1972 Buick mystery

[AK Buickman]

The mystery here is whether the horizontal rubber "protective impact strips" mounted on the front and rear bumpers are standard equipment, or an option on a '72 Buick.<BR>My 1972 Buick deluxe sales catalog printed in 9/71 states that front and rear impact strips are "standard equipment" on all 1972 Buicks. However, within the list of options for my '72 Electra, the original purchaser of my car paid for these same protective impact strips. My car was built in early 1972, yet delivered to its first owner in early 1973. Other owners of '72 Buicks who are lucky enough to still have the sales invoice also show a charge for these bumper strips. I have never seen any '72 Buick without these bumper strips. My Buick Master Parts book (printed in July, 1972) lists two separate part numbers for the same model '72 Buick; one part number without "bumper cushions," and another part number with "bumper cushions". The difference between the two bumpers is one has holes to bolt on the bumper cushions, one does not have the holes. <BR>My 1973 Buick deluxe sales catalog, printed in 9/72, states "Protective impact strips and bumper guards are available for both front and rear bumpers on all 1973 Buicks." My parts book lists two varieties of bumpers for the same model '73 Buick, one with the cushions, and another part number without bumper cushions. <BR>Does anyone have any '72 Buick literature possibly printed later in the model year, that indicates the bumper impact strips as being optional?<P>AK Buickman, BCA #1955

[Guest Shaffer]

AK, I have a copy of the 1972 Buick price list that someone here on the site sent me. I will look it up and see, or if he sees it first, he may reply first.

[Guest grisby]

AK BUICKMAN, I bought a new 72 GS back in 72 and it was ordered early in the year. I paid $24.00 for the VE5 option which was the front protective strips. The sales manual did show that they were standard, and I know that not all the 72's that I have seen had them on. Its my understanding (could be wrong, but doubt it) that it was standard BUT on the early production models they were an option. <BR>Hope this helps.<BR>bill g

[Guest grisby]

Shaffer- understood, the GS would not have the same "standard" equipment as the 225, but we are talking impact strips here and all the literature that I have (The earliest book is the dealers advance product information catalog date june 1971) states that the strips were standard, when in fact they were NOT on the early models. Such is life with GM in those days.<P>As for standard Electra equipment--remember in 72 they had 3 levels of Electra, The base 225, the Custom and the Limited and they all had varying degree of "standard" features, albeit mostly cosmetic via exterior trim, like wider rocker moldings etc, and of course the Limited had power windows "standard" (it was a required option- as listed on the sales sheet that the dealer submitted his order on) as well as varying degrees of cloth seating etc. <BR>Hope this helps in the confusion. <BR>If I come across any more old literature from my past concerning these impact strips, I will let you know. <BR>After all that was 72 and this is 02, my memory may be bad but when you have an interest and grew up with these babies when they where new, and my neighbor was a salesman at the local dealership at the time, well some things you dont forget, then again some things werent always as they seemed.<BR>Take it easy,<BR>bill g<p>[ 01-24-2002: Message edited by: grisby ]

[Guest Shaffer]

I C what you are saying. Another interesting note, as previously mentioned in a post on 72 Buick options a while back, we was referring to the wide rocker panel moldings on the 72 Electra. Actually, they was optional even on the Limited models, as was the light monitors, bumper gaurds, cornering lights and side protecting strips. Actually, if anyone has ever noticed the 72 Electra Limited 2dr on the front of the 72 Buick sales brochure, they will notice the car has no side protective strips, no cornering lights, no light monitors, no bumper gaurds, no wide rocker moldings. The biggest difference I see in the Custom and the Limited, is the more upgraded door panels on the 4dr Limited and the more luxurious seats w/pockets on the back of the seats. The biggest difference I see on the base Electra and Custom Electra, is the base Electra has plainer looking door panels (look more like Chevrolet Caprice door panels) and cheap looking vinyl seats - that look almost like seats on the cheaper lines of the 72 full-size Chevrolets - (Bel-Air/Biscayne). I have seen some base 71 Buick Electras with a plainer looking interior than my 1971 Chevrolet Caprice. Not to mention that even the most luxurious Chevrolet for 1971 (Caprice) was still sticker priced about $1,900 less than the base Electra. I think the Caprices' base sticker price was around $4,000 to $4,100 and the base Electra was $5,800 to $5,900. I am sure that my grandfathers old 1972 Buick Skylark Custom 2dr had the protective strips on the doors and it was a late 72 model. I think it was made in Feb. 72, as my old 72 Electra was. The 71-72 Buicks are about the oddest equipped cars I have ever seen. I think one of the rarest options on the 1971-1972 full-size Chevrolets was the light warning package, which added fasten seat belt lights (even on 1971 models) door open and low fuel lights. It was a very, very rare option and I have never actually seen any with the option, but the brochure and the owners guide mentions it. Thanks again for your information.<p>[ 01-24-2002: Message edited by: Shaffer ]

[Guest]

i have the original window sticker for my 72 gs that has bumperstrips on both front and back, back being a n-25 the sticker shows a charge of 24.00 for "VE5 N6 bumper protective strips"

[Guest grisby]

