(first posted 7/24/2013) This car hurts my head. Anyone who has read CC for any length of time knows what my left brain thinks about this car. This car (and the entire 1971-76 B and C body clan) is a juddering, shuddering mass of wallowing excess and badly attached cheap trim pieces. Its lack of performance out of 455 cubic inches is surpassed only by fuel usage that nears the need for monitoring in gallons per hour. In short? My left brain hates the damnable things. But then there is my right brain. Every once in awhile, one of these comes along in the right body style, the right color and the right condition, and my right brain just lights up with glee and even passion. Here we have such a car. Wait right here – I’m going to go take some aspirin.
Oh good, you’re still here. Well anyway, prepare for a terrible mishmash of muddled thinking about this car, because that’s all I have here, besides a big headache. Pure brougham-porn that both delights and disgusts. So, we might as well get started.
1976 marked a changed mindset from the bunker mentality that had gripped us for the first half of that decade. The period from 1970-75 was notable for Vietnam, Watergate, the Arab Oil Embargo, and the supposedly impossible combination of inflation and recession. Add to this the horrid new GM full sized cars foisted upon us for 1971 that seemed to be a downgrade in almost every way from the solid and substantial versions we had lived with from time immemorial.
1976 was a fascinating year. Maybe it was fascinating just because I was in high school, and almost everything is fascinating when you’re in high school. The economy was taking off, everyone was celebrating the American Bicentennial and halter tops were in. Did I say I was in high school? So, it was time to party. I mean Par-Tay!. People of my parents’ demographic started shaking off the torpor of the early ’70s and splurging on loud outfits and big cars. And somehow, the miserable POS big cars from GM became familiar things that now didn’t seem so bad. It wasn’t just big GM cars that were all around us, either. We were suddenly awash in Chrysler Cordobas and New Yorkers, Mercury Grand Marquis-es, Olds Ninety Eights and Buick Electras.
My right brain misses the Electra. It had been around for literally my entire life by 1976, having replaced the Roadmaster for 1959. From that point forward, it had been the top Buick forever since. But name devaluation game was starting even then, as the Electra started to collect plug-ins like Limited and Park Avenue.
My left brain is quite sure that there have been more outrageously wasteful two door cars than this one, but it is having trouble thinking of one at the moment. Still, there is something about the looks of this car that makes my right brain declare this car as my favorite GM mega-coupe. Right brain is happy to sacrifice practicality for style and proportion, and this is something that the big ’76 Electra deuce-door has to the max. This is a whole lotta, lotta car – but carries its bulk with style and even elegance. There is something about the styling of this car that simply screams “BUICK!” And my right brain means this in the very best sense. Left brain at least grudgingly admits that if you are going to build a Buick, it should look like a Buick. Let’s give left brain a pat on the back, it is really trying to get into the spirit of things here.
Last summer, I was out driving when I caught view of this car out of the corner of my eye. It was on the eve of the Brickyard 400 stock car race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and the car was parked at a hotel. The Wisconsin plates seemed to indicate that someone made a very long trip in supreme comfort. I stood there for what seemed like forever, completely under the control of my right brain. I was simply salivating over this car. This horrible, horrible car, as my left brain kept trying to get across while right brain kept a hand over its neighbor’s mouth. I walked around it and around it again, snapping pictures, then just staring. My car-mentor Howard would no doubt be turning over in his grave if he could see what was going on in the right side of my head. He hated these things even more than I did (and do). Yet, here I was. This car was abso-freaking-lutely beautiful. So long and low and wide. It was like a dream. Did we really used to drive these things to the grocery store for a 2-pack of Twinkies?
I had a job in the ’70s where I got to (had to?) drive one of these. It was a base Electra sedan in silver with a black vinyl roof and blue cloth interior, so I didn’t get the full Luxus-dipping. At the time, I didn’t like it as well as the big Lincolns or Chryslers that I got to drive from time to time. But I could see how someone could like it. In fact, I preferred it to the ’76 Cadillac Fleetwood that was also in the fleet.
This one? My right brain could so do this. “For the love of all that is Holy, why?”, asks my left brain. My right brain tries to come back with something about oozing down the road surrounded by a velour bordello, but left brain doesn’t understand. Finally, I hit upon something that might stick with Lefty: “So when someone sees my Crown Victoria or my son’s ’89 Grand Marquis and remarks about what a big car it is, I can stop what I am doing, throw open the garage door, wrestle them into the front seat and say ‘No you big dumb idiot, THIS is a big car!'” I know, it is crude and overly self-satisfying, but it’s the best I can do for my left brain.
I guess the other thing I can hit Lefty with is that the Buick 455 and the Turbo HydraMatic attached to its tail end should go down as one of the best of that long line of great American powertrains that would, without drama or fuss, churn out maximus amounts of trouble-free torque so long as its Valdez-sized tank was kept full. And who says that GM was oblivious to the fuel mileage of these cars. After all, they thoughtfully fitted these with a 2.56:1 axle and a speed alert system to keep the revs down and a fuel usage meter so that you could better monitor the extent of the big Buick’s drinking problem.
As it turned out, 1976 would be the peak year of that grand ’70s party because for 1977, GM would be the first of the Big Three to sober up and downsize the biggest ships of the fleet. I guess the left brains at GM got together and stormed the palace in a coup. From that point on, the music began to mellow out and the craziness would start to die down, with left and right brains living more or less in harmony for the next several years.
I guess it is time to close out this session of cranial contortions. After spending time writing about this car, the inside of my skull must look like the aftermath of a fight scene in a Bruce Lee movie. Maybe what I need is a nice, quiet ride in the back of this big, black, beautiful Buick. Oh crap, that was my right brain talking, and my left brain just gave it a big kick. I had better call this finished and go tend to my poor, abused head. I have heard about this beverage that comes from Scotland – maybe that will help.
Yep, anyone who thinks a Panther or a B/C/D body is big never saw or drove one of these suckers. It seems to me that the Electra had a pretty decent survival rate for production that was surely lower than many of its GM siblings.
It helps that the average buyer of this car was somewhat north of 65, and it was probably the last car he ever bought. A few of them were lucky enough to be inherited down to someone in the family who actually wanted the pathetic boat.
Another ‘effing brougham. Gag, retch, choke. (You’re welcome, Carmine.)
You just made the list pal…..
Pathetic? I think not. I do have a soft (riding/handling) spot for these behemoths. If I could pick any car right now to drive from Oakland to Virginia, this would be it. Gobble up mile after mile of Interstate and/or secondary U.S. highways (U.S. 54 from New Mexico through Kansas is cool).
Would do so quietly, comfortably and may even get 14 mpg air on at steady speeds!!!
Highly doubtful you’ll get 14mpg with the 455. I did a fair number of road trips in mine and 12 was all she would do and that was on pure gas not the E10 you find in most areas today. However I’d still choose this for a long road trip over many modern vehicles. It will cruise effortlessly at 75-80 all day long keeping you nice and cool inside even when it is 100 degrees outside.
Wow. 18 litres/100 km highway for a wallowing 70’s boat to go for Twinkies at Loblaws. Today, I average 22 litres/100 km for an F150 Ecoboost with 500 kg of motorcycle and power bike lift in the bed a 10 metre RV trailer with a mass of 3400 kg on behind. Without the burden of this 4 tonne load load (That’s 4 1/2 of the old fashioned tons for the non-metric countries – America, Liberia and Burma), my truck averages 13 litres/100 km in combined city and highway driving.
And I have no doubt that today’s F150 handles with a lot more ease and precision than that awful barge.
No lots of younger people bought these, it was another couple of decades before Buicks were only bought by those in their 60’s. The original owner of the 75 Limited I had would have been in her early 40’s when she brought it home for the first time. I was quite happy to get it when it was 20 years old in my early 30’s. She had replaced it with something much more hideous, an 85 Camry, that she admitted she did not like near as much as her Buick but her husband had insisted on something practical. As I mentioned further down while I was driving it I got lots and lots of complements, and those were from men in their 50s 60’s or maybe early 70’s at that point who usually said that they had one when they were new.
They are fucking beautiful.
Big, garish, and a wallowing whale of a car; but, damn, I like it!
You are not alone with your jumbled mental state.
Nope. That HUGE car with no back seat open-able windows gives me a headache STILL.
I hated these things back then and still hate them now.
Of course they’re openable – just go chop-chop with a chisel and voila, opened. Closing, on the other hand may be more problematic, but I’m working on a solution involving a role of cling film… On a serious note, I totally agree re non-openable rear windows in 2 door cars.
