If you’re going to do something wrong, do it big (Jayne Mansfield)
When Bigger Cars Are Built, Buick Will Build Them
If you’ve got it, flaunt it: 225. Or 40-21-35. Inches, that is. In both cases, they’re the vital statistics that the big Buick and Jayne Mansfield blatantly flouted and capitalized upon. Where else but in the America of the times would a car proclaim its length as part of its very name? And where Jayne’s bust size was a household number? If the two of them didn’t have enough in common already, it turns out that Mansfield was killed in an Electra 225 in 1967, something I didn’t know at the time I decided to pair the two up for this article. But how could I resist forging ahead with this obvious pairing, even though it might be a stretch to write much about this overstuffed Buick other than describe its obvious assets. Like Jayne, it was meant to be looked at, not analyzed.
That was by Jayne’s own admission. She was acknowledged to be intelligent (she claimed her IQ was 163), spoke five languages, and was a classically trained pianist and violinist. Mansfield admitted her public didn’t care about her brains. “They’re more interested in 40-21-35″. And that first number eventually swelled to 46.
The Electra flaunted its size too, perhaps even more blatantly than Jayne. The Electra 225 first appeared in 1959, with the surname a handy reminder to the public of how just long it was, in inches. That would be like Mansfield changing her name to Jayne 40-21-35. Ironically, the ’67 is an inch shorter, at 224 inches. Buick obviously didn’t see fit to change its numbering; can’t have that, it would be like Jayne having breast reduction surgery and advertising it. For what it’s worth though, the original ’59 Electra 225 would have been an even more fitting memorial to Jayne.
Vera Jayne Palmer was born in 1933, in Pennsylvania. Aged sixteen, she secretly married Paul Mansfield, and they moved to Austin, Texas where she studied dramatics at the University. She won several beauty contests there, with titles that included “Miss Photoflash,” “Miss Magnesium Lamp” and “Miss Fire Prevention Week.” The only title she ever turned down was “Miss Roquefort Cheese,” because she believed that it “just didn’t sound right.” A few years later, they moved to LA, of course.
I don’t know of any beauty titles the Buicks were winning, but they were mighty handsome in this period. Whereas the big Pontiacs were hard to beat up through 1966, by 1967 the Buicks were giving them a serious run for the beauty gold. In my book, this particular model year stands out as perhaps one of the best of the whole classic big car genre: huge and excessive, yes; but with just enough restraint to keep it from winning any “Cheesy Big Car” awards.
Jayne’s career was a mixed bag, kick-started by an endless stream of publicity stunts that all centered on exposing her mammaries to one degree or another. In a period of 18 months in ’56 and ’57, she appeared in 2500 newspaper photos and had some 122k lines of copy written about her breasts. There were numerous “accidents”, which made Janet Jackson’s “wardrobe failure” look like child’s play. She was smart enough to know which of her assets to leverage, given the times.
Unlike for Jayne, I do have SFW shots of the Buick’s ample rear. This would have made a perfect car for her to plant her tush on the rear deck for a parade: “Miss Magnesium Lamp”.
It wasn’t only men that checked out Jayne’s assets. These two pics are the proof: Sophia Loren taking stock of the competition; looks like she’s finally more than met her match. Nothing subtle here; neither Loren’s gaze nor Mansfield’s dress. This incident was actually another publicity stunt designed to upstage Loren at a dinner party in her honor.
But then some things never change.
Drop the top all the way on the Electra, and there’s two big cushy seats to run your hands over. Looks to me like these are vinyl though, not genuine mammal skins. And if you really feel like cozying up, just flip up that center arm rest, and snuggle away. There’s plenty of room for two to have fun, preferably if the car isn’t actually moving. Just the thing to park at the lake on a warm and starry summer night. What else is a big convertible good for?
This shot appears to prove that Jayne really did play the violin (here right before her second marriage in 1958). But look at this simple fenced-in back yard pool and patio; it looks so middle class. It’s easy to forget how actually modestly paid the stars of the fifties were compared to today, and the impact a 90% top incremental tax bracket had in the fifties. Although Jayne’s house in LA was a bit less modest than this weekend retreat in Palm Springs.
