Good lord, not another Buick. And a 1970 Electra too. What can I say? I love these things and I'm nothing if not consistent. While I'm not a fan of the white vinyl top and wait until you see the interior, I love the 1970 Electra hard top coupe and this GM brownish/gold that was very popular on Buicks and Cadillacs from about 1965 through about 1980. Best is, compared to the convertibles, these are available for a song. And they're better cars too.
GM had a handful of designs back then that actually got better looking with each model year change. The '64-'66 Malibu went from ugly duckling to belle of the ball; so did the '67-'69 Camaro. Same could be said for the '68-'70 Buick Electra. The '68 and '69 Electra look very similar but they don't come close to the '70. And the '71 was a different car altogether. The slicing and dicing from model year to model year (planned obsolescence) paid off beautifully for this car in my very humble opinion, This, this is my idea of what an automobile should be. Big, grand, luxurious, comfortable, powerful and capable. Without being too ostentatious. The most modest house in the ritziest of zip codes; that's what I like.
Well, here's the interior and it is a horror. It's remarkable it's in the shape it's in but ugh. That upholstery looks like frilly old lady underwear. This interior is no means "don't buy the car" but I do wish it had the really nice vinyl interior like my father's 1970 Electra four door had. Yeah, vinyl; they called it "Naugahyde" and it was nicer than any leather interior Cadillac offered after 1964. Buick did not offer leather upholstery on any of their models back then. I know. Odd. Then again, GM.
I never got to drive my father's Electra but by all accounts, that 370 horsepower, "455-4" down there was one hell of an engine. "455" is for cubic inches and the "4" denoted a 4 barrel carburetor. It was also advertised to make 510 foot pounds of torque. Heady stuff although those numbers are SAE "gross" and not "net". I'd approximate the net numbers to be closer to 300 and 400 respectively. That's still pretty impressive. That power came at a cost though. This thing murders a gallon of gas to the tune of five to eight miles per gallon. .
She's not perfect, though. On luxury cars of this vintage the driver was almost an afterthought. They had to be kidding with this dash layout but they weren't Look where the head light nob is and is that an AM radio? Another good idea that actually wasn't - the horn pad for this car is embedded in the rim of the steering wheel. To blare the horn you squeezed the rim. Genius or madness? Can't tell you how many times dad blurted the horn by accident.
No shoulder harness marring the look of the interior - as horrible as it is. There was a shoulder harness tucked into the headliner; yours to use only if you chose to do so. Also, those rear quarter windows went up and down. Fabulous. Although, if the kids wanted a little fresh air back there but dad kept his window up, hold your breathe hoping that it would find it's way back up running along side the back of the front door window.
I'd trade my 1977 Corvette in for this in a half second given the opportunity although my family, especially my 20 year old, would kill me for doing that. I'm not sure why I find these cars in particular so alluring; it's not waxing nostalgic for my youth either. Trust me on that. I just like it. When people ask me what my favorite car is of all time, I hesitate about being honest with them and telling them I like 1970 Buick Electra's. I usually tell them 1970 Challengers or 1969 Camaros or what not lest they think I'm some grey haired fuddy duddy.
Just keep this between us, ok?
Just keep this between us, ok?
My grandfather had a 1970 Electra 225 coupe that was given to me in 1973 when I turned 16. Oddly enough, I was one of the very few drivers that wore the lap AND shoulder belts. I thought it was a "no brainer" to buckle up- guess I was ahead of the times. The car actually drove and handled better with the belts on, of course I probably drove it a bit more "spirited" than my grandfather.
ReplyDeleteI have a 68 four door hard top Electra. It's the limited version, with the real brocade seats, electric metallic blue great combo. It's been completely restored, matching numbers, stainless dual exhaust with custom headers and 3 and 3/8ths White walls. The boot(trunk) has been recarpeted . It's also a factory right hand drive car not left hand like they were all produced. It's powerful and has front discs. Everything in the car works from central locking, power seat, quarter vent windows, to the click and power antenna and more. They call the 68 Electra the one of...I think the 68 is the nicest shape but that's my opinion.
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ReplyDeleteCompletely disagree with you about the interior. I love the light color and I'll take fabric over that cheap looking, sticky, non-breathing vinyl every time. But yeah, these are great cars.
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