GM’s new 1961 cars appeared just a few weeks after we arrived in the US. I instantly fell in love with all of them, and covered up the walls of my side of the shared bedroom with dreamy ads and brochure images. Having deeply immersed myself in them virtually, the next thing was to spot them on the streets. One by one, all the various brands and models and body styles revealed themselves in their lithe new flesh; that is, except for these two: the Buick Electra and Olds 98 two-door hardtop coupes. Nary a one to be seen on the streets of Iowa City.
The same goes for the streets of Eugene, not surprisingly. I’m sure my eyes must have laid on one or two in the intervening sixty years; probably a tired, rusty and sagging one in New York or Baltimore. I’ve long given up the hunt for the real thing and so will have to share these with you virtually too, thanks to the web. But even there the pickings are slim, so let’s do this before they’re all gone.
This is how I remember it, and what a perfectly staged setting for what should have been our arrival in the US. Why wasn’t it there out front when we arrived in Cedar Rapids? Instead I had to ride in my dad’s boss’ wife’s dumpy 1949 Plymouth wagon. I was deprived of the Olds’ Skyrocket engine, Hydramatic Drive featuring Accel-A-Rotor action, never mind Roto-Matic power steering and Pedal-Ease power brakes. Welcome to America!
Buick seemed less enthusiastic about its Electra coupe, giving it bottom billing in this brochure page, and in not very flattering colors.
1961 was the last model year that GM Design VP Harley Earl was still in charge. In response to the excesses of 1958-1959, the 1961’s were a bit smaller externally as well as taller, for better interior room. Despite these practical concessions to a new decade, these cars’ styling was still firmly entrenched in the rocket-age idiom of the 1950s, including bubbletop roofs. Unlike in 1959-1960 when everyone from Chevy to Cadillac shared the same roof, the 1961 big C-Bodies got their own unique hardtop coupe roof. These turned out to be one-year wonders, as the 1962’s were quickly changed to reflect the influence of both the 1961 Continental as well as the preferences of new design boss Bill Mitchell.
We’ve given the Cadillac version some well-deserved attention here over the years, including a design analysis of how its “skegs” evolved during the design process. It was was more popular than the Olds and Buick versions, outselling them each by a ratio of 10:1. Its take rate was much higher, at 32% of total Series 62 and Deville lines. I clearly remember seeing my first one, a white one in a driveway of a very fine ranch house in Estes Park, CO. on our first vacation there in the summer of 1961.
The Electra coupe was chosen by only 8.9% of Electra/225 buyers, for a total of 4,250. That explains their rarity, then and now.
The grille of the Buick is effective and attractive, not over-wrought or gimmicky. One of the best that year, in my opinion. The 1962’s was duller.
It’s not uncommon to read that Bill Mitchell was responsible for the ’61s; Earl didn’t retire as VP of Design until December of 1958, by which time the design work on the ’61 models was by then well under way. This shot of the bladed fender and bumper “Dagmar” rather scream “Harley Earl”. 1950’s baroque gets a final outing.
As of course does the airy bubbletop roof. At least it was genuinely airier than the previous generation, meaning more interior space. If you’ve ever sat in the back of a ’59-’60 bubbletop, this was much appreciated. head room was greater, as was leg room, thanks to higher seats and taller roofs.
This complex jet-inspired tail light is another final artifact of the Earl era; it too was drastically simplified for 1962.
The dash is pretty typical of GM design for that time, and the deeply-dished steering wheel was another hallmark of the big GM cars.
It’s a concoction of 1950s lushness with a strong dash of 1960’s bitters; the basic shape of big GM cars through 1964. A hybrid, of sorts.
One does wonder what the ’61s would have looked like if Mitchell had taken the reins one year earlier? The 1963 Riviera, two years sooner?
As a frame of reference, here’s the bubbletop used on the B-Bodies. I did manage to find this one in Eugene.
And this is what the C-Body coupes morphed into for 1962.
