Howdy folks.
Thanks for the interest and the comments. And, Pomeroy41144 - I apologize for the confusion.
I authored the article about my 1976 Electra and now seek to clarify how we got here.
To begin, everyone is correct - the car is not 21' long - my mistake!
When I wrote the article, the car was in storage so I was unable to measure the car myself. Online references were not clear and I knew my car was a bit longer (one might say 'artificially' - more below). What I did recall clearly was the length of space I needed to park the car without damage - and that benchmark was 21 feet.
Here is why:
When I was searching for a new home, I would always check the maximum length of the garage. Twenty-one feet was the number I could easily remember. I got that number in my head, for a number of reasons:
1. When I pulled out the Stanley measuring tape, and eyeball the length (bumper rubber to bumper rubber), I get ~235 inches - 19 feet and 7 inches.
2. In addition, I have a frame-welded trailer hitch that extended the length of the car almost 9 more inches, taking me to about 244 inches - or 20 feet and 4 inches.
3. Most interior garage doors I saw had handles right about hood height, and I needed to ensure I cleared that, too. My ballpark was I needed another 3 inches beyond the 20'4" of the car and trailer hitch.
4. At this point, actual car length and clearance space blended into a simple '21 feet' and I went with it from there...
In the end, yes, while this Electra needed a bit more room because of a trailer hitch, (making it longer than factory) it isn't 21 feet long.
Hope that helps. Thanks!