Lack of opening rear windows is by far the least of this POS’s sins.
Zackman, that was on the 2 door. Not the 4 door.
Heck, in ’76 you could still get, for one last year from GM, a four-door hardtop.
I’m not really into these Bro-hams as you know but I actually looked at buying a Buick this model in brown it would have been fine on a freeway but I drove it to where I was living and that was too hard so I didnt get to try feeding it plenty of grunt but steering it was a chore around the Hawkebury valley in Sydney and in the heritage horse traffic width streets of Windsor and Richmond it didnt quite fit so no I didnt buy it.
Sadly I just can’t love the headlight/grille design on the Buick B-bodies. The whole front end seems just too blunt and understyled to me. That’s the left brain bit out of the way – my right brain would of course happily drive one. The taillights and rear bumper look good.
Where you live and commute it would be fine parking and feeding it might prove challenging if you found a Transit intimidating, in the Maquarie towns of Western Sydney it was a menace one business identity drove a 63 Cadillac but not in traffic, I finished up buying another well beaten Falcon and driving it till it fell apart from rust, as you do.
I drove a truck for years, so I don’t find Transits intimidating – but the Transit-based motor home we had in Europe recently intimidated other drivers.
This would be a C body Buick. The lesser LeSabre was the B body.
D’oh, B and C are so close together on the keyboard… 😉
“Did we really used to drive these things to the grocery store for a 2-pack of Twinkies?”
Yes JP, and people still do this in their Cadillac Escalade ESVs.
Except the “old Twinkies” were bigger!
Perhaps that’s why we needed such huge cars… 🙂
Really? I thought all junk food was bigger than ever now.
I have indeed seen it verified that Twinkies and Cadbury Eggs are indeed smaller.
Big Macs, 1/4 Pounders are smaller than what they served up in the 70s.
I think we paid 59 cents for a Big Mac in 1970.
59 cents in 1970, corrected for inflation, is $3.87 today. A Big Mac today is about $4.15 to $5.23. Hmm, I thought food was two or three times more in Alaska but a Big Mac there is the same as in Massachusetts.
https://www.fastfoodmenuprices.com/mcdonalds-prices/?redir
It’s called packaging to a price, rather than increase the price (as much) the size goes down.
Correct. Have you bought a “half gallon” of ice cream lately?
+1
Not my favorite Buick but probably the sharpest ’76 I’ve ever seen. Besides the cool vacuum gauge that not many of these had, those outboard backup lights had two red globes inside them that lit up red when the taillights are on: COOL.
What a perfect car for a long roadtrip.
I have the fuel economy gauge in my Estate Wagon, I want to re-name the “HI” mpg side “Terrible” and the “LO” mpg side “Godawful”
Or maybe “Best I Can Do” and “Worst I Can Do”. 😛
It should swing from a picture of a baby seal getting clubbed on one end and burning tire dump on the other….
Oh Jesus! I can see the environmental Nazis burning a (biodegradeable low emissions) cross in your front lawn then silently motoring away in their Prii and electric scooters after that comment.
Reminds me of one of my favorite jokes-
A baby seal walks into a club…
“Best I can do…sorry…” and “FEED ME, SEYMOUR!”
I love how the green “lo usage” zone is at the bottom of the gauge, presumably so that the needle sits there when the engine is off. Reminds me of Ford’s psychology on fuel gauges where after a fill-up it would stay on “F” (actually past F) forever and then drop like a stone.
It would piss you off but then after a fill-up all would be forgiven. Maybe like getting into the Buick every morning with the usage in green, at least until you turn the key.
I’ve got that gauge in my 77 Chevelle as well. It’s the fastest moving gauge in the whole cluster – when its not stuck on “Minimum”. I try and keep it in the green, even 100 mph puts it on the low end of the green.
That 2.56 rear axle though sure doesn’t do its economy any favors around town, and come to think of it, doesn’t really do it any favors on the highway either.
Big, but not necessarily roomy…that’s what comes to mind when I think of the ’71 to ’76 GM full-sizers.
Oh, and I suppose they deserve kudos for offering the first airbag in regular production. And for offering the last full-sized convertibles, with a folding top mechanism that allowed for a full-width rear seat, no less.
But what I recall the most is how people held onto these barges for a few extra years after the downsized ’77s rolled out. By the early- to mid-’80s it seemed as though the broughamy gewgaws and urethane fender tips/bumper fillers were either falling off, or slowly decomposing while still attached to the car.
This is strange like a parralell universe CC I kinda like this car and you guys dont I’ll come back in the morning all will be normal,
And on that bombshell! (cue the outro for Top Gear)
I have similar feelings for these big-ass B-bodies. My lust for them is irrational, but they’re just so interesting to look at. And there’s so much of them to look at.
You mentioned that this one looks like a Buick from a distance. Distinctive styling is one thing that was lost for some time after these cars departed. For the next decade and a half, everything was “sheer look” square and sheet metal was mostly the same across all divisions.
*C-bodies and B-bodies
Some guys like the fastest models. Some guys like the biggest “oh no you didn’t” models. Don’t let anyone turn down your feelings for Buick! (I prefer the four-door model).
About 15 years ago a guy in my village had a Buick Electra from this era. Don’t know if it was a 1976, might have been a few years older. That was a b-o-a-t, with a matching sound at idle and at low speed cruising. The damn thing took over the whole road, but oh man, I sure loved it !
Funny thing was that in those days his mate had a Buick Riviera Boattail.
Our local “Buick Brothers” so to say.
To me Buicks from the sixties and seventies seem to have that sinister and intimidating look, Cadillac’s evil brother.
In those days, were there typical differences between Buick owners and Cadillac owners ? Age of the owner ?
At some time in the late 60s early 70s their was an ownership study published that tracked the demographics of new car buyers. Supposedly a larger percentage of Buicks at that point were being bought by millionaires than any other GM car.
The stereotype then became that Buicks were for “old money” people who didn’t want to flash their wealth around. Cadillacs were for those who wanted to show off that they had made it.
I see, “old money” vs “new money”….
Here that would be: an all original Range Rover Mk1 (old money) vs a brand new shiny big-rim Range Rover. (new money)
Ha! I’m old enough to remember how Car & Driver‘s L.J.K Setright, a Briton, ragged on the Range Rover – damning it as a toy, compared to the old Land Rover that never let the sun set on the Union Jack.
Now, the Range Rover is old money? Old Setright would be rolling in his crypt…
Yep, old Range Rovers and Defenders are “old money”. You see, these people actually use them off-road (go hunting with the ol’ boys !) and to haul stuff. They don’t give a damn about some scratches and dents. And the dirty and wet hunting dog is in the back.
Besides, “old money” means owning real estate, stately houses and (farm) land.
So they don’t have a pile of liquidities to buy a new jewellery box on pimp-my-ride-rims. They wouldn’t buy them anyway: too flashy, too much smell of “new money”, way too much show. And that’s exactly what they don’t want.
It’s still kinda like that now. I read a study somewhere that said that wealthy buyers prefer Yukon Denalis over Escalades.
For a long time, the Yukon Denali was the top of GM’s SUV product line until the Escalade was added.
Interestingly enough, since no Cadillac station wagon was ever made, the top GM wagons came from Buick and Oldsmobile, and could be appointed as luxuriously as an Electra or Ninety-Eight.
And from 1965-69, the top Olds and Buick wagons were the stretched mid-size Vista Cruiser and Skylark Sport Wagon. Each not only had the Vista Roof and forward-facing third seat, but four extra inches of wheelbase over a standard A-body wagon. For a true full-size wagon, Chevy and Pontiac were the only ways to go.
Buick chose to get back into the big-wagon business in 1970 with a one-year-only Estate Wagon. My dad picked up one of those just as the ’71’s were coming out and later it became clear why he chose it. It was just as luxurious as my aunt’s 1968 Electra.
GMC may still be seen as a more appropriate SUV brand than Cadillac. Think about it, would a Chrysler-branded SUV command more prestige than Jeep? It may be one of the reasons Chrysler is dead on the vine at the moment.
Yup, right there with you JP – this is both achingly lovely and revoltingly vulgar. I want it and would hate myself for having it.
As for our helpful beverage, I presume you mean single malt (& yes it does), though there’s also Irn Bru which has a similar brain bending want/don’t want quality to this car now I come to think on it…
That is a car!
I like the earlier model years of these barges better, but I’d take this for a nice coast to coast cruise. I’d imagine you’d feel like a celebrity while driving that thing around. I’m sure it gets plenty of notice and respect.
