Blog | The 1966 27′ Riva Super Aquarama “Rutli”

November 1962 was a memorable month. The term “personal computer” appeared for the first time in the media. Former Vice President Richard Nixon lost his bid for Governor of California, bitterly declaring to the press, “You won’t have Nixon to kick around any more.” (Spoiler alert: he was elected President 6 years later). That November also brought an end to the U.S. quarantine of Cuba, the final chapter of the almost-apocalyptic Cuban Missile Crisis. But the boating world will remember November 1962 for just one reason – the launch of the first Riva Aquarama.

With its beautifully-varnished mahogany, obvious high-level craftsmanship, and sweeping wrap-around windscreen, nothing was cooler than the Riva Aquarama in the 1960s. Movie stars like Sophia Loren and Elizabeth Taylor couldn’t get enough of the Aquarama, transforming Riva into the luxury icon that it remains today – in fact at this very moment, George Clooney might be driving his own Riva Aquarama on Lake Como. Who knows?

Now we have our own piece of history for sale: “Rutli”, a 1966 27′ Riva Super Aquarama that just hit the market at an asking price of $700,000. As you can tell from her pictures, Rutli is in impeccable condition. But she’s not just nice to look at: Rutli’s twin 454 Corvette engines, with only 50 hours on them, can propel the boat to a scorching 60 knots. And her current owner has all of the Riva’s original parts, so anyone who wishes to transform Rutli to her exact 1966 condition is in luck. For a certain type of buyer, seeing Rutli is a question of “when” not “if” – those buyers can find her on Fisher Island, where she sits, radiating the glamor of a bygone era.