Some Buick trivia

Why did Buick begin using the model name "Electra" starting in 1959?

A. In Greek mythology, Electra was Apollo's fleetest messenger.

B. The Electra edition of the 1959 Buick Roadmaster included unique electronics such as window defrosters, fender mounted turn signal indicators and "star view" instrument panel lights.

C. Something altogether different (If you choose C, you have to tell why.)

Ed

C - Because the Rock Auto Newsletter told me so!

I'm not quite as mysterious as I thought I might be.

Thanks for not detailing C; let some others do some digging.

Ed

Hey, Dave

You don't even own a Buick based on your signature line. What brings you to a Buick site?

C: It was a Japanese phonetic translation for something that made you real happy.

Bernie

I sat C. How about somebody famous to GM, or Buick had a daughter by that name and she is buried in Texas, near Pete, I believe. I could look it up if there was a prize, but that is about as far as I wish to go at this time? But A makes more sense to me.

John

I sat C. How about somebody famous to GM, or Buick had a daughter by that name and she is buried in Texas, near Pete, I believe. I could look it up if there was a prize, but that is about as far as I wish to go at this time? But A makes more sense to me.

John

John is correct. Sort of. Electra was the wife[ or daughter,maybe] of a Buick big wig. Bill Mitchell??

Ben

Someone else who receives the Rock Auto newsletter will find it. So in order to keep you guys from having to fret any longer, here's your answer.

Electra Waggoner Biggs inspired the naming of an automobile, the Buick Electra, and of an aircraft, the Lockheed Electra.

Harlow H. Curtice, president of General Motors' Buick Motor Division when the Buick model was named in 1959, was the brother-in-law of Ms. Biggs' husband, John Biggs.

Electra Waggoner Biggs inspired the naming of an automobile, the Buick Electra, and of an aircraft, the Lockheed Electra.

Harlow H. Curtice, president of General Motors' Buick Motor Division when the Buick model was named in 1959, was the brother-in-law of Ms. Biggs' husband, John Biggs.

Are you saying* the Model 10 Lockheed Electra of 1934 was named for a the wife of a rising GM exec's brother-in-law? Rather than a star in the Pleiades, one of the Seven Sisters?

'Cause I'm not buying it. The lady was 21 when the first Electra by Lockheed appeared and, granted, she was by then a famous sculptress. There was a second Electra (Model L-188) by Lockheed that entered service in December, 1957, but I doubt it was named for anything other than the first Electra. (Amelia Earhart was piloting an Electra when she vanished in 1937, so it's a pretty famous plane-name).

As for the car, in '58, we had the B-58 Buicks with loads of reference to military aircraft. We had LeSabre in '59, named after the 1951 show car, likely named after the F-86 Sabre jet of 1949. Electra, the "bright one", was more likely chosen for the name recognition of the star, the mythology and the plane. So it's difficult to swallow anything other than happy coincidence about the car's naming and Mrs. Biggs. Invicta is a fluke, but in Latin it means, "unvanquished", a good name for the "sporty" Buick.

Unless someone can provide a valid, period reference rather than wikipedia and the Waggoner's site, it sounds like the editor of a newsletter got swept away by wiki BS.

Yet again.

Anyway, former head of Buick, Harlow Curtice was President of GM from 1953, and Edward T. Ragsdale headed up Buick (since 1956) at the time of the '59's intro, so even that factoid is incorrect. As factoids always are.

I wish these young moderns would crack open a book every now and then!

TG

* RivNut, I know you're just passing along some fun trivia from another site, not that you created it.

I just throw stuff in for the fun of it. I'm not going to validate what someone else prints, I leave that up to you.

I'm now wondering if Carmen Electra is named after the star, the woman, the car, or the plane.

It also makes you wonder why Lockheed picked Electra rather than Alcyone, Atlas, Maia, Merope, Taygeta, or Pleione. Now I'm not going to get any sleep tonight.

While I may not own one, which is true (I have a Cadillac and an Oldsmobile) I still like and am interested in them. Hey, they are part of the GM family, right?

And, at one point in time I did in fact own a 1984 Rivi. Does that count?

While I may not own one, which is true (I have a Cadillac and an Oldsmobile) I still like and am interested in them. Hey, they are part of the GM family, right?

And, at one point in time I did in fact own a 1984 Rivi. Does that count?

I've owned Pontiacs and Oldsmobiles (no Caddies though) so sure it counts. I've had quite a few of that generation Rivieras in the past myself. I used to see a guy in the town where I grew up 'dragging main' in a red convertible like yours. I always thought that the large horizontal stainless piece was a piece of art.

Ed

Ed

The Rivi was bought for my wife. She did not keep it long and now deeply regrets having sold it (and it did have an Olds engine)!

That looks familiar but I needed a new top and had one installed that matched the seats.

Yours also has different wheels, which I like.

Those wheels are the ones that came as standard equipment on the T-Type Rivieras. They're not hard to find, but the center caps are either missing or the emblem in the center of the cap has been lost (as you can see on the right front wheel in the picture. I found a complete cap about a week some time later.)

I was looking for information on Electra Waggoner Biggs and came upon this thread.  Concerning the Lockheed Electra airliner, Electra Waggoner Biggs and her daughter participated in a "branding" of the "new" Electra that was to fly out of Dallas Love Field on May 17, 1959.  They branded the aircraft with letters spelling out Dallas.  Never was able to figure out who at Lockheed (if anyone) was responsible for the name of the airliner being Electra.  Also, it is odd that they would reuse a name that had been used earlier for the two engine aircraft that Amelia Earhart was flying when her aircraft disappeared.

I did an article on Electra Waggoner Biggs in the Buick Bugle a few years ago. She was part of the wealthy Waggoner Ranch family in Texas and was also an accomplished, professional sculptor. Her first name was the inspiration for the naming of the 1959 Buick Electra. She is buried in the city cemetery of my hometown, Sherman, Texas. Her sister was married to Harlow Curtice, who was General Manager of Buick from 1933 or 1934 until the late 1940s or early 1950s when Curtice became President of General Motors.

And speaking of the Waggoner Ranch, I just took this photo today of the historic Waggoner home in Decatur, Texas--still standing but empty.

8 hours ago, Pete Phillips said:

I did an article on Electra Waggoner Biggs in the Buick Bugle a few years ago. She was part of the wealthy Waggoner Ranch family in Texas and was also an accomplished, professional sculptor. Her first name was the inspiration for the naming of the 1959 Buick Electra. She is buried in the city cemetery of my hometown, Sherman, Texas. Her sister was married to Harlow Curtice, who was General Manager of Buick from 1933 or 1934 until the late 1940s or early 1950s when Curtice became President of General Motors.

And speaking of the Waggoner Ranch, I just took this photo today of the historic Waggoner home in Decatur, Texas--still standing but empty.

Looks like the Munsters house

Pete, I do a little blog about Texas history and my grandparents and parents live right on the borderline of Wilbarger and Wichita Counties, so I have heard about the ranch all my life.  If your Buick article can be shared, I would enjoy reading it.