Wow ! My right brain completely defeats that boring, bean counting left brain for this: it’s just awesome !! Much, much more beautiful and luxurious than contemporary Cadillacs IMHO…If i had the opportunity to have one of these i’d rather go to work and to the supermarket with a stolen bike and keep this boat for going out on saturday night !
I liked this era Buicks as convertibles, with those great rims and round headlights, but the nose and roof on this one are indeed cause for Excedrin.
‘No you big dumb idiot, THIS is a big car!’
If someone ever called the Imp tacky or tasteless, I’d like one of these handy so I could say, “No, THIS is tacky and tasteless!”
What is going on with that “woodgrain” velour? Looks like a skin disease.
“What is going on with that “woodgrain” velour? Looks like a skin disease.”
Ha ha! Probably the same disease Thom McAn had when they sold wood-grain penny loafers! I know, I had a pair when I entered the air force in 1969…
LOL, The height of 70s velour magic. Skin disease in red. Perhaps a psychedelic waterfall in Blue? Clearly Buick was proud to showcase this Limited trim, as it got the prominent interior shot in the catalog that year.
You could also get the same interior in leather too if you wanted just skin, without the skin disease pattern.
I vaguely remember a Buick description somewhere referring to the fabric as “reminiscent of watermarked silk”. This fabric, also referred to as “moire”, was used in very expensive women’s dresses (bridal gowns, designer clothing, cotillion gowns, hats, etc.) as well as on some custom made furniture.
That ties in with an earlier comment about the demographics of Buick owners–old money. The same fabric/style was in places at the old money country club (cotillions, furniture); even the “carved wood” insets adjacent to the door pulls look like what you’d find on some antique furniture. (And, yeah, it was really crappy looking fake wood.)
The previous year used cut velour which resembled corduroy, with the same sew patten and button tufting. And leather was available as Carmine mentions.
The process used to make this fabric is pretty remarkable, using a variety of weaving techniques, cutting the nap of the fabric and use of high pressure/high temperatures on rollers to create the patern–which shifted based on lighting.
Here’s the far more detailed description of the process:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moire_(fabric)
that is fascinating! I wondered what those wood inserts were…
the ’76 Eldo and Fleetwood Talisman had the same thing.
The ’76 Aspen had filigree patterns like that on the door panels and on the taillight panel. Very unusual–it was only on the SE and not on the other models. The later Aspens did NOT have this!
Jesus, gawd, that seat looks like a folded up twin-size mattress. But look how proud the owner is!
Admittedly, a little less sickening in blue.
Wow, I can’t believe that Tiger Woods was the pitchman for Buick even in 1976!
Or maybe Buick was aware of one of its most loyal audiences even then.
Most people younger than I am have no comprehension of how wide these things are. “I’ll bet you $5 that you can’t reach the door lock on the other side without moving out of your own seat.”
Its tough, and I have long arms, thankfully, there is a button for that.
FWACK!
The power locks on these cycle with such an authoritative FWACK, it almost sounds like some automated finger breaking torture device.
I always thought that the idea of power locks on a 2 door car was just stupid, but as wide as these were, it made sense. Oh yes, I remember that noise. Those lock actuators sounded like punch presses or nail guns.
That’s cuz they were still beefy solenoids instead of the sub-par gear-reduction motors that the later vehicles got (and probably still get).
So funny that you mention the car’s width and the manual door locks. My mother drove a ’71 Olds Ninety Eight, which had power windows but not power locks. I vividly recall the drama when she needed to unlock the door on the passenger side to let one of us in. Put it in Park. Unlatch seatbelt. Slide across the huge vinyl seat. Unlock the door. Grumble. Slide back. Grumble some more. Refasten belt. Then tell the passengers (kids) “don’t forget to lock your door.” It was an epiphany when she got a ’75 Ninety Eight LS which did have the power locks. The convenience!! And I do remember that FWACK–Carmine, you nailed the noise perfectly.
While a sophomore in college in ’76, I ‘inherited’ my Grandfather’s low-mileage ’70 Buick LeSabre HT with 4v 350 in a beautiful brown metallic with full dark brown vinyl roof and lighter brown vinyl interior. God that car was great; it would easily transport the whole dorm plus whatever liquids were on sale at the local refreshment store.
It chewed its way through a tankful of gas, but at the low acquisition cost, it amortized itself really well for a student. Until gas started to get ‘expensive’ and it was ultimately replaced by Mistake No. 1, a ’76 Chevy Monza HB which in turn got replaced by Mistake No. 2, a 1980 Mk 1 Ford Escort SS Wagon.
While I loved Grandpa’s car, I really liked the 2DR version, which was more pleasing to the eye, and slightly more youthful-looking than the old boat.
These ’71-76 big GMs are the automotive equivalent of particle board – huge mass without equivalent strength, flashy veneer laid over the cheapest supporting structure.
OK, that’s maybe a bit harsh. The closest I’ve ever come to the featured car was a ’73 LeSabre hardtop that my parents had for a couple years. Real pretty, but as the author sez, a fairly horrible transportation device. Still, a guilty pleasure. It was kind of fun to float down the road in the thing in near-silence, getting next to no miles per gallon.
Actually, that is probably the best definition of the ’71-76’s I’ve ever heard. Almost poetic.
Agree 100%.
Best I could always do was describe these was: “Floppy”.
The Chryslers from that era: “Papier mache'”.
There still is strength in these, mass is mass, when this vintage C-body was just a 15-20 year old hooptie, I saw several get in wrecks, they pretty much obliterated whatever they came in contact with, losing only to thinks like dump trucks, tanks or concrete bunkers.
But Demo Derby drivers love 71-76’s!
They may rattle, but they can take a hit and keep going.
The fifty feet between the huge bumper and the radiator might be a factor.
Excellent write-up and a great find. You captured the essence of this cr perfectly. The proportions are all there, it screams Buick, it looks indulgent and, for all that, it’s actually somewhat of a POS…
I also have a lurid fascination with these beasts. The sheer size and presence is impressive, even if the quality standards weren’t. They were such a familiar sight from my childhood, roaming seemingly everywhere. And I could always tell the year and make easily, even from a distance, something that was much tougher with the domestics by the mid-80s. My college roommate had a 1976 Buick Estate Wagon, white with woodgrain and red vinyl inside, which he called The Moose. By 1985, it was a battle scarred family warrior, but it still had presence and a certain sense of indestructibility. Plus it could haul a bunch of college kids, even if it swayed and listed like a flailing boat at highway speeds.
I like these beasts, too. In fact, the Buick beasts have grown on me since I started frequenting this site. I appreciate them more now. Some folks are not fans of land barges from the ’60s and ’70s, but I can’t help myself. I dig them! 😀
Pretty soon now these things will be worth big bucks. Right around 1980 I would read just about the same sort of “greenie ” based moral horror engendered by 59 Cadillacs, and they could be had cheap. Now try to buy one. 🙂
“And who says that GM was oblivious to the fuel mileage of these cars. After all, they thoughtfully fitted these with a fuel usage meter so that you could better monitor the extent of the big Buick’s drinking problem.”
I can hear the conversation now: “Gee, look honey. Instead of getting 7 miles per gallon, we’re getting 8 miles per gallon!!”
One of the most beautiful cars of the seventies,
The 1975 Buick Electra Limited Park Avenue (wallpaper):
“One of the most beautiful cars of the seventies”
Complete with inward-peeling and yellowing opera window silvered-mylar outside trim, plus the “GM Mark of Excellence” complimentary dashboard crack, just like the Chevys and others.
Bleeeeech!
The dash boards on these did not crack when I sent my 75 to the crusher last year the dash was perfect despite being parked outside exclusively since 1985. Yes the trim around the outside Laundau window had gotten pretty ratty in the last 10 years and the vinyl on the driver’s arm rest was cracked. Other than that the trim on the car had held up quite well. The seats were worn but not torn or split. You do need to keep in mind this was a C and the best of the Cs not some low level B. They were also from a time when a Buick was built in a Buick factory and was put together with better care and better materials than you found on the brands intended for the less fortunate.
“was built in a Buick factory and was put together with better care. . . ”
Did you notice that panel gap in the clue photo? Of course, these were not the most rigid of cars, and the panel gaps would dance all over the place while you drove. As for the dash cracks, perhaps your living in the PNW was good for your car. Also, perhaps the Buick dashpad was of a design that made for a smaller surface than on some of the others. The Olds and Chevy pads did not usually do so well, as I recall.