The Electra Convertible wasn’t exactly the most common middle class fare either, but then it wouldn’t have been that much of a stretch. Its list price of $4421 ($30k adjusted) was quite a chunk less than the next step up in GM’s convertible hierarchy, the De Ville, which went for $5600. For that extra $2200 one got the same basic car under the skin, but the Caddy name, prestige and a bit nicer interior. Performance wise, there was probably no real difference; Buck’s new 430 CID V8 Wildcat 475 (another big number, as in its torque) was a 360 hp gem, and every bit as smooth and silent as the Caddy. Money well saved.
The times they were a changing, for both Jayne and big convertibles like the Buick. Their heyday was the fifties; by the mid sixties they were both anachronisms. The platinum bombshell days were over in Hollywood, and Mansfield’s career steadily declined, until she had to resort to doing cheap magazine covers and playing nightclubs, and getting to them in a Buick Electra.
On June 28th, 1967, late at night near Biloxi, Mississippi, she met her grisly fate riding in a 1966 Electra 225 sedan driven by a twenty year old. He plowed into the back end of a stopped chemical tanker, shearing off the top of the Buick and part of Mansfield’s upper head (I truly didn’t know this when I picked the convertible). The since-mandated low bars attached to the back of all trailer trucks designed to prevent such an accident are commonly called Mansfield bars.
The big Buick convertibles, like the rest of GM’s big rag tops, were nearing the end of the line too. Less than 6k of these ’67s were made and within a few more years exposing one’s large private spaces in public became passé. Air conditioning and changing social values made folks want to ride inside, not outside; sitting out on front porches after supper went the same way too. But the joy of floating along in a big open-top deuce and a quarter is still as timeless as certain female attributes, as this owner will tell you. And if I’ve made a mistake co-mingling Jayne with this Buick, at least it was a big one.
I probably knew at the time, but I’ve since forgotten that crash pic. Ugh
A real bush-league photo at the end. It exaggerates what the ragtop profile was at speed.
From the moment I saw the headline on this story, I was thinking SHE GOT KILLED IN ONE!
I remember that car being in a small tourist trap “museum” in St. Augustine, FL just down the street from the Fountain of Youth historical site (and where we’d camp doing the Drake’s Raid and Searle’s Raid reenactments). This was back in the Ninties, I dropped out of historical reenactment for awhile in the early 2000’s, then when I went back in the 2010’s the museum was gone.
Never went into the place. Not my idea of a “tourist attraction”.
Scott Michaels, a friend of a friend, eventually bought the car and put it on display at his museum in Hollywood until it closed in 2020. I think it is in storage now. I saw it – inadvertently – when I was visiting my friend who was working there and I agree, not my idea of a tourist attraction either. However, I do give Scott credit as he has done some interesting and compassionate videos about individuals involved in tragedies, including one on the young man driving the car. Check it out if you visit his website:
A few small tidbits about the Mansfield crash. Her attorney and driver were also killed, but her three young children sleeping in the backseat were unhurt.
And it’s been debated as to her scalping. Often, it’s said she was decapitated, but the item seen in one photo might only have been a wig she was wearing. Of course, that’s not nearly as sensational (nor as grisly).
Her career was filled with publicity stunts (she often bared her breasts) and was on the downswing when she was killed at the age of 34.
I think it’s pretty much been proven that was a wig and not her head.
The other thing to note is near the end of her life Jane was a devotee of Anton Lavey.and his Church of Satan and had occult ceremonies at her “pink house”..
I wonder how much resistance there was to implementing the ”Mansfield Bar’ ?
There was always some pushback to anything designed to safeguard the public. No matter if it was worker safety, highway or car safety, pollution, cigarette warnings etc.
My own grandparents considered it “bad luck” to talk about any accident, illness, or public/worker safety issues. It would be as if you were tempting fate to strike you down if it was even mentioned !
Road safety has come a long way. Not only are the cars safer, people are much less likely to drive around pie-eyed. My own father would drink beer out of a paper cup with a straw on road trips. Doing that in Canada today would probably land you in jail. DUI is a serious business here but it wasn’t like that in 1970.
