![]() IMHO, when you take lights off another car it sort of confuses the eye, especially to the trained eye of the car enthusiast. I've never seen a custom treatment that didn't look a little forced. In the end (get it?) they are both beautiful cars. Many sixties cars have a very prominent vertical red tail light in that area. The vertical space on the edge of the fenders is just sheet metal which is sort of unusual. Finally, on the 63 they are relatively close together and inboard from the edges of the fenders. Conversely, when I look at the 65 tail light treatment it almost looks too low and almost devoid of any tail lights because of the way they tuck into the bumper. Also, they sit rather high for a horizontal light, raising the back end of the car somewhat. The entire design shows restraint that's unusual for the era. Given the size of the car, they are pretty small especially compared to other cars front that era. I think the root of the style issue is their size and placement. That said, I also have looked at the taillights and wondered if their was a better design out there? After all these years, I have come to love them. Hey, I know I'm talking about the other end of this car, but when I see those front ribbed parking lamps lit at dusk, I just say to myself "perfection!" I thought he would toss me out of the GM Design Dome on my butt, but he shouted "no more vanilla designs!" It made a great quote and good news story, but history has voted on that Caprice as what one might say "notta-so-good!" So again, to each their own but I think understated elegance was what the first-gen Riv accomplished in spades. He dramatically pulled the cover off the yet-to-be revealed Chevrolet Caprice (the bulbous one) and I couldn't stifle my laugh fast enough. As an aside, when I was covering the auto beat in Detroit for United Press International back in the 1990s, I had an exclusive interview with then-GM Design Chief Chuck Jordan, who could be as pompous as Harley Earl or Mitchell until you got to know him - and he got to know you. But I can see where others may want something a bit more edgy. ![]() I just refurbished mine (see pix), and both on the bench and on the car, I think they complement the overall design perfectly. Bill Mitchell and Ned Nickles would have you drawn and quartered for saying that about the first-gen taillights, but to each their own.
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