The big Olds’ styling was a bit fussier than the Buick’s. It’s even got rocket skegs to go along with the pointy fender tips and afterburner tail lights. Like the Buick, its rear end was pretty drastically sanitized for ’62.
The Olds 98 coupe was just as unpopular as the Buick, with only 4,445 made, some 10% of the 98 line. It’s rather understandable why the Cadillac coupe was so much more popular, as a regular Olds 88 really made quite a bit more sense if you wanted a coupe. The same applies with the Buick; why not just get a LeSabre or Invicta? Their more rounded versions of the bubbletop also were more organic than this one with its roof’s rather sharp trailing edge.
The Olds’ front end comes off rather affected. It’s not a “pretty face” like the Buick’s, and the elements are not very cohesive and seem a bit overdone. It’s just a bit off, and not much in keeping with the times.
Those wheel covers have to be one of the more complex and expensive ones of the era. They’re trying awfully hard to look like exotic cast aluminum wheels. I’d rather like one for a wall clock.
Here’s a better view of that roomier rear seat. But it’s still not a nice place to sit when the sun’s out. That whole jet-plane bubbletop idea was brutal in terms of the actual reality of getting broiled by the sun. Even if air conditioning was on, the rays still hit the back of one’s neck and head and shoulders. Leg room looks quite ample back there; unlike Buick,Cadillac and Chevrolet, Olds was already using a perimeter frame as all the GM big cars would do so in 1965.
Looks like this one has an under-dash a/c unit; good thing, at least for the front seat passengers. That perimeter frame is making itself rather noticeable at the sill.
I haven’t gone into the mechanical details of these cars, as it’s been a stylistic look. They both had the biggest V8’s as standard; a 325 hp 401 cubic inch “nailhead” in the Buick backed up by Buick’s Turbine Drive; the Olds had a comparable 325 hp 394 cubic inch Rocket V8 backed by the new Roto-Hydramatic, a transmission that did not excel in durability.
Here’s a parting shot of the Olds; it may be awhile before you see one again.
Related reading:
CC 1961 Buick LeSabre Two Door Hardtop: Harley Earl’s Bubbletop Has Its Last Flight
Design: How The 1961 Cadillac Skegs Were Originally Designed
That Buick looks to me like the perfect melding of the 50’s and 60’s; two wheels in the one and two wheels in the other.
Olds hands down, it looks like you could press a button and it could leave the road, hover up and fly away!
Maybe it’s just me, but the details of these cars sometimes described as overwrought, look a lot better to me than the sharp creases and angles of modern cars, applied in the quest to appear different from the competition! 🙂
Example:
Nice comparison, Paul. One of the neater aspects of your styling breakdowns is that they encourage study of details that stylists put a lot of effort into, but might not be noticed, otherwise. I have always looked at the Oldsmobile front end as a whole and not really dissected it. As you say, it comes off as gimmicky; it also harbors the last whisper of Earl’s “jet pod” motif–flattened, frieze-like in the treatment of the headlamps; that tiny spear of chrome between beams is certainly a vestigial twin-jet-engine pylon.
I am right there with you – I cannot actually say whether I have ever seen one of either of these. I love, love, love the tail of the 61 Olds. I like the front, but I have to agree that it is not everything it should be. The F-85 did a better job with that disappearing upper grille by filling the space below with floating letters spelling “O L D S M O B I L E”
These cars remind me of the schizophrenic way GM approached its B and C bodies after WWII. Sometimes they were quite unique (1954-58) and sometimes they were barely distinguishable from one another like these 1961 models.
Chrysler always had trouble selling 2 door New Yorkers too, but GM did better in that area – usually. The C body roof looks (to the average car buyer if not to us) so close to the cheaper car as to be nearly indistinguishable. The 61 coupes just didn’t look as important as the 4 door cars did, and Buick/Olds buyers tended to be fairly practical people.
Sorry, gents! I was eighteen when these were introduced, and I thought that they were cool. I still do.