Every regulation is written in blood. The Mansfield bar couldn’t have cost that much, but it wouldn’t surprise me if they tried to sue the government over its implementation.
Appearantly, no resistance at Oxford University: https://www.mansfield.ox.ac.uk/alumni/mansfield-lives/the-evolution-of-the-college-bar/ So much for modern American history studies there. Or did a cryptic sort of dark humor play a role?
A rumor was going aroud claiming that a curse set by a former close “friend” was reponsible for her death. I don’t remember why this supposed curse was set. But the supposed cursor likely believed that he could summon one:
https://www.interviewmagazine.com/culture/secret-history-jayne-mansfields-bizarre-connection-church-satan
That oblong tail light is positively divoon. Could it make the car look any wider?
Mariska Hargitay her daughter did get a scar from the crash, but that was it. Jayne was master of marketing and monetiing it. Oddly enough, her dramatic movies were very good and no one paid attention. When she was in Alfred Hitchcock’s show with Tony Randall it was spectacular.
One issue with cars that size was, well, their size. Where I’m from in the mountains of NY a car that big just wasn’t a realistic option. But in places like TX< CA etc they were perfect. And as you can see from a Dutch press pic, Jayne's rear was nowhere as over the top as the 225's.
CC-effect, well almost. I was on the 2 hour drive to my parents for yesterday for Father’s Day and came up behind a red Electra convertible. At 80km/h I could clearly hear the V8 above my car radio (which I then switched off to enjoy the V8 soundtrack!). When it pulled over I saw it was a ’69 rather than a ’67, but given how rare late-60s Electra convertibles are here in New Zealand, I’ll take it as a CC-effect win!
Coming up in the Black community in the 60s, the Electra 225 or “Deuce and a quarter” as they were affectionately called, were quite popular. At one point, they were as popular as Caddys and Lincolns.
To complete the look, no Deuce and a Quarter worth its salt would be without Trues and Vogues, i.e., True Spoke wire basket wheels (the wires would invariably come off) and Vogue double gold stripe tires.
While dimensions continue commonly to be used as product descriptions in many industries, explicit mention of length does seem rare in cars although allusions were once common (SWB, LWB, EWB, an appended “L” etc). The Maybach revival used “57” (5.7 meters long) & “62” (6.2 meters) and some of the Land Rovers were designated according to the wheelbase in inches (88, 110 etc); there was the Ford GT40 but that was about height. There may be others.
Not only Sophia Loren’s eye was drawn. Shot three months after the famous photo, this is Shirley Perdew (1939-2020), seemingly unable to avert her gaze, looking at Jayne Mansfield. Ms Perdew had just been crowned “Miss Hollywood 1957” and, as a former “Miss Photoflash”, Ms Mansfield had been invited to join the voting panel; the event was held at the Garden of Allah Hotel, Hollywood. Jayne Mansfield reputedly also declined to be named “Miss Prime Rib” which seems a missed opportunity although she was sentimental about animals.
This yellow Buick is glorious ! .
Mansfield was cute but I don’t like blond hair much less platinum .
Bummer she died so young .
-Nate
I have a buddy that survived a similar crash. One night, he was hitchhiking and these two drunks picked him up. He was exhausted and went to sleep in the backseat. The car also submarined under a truck, killing both drunks. When the Police found them, they looked through the wreck, and thought he was also dead. He regained consciousness after emergency surgery as the sole survivor, but critically injured. Took him six months of rehab to get back on his feet.
Glad we have Mansfield bars now.
Just a week ago I was driving behind a long school bus without Mansfield bars; because they move slowly and have large lights and reflective signs on the back, the bars aren’t required. Even large trucks weren’t required to have Mansfield bars until 1988, over two decades after Jayne died from sustained injuries from a non-underride-bar-equipped large truck
I see that my comment regarding tastelessness of this entry was removed. Will this one be as well?
No.
Buick’s of the late sixties and early seventies have always been magical to Me! My earliest recollection of riding in a car was in My father’s 72′ Electra hardtop Coupe’! Theses cars whispered I have arrived, not screaming like Cadillac. Thanks for your enjoyable article!!
The back end of a ramp truck today looks like it could do serious damage if rear ended