'70 Electra 225 Limited front bumper emblem

[AK Buickman]

The '70 Electra Limiteds used a specific silver & black Limited design on the front bumper emblem. All other 1970 B and C body Buicks used the red/white/blue Buick tri-shield surrounded by silver-gray.

I was looking at a color photograph of a brand new '70 Electra 225 Limited in the 1970 BMD color folder titled, "You're cleared for takeoff," and to my surprise, this Limited has a tri-shield front bumper emblem, not the Limited version! Unfortunately, the Buick folder does not have any printing dates on it.

Did Buick begin putting the specific Limited front bumper emblem on Limiteds later in the model year?

Did a worker on the assembly line install the incorrect emblem?

Did the original Limited emblem on the car used in the photo get damaged just before the photo shoot, and the more common tri-shield emblem installed on the car in a pinch? For those who have been around 'full-size 70 Buicks, you know that this front bumper emblem is the first part of the car that gets damaged.

Some years back, a brand new Limited front bumper emblem was installed on my dad's '70 Electra 4-dr hardtop. Hours after the new emblem was installed, and while the car was parallel parked, the new emblem was crunched due to another '70 Electra Limited slowly backing up and tapping the front of my dad's car. Another '70 Electra front bumper emblem bit the dust.

If anybody has any BMD documentation about '70 Limiteds possibly using the tri-shield front bumper emblem, I'd like to hear from you.

AK Buickman........

[Guest my3buicks]

Buickman, it's not uncommon for cars and items pictured in the sales brochures to differ slighly from production run cars.

[palbuick]

Hi Gary.

Hows everything going up there in the cold north.

VERY few of these original Limited emblems have survived. I believe that they were cracked or broken during early delivery or customer broke them and were replaced with the tri shield. I have only seen two Limiteds with the original emblems. I have a NOS Limited insert for these but have never found the main base. When photographers were taking pictures of the new line of cars sometimes they would alter certain items for the camera, either by air brushing or changing parts, which ever looke best to them. Remember the 68 Wildcat with the

mag wheels and the 65 hubs and several shows, The owner had a promotional newspaper picture of the car, with them on and would not believe anyone that they were wrong.

I have no idea of how many Limited were produced in 1970, but a lot less than electras, so the popular replacement was the tri shield.

Jim Schilf / palbuick@aol.com