Yeah but that is near 40 years later, the doors on the 2dr were very heavy and do sag with age. Concerning the dash cracks look at the rag top posted today. No cracks though I can’t tell exactly what is going on with that spot above the glove box. It sort of looks like some debris but on the other hand it does look like it could be the dash coming apart. It certainly isn’t the standard GM dash pattern crack as seen on lesser cars. Also look back through the archives for the other Buick B body convertibles, there have been a couple of this era, and you won’t see cracked dashes in those either. It may be the size/shape or it could be that the Buick did get some better or at least thicker materials.
Mmm, not so sure about the flexing and panel gaps on the ’75 & ’76 2-door models anyway. I think that ginormous B-pillar took care of that problem — from experience I can tell you the ’75-’76 coupes are not the rattling flexing POS cars the mass here makes them out to be.
I do believe the Flint cars are probably better-built than the Linden and probably all the other GMAD assembly plants also. My Lansing Oldsmobiles seem to be more solid than my rather well-cared for/lower mile Linden-built example.
Good description, Zackman! Every 70’s GM car I remember had the mylar yellow/browning/peeling malady. Just like it seemed every “sporty” GM car from the 70s had a thin coating of black paint applied over the chrome/stainless windshield/backlight trim.
Case in point – I was washing my friend’s then new ’79 Trans Am at the handjet car wash and one big strip of black peeled away from the molding. So, with his OK, I just held the jet an inch away from the molding and “jet washed” off the rest of the black. Voila! It all came off and he now had chrome window moldings!
I can hear the conversation now: “Gee, look honey. Instead of getting 7 miles per gallon, we’re getting 8 miles per gallon!!”
Hey, that’s a 14.3% improvement! 🙂
Back when I worked for GM in Fremont I had the opportunity to see and sit in a ’76 Buick Park Avenue sedan. It had the dark red upholstery. It was the plushest upholstery I’d ever seen and it felt very thick and substantial. I’ll have to admit as a die hard Cadillac fan and owner that it was the most impressive interior of any American car I had ever seen! We were building the Buick Regal which had an incredible corduroy and vinyl interior which was almost as impressive. This was the closest matching photo I could find. Most of the cars we built had the V6.
As transportation, this car is completely illogical. But damn…I like it. JPC, pour me a Scotch too, please.
I took my driving test in my Mom’s 72 Estate Wagon and thought it ran and drove just fine. They never drove anything but the biggest until 87 (Honda) so I never knew any different. This is a fine looking car!
Welcome to Jurrasic Car.
When Dinosaurs ruled the earth…….
How impressive is this thing, that no one has even commented on the yellow Sam Rothstein Eldorado in the background?
What’s really tripping me out is that my old man had a brown 76 Electra 225 Limited coupe and then it was replaced by a 79 Eldorado like the one in the background, weird.
There was a Prius in that parking space, but the Deuce et it……and its looking over at the little white Fit….mmmmmmmmm…..
What can I say, I love it of course, what a machine, the pinnacle of mankind’s evolution dating all the way back to the first steps out of the ooze, who could have imagined that someday he would be floating down the road in a 5000lb device with myriads of power conveniences and a landau top.
Whenever the word “boat” is used in the context of a modern car, I want to slap whoever is using it and show them one of these, THAT is a boat sir, not the 4 Runner you just tried to fit in a huge parking space 4 times, THIS is a boat, a car that practically has its own zip code, a car visible from space, you haven’t driven a BIG car until you have been behind the helm of a C body-class Imperial Star Destroyer.
+1
Heck +1000
My first wife once referred to my 1987 Cutlass sedan as a “boat.” Given that it was only 1999 or so I should have dragged her down to the nearest retirement village and shown her one of these.
Ha, a buddy had a ’74 Cutlass in high school that everyone called the boat, in 1989. By then it was already the biggest thing in the lot.
Same with my ’83 Bonneville, was called a boat, not a big car by any means! I offered it a few times when someone’s car was in the shop but it was refused because it’s too big, I mean come on.
How sad, thats an A-body for crying out loud! Not even a big Colonade A-body.
To me, anything under 225 inches long is just, midsize.
Yet the roads are filled with giant fullsize highriding four door pickups and SUVs that make my 75 C20 Chevy pickup look like a Dakota….
if you don’t mind I will be stealing “C body-class Imperial Star Destroyer.” when referring to my 68 Electra. up until this point I was calling her moby dick or more often “opulence” I has its..
in its natural habitat.
Beautiful, now there is drool all over my keyboard.
Sweet! Sonoma County, California? Portland/Vancouver? Re: Pine trees and the Chevron station. Big 430 or was it 455 by ’68? Could pass anything but a gas station! Where I live in Waianae, HI, a guy has a beautiful ’67 Deuce-and-a-quarter which, I saw (an estate car) for sale myself in 2001. It has a 430 (first year 90 degree after the nailheads).
This picture was taken in Roseville California. It is my daily driver since my motorcycle was stolen. It has a 4bbl 430. The other day it was 100 degrees outside and the ac was blowing a cool 34. The ac on this car could probably cool down my apartment. Compared to the 65 Cutlass I had this car feels very solid without nearly as many rattles as a 45 year old car should have.
I get 9-13 mpg typically.
Roseville? Wow! I spent many weekends hanging around Roseville and Sacramento when I was in the air force many years ago. Good memories, all.
Bought lots of pirated 8-track tapes at the Roseville Auction/flea market in those days, including a set of chromed wheels for my avatar, and just like the junk it was, the chrome began peeling almost immediately!
Were you stationed at Beale? Mather or McClellan? I grew up right next to McClellan and would hang out in my Grandparents backyard watching U2’s land. The other day I saw a B17 headed towards there. My grandfather started out as a tailgunner in an A26 then became a commando (In Korean conflict) and ended his career as a piston engine mechanic in Vietnam.
Wow, I’ve always liked those, but I never realized how well that design has aged. Beautiful.
Ooooohhh, a coupe….
Very nice.
That’s enormous done right!
Gorgeous….and you kept the beautiful deep dish wheelcovers — bravo!
That is a real beauty. Dare I say, sex on wheels?
gorgeous car you have !
C-3PO: The odds of successfully surviving an attack on an Imperial Star Destroyer are approximately…
Leia: Shut up!
I must have woken up with only my right brain functioning: Want!
Who are you, and what have you done with our Editor-in-Chief?
JP, I think he’s aging into the “cranky stogie-sucking deuce-driving landlord” demographic. His tenants would all hide when they heard him coming, from three blocks away…
My left brain tells me that a Lincoln Continental of this vintage would be a wiser choice, but my right brain still sees a lot of the Motorama glamour that GM was still pushing in these cars.
I just remember my 6th grade teacher had one and we would all marvel at how the entire class could almost fit in the trunk.
Why was the teacher putting students in the trunk of his 225?
I’ll bet the last class also “marveled” at that, right until they got out to the woods……
“Now everyone put the duct tape over your mouth like I showed you….good”
Not only does it look like a proper Buick, it’s a true fullsize 2-door (sadly, not a hardtop), with a big block under the hood, integral fender skirts and vestigial fins. The build quality and ride may have been rubbish, but that was par for the course in the mid 70’s. Comparing apples to apples, the afore-mentioned qualities make this one of the best new cars available in 1976.
This car is the ambassador/missionary of brougham-ia! Even the staunchest non-believers have to wonder at its glory.
(I’ve been converted long ago… this generation Electra is one of my favorite domestics of the 1970’s. I’d still prefer a Fleetwood Brougahm Talisman… then this… then a pillarless 98.)
Beautiful, very similar to the 75 Buick Limited I had. While it is referred to as an Electra Limited in the brochure no where on these cars does an Electra badge appear. There are just Limited badges, on the quarters, in the grille and on the passenger side of the dash. They were the cheapest way into a C Body Buick and I guess they wanted you to pay extra to move up to the Electra 225 to be able to sport Electra Badges.
The big plus to the 75 I had over this 76 is that the velour lacked that weird wood grain it was just simple “cut corduroy” but in the same basic diamond tufting pattern. Personally I never had problems getting double digit MPG out of my 455. I’d still have it and drive it regularly if a drunk hadn’t hit it while it was parked. It did hang around in my storage yard for many years but all that is left is the 455 and some of the trim bits.
One thing I meant to save but totally forgot until I got home from the scrap yard was the dealer installed underdash air shock control. When I first got the car the vacuum operated compressor seemed to be dead and I had cranked the adjustment knob all the way to the right. Then one day while cruising down the freeway the ride started getting very harsh. I looked down and the shocks were at max pressure. Somehow getting driven for more than to the store for a lottery ticked once a week broke it free.