The Buick looks especially nice. As a matter of personal taste, it might be in the top 5 GM cars of the 60s. The hubcaps have the look popular with custom cars of the 50s. The crispy roofline looks better than the rounded B body one. ZZ Tops Billy Gibbons has a tasty custom ’61 Cadillac coupe. The Thunderbird formal roof won the day however and GM and Ford went all in on wide c pillars, Chrysler too but less prevalent.
For my money, Buick nailed the “GM Look” better than the rest from 1959-64. Oldsmobile’s styling team seemed to struggle with how and where to apply creases and trim, and while the ’62 Cadillacs are among my favorite of any year, I just can’t warm to the ’63 or ’64 styling. Pontiac just started getting into their groove with the ’63s, and obviously went on a streak for the rest of the decade, but Olds couldn’t seem to hit a high note until later in the decade, and even then I always felt their intermediate sized offerings wore the look better. This particular Buick is a perfect balance of sleekness and blinged-out exuberance to my eye. It just wears its jewelry in all the ways and in all the right places.
The bubbletops must’ve been expensive to make to have been replaced as quickly as they were, particularly given the added economy of scale that the ’62-4 C-body 2 door hardtop roof was used on the ’63-4 B 4 door h/ts as well. The B-bodies with their faux-convertible hunched roofline was the only sour note imo but it was a big one considering how popular the fullsize low-priced 2 door hardtops were pre-Mustang.
I like how, in profile, the Buick looks like it’s pointing ahead and the Oldsmobile is poi ting behind. Prophetic, seeing that Buick survived and Olds didn’t?
A 1961 Buick Bubbletop has been on my Wish List for years….decades.
This illustration was stolen from one of Paul’s earlier entries here.
I’m a sucker for the front fender on the ’61 Buick. These cars are the successors to the ’57 Chryslers. The restrained whimsical space age styling was both fresh and fun. This is the work Exner should have been doing.
The ’61 Buick is such a good looking car – the rear 3/4 shot shows just how well it sits on its wheels and that front end just rocks! Interior also nails it. My favorite of the GM line up that year.
The Olds, whilst interesting – not so much….
The ’61 Buick grille (which many people like) always reminded me of the ’61 Dodge grille (which everybody hates)!
It has the brow of an orangutan. Buick was definitely better looking.
Gorilla
Sorry, but I don’t like the Buick. Don’t like the bladed fenders, and don’t like how the front doesn’t work with the rear. I also don’t like the Dagmars. From the side, the Buick’s front fender edge protrudes too far forward and sits too high. Then the rear fender edge also sits too high and doesn’t balance the front fender design. Beautiful tail lights, handsome grille, and cool instrument panel.
The Oldsmobile is better. It seems that collectors prefer the higher end models, but most families, including mine, had less ornamentation and a better looking grille. The first car I was permitted to help wash was our Dynamic 88. The instrument panel was outstanding and included the color changing horizontal speedometer. The skeeg fins were a terrific touch which the afterburner tail lights, (again, better looking on the cheaper models), and the trunk lid cut out for each light, was a statement.
Oldsmobile definitely wins in my opinion.
+1
Definitely agree. Both have a smart clean styling, but the Olds was always my favorite.
Did this model offer a police interceptor engine? Back in the day I seem to recall a neighbor had one.
They look so much smaller than the ’60 models, but how much of that is the styling restraint?
As I said yesterday in the post on the 1960 Oldsmobile, our 1935-era 2-car garage was 216 inches long inside (18 feet). A ’60 Olds couldn’t fit, but the ’61 Dynamic 88 purchased by my aunt did fit snugly inside.
The prior owners of the house hung old tires on the forward wall of the garage, supported by thick wires securing them to the window frames in the center of each bay. They came in handy as you could pull cars forward until you could feel the front bumper contact those tires.
