The poster of the ad for this 1985 Buick Electra claims this a classic - ouch. That's like hearing a song you remember from your high school days being played on the oldies radio station. And just like not all songs from high school should be heard again, through my chipped windshield, this falls short of being a classic. Way short.
Although, with an asking price of $6,500 and just 84,000-miles on its 38-year-old analog ticker you could do worse for the money. You could do better too; all depends on what you're looking for. First car for your teenage son or daughter you'll be ok with them beating the tar out of? Snaps to you if dropping $6,500 is akin to pocket change but if it checks out mechanically this might be something a tad more interesting for them than a ten- or twelve-year-old crossover. I'd clear that with them before you show up one day with this for them - you could be scaring them for life. As far as buying it to mothball in hopes of it appreciating one day? Well, this ain't no Buick Grand National.
That's not to say this biggish old Buick doesn't have anything to offer or isn't historically significant. To the latter, it most certainly is with it being Buick's first full-size front-wheel driver and features rack-and-pinion steering, a port-fuel injected, transverse mounted V-6, four-speed automatic and independent rear suspension. Heady stuff in its day but only us car wonks care about such things.
It is a big, comfortable cruiser that appears to be in very solid condition. Get it closer to five-grand and I think it bought even better. All said and done, though, to me this is just an old car and one that hasn't stood the test of time either. Aesthetically anyway. That's saying a lot too since I am a fool for coupes.
Awkward looking now as it did back in the day when it was shinier and new, two-door cars that are less attractive than their four-door counterparts are few and far between. Subjective? I guess...but sales for these were so slow that Buick pulled the plug on them after 1987 with less than 15,000 sold. The LeSabre coupe, introduced in 1986, stuck around through 1991 accounting for less than 10-percent of LeSabre sales. No surprise then that when Buick rebooted the LeSabre for 1992, a two-door wasn't part of the lineup.
What makes this so clumsy looking is that unlike the front-wheel-drive LeSabre coupe, this thing suffers from a dowdy, formal roof line and one accentuated with a god-forsaken vinyl top. What's more, it's windshield lacks the LeSabre coupe's degree of rake. Mind you, it's not like the LeSabre coupe, even in T-Type guise, was the second coming of the Buick GSX.
Makes me wonder why Buick bothered in the first place if this is really nothing more than a four-door sedan with two less doors. Was it because Buick always built a two-door Electra and they felt compelled to continue the tradition? Even the Electra coupe it replaced had an elan this car sorely lacks.
What makes a car a classic in the first place anyway? That's actually hard to define and in fairness, taste being like armpits, it's really up to the individual. Afterall, one person's trash could be another's treasure.
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