Okay, so you've recently bought a camper that you know isn't a Westy and you're not quite sure what it might be. I was there once! When I bought my first Riviera, I was told it was a Sundial. It wasn't until a month of research before I learned it was a Riviera. In order to save other bus owners from a similar situation, I offer this guide to determining if you own a Riviera or not. The information presented here is as accurate as possible, but it might not be the definitive guide to Rivieras as we are constantly finding small differences between campers.

Firstly, this will likely be the easiest way to tell if you own a Riviera. If your camper has a large picture window on the driver's side like the first two images, then you have a Riviera! The first image shows the picture window with the unique sliding windows. I haven't seen these on any other type of camper. The middle image features the jalousie style windows that one can find on Westies and some other campers. The third image looks like a Sundial or EZ Camper, but it is a Riviera! There are a few, not many, Rivieras that were built with this style of window. If you have these windows, you'll have to read on to determine if you have a Riviera or not. NEW INFO: Apparently Travel Equipment Corp. in Indiana did make their own camper conversions on VW buses and also used a long picture window. You will know which one you have my looking at the interior and also looking for the Travel Equipment Corp. badge on someplace other than the poptop. The TEC conversion interiors have a distinctly different look than the Rivieras do.

Let's now go inside the camper itself. Before getting into some of the minutae surrounding Riviera interiors, let me give you the basic sense of the interior.

If you look closely, you'll see that the roof panels are bordered by a spine and three "ribs" (if you can imagine them like a spine and ribs in the body). All of the panels are held in by a distinct hex-head screw; your Riviera may have had the screws replaced at some point. Don't be shocked if that's happened. The color of an original interior is something along the lines of a dark honey wood. The panels are made basically from 1/8" birch wood. The second picture looks directly up toward the ceiling near the fresh air vent. Notice the detail in the piece that bridges the gap between the spine and the front most set of ribs.

There were a couple different color combinations offered for your Riviera. Obviously, over time interiors are replaced and recovered so don't freak out if your camper features a color other than what's here. You might have a special model or you might have a previous owner who has taken some artistic liberties with your Riviera.

First is the blue vinyl interior. The bed and jump seat are all in a blue-meets-teal vinyl. The third image also gives you the chance to see some of the unique trim that was offered in Rivieras. Look just above the closet and you'll see an interesting wavy piece of wood. This piece is often matched by a large piece over the picture window (see below).
In some Rivieras, the blue interior was matched by a stunned blue formica set of tables with gold flake. Also offered were yellow formica as well as a basic white formica. The red vinyl option featured below often came with the white formica option.
The red vinyl interior option featured here is rather unusual color choice. Of the Rivieras I've seen, few of them have the red option. More have the blue option instead. Rivieras were frequently built from walk-thru panel vans, but some (as you can see here) were made from bench seat panel vans.

A very rare option when it comes to Rivieras is the pop top. This is currently unconfirmed, but I have heard that the poptop option actually came from Travel Equipment Corp. in Elkhart, Indiana. I know that doesn't make much sense because the Rivieras were built in the Pacific Northwest, but this is still being researched. The idea is that pop tops were built in Elkhart and then shipped to Riviera Motors in Oregon where it was fitted. Apparently, Travel Equipment Corp. also developed the Sportsmobile line of campers out in their area. The image of the red interior above also gives you a good view of the pop top from the inside. While some Rivieras were outfitted with Sundial style tents which attached using two fixed points along the roof, more Rivieras were built with a tent that utilised a slide rail that is reminiscent of some Westfalia tents. Tents frequently came in either red/white, blue/white, or green/white.

One last couple things that will set your Riviera apart from other campers is the spice rack. This is often missing from Rivieras found out there today, so many owners are getting the dimensions and building their own from scratch. Secondly, the trim piece over the picture window and corresponding lamp (seen on the extreme right of the right image). These are very frequently missing on Rivieras found today, so if you click the right image above you'll find a plan to cut your own trim piece. As for finding a lamp, that's a little tougher. I'm still hunting, though.