Society plays a big role in forming a young boy’s life. Anthony Williams of Memphis, Indiana, grew up watching movies and music videos. Those movies played a big role in his development of custom cars. “I used to be glued to the TV when a Cheech and Chong movie would come on,” Anthony tells LOWRIDER. “I would specifically wait for the cars to see what lowrider they would be driving.” That anticipation would carry on when he turned legal driving age.
Anthony’s aunt gave him his first car. It was broken down and beat up. She said to him, “If you can get it running, you can have it.” That motivation got him to quickly learn the intricacies of a motor and how it works. Within a week he had the car on the road, and within a month the car was lowered. His passion at that time was kicked into high gear for a true lowrider show car.
Over the next years Anthony built numerous standard lowriders, Impalas, Regals, and Caddys, but he kept searching for something to grab hold of his attention and replicate a more California feel based on the movies he watched as a kid. On Mother’s Day 2009, Anthony’s search ended when he found a car that embodied everything a lowrider should be—a 1966 Buick Riviera for sale about six hours away in Chicago. It didn’t take him long to make the decision to drive the distance to purchase the sleek Buick and then make it back home.
Anthony brought the Buick to Culver Customs in Louisville, Kentucky, where paint and body master Josh Culver handled all the bodywork and added a Sunrise Pearl basecoat. Gary Seeds of Badseed Customs laid down the patterns and metalflake to accentuate the color. The next step was updating the cabin to flow with the fresh new exterior. Anthony brought the Riviera to DLux Interiors in Jeffersonville, Indiana, where stitch professional Dee outfitted the entire interior in custom colors and material.
To make a ’60s Buick the perfect lowrider, you need suspension, and Anthony knew exactly where to go. His good friend Jason Caranto was enlisted to give the Buick the perfect hardline setup to add to the long Riviera. The Buick was then brought back to Robert Doyle’s shop where Anthony and his son and daughter reassembled the vehicle.
The journey was long and wasn’t easy but Anthony finally saw it was a complete success. It took the help of his daughter, Tomi, his son, Anthony, his friends Rob, Robert, and Bob, as well as numerous others who lent their hand to the build, including Gary Seeds, Darin Allen, Josh Culver, and Jason Caranto. A special thanks to go to TeamMidwest for inspiring a lowrider movement in his area.
Anthony is proud of the build that he says he drives everywhere. “I’ve driven it to shows in Chicago,” he says with a smile. “Six hours in a perfectly built Buick Riveria is a vacation to me.” His friends have nicknamed the car Rain Goddess because it always ends up raining at the shows he takes the Buick. It could be that it’s such a beautiful ride that even the rain wants to get close to it.
1966 Buick Riviera
Vehicle Nickname
Rain Goddess
Owner
Anthony “ANTNE” Williams
Club Affiliation
Los Boulevardos
City/State
Memphis, IN
Body/Paint
Shaved door handles, emblems, mirrors, wipers, cowl panels, and louvers by Josh Culver, House of Kolor Sunrise Pearl basecoat by Josh Culver, Kandy and pearl patterns by Gary Seeds, Hand pinstriping by Killer D
Setup
Two chrome CCE pumps installed and hardlined by Jason Caranto, four batteries, four switches
Interior
Color-matched vinyl interior, pink carpet all done by Dee at Dlux Interiors
Wheels/Tires
14×8 Truspoke with 185/70 Uniroyal tires
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