I don't usually post pics of myself, but thought some of you might like seeing this. Before I bought my Lacrosse, I stumbled onto a real nice old Buick Electra 225 a few years ago at a local vintage-car show. I knew these cars well, as I had had one in college and absolutely LOVED it. Plenty of torque (though I was not an aggressive driver). Smoothest automatic transmission in existence at the time (Rolls-Royce bought those transmissions for their cars). Library-quiet. Isolated you from the road and from bumps like a magic carpet.....just the way I liked it. Pillow-soft seats. Avoided the balky carburation and ignition problems that some of the Chrysler V8s had at the time. It was like a time-machine for me. I actually talked price with the owner (though money generally is not an issue wth me, for several reasons). He didn't have to explain the car, since I knew it. And this one was in significantly better shape than the old one I had in college. I was really tempted to buy it.....but decided that, with a 225-inch length (hence the name "225") it was simply too big for today's condo spaces, parking lots, and dense traffic. And, decades ago, even though I didn't have any carburetor problems wth my old college-days Buick, other cars I owned were not so fortunate.....I had sworn I would never own another carburator again. I also, of course, like a lot of other car owners, got tired of constant tune-ups...having to replace spark plugs, wires, distributor, rotor, breaker-points, etc..... every year or so. The solid-state electronic ignition systems of the early-mid-seventies were a real breakthrough...as was electronic fuel injection some ten years later.

 

Come on more details needed here!!!! What year was it??? Also its very easy to retrofit a later distributor from a 1970's car that didn't use points and was almost maintenance free.

As far as carburators, I've found if you leave them stock, they are pretty damn reliable. Drove a 1988 Toyota pickup, 22R 4 cylinder, carburated, had that for about a year in college. Damn thing ran great, had 200,000 miles on it, never left me stranded, never had any weird drivability problems.

 

It was a '64 2 hour hardtop. Typical Buick Nailhead 401c.i./325 HP engine and 3-speed fluid/stator automatic.

I generally didn't have trouble with the Ford and GM carbs of that vintage, but the Chrysler two-barrels (which were usually Carters) had the classic cold-engine drivability problems.....icing, overly-lean mixture, hesitation/stalling, too much or too little choke, in addition to the manifold heat-riser system often not working properly. I owned two of them (on a Plymouth Barracuda and Chrysler Newport)..both were major headaches wth cold-drivability. Many later emission-choked carbs of the 70s and 80s were troublesome across the board...not just with Chrysler products. Sorry, but I don't agree with you there....I don't miss them for a second, and my opinion is not alone. And, even if it could be retrofitted with EFI and electronic ignition, I still felt it was too big for the driving and parking conditions I faced today...which wasn't the case when I was in college. Still, it was fun to sit in it and look it over.

 

"2 hour" - is that how long it runs before the carb needs fixing?

 

Thanks, bit. I meant two-door hardtop coupe ("hardtop", in 1960s auto-speak, meaning a roofline and body structure without formal B-pillars. Apple MacBook is a great computer, but the auto-correction system on the keyboard s**ks. It constantly tries to alter what one types, and often succeeds if you don't look very carefully.

 

MM, we need more pics of the car, but glad to see you reminiscing in that shot!

 

I don't have any other shots of it at the show, but here's a shot of the car parked the street.

It was somewhat like the one I had in college, though with two doors instead of four, a copper paint job instead of silver, and black interior instead of light gray. And it is in a LOT better shape LOL.

Last I heard, the guy still owns it....so, if I change my mind, I might get another chance. But I like my Lacrosse.

 

Ooh I love the two door. Believe or not there's a place in every car guy's heart for the big coupes. If you were to buy one, have you arranged for a hangar at the airport to keep it in, or will you be getting two separate postal codes for its plates?

 

 

Yeah, that was the problem. Dinosaurs that size were fine back when I first started driving, almost a half-century ago. But, back then, roads were a lot (and I mean a LOT) more free of traffic than they are now, there were much fewer stoplights, speed-bumps, stop signs, and other driving-impediments, and parking-lots and malls were designed for 18-20-foot long cars that were up to 80" wide. Today, that's no longer the case.....especially in the D.C. area and its astronomical growth over the years, those driving and parking conditions are only distant memories. I also still lived at home with my parents my first couple of years in college..so I had a nice big driveway to park it in. That's not the case now, in my condo townhouse....just striped spaces. But it would be impractical for me to move, at my age, back into a single-family home with a big driveway or garage.....and, hey, my house is paid off. I'm a firm believer in avoiding debt whenever possible.

But, yes, the temptation to re-live one's youth can indeed be strong. One thing that separates me from another Baby-Boomers is that they were primarily muscle-car fans. I liked some of them, too...1968-70 Road Runner, 1970 GTO, and 1970 Barracuda/Challenger, to name a few. But my real favorites were big American luxury-iron.

Oh, and BTW.....that particular car is a two-door hardtop sedan, not coupe. Buick's coupe, at the time, was the Riviera.

 

The Reatta would indeed fit in my condo-space a lot better. But, I found it poorly-built, lacking space inside (it was a two-seater), and, typical of GM for the period (late 80s/early 90s), mostly cheap matte-plastic inside.

If you want a nice Buick along those lines, save your money and get yourself a Cascada. Considered buying one myself...the only thing I didn't like were the 20" wheels. The heavy, well-insulated top would generally be OK in D.C.'s winters, which are moderately cold....not sure, though, about Toronto's, where it gets a lot colder.

 

Yes I know what you mean . Maybe you can get that Electra its own parking spot and runway outside of DC and maybe cheat on your new Buick on weekends or something, lol. I kid (Don't let your Lacrosse even know you're talking about this right now or else it won't like this at all).

I recall driving briefly some big boats right around the 70s or so as a kid. Seem to remember a gigantic New Yorker with a 440/4bbl that was ridiculous for torque and still pretty good rider.

But of course the Darth Vader also saw me getting into some obnoxious muscle cars too.

 

 

Ah the old "duece and a quarter". A buddy of mine bought a new 76 Limited. While you are right about the initial naming, the 76 225 was over 230 in long. I believe that they downsized the 225 beginning in 77.

 

looks like the car owner needs to work on the house behind now instead.

but the car does look in GREAT shape.

i have a client who has a 70s cadillac convertible coupe - giant thing, in black, with red leather interior that i have the hots for.