That was it’s life for the 10 years preceding my ownership. The lady I bought it from had a pattern, she would buy a new car every 10 years and keep the old one, just in case she needed an extra car. To keep it at the ready she would drive it once a week to get her lottery ticket, when the new car was in the shop, or in the case of this her son would borrow it to launch his boat when his truck was in the shop.
Of all the cars I’ve owned my 75 Limited was the one that elicited more comments of “nice car” though usually it was from men that were 20 or 30 years my senior. It is also one that was filled with some great memories as I got it just after my son was born so he’d be strapped into his infant seat between my wife and I while we took it on road trips and camping. It was an interesting sight with the 60’s trailer behind it since the trailer was shorter than the car. In fact pulling into the campground at Yellowstone on one of those trips the guy directing traffic made a comment of how I needed a larger trailer so it wasn’t so much smaller than my car.
The Limited wasn’t the cheapest, they all were Electra 225’s , there was a base Electra 225, then the Limited and finally….the Park Avenue(75-76 only). The Limited had the nicer interior, the non-Limited Electra had almost a LeSabre spec interior.
The Park Avenue had a full on double throw down velour orgy that was only topped by the Parthenon of Brougham, The Fleetwood Talisman……
Go look at the Brochure, no where does it refer to this as an Electra 225 Limited, it is just Electra Limited and nowhere on the car will you find an Electra badge let alone a 225 badge.
You are correct that the Limited is a step up from the Electra 225 with standard cloth 60/40 2 way power seat and a reading/dome lamp being standard rather than optional as they are on the Electra 225..
But its still part of the Electra 225 line up, like Firebirds, I have a Trans Am, it doesn’t say Firebird on it anywhere, but it’s still part of the Firebird line up.
What year T/A?
1979.
It didn’t need an Electra badge; right? Nothing has ever been more self-evident .
Yeah, this thing doesnt just “say” BUICK ELECTRA, its spray paints it on a water tower in 10ft tall day glo letters while it sets off illegal fireworks at 2am.
To throw another wrench, there was Electra 225 Custom for awhile, that my Grandparents prefered. Had a ’65, ’69 and ’73.
My ’77 is the Electra 225 and it is definitely the base. The interior trim and peeling foam/cloth upholstery are as far as I can tell- no different than those which were in the ’78 LeSabre profiled on here back around Christmas. What it does have that the LeSabre might not is cruise, tilt, air, and all power options–and obviously some more rear leg room. But it’s a full bench power seat, not a dual, and it has no passenger side mirror. The Limited and Park Avenue were definitely nicer, with the Parkie basically being the understated version of the Cadillac.
It’s clear that by the mid-70s, at least, your Electra could be optioned such that it would range from being a LeSabre with some options, extra rear leg room, and a bigger engine (basically how I view mine), to essentially a mid-level Fleetwood. That in mind, I’m still perplexed as to the relationship between Buick and Oldsmobile, especially by the 60s and 70s. Buicks always were the doctor/lawyer/dentist car for the understated professional or old money owner; not sure where an Olds 98 (which could be pretty plushly optioned up as well) falls in the spectrum and who might have bought one. My grandfather was newer money in the 50s and 60s and was an executive but not a “professional” (he was self-made), so once he started reaping the rewards of an early 1950s promotion, in 1959 he went right for a new gold (!) Sedan DeVille and in the 70s Continentals.
I like—who am I kidding?–LOVE the looks of these last big monsters but have never had the opportunity to drive one, or the big Lincolns either. My 222 inch diet Electra 225 is still a pretty big car, but I would like to experience piloting something Really Big at least once in my life.
I like the wheels and the crazy taillight design. Maybe both sides of my brain could agree on this car if it were a more condensed size? I’m pretty much against anything that can pull an oil barge and refinery behind it out of necessity.
If a person were able to drive a waterbed on the highway, I figure it would feel a lot like driving these massive whales.
Anybody remember the Max-Trac?, an early form of traction control. It was a Buick exclusive in this era.
Yep, it was an early traction control available on big Buicks between 1971-1974, it’s Cadillac counterpart was Track-Master, an early rear wheel ABS that was available until 75 or 76 on all Cadillacs except Seville and Limo/Comm Chassis.
A good overview of Max-Trac is here:
http://www.buick-riviera.com/maxtrac.html
Funny how what is now the current technology was in limited production over 40 years ago, albeit in less Advanced form. At about the same time, high-end GM, Ford and Chrysler models offered early versions of ABS.
Don’t forget in the 70’s you could get a driver’s side air bags on some GM full size cars and EFI that is very similar to that used today on the Eldo.
International Harvester also offered the Kelsey-Hayes ASB, or Anti-Skid Brakes as it was called then on the 1/2 ton Travelalls and pickups.
Yes, mentioned airbags in an earlier post from this morning (see above).
I’d forgotten about the early Cadillac EFI. Amazing that the tech existed back then, if not the cost effectiveness or computer speed to make it widespread.
amazed the FI existed in the 1950s- Pontiac + the chevyt corvette had FI units
More than just driver side airbags, it was actually an airbag for all 3 front seat passengers. ACRS had a unit in the steering wheel and huge unit in the glove box area.
Yep, and the big selling point from the government at the time was that if we’d all take air bags we wouldn’t have to use seat belts anymore.
Gee, the government lied. Whoulda thunk?
Did not know there was one on the passenger side too. Note passive restraints were originally proposed to be required on cars built after 9-1-1975, same time as those roof crush standards. However they totally back off on them for many years.
More about the early GM airbags.
The interior of my 1975 Electra
https://www.flickr.com/photos/50488533@N00/3139828361/in/pool-1619498@N22/
Notes in the glove box
https://www.flickr.com/photos/50488533@N00/304102578/in/pool-1619498@N22/
The driver side module
https://www.flickr.com/photos/50488533@N00/304356165/in/pool-1619498@N22/
A Flickr group showing early GM cars with airbags.
https://www.flickr.com/groups/1619498@N22/
The spare driver and passenger side modules as well as the sensors and “recorder” I bought from a 1974 Electra.
Hi I’m looking for the acrs system for a 74 toranato do you have just the steering wheel and passenger side air bag thanks
My 76 Fleetwood has the Cadillac version, Trac-Master rear antilock brakes. Also has the Air Cushion Restraint System airbags…
I got to drive a ’71 Electra 225 once in a while when it was new. It was a smooth and quiet highway cruiser.
Really great write-up – you perfectly nailed this car, for all it’s good, bad and ugly.
I also really like this iteration of the series, the 1975 and 1976 coupes. While for the most part, I liked the purity of the earlier C bodies (71-74), there was just something about the later coupes. They certainly got blingy, but somehow this added to their appeal, especially in Limited form (did the coupes get the Park Avenue treatment?). Actually, while I love the long, flowing lines of these, I always thought the front end of the 76’s was too generic, and not as good looking as the 75s or earlier years.
When I was a kid, my parents had friends who always drove Buicks (the wife had a ’71 Riviera and the husband had a ’72 or so Electra), and they had a son, who in 1976 couldn’t have been older than 25. He was a very successful guy in sales, and bought a new ’76 Electra coupe, white with tan interior. I always thought it was strange that he drove one of these and not something like a Corvette.
My parents had a ’71 base Electra 225 sedan, navy blue with white vinyl top and navy cloth interior. Nice car, not as flashy looking as the ’76 coupe!
Too late for an edit…just reminds me to proof read…
“Its”, not “it’s”, in my first sentence!! Ugh.
The Park Avenue was a sedan only option on the 1975-1976 cars, there was a Park Avenue option on the 2doors from 1977 and up, even through the FWD C-body era.
My Electra is 36 inches shorter, about 1400 lbs lighter, and has around half the displacement of this dreadnought. I think I have it beat for interior room though.
Still, I can’t really compete with that trunk or road presence.
Does this parking space make me look fat?
Your comment reminds me of something. Somewhere on the web, I came up with a copy of the 76 Buick color chart (OldCarBrochures.org). On the back, they list vinyl roof colors and interior colors. There is an availability chart where you learn what colors are available with what colors. However, instead of just saying available or not available, Buick breaks the available choices down into “Recommended” and “Acceptable”. Nothing like fashion advice from General Motors. “Yes, this color makes you look fat, but it’s a free country.”
This continued up until the 90’s, the order catalog had a special exception for an “incompatible color & trim overide”, I never saw it ordered, but I had heard about other places doing such things, for example if someone wanted a black car with a green leather interior(Buick still cataloged all sorts of colored interiors up until the late 90’s) you would have to spec that trim overide
My 1966 Chrysler Dealer Paint and Trim book shows Recommended, Acceptable and NO combinations as well.
