1963 Buick Riviera “ Morpheus ” in Ruby Red & Engine Sound

Brian Whitis grew up on a street called Riviera Drive, and decades later he finally bought the car that shared its name — then transformed it into something entirely his own. Named “Morpheus” for how far it’s morphed from stock, this Ruby Red 1963 Buick Riviera turned heads at World of Wheels. Watch to see the full build.

Some people wait their entire lives for one specific car. Brian Whitis grew up on a street called Riviera Drive, and by his own account, that coincidence planted something that never quite went away — decades later, he finally bought a 1963 Buick Riviera, and then went a step further most owners never do. Rather than restore it back to factory spec, he had it transformed into something else entirely, deep enough into custom territory that the car earned its own name. What’s parked on the show floor in Rosemont, Illinois isn’t the Riviera Buick built. It’s the one Brian decided it should have been.

Why the 1963 Riviera Was Already Special

The 1963 Buick Riviera arrived as GM’s answer to a very specific brief: build a genuine American personal luxury coupe that could compete with imported grand tourers on style alone. Bill Mitchell’s design team gave it crisp, unbroken lines, hidden headlights, and proportions that still get cited today as one of the cleanest American body designs of the entire decade. Unlike the increasingly ornate cars around it, the first-generation Riviera won admiration specifically for what it left off rather than what it added.

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A Street Name That Became a Bucket List Item

Brian Whitis’s connection to the car goes back further than his ownership does. According to the video, Brian grew up living on a street literally named Riviera Drive, and the coincidence stuck with him long enough that owning one eventually became a genuine bucket list goal rather than a passing want. He finally bought this car in 2015, meaning by the time this video was filmed at a car show in 2018, he’d had a few years to live with — and clearly transform — his long-standing target car.

What “Morpheus” Actually Means for This Car

The name “Morpheus” isn’t a factory trim level or a reference to the car’s original color code; it’s a name Brian gave the car himself, and the video explains the logic directly — the car earned it because it “morphed” into its current custom form. That kind of naming is common in the custom car world specifically because a heavily modified build often no longer resembles the factory product closely enough for its original designation to feel accurate anymore.

Ruby Red: A Color Choice That Does the Talking

Ruby Red isn’t a color Buick offered on the 1963 Riviera from the factory, and that’s precisely the point of a custom repaint like this one. Deep reds read differently under different lighting than more common show colors like black or silver, picking up warmth and depth under direct sun that can look almost purple in shade — which is exactly the kind of paint characteristic that draws viewers in close at a show rather than just walking past for a quick glance.

World of Wheels and the Custom Car Circuit

This particular Riviera was shown at World of Wheels in Rosemont, Illinois, part of a long-running custom car show circuit that’s toured major U.S. cities for decades, giving builders like Brian a venue specifically built around cars that have been meaningfully altered from stock rather than simply restored. Shows like this one reward exactly the kind of personalization Morpheus represents — a car doesn’t win attention on a floor full of customs by being merely correct.

Lou Costabile’s My Car Story Franchise

Reactions in the comments lean heavily toward admiration for the craftsmanship involved, with one viewer calling it simply “a beautiful work of art,” and another — a past Chrysler 300 owner — mentioning they’re working through Lou Costabile’s entire run of 1963, 1964, and 1965 Riviera videos specifically because of how much they respect the model. That kind of cross-generational, cross-brand appreciation is common among serious enthusiasts, who often value a well-executed custom build regardless of which manufacturer’s badge sits on the grille.

What Goes Into a Build Deep Enough to Earn a Name

This footage comes from Lou Costabile’s My Car Story, a channel built almost entirely around on-location interviews at car shows rather than studio production — Costabile and his crew walk the floor, find a car worth stopping for, and let the owner tell its story on camera with minimal editing. That format is why the video captures small, specific details like Brian’s Riviera Drive childhood and the 2015 purchase date; a scripted or narrated review would likely have skipped straight to the paint and skipped the personal history that makes this particular car memorable. Costabile has built a large enough back catalog of these interviews that dedicated fans of specific models, like the commenter working through every 1963 through 1965 Riviera video on the channel, can effectively use it as an informal archive of a single model’s custom-build history.

Why This Interview Format Captures Details Others Miss

A build that earns its own name rather than just its model year and trim usually represents years of accumulated decisions rather than a single weekend project. Beyond the Ruby Red repaint, a car reaching Morpheus’s level of transformation typically involves reworked interior upholstery to match the new color scheme, addressing any rust or panel gaps uncovered once the old paint comes off, and often chassis or suspension updates so the car handles as good as it now looks. Costs for a build at this level frequently run well into five figures once paint, bodywork, and detailing are all accounted for — money spent chasing something Brian had wanted since long before he could afford it.

Why Custom Builds Like This Divide Riviera Purists

Not every Riviera owner would make the same choice Brian did. First-generation Rivieras in original, unmolested condition have become increasingly valuable specifically because Mitchell’s original design needed so little alteration to look right, and purists in Riviera-specific communities sometimes view heavy customization as working against the car’s original strength rather than enhancing it. Brian’s build sits firmly on the other side of that argument — proof that a car can mean more to its owner reimagined than it ever did stock, bucket list fulfilled on his own terms rather than the factory’s.

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