Minnesota man buys classic Buick and finds a Detroit connection
Cars and Detroit go together like cheese on a hamburger. The odds of finding a receipt dated 1971 from the original Ziebart location in Detroit may be slim , but not for Jay Brenner.
In December 2021, Brenner searched the web for classic cars and stumbled on a 1970 Buick Riviera in Nashville, Tennessee at Gateway Classic Cars, a classic and exotic vehicle reseller located in multiple states. With his wife tagging along, he traveled to Tennessee to pick up the vintage vehicle. The Riviera was not in bad shape but had a frame off restoration in 2014. After inspecting the car and deciding it was a good buy, the couple made the purchase.
As Brenner began searching the car and doing his own cleaning and repairs, he came upon a piece of history, a receipt from the original Ziebart location in Detroit, dated for 1971.
"The car was virtually brand new then, so I thought that was kind of interesting," Brenner said. "I brought that in when I when I took it to Ziebart here in Minnesota and they absolutely got a big kick out of that."
The receipt showed that, in April 1971, the original owners of the car had a restoration at Ziebart in Detroit on Harper Avenue.
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Brenner has no Detroit connections and hasn't been to the Woodward Dream Cruise with his vintage rides, but he participates in car shows in his hometown.
Ziebart director of U.S. retail operations Ed Russell was ecstatic to find out about the receipt being found, but also wanted to shine light on the longevity of the work they do. Russell says that through out the years, he's heard similar stories, especially with vintage cars.
"We offer a lifetime warranty on our restoration products," he said. "We require the customer to bring it back in every year. So we can inspect it and touch up in the areas that might need to be touched up."
Brenner doesn't plan on getting rid of his Riviera any time soon.
"I think I'm gonna keep this Riviera because the thing is really, really, really nice," he said. "People are just attracted to it because it looks like it just came off the showroom floor."
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Classic Buick Rivera comes with connection to original Ziebarts
