As you may have figured out by now, I am a loyal fan of Buick. I have been ever since my dad and I went together to buy a green 1965 Electra 225 coupe in May of 1974.
In the ensuing years, in between me and my dad, we bought and drove five of these big Electras. In 1978, I bought what would be my first 1975 Electra coupe. See the three images, immediately below of this car.
I loved that car, nurtured it, and drove it until somebody broadsided me in it in early 1985. At the same time, my dad was driving this Landau coupe that he bought in 1982. The picture below is of my dad with this car after he first bought it.
When my insurance company totaled my car, I was devastated. My dad had compassion for me, and let me have his Electra for the insurance company's check that I got for mine. I have pretty much have kept it in storage, ever since.
The car is all original, still wearing it's original GM applied paint, and vinyl Landau top, which the latter is still soft and pliable. The car has never been wrecked, and is absolutely rust free.Even at the bottom of the vinyl top where it meets the top of the quarter panels. NO bubbling under the vinyl at all, and NO rust holes in the metal right below the top mouldings. I'll admit, the paint is tired, and chipped, but it is original, and presentable. The only real damage to the body is when my dad had the car parked along the street in the city when he owned it, it had gotten very lightly sideswiped in early 1982 shortly after he bought it, and damaged the body side moulding only, on the driver's door and rear quarter panel ever so slightly The paint was barely scuffed, but the underlying metal was not harmed. We used sheet metal screws to secure the mouldings back on the car. Not a very professional fix, but it kept them from coming off.
You have to remember, back in the 1980's these were just used cars, not really worth anything on the market.
Finally today, these big mid seventies land yachts are beginning to get the respect they deserve, for what they truly represent. The end of an era of flamboyance and extravagance in American automobiles, which will be never seen again. Back in the 1980's I knew I had a duty, and foresight, to sit on this car to preserve it as an example of this bygone era. People all over the planet are beginning to collect these big old cars, as they do see the true beauty in these machines of that bygone era.
But seeing that by time that huge cars like this were never going to be built like this, again, after my dad sold this one to me, I knew, I had to keep it long term, and keep it out of the weather, If I hoped to keep it in the condition that it was in when I got it in the mid 1980's. That is the way it looks pretty much, today.
The car is pretty much fully equipped. The only thing it does not have is a sunroof, but these are very problematic, anyway. The big 455 CID V-8 runs great, but the transmission needs serviced as it slips a little bit after it is totally warmed up. The interior is all original in maroon with white vinyl seats. It does show the wear of about a 5 year old used car. In other words, the interior is still very nice. It does have the typical cracking of the corners of the dashboard, and the big door arm rests. The driver's side of the split bench seat has a small 3" tear in it that could easily be repaired by a professional upholstery shop. For most part all the interior vinyl is still soft and plyable. The top of the dash is not cracked out all. Riding in this true full size Buick is like riding in a ship. So smooth and quiet. It is a totally different feel than the ride of a modern day automobile, a joy to drive, but it is a real handful. Beings that this was the last of four Electra's that I have owned, I'll probably NOT sell this car, until the time comes that my wife sells it at my estate sale, or I give the car to my son, as he already knows that truly rust free examples of these cars are as rare as hen's teeth.
I hope to be able to post better DIGITAL pictures of the car soon when I get the time to get it out of storage, when I can find the time to do so. In the meantime, enjoy what an original condition '75 Electra 225 coupe is supposed to look like.
Scale model manufacturers need to get their butts in gear and start making models of this car, instead of always doing models of muscle cars. These big full size American cars from the mid 1970's ARE going to be the next hot sellers in the next couple of years, in my opinion.
Update; May 5, 2013. I just did a new post, with all new digital images of the car that I just took two weeks ago, in the end of April of 2013 with my digital camera after I pulled the car out from my garage to photograph it. Here is the link to the new blog post about this car.
http://jayveejayaresjunk.blogspot.com/2013/05/1975-buick-electra-225-custom-landau_5.html
Jim.
