, one of only about 8,000 imported to the US in 1954. (According to Automotive News, only 200 of those were imported by Riviera that year)


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It’s interesting how low USA VW Beetle imports were up to 1955. And buses would have been way lower, from what I gather.
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Last edited by RockStock on Wed Jun 07, 2023 6:54 am; edited 1 time in total
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René R.
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 20, 2023 9:31 am    Post subject: Re: Riviera Motors, San Francisco Reply with quote

Quote:
I’d like to know if these early Riviera cars came in by boat to the port in San Francisco, and then directly distributed across CA, OR and WA…maybe by train…or if they all went up to the original 1954 Riviera premises at 1301 W. Burnside St, Portland, Oregon - and distributed from there. Any theories?


I have to assume that they came to San Francisco by boat and were (mostly) sent north by train or truck. From what I had found in researching this several years ago it appears that most were sent to the Pacific Northwest.

Riviera did have a dealer in San Francisco, called Monte Carlo Motors, who also had an agency for wholesaling VWs in northern California. This information comes from a 1956 lawsuit, later appealed and settled in 1960. From the final judgment filing:

Quote:
In 1954 Riviera Motors Corporation was plaintiff's [Volkswagen in Germany] wholesale distributor of Volkswagens in Northern California and plaintiff [Monte Carlo Motors], under a contract with Riviera, had the sole retail agency for the sale of Volkswagens in San Francisco.


I don't understand legalese fluently, but evidently Monte Carlo got an oral contract to distribute VWs throughout California, which was later rescinded. Hence the lawsuit. You can read the full judgment here: https://casetext.com/case/monte-carlo-motors-inc-v-volkswagenwerk.

Bottom line, it seems Riviera only had retail outlets in the Pacific Northwest, but they did sell in San Francisco through their one authorized agent.

When I had the importer emblems made, I deliberately chose to call Riviera "Official Agents" rather than "Dealers." That was valid.
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RockStock
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 01, 2023 1:42 am    Post subject: Re: Riviera Motors, San Francisco Reply with quote

Thank you for that summary, René

———

I’ve created a tribute period Riviera Motors ‘dealer sticker’, based on their original address in Portland, to go on my ‘55 bus:

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René R.
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 01, 2023 8:21 am    Post subject: Re: Riviera Motors, San Francisco Reply with quote

Looks terrific! Good job.
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 03, 2023 1:54 am    Post subject: Re: Riviera Motors, San Francisco Reply with quote

Thank you René. Turned out well, I thought.
I have a few spares from my minimum order, so people can get in touch if they’d like one/some. 15cm x 4cm.
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 03, 2023 10:46 am    Post subject: Re: Riviera Motors, San Francisco Reply with quote

RockStock wrote:
I was one of the lucky guys!
Cool emblem - thanks René

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Who else got one?

I sadly missed out, when I went to check René's ad they were gone Sad
( Like they say you snooze you loose)
Cool decal though.
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1963 Hard Top

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PostPosted: Tue Apr 04, 2023 10:43 am    Post subject: Re: Riviera Motors, San Francisco Reply with quote

Thanks Dave. I’ve reordered some stickers, correcting the dot after the 1301 and Burnside.
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 07, 2023 1:39 am    Post subject: Re: Riviera Motors, San Francisco Reply with quote

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Have you seen the sister “Mobile Service School” Barndoor of the bus shown here has been unearthed?
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=764975

Same Riviera Motors HQ building today:

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PostPosted: Wed Jun 07, 2023 1:46 am    Post subject: Re: Riviera Motors, San Francisco Reply with quote

Punctuation corrected on the sticker

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I’ve made them available through my ads
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=2622239
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PostPosted: Fri Jun 09, 2023 1:41 pm    Post subject: Re: Riviera Motors, San Francisco Reply with quote

Ad from today. Pretty cool story, I thought. Really liked the salesman’s letter.

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https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=2622751

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Some literature is shown right at the end of this clip


Link

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Last edited by RockStock on Sat Jun 10, 2023 1:17 am; edited 1 time in total
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PostPosted: Fri Jun 09, 2023 2:03 pm    Post subject: Re: Riviera Motors, San Francisco Reply with quote

Thanks for grabbing those pics and info for the thread.

FYI for anyone reading - That's a late 1963 Bus, I emailed the seller to let him know it's not a '62.

Also - The stickers are awesome, get some! Smile
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