I’d love a car collection consisting of the Electra and that Fit (with a 5-speed).
I need to learn to park farther away from cars I photograph. I couldn’t talk the Mrs. into the 5 speed. However, the Sport model has paddle shifters and allows manual shifting in sport mode. I have recently decided that I am done trying to hypermile the damned thing, with disappointment out of every tank. These days, I am just having fun with the paddle shifters in my (almost) manual transmission Fit.
I agree with you, by the way, the Fit needs an anti-Fit. Personally, I would go with a 76-77 New Yorker instead of this Buick, but there are several choices in a Nimitz class like these would be very nice.
Wow, JPC, this car and your writeup really touched a nerve!
“there have been more outrageously wasteful two door cars than this one”
Yes, the Auburn Speedster. At least this Buick barge has room for six & luggage.
“Did we drive these to get Twinkies?”
These days it’s ‘active lifestyle’ adults driving to gym and then getting bottle of water in Tahoes, Suburbans, Escalades, Navagators, etc. Parking in handicapped spot, since they will ‘only be a second’.
Or, going to Starbucks, park in a tow zone with flashers on, since that makes them immune to tickets.
“It was a base Electra 4 door with a 350 in silver,”
Also, there was no factory 350 equipped 1971-76 Electra, ever. Even with OPEC.
Oops – I misread the brochure – I was in a place talking about Buick engines generally. Jeeze – THAT was what a 455 felt like in that car? How sad.
Actually you are wrong. There were 350 V8 Electras. GM went on strike and there was a shortage of 455s. The 350 was a credit option on Electra’s. Here is one for sale.
http://forums.aaca.org/topic/203409-as-new-1976-buick-electra-1985-miles-whiteblue-interior-rare-350-engine/
Yes there were ’76 Electras with the Buick 350, albeit very rare. There was recently a burgundy one for sale in South Carolina, a no-option 2 door with 14,700 original miles and very well documented. Assembly line condition still with the original tires with deep cracks between the tread. Seat pattern was plain, looked like would be in a LeSabre
Now THAT’S a Buick! B-U-I-C-K: Big Ugly Import Car Killer!
But this one’s a beauty. Love the colors and the Road Wheels! I’ve seen a few of these around in the past, but never a coupe. This copper ’75 I spotted way back in 1999. A Capsule on this very car, by Jason Moreland, can be found here: https://www.curbsideclassic.com/uncategorized/cc-capsule-1975-buick-electra-225-take-your-time/
Buuurrrp…..you going to eat that Fit?
You’ve got that backwards:
First-gen Fit ads were clever but mostly only ran in long-lead magazines; no point in advertising when you’re selling to a waiting list anyway.
By the way JP, did you notice that nice yellow Eldorado in the background? Wonder if it had the always cool matching yellow leather…
I was right! (On my second guess, with the help of Carmine). Now on to the 160 comments…
That Electra really shows the family resemblance to my 76 Coupe Deville. I took the Caddy on a 350 mile round trip road trip over the last 2 days, you should have seen the double-takes people did when they got passed by a bright blue 70s Cadillac on I-70. The car was right where it wanted to be at 85 mph on the interstate. Of course the 10.5 mpg I calculated for the trip was less fun, but you only live once, so it might as well be in a giant car.
I would’ve given you the ‘thumbs up’ sign had I been on the highway and you passed me in a ’76 Cadillac beastie. I’d just like to see a ‘live’ one around where I live. There don’t seem to be any, however, even though I live in the middle of GA where salted roads are quite uncommon in winter.
Awesome vehicle. It’s near twin is for sale on Ebay right now, but with a more tasteful all black interior.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Buick-Electra-225-1975-buick-electra-custom-all-original-true-survivor-/221258393246?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item338407269e&vxp=mtr
The man who imported my Plymouth just recently imported and sold this very white
(no vinyl roof) 1976 Buick Electra Limited Coupe. He also imported a 1976 Cadillac Coupe de Ville. Same platform and size I guess ? (Judging the picture on his website)
Drove a ’76 LeSabre Custom in college in the early Eighties– a hand-me-down from Mom. She had purchased it in 1978 or so with over 80K on the clock from the widow of a traveling salesman in South Florida. Buick 350 (alleged to be a big block?), 4bbl, THM, Frigidaire with “cubes” setting, Jensen 6×9’s in back, tweeters in front, with a radio that had a special button that went directly to the National Weather Service (!) broadcast – I guess when you drive 40K miles a year, it behooves you to watch the weather closely… 60/40 power front seat in light brown corduroy, PW, PB, and the gunshot power locks to which Carmine refers. It probably had whatever the Buick version of FE3 or 9C1 suspension was; I know it had swaybars. Two-tone (metallic brown w/tan top – not vinyl) – and a 4-door hardtop! – it was big, it was fast, it was quick, tight, and quiet. With the exception of a fuel pump blowout in the middle of the night in South Carolina on an I-95 run, the car never let me down unless I did something to it first (e.g., tried to rebuild the carburetor). I gave it back after I was graduated, and it soon after began to succumb to the tinworm. I recently saw an identical car for sale somewhere in the Midwest in like-new condition – if I lived in CONUS I’d be hard-pressed not to buy it, 16 mpg or no. It was an outstanding vehicle. Like many things, I can look back on it and wish I’d appreciated its virtues then as much as I would today. If I recall correctly, Paul has mentioned his quest for a ’76 LeSabre CC, with mysterious references to his motivation; I hope he finds one soon.
Hi,
My wife has one of these:-)
MY wife at 14 helped her dad buy it.
It only has 35K miles 🙂
It runs great, had plenty of power.
It does get ~20mpg ON the highway at 70 mph
It has the landau top.. and the original 8 track tape..
It is sweet……
I wish I could buy a car like it today
Beautiful car! What wrong with you morons? These were the cars of our Fathers and Grandfathers. The rest of the world wished they could drive cars like this.
Sure they were huge, loud, wasteful, maybe even gaudy with their interiors. They were saying to the world “We are Americans and this is what we drive!”
I’ve driven Buicks all of my life thanks to my wonderful late Father. Electras, Skylarks, Rivieras, Regals and now a ’96 Roadmaster. Today’s cars suck! Sure they’re reliable but they have too much damn elctronics and are all computer controlled. No styling or character. You can’t tell a Kia from a Hyundai from a Lexus from a Mercedez etc. Pathetic!
These cars had character and presence. The 455 engine was one of the best ever made. ’76 was the last year for these before the hideous redesign and downsizing. No one made better big cars than the General.
40 years from now NO ONE will be talking about the Corolla, Civic or any of the other crap that people are forced to drive today. Plastic throw away cars that cost too much.
I leased a Honda Accord when I moved to the city only because I needed a smaller car than my Cadillac DTS and the dealership was around the corner. A co-worker asked how I liked it because his friend just bought one and she absolutely LOVES it. I told him it’s a GD buggy, no I don’t “love” it and where I’m from we’re used to driving Cadillacs and Corvettes.
I had a 72 Electra and a 76 lesabre. Both had the 455. The 72 would get up and run. You could accelerate up a really steep hill like it want there and it was comfortable. I liked that big boat. The 76 lesabre didn’t have the power or the comfort of the 72 and used more gas too. Didn’t keep the 76 long. The 72 I miss. But I dou t I will get another one. If I get another 70s car will be a 77 or 78 Lincoln or a 70 Cadillac or an imperial.
At one time probably between the 1970s through 1980s, Buicks were considered Medical Professions (Doctors/Surgeons) Car. The Buicks that slogan unofficially were referred to were probably the Le Sabre and Electra 225s. To Doctors, these were probably the next best things to Cadillacs because they had much more of the creature comforts and luxury at a fraction of a cost especially a fully loaded 1976 Buick Electra 2 Door Coupe vs. a 1976 Cadillac Coupe De Ville with only the standard equipment without the add on options per say.
My first new car, the original 1975 Buick Electra Limited Park Avenue. List price was $6900. 234″ length on 127″ wheelbase. 455 CID V8.
70s Buicks were always so over-the-top gaudy and pimp moreso than Cadillacs and that’s why I love them.
Love the styling of this car including the “living room sofa” comfort and quiet.. Would take it over a bland, bone-rattling, chrome-less, new “luxury” sedan any day. These cars were made to cruise on the highways. Buy a ’76 Buick and….Make America Great Again!