Also the ’61 Buick’s taillight looks like the ’58 Buick Limited taillight turned sideways:
They weren’t popular as new, yet today they represent some of the best styling of all time. In the context of the day, it was all about outer space and rocket ships and the Oldsmobile reflects this better than the rest. Maybe too much for the purchasers of the time. Take a look at the C body 4 doors, more of the rocket ship styling and huge wrap around rear glass.
The Oldsmobile coupe pictured is my favourite car of the era, by far. It is graced by beautiful styling. I think it still looks fresh today. It’s pretty cool it stayed that way for over sixty years.
Just last night I found out GMC used Oldsmobile engines in their trucks. This is a cool promo piece from GM although I’d wager many here have already seen it. Included is the dual range Hydramatic.
https://www.xr793.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/1956-GMC.pdf
That 61 Caddy checks all my boxes. It’s one of the prettiest Caddies ever.
This one seems to have a shorter deck than in other photos.
Olds was and always has been vastly overrated. Pontiacs, Buicks The Cadillacs always better cars in my mind. Not just in looks, but quality of build drivetrain wise too
Totally disagree! Olds’ V8 was one of the best GM ever produced and they didn’t go with the dead-end Dyna-slush, the Slim Jim Hydro for ’61 had minor issues but generally over the years Hydra-Matic was far superior. Also Olds was the only one not to use the crappy X-frame, they did it right with perimeter frame, right from the beginning. Frame, engine, trans, that’s much of the whole car right there.
Everybody loves somebody sometime! LOL! Oldsmobile was the the best division ever, they were the innovative one out of the whole bunch, too bad they lost out in the 1980s! My Father and Mother drove Oldsmobile their whole life! GM is the best however!
This ’61 Buick and the next years ’62 Le Sabre were both very clean and handsome. A fitting end to the 1950’s styling extremes. Compare them to the 1959 and ’60 models, which were outlandish.
Mr. Bark, who lived on Charles Street Avenue (yes, that’s not a misprint) directly behind us in Towson had a white ’61 Olds 4 dr with red interior, and as I mowed their lawn I saw it close up quite often. To this day the ’61’s rear end and instrument panel are among my favorite ever from GM. The early ’60s seemed to be a peak balance of quality, performance, and styling for some of GM’s full size cars… the ’50s being overwrought and ponderous, and not up to snuff performing, the later ’60s performing best but with material quality really slipping. Model years ’61 to ’64 were a real high.
Neat analysis; thanks for highlighting some of the details that may have otherwise escaped my attention.
Though they came out before I developed car consciousness, I don’t know whether I have ever seen a 1961 two-door Electra or 98, either, but I can remember some 1962-64 models with that fake convertible roof profile. I have a hard enough time distinguishing the C-bodies from their smaller, less expensive stablemates unless they are parked side-by-side.
As stated above, I agree that Buick rendered the late fifties and early sixties look better than the other GM divisions. In a previous CC reviewing the 1959 Buick, it was stated that Buick took the lead when GM was styling the 1959 models, while the other divisions were forced to conform to hard points set by Buick, thus compromising their appearance. It seems Buick still exerted the same outsized influence all the way through the late Sixties, at least with respect to Oldsmobile, though Pontiac clearly cut its own path to success from 1961 onwards.
Three Detroit stylists evaluated the 1961 cars in the December 1960 issue of Motor Trend. I did a cut and paste of the article to include their comments on the Buick and Oldsmobile.
Interesting that the commentary on the Olds was much more extensive than that on the Buick.
I still prefer the Buick overall, but I do like the Olds as well. I’d go so far as to say that among all of the GM large cars from 1959-64, I think 1961 was the pinnacle year, with the arguable exceptions of the 1962 Cadillac and 1963-64 Pontiacs.
One of my favorite features is the windshield, with that neat little curve at the base of the A-pillar, resulting in the teardrop shaped vent window. GM should have retained that feature all the way through to the ’64 models.
The Buick is pretty tame compared to the Olds. I remember that 61 Olds rear styling as very controversial at the time. In an era before side marker lights, concealing the taillights from side view was downright dangerous. The 62 Olds rear styling is so much better.
