Riva Florida "Nounours" 1959 - World Of Classic Cars -

Riva Florida "Nounours" 1959

The Florida, built from 1953 until the late 1960s, is the most successful of the mahogany Riva single-engined runabouts.
The craft presented here, hull number 341, was built in 1959 in Sarnico and imported to France by the sole appointed Riva distributor there, Monaco Boat Service of Monte Carlo. Its original discreet buyer was Roger Vadim, the film director and then-husband of renowned French film star Brigitte Bardot. Vadim had purchased the boat for his wife, which was a seemingly appropriate gift, as Bardot had lived in St. Tropez since 1958, in her famous villa La Madrague, which offered private and direct access to the Mediterranean.

Riva Florida "Nounours" 1959

The boat, christened Nounours (“Teddy Bear”), would soon become a familiar sight, moored in front of La Madrague and in the old harbour of St. Tropez, where celebrities from all over the world are seen socialising with their friends and family during the holidays.
In the late 1960s, Bardot set her sights on the latest single-engined Riva model, the Junior. As such, Nounours was sold to a chef at the restaurant at the Port Grimaud marina. Some 20 years later, it was offered for sale at an auction held at Napoleon’s Chateau de Fontainebleau, where it was acquired by a young Swiss-born Monte Carlo resident and passionate Bardot fan.

Riva Florida "Nounours" 1959

In 2005, the boat was purchased by the current owner and registered under the French flag in July. He subsequently had the boat completely restored by Riva specialists at Sportmer in 2007. Once completed, it remained in their yard, where it was winterised for proper storage. Although the boat is in exceptional condition throughout, it has only been captained on the water a couple times since restoration.
This striking Riva has been described in various books on Brigitte Bardot’s formidable life and career, and it is still considered one of the rare remaining icons of the St. Tropez “jet set”, during the fabulous destination’s glory days in the 1960s.