I had a neighbor with a ’76 Buick Electra when I was a little boy. The deep sound of the engine and exhaust and the cool rear bumper lights fascinated me. I kept my eye out for one of these until I rescued one from a demolition derby buyer in 2000. That was nearly 40,000 miles ago. It doesn’t float; it has a nice ride to it. Parking it isn’t hard, either. The engine and drive train have been trouble-free, and the leather seats are holding up very well. The only rattle I hear is from the center arm rest from time to time, so the complaints from others about poor overall construction simply aren’t panning out. The only body issue has been rust bubbles behind the rear window on one side and trim issues, as mentioned, such as crummy plastic and rubber trim pieces (rear quarter windows; plastic faux wood on the inside of the doors; filler panels on rear bumper). Just about any American car back then had plastic and rubber issues. The engine averages 13 – 15 mpg, which is just as good or better than several of the modern SUV’s and pickup trucks that are on the roads here in Indiana. In fact, I liked the ’76 so well that I bought a 1975 LeSabre Custom Convertible out of a barn, too. Both have been good, reliable cars with comfortable rides.
That is one nice-looking piece of ’70s Buick machinery. I’d drive it to the grocery store and snag some Twinkies!
Looking at the photo with the ‘lock’ on the steering wheel it appears the door lock itself is in the ^up^ position. I thought those door locks went further down than that. Or maybe the driver’s side door is indeed unlocked!
I was never that fond of those big GM cars, but my wife learned how to drive on her dad’s ’73 Coupe deVille. He was a foreman at a Paper Mill. Piled five kids into that thing when they went on a family outing- no problem with room. Kept the car until ’87, and I thought he was going to cry the day he sold it. For all the crappy build quality, that beast ran almost 300,000 relatively trouble free miles. Towards the end, it burned oil, the transmission slipped, and the Climate Control didn’t… but the body and interior were in amazing shape (obviously he cared for it). The Banana Boat, as we affectionately called it.
Thank You for reposting this, this is why I love this site. What a great post and responses for this beastly thing of a car. Shut up left brain I would totally love it to own this ……thing. My collection of coal continues today as I bring my newest jewel home …a 1990 (roach of the road but hey it was free) Toyota Corolla.
I have been away for a while as life intervenes, but still drop in from time to time. It still amazes me the cars I find out here on the far north west coast, I have got to start taking a camera with me. Example: A mid 70’s B210 with tape graphics and all passed me on the freeway (I5) just as I was taking my exit… No it was under it’s own power and not on a tow truck. When I see it again I may chase it down for pictures.
My best friend’s dad bought a ‘76 Electra Limeted coupe new, “back in the day.” Beautiful car in gold metallic with buckskin vinyl top and gold velour interior. I had the pleasure to travel in it several times… smooth ride, quiet as a bank vault.
As an only child, my friend often got dibs on the AM/FM 8-track. On one of their first family trips together, his dad freaked out when Space Intro by Steve Miller started playing. He thought a wheel bearing had failed and one of the wheels was getting ready to fall off!
I don’t remember any issues with the car. It was always garaged and saw mostly occasional use. It remained in the family for about 8 or 9 years until it was traded in on a new B body Oldsmobile coupe.
This topic being about classic Buick I recently bought beautiful A body 72 Buick Skylark coupe emerald green exterior color with black vinyl bench interior 350 4B, Factory AMFM radio, Factory AC, rally wheels 1 owner since new has 55K original miles with all documentation wondow sticker and manuals.
Love these 71-76 C Bodies. Im not a GM fanboy…but these are stylish giants. Just love them. I know about the cheapo plastic and cracking armrests, the panel gaps and double-slam doors first hand…but once you look past what they could have been as new cars and look at what they are: as one first time, awed passenger in my Ninety Eight said “this is the American Dream on wheels”. And, I might add, the last unadulterated manifestation of that dream before compromises of many kinds became necessary. A 19 foot coupe with a smooth engine and transmission that eats highways and potholes, cruises all day at 75 mph, has your living room couch furnishing, and can tow a huge trailer if you want it to do so.
I would love a garage with this in dark green, my Olds, and a Fleetwood Brougham in triple navy. And I am glad I took the plunge and bought one. Still love the 77+ models, but sometimes, when you give that big block a push and hustle these beasties up steep hill, you realize that sometimes, more really is more.
Gratuitous 98 pic.
As the owner of a all original 78,000 mile 74 Impala Sport Coupe and as I had a aunt with a 76 4dr Electra until the mid 90’s, I LOVE THESE CARS. Space effiency and fuel mileage be damned! Wish I had 20 of ’em.
The Doonesbury comic strip made a statement about the Electra in the year of the fuel crisis 1974.
And the way the car is drawn is screaming “Ford Granada” at me…
My wife’s granddad had a ’76 “Duece-and-a-Quarter” back when she and I were dating during college. She had it at school for a while, so I’d get to drive it from time to time. It was a four door, but the same color combo as the one in this article. Her family called it, appropriately, the “Queen Mary”.
Driving it was like piloting the Queen Mary in heavy seas, so bad was the “dutch roll” of the wallowy ride. The steering could best be described as “disconnected.” Any translation of movement of the steering wheel to the front tires was purely coincidental. It reminded me of the kiddie car ride at the old amusement park where the “steering” wheels simply spun without doing anything. The big smog-choked 455 got off the line okay, sort of, then fell into 3-pack-a-day wheezer mode. Forget trying to pass a semi on a busy two-lane highway. The interior was a cheesy brown bordello. Plenty o’ room in the back seat, though, for…well, you can guess…
What an awful piece of crap that 225 was. I despised that car (except the back seat).
Nice car although I prefer the 1971-72 Electra’s because of the roof design, the smaller & smoother bumpers and the engines weren’t fully smogged like they were from 1973 onward, if I were to buy a full sized luxury car in 1976 I would get the Mercury Grand Marquis or Marquis Brougham.
Yes Minstrel, I like my 76 Grand Marquis just fine.
Just incredible. An economy gauge on a 2 ton 455 powered car. Still, I suppose every drop counts if you’re only getting 12 mpg max.
Actually, you can pull 14 or even 15 in these on the highway. The notion of these getting 6 blocks to the gallon is just hyperbole.
The notion of these getting 6 blocks to the gallon is just hyperbole.>/i>
Not really. Driving in the city is a different story.
We had 1973 Chevrolet Kingwood with 454 with prodigious appetite for volatile remainders of dinosaurs.
Really prodigious.
So prodigious that the petrol station attendants weeped in joy when seeing us for another round of drinks.
Terribly prodigious that my father’s employer signed the death warrant for the Kingwood and demanded its less thirsty replacement.
Just sayin’
I’m not saying 10 or 11 to the gallon is good by any means in fact, its awful, but it’s a lot better than 7 or 8 on 50s cars…also with respect to your ’73, by ’75 and ’76 I believe the cars had different, taller ratios, and were a little more fuel efficient…I have never managed to get mine down to single digit mileage. Always at least 10 and that was driving in NYC and then stop and go traffic on the L.I.E. I have a 26 or so gallon tank so I usually get 275-325 miles between fill ups (of 93 octane, it diesels on anything less)
Speaking of fuel types, Orrin, when I go to fill up my ’64 Falcon here in middle GA there’s this 1 gas station in town that sells Non-Ethanol/90 Octane fuel. Every other local gas station I know of has the 10% Ethanol blend for the 87,89 and 93 octane fuel they’re selling. My chiropractor told me a couple of months ago there was more than one station around town that sells a no-ethanol fuel blend but he couldn’t tell me which stations they were. So who knows . . . ? He may well have heard that second-hand from another patient who also heard it from someone else. I just know of the one station. Of course, the Non-Ethanol fuel is more expensive because it has to be stored in separate tanks and the trucks that carry it can’t also carry the ubiquitous 10% Eth-blend. → That’s what I was told, anyway, at the Community Superette where I buy my non-ethanol fuel. I think Cheapo Falcon prefers the non-ethanol so I keep paying the extra $dosh$ involved in buying it.