It would be interesting to see the whole article.
Someone should’ve translated the part about the uncertainty of carrying over styling cliches to German and gotten it to the BMW design office in Munich in time for the Neue Klasse to be spared its’ tacked-on “kidneys” in favor of the full-width horizontal electric-shaver grille the rest of the design cried out for.
I enjoy reading the comments of each person. Born in 1953 I grew up with these vehicles. My family was Mopar and Ford but had an aunt who had 1961 Buick Electra 4 door sedan
White red interior. First car with a/c I ever road in. Olds was a little wide in the beam as the tires seemed to sit too far inset of the fender wells. Not noticeable in the Buick or other GMs. The General was riding high in the 60s and they could afford to blend understated elegance with some on the edge design cues in the right places. Pontiac did it best imo most years.
Had a 61 Poncho Ventura. It had a mean passing gear, but it was the,”Slim Jim” transmission that did it in. I was told that no other trans would work?
This is just a gorgeous roofline, full stop. Be still my beating heart.
After all these years reading about classic cars, I didn’t know these body styles existed. I like them better than the other style” bubble tops”. Too bad not many of them were made.
The Oldsmobile would make a great low rider.
oh yes. There are plenty of examples of “custom” ’60 and ’61 Oldsmobiles. The custom of the late 50s/early 60s was the precurser of the lowrider. This one has a ’60 Mercury grille which was a popular thing to do to many different cars.
Buick Electra and Olds 98 buyers were so primarily focused on the four door versions or if they sought a ‘sport luxury’, they then sprung for the convertibles. Indeed, like yourself, I can never recall encounter one of these C-Body two door hardtop Electras or 98’s. If I did, it didn’t register at the time. The 1961 Cadillac two door 62 and Coupe de Ville were ubiquitous enough to have seen quite a few.
Earl certainly had his share influence on the 1961 line through his last day on the job. Conversely, it’s not hard to imagine the next Monday after Misterl’s final day, Bill Mitchell touring each division styling studios with his sharp scalpel carving off as much of Earl’s excesses as possible without major tooling changes being required.’ It would finally be the 1963 GM lines when Mitchell’s design ethic was fully on display.
Never owned a Buick nor Olds; my Dad had a mid-60’s mid-sized F85 wagon he seemed to tend to “copy” ownership of some of his cars from relatives at times, but other times pretty much went his own way (particularly his 2nd car…though he started with a ’59 beetle, he followed it up with a new ’68 Renault R10; almost a decade later he bought a new ’76 Subaru DL (FWD only, Subaru had AWD then but only one model, I think a wagon). He had two aunts on my Grandfather’s side who never married but having no children were considered wealthy (my Grandfather struggled with alcohol and money was always tight when my Dad was growing up) who started out with mid-sized Oldsmobiles (think they had a ’63 F85 sedan). The oldest Aunt died in 1968, and the surviving one (they lived together in the family homestead) bought a new ’69 98….I drove it a couple times after the younger one passed as my Grandfather’s family assumed it, while I was on vacation there (we live 1600 miles from my where they lived).
My uncle took over the Aunt’s ’63 after she bought the ’69 98, his comment was that it had tons of power, the local dealer likely took advantage and sold them one with all the options including engine.
None of my relatives had a Buick that I’m aware of, and just a few Oldsmobiles..my father owned 3 Mercury Sables in a row (much later, of course) and a couple of other Fords, so I’d say we were more of a Ford than GM family overall…but his last 2 cars were GM (Impalas) though his worst car was also GM (’84 Sunbird).
Like the look of these, but as I live in hot central Texas, I try to stay away from cars that have a big horizontal window exposure, even with air conditioning, since you still have to park them in the sun at some point. Even my hatchback cars tend to have more vertical backlight than normal fastback profile, which I think helps avoid soaking in more sun than desired….so for practical reasons I’d stay away from bubbletop even if I like how they look (not that they’re common cars now 60 years after new).