Here’s a link to the California Mileage Guide for 1976 –
On page 9 it reports that the mileage for a 455 Electra is
11 City
16 Highway
13 City/Highway
https://nepis.epa.gov/Exe/ZyNET.exe/9100MVWR.txt?ZyActionD=ZyDocument&Client=EPA&Index=Prior%20to%201976%7CHardcopy%20Publications&Docs=&Query=Buyers%20guide&Time=&EndTime=&SearchMethod=2&TocRestrict=n&Toc=&TocEntry=&QField=&QFieldYear=&QFieldMonth=&QFieldDay=&UseQField=&IntQFieldOp=0&ExtQFieldOp=0&XmlQuery=&File=D%3A%5CZYFILES%5CINDEX%20DATA%5C70THRU75%5CTXT%5C00000013%5C9100MVWR.txt&User=ANONYMOUS&Password=anonymous&SortMethod=h%7C-&MaximumDocuments=15&FuzzyDegree=0&ImageQuality=r85g8/r85g8/x150y150g16/i425&Display=h%7Cp%7Cf&DefSeekPage=x&SearchBack=ZyActionL&Back=ZyActionS&BackDesc=Results%20page&MaximumPages=1&ZyEntry=8
I get between 10.5 and 11.5 in “local” driving with the similar Olds 98/Olds 455 combo…EPA estimate on that was, I believe, 13/17, but a 1976 Popular Mechanics Owners Report came back with 12.1/15.7, which is more on target.
https://books.google.com/books?id=3uEDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA82&dq=1976+Oldsmobile+Ninety+Eight&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjvv_LpqtLWAhVhw1QKHU6jBi0Q6AEILjAB#v=onepage&q&f=true
Nice well maintained Buick Electra although I prefer the 1971-72 Electra’s because of the smaller & smoother bumper’s, better looking roofline and the engine’s not being fully smogged and polluted with Emission Control Devices
Forgive me for re-sending this message twice, I’ve just cleaned out my computer and thought I wasn’t able to get this message posted because I wasn’t logged on, I apologize for posting this message twice.
My mom bought a 4 door Buick Park Avenue limited in 1991. It was 15 years old she paid $900 for it. It was a great car for us at the time. Later after her second divorce she sold it for $400. I cried when the car left us. They are impractical huge inefficient and useless by today’s standards. But it does bring back a lot of good memories.
I’ll take another 4 door hard top in cream with a tan top and matching velour interior power everything with the 455 and 3 speed auto. The memories are worth it for a keepsake. The 9 mpg on a good day…. not so much for daily use
At 60 cents a gallon back in ’76 I suppose a fill up was more affordable. A friend had a ’76 Delta 88 with one of those econo-meters. I could see his eyes dart to that thing when pulling away from every stop light, tensing up until it reached the green. That was just with a 350 I believe. Ahh the excess of the ’70s.
Excellent piece, enjoyable read, JP. Thanks
Moparlee, there’s this thing called inflation. 60 cents in 1976 equals $2.62 today. That’s more than gas is going for in the US. So it was more expensive to fill up that Buick in 1976 than it would be today.
Agree that this is a ridiculous car, but that is a great rear end in the last picture, looks very clean and could only come from the US
The rear bumper is well integrated and all the styling elements on the back end work for me and are up to the standards of the 60s designs, not keen on the half vinyl roof or the front headlights, the round quads on the Chevy pictured look far better.
I did have a 75 Cad Eldorado once and the power output of those rectangular lights was pathetic, did the US have laws restricting power output? We did so in the UK but the headlamps on my 69 Jag were laser beams in comparison
Ridiculous in the UK for sure, not so for the US of A where it’s 3000 miles wide.
Just try SF to NYC some time, we have, in total comfort in a ’75 Sedan De Ville.
Fangio was once asked by John Bond what car he’d want for a cross-country drive, fully expecting him to pick a Ferrari grand touring model… Fangio relied: “a Cadillac, most certainly”.
For the birth of our first child, I took my wife to the hospital in a VW Beetle, and picked her up in the ’72 Estate Wagon I acquired for that purpose. I figured it would be easier to bring what we needed for the baby in a wagon. Mistake. In that Buick, we could easily bring everything we had for the baby (as opposed to just what we needed) and maybe the Beetle too.
According to the registration, it weighed 5,300 pounds. It ran on ambulance tires. I lived one mile from my office. If I drove it to work and home for lunch every day in cold weather the choke never came off, and it got two mpg! Best mileage I ever got in it was 13. I achieved that over the highway between NY and Washington with the speed buzzer set at 55, windows up and a/c off.
It was good looking, spacious and comfortable. It didn’t accelerate or handle really well. All by itself, my one wagon was probably responsible for at least one gasoline crisis. It wasn’t reliable either. I owned it, and one other GM car in the 70’s. As a result, I’ve never bought, or even considered buying another GM car in all the years since.
Wow so many people putting down these big beautiful boats. i gotta say my mother had a series of impalas 64 through 69 and they were the most reliable cars on the road. she had a thing for the Electra 225 and i have to admit i really liked these cars. as do many people today as some of you have mentioned thats why Escalades, Yukons and the king of the family hauler…Suburban still sell really well. in fact they are now selling better than your luxury imports. in many ways America will always have a “bigger is better” mentality thats what i grew up with. It would be nice if people has respect for these cars that some of us and i’m sure many here’s parents drove and loved. i myself had a number of these big landcruisers and can say that there is nothing like floating down the road in sheer oppulance and top line comfort that most new cars can’t begin to match. i myself owned many, 72 eldorado,73 coupe de ville, 72 lincoln town car and coupe,72 imperial, 79 caprice…etc. these cars will always have a place in my heart and memories. for those of you that can’t understand the significance these cars had and have to our lifestyles and way of living………………sorry you missed out!!!!
Yes there were ’76 Electras with the Buick 350, albeit very rare. There was recently a burgundy one for sale in South Carolina, a no-option 2 door with 14,700 original miles and very well documented. Assembly line condition still with the original tires with deep cracks between the tread. Seat pattern was plain, looked like would be in a LeSabre
I absolutely LOVE these beasts, as a 4-door hardtop, but the 2-door gives me mixed emotions. When they did away with the hardtop style with roll-down windows, it lost some of its magic for me. And, the way the front and rear halves of the car join at the B-pillar always bugged me. Still, a beautiful car.
I always liked the ’71-76 Electra. To me, it struck a nice balance between the more conservative feel of the Ninety-Eight, and the more over-the-top opulence of the DeVille.
Love it. I had a 2 door Olds 98 version a couple years newer, with a 403 V8 that as a kid I thought would be a monster LOL
It was pretty sedate but a honey to pilot.
The 1974-76 Electra is right at the top of my personal list of cars that look WAY better in their four-door versions than as coupes. A few sedans have been posted higher up in the comments that show this.
I had a ’74 sedan as my daily driver from 1992-96 and loved it. While no economy champ, mine got between 12-25 MPG. That was a lot better than the ’77 Town Car I had owned previously, which would not do better than 9.5 no matter how you drove it.
BTW, these are a few inches longer than Cadillac Coupe/Sedan deVilles of the same vintage. The extra inches are in the rear overhang. An Electra has a noticeably roomier trunk than a Sedan deVille.
Quite a juxtaposition. On the left side of the brain – er car – the little white Honda? Fit sits economically. Smartly styled, complete logic at hand. Eager to deliver groceries, kids to school, or to commute to the office. Can carry just a few passengers. On the right side, the huge Lakefront bus awaits. Massive, able to carry many passengers, all the while having a fossil fuel buffet.
I’ll bet the Buick (bus) has carried not many more passengers than the Honda, while enjoying much more at the buffet!
Beauty shots!
My name is Chip.
I love fender skirts, tilt/telescope steering wheels, cornering lights and the thermometer mirrors.
My favorite car is the 1974 Cadillac Fleetwood Talisman because brougham couldn’t be better than these!!
Whew!!! I feel better!
Well, until I get that email that throws me out of CC and bans me from further comments!!!!
I’m attracted and repulsed by this Buick at the same time. I really like its styling, but its size is a complete turn off for me. I often hear the comment that Buicks were old money vehicles, owned by wealthy people who did not like to flaunt their money and this vehicle perfectly personifies that image. Now I look at what Buick sells, nondescript suv’s and cuv’s. How the mighty have fallen.
Buick made the best-looking ’71-76 GM biggie, though I’d prefer the earlier front end. And the whole thing run through a Shrink-Ray, to, maybe, 80% of this size? That oughta fit in today’s parking spaces OK .
This article is a Curbside Classic classic!
”1976 was a fascinating year” : I lived in Montréal at the time and everyone wanted to ride in this Olympic pick-up edition (…even Nadia has one), Buick had to wait until ’84 to be the proud representative of the Olympus with its Century
I don’t know why I like big cars so much. Must have started when my father got that 1970 Olds 98 with the 455. The power was intoxicating.
Usually my left brain has firm control on all aspects of my life. In fact there are only two situations were my right brain asserts itself. One is with late 60’s and early 70’s land yachts. Two, is women with dark haired, dark almond shaped eyes. Actually swap one with two. So while my C Body Dodge is a large car I love my A Body far more.