72gs conv, the back strips around the lights were standard on all the 72 Skylarks/GS's. The n25 cutout bumper was a rare option back then, heck its kinda like the 454 chevelles--there are more of them on the road today then were produced, a lot of people, well not a lot, but there are some shops out there that will make that bumper- its kinda like the stage1's, there are more of them on the road today than what was produced. Glad I have an orignal 72 stage with the n25!!! Dont you mean E6 for the cutout bumper vs N6. <P>Hey Shaffer, just about everything back then was an option, life was much simpler back then, no computers to go bad to make you break down--LOL heck my dad always bought Electras since the 50's (They were Roadmasters back then) and it wasnt till 1974 that he bought one that had airconditioning!! <BR>He never liked air and he always ordered his cars so he never bothered with it nor used it for that matter. To this day ( he now has a 2000 Park Ave) the a/c switch never gets turned on and he is in his 80's!!!<P>Now I dont know if this is correct, but I remember my neighbor telling my dad once that Pontiac always got the new "ideas" on their cars and if they worked and were accepted by the public (like the public had a choice) then Caddy and Buick and Olds would have them. I think it was Pontiac that had the first windshield antenna along with the first flush door handles, etc etc. I could be wrong on those options but that is what I remember them talking about.<P>I agree, that some of the less expensive GM cars did at times had nicer interiors and or options considering where they were at on the "status chain" in GM's lineup.<P>All this talk about old cars makes me want to go out and put some real chrome on my vehicles vs the stuff(colored key bumpers) that they use today!!!<P>Heck I typed more tonite than I did all year!! <BR>take it easy<BR>bill g<p>[ 01-24-2002: Message edited by: grisby ]

[Guest]

the code on the n-25 bumper is n25 e6 but the code for the bumper strips is ve5 n6. I actuall have 2 of those original n-25 bumpers one is even a nos well it was 6 months ago when i put it on my car. i had another but sold in on e-bay

[Guest Shaffer]

I think you are correct about Pontiac having a lot of the first unique options. In case you did not read my post on the 75-76 Buick options, I listed that Pontiac offered adjustable foot controls on the 75 Grand Villes. I guess that was not too big of a hit. Also, you may remember that the 1974-1976 full-size Oldsmobiles, Cadillacs and Buicks had the airbag option, but I do not think it was ever offered on the 74-76 Chevrolets or Pontiacs. Back in the late 70s-early 80s, my grandmother had a 1974 Oldsmobile Toronado Brougham, with the rare airbag option. I was told that a total of exactly 10,000 cars had the airbag option from 1974-1976. By 1977, the airbag option was dropped. Both of my grandfathers are Buick drivers. One grandfather has a 1955 Buick Special (recently sold a 72 Skylark Custom) and one has a 1996 Buick LeSabre.<p>[ 01-24-2002: Message edited by: Shaffer ]

[Guest grisby]

Yeah Shaffer, its really weird how those cars turned out with those options.<P>72gs conv, agreed, the n6 is a correct code. I was referring to the sales codes not the option codes. ex Ve5 sales code (the codes salesman put on the new car order forms when the order were placed) equates to the n6 option code, E6 sales = n25 option.<P>bill g

[Guest]

To add to Shaffer's reply, Chevy and Pontiac did not have the air bag option officially in those years. I did run across a fleet of '73 Impalas with Oldsmobile insturment panels and air bags in them, if memory serves me correct the Eaton Corporation was involved with them. At that time I worked for a large Chevrolet dealer in the metro Detroit area and we serviced them at our dealership. When our collision shop got one of them in with a hard front end hit, we had their engineers out doing photos and measurements of the car. I never saw any Pontiacs so equipped, just the Impalas.

[AK Buickman]

Thank you for the replies about this.<BR>From my observations, even the later '72 Buick model year production cars had the $24.00 charge for the front & rear bumper strips. <BR>Could this have been some sort of a mandatory or forced option on '72 Buicks? <BR>It is possible that BMD created problems for themselves in '72 with these bumper strips, so in the 1973 model year, they carefully <BR>reworded the sales brochures to read that bumper impact strips are "available" not standard.<BR>AK Buickman, BCA #1955

[72Buickguy]

My 1972 Buick Facts Book says that Bumper Protective Strips are available (not standard) on all 1972 Buicks. It also has an asterisk next to it, and a note on the bottom of the page saying that this is revised on 1/72. This would indicate that the strips started out standard, but became optional later in the year. A neat way to raise the price of the car, don't you think? They probably didn't intend to sell any without the strips. The 1972 order sheet I got from the Sloan Museum also shows the strips being optional equipment on the second revision of the order sheet. I have seen one 72 Riviera without the strips, but thought the bumpers had been replaced. The 1972 Buick Assembly Manual shows the strips (VE5 option) as being an option also, but the title of that sheet was revised on 9/71. This seems to indicate that Buick changed the strips to being options right before the start of production. The Skylark section of the Assembly Manual shows the VE5 option being added 9/20. Remember that in the early 70's GM made a big deal about designing their cars to take minor dents without having major damage. I remember Buick hyping this 'new for 72' feature in the new car books of the time. The rubber cushions are probably what made it possible for Buick to make that claim. Hope this helps.

[Guest]

Just a quick addition about quality on impact strips of the early 70's.In the northern (rust-belt) the metal fasteners would rust away from the backing fastener and the strip would fall away from the bumper. In the western U.S. the heat and the UV rays would harden the plastic or rubber and deterioriate it to either crumble or harden and shrink. I worked in Chevy stores from '72 to '79, so I can't speak for the other G.M. car lines, but strips were optional on Chevrolets at that time except for Camaros and possibly Vegas, Can't remember everything after all these years!!!<BR>Possibly if they were standard one year and a lot of warranty claims were made they could have been made optional in subsequent years to mollify the people that had to have them, but to be able to discourage them from ordering them and increasing warranty claim costs on all the vehicles.

[Guest Shaffer]

The Skylarks (GS) included - would not have the same standard equipment as the Electra, but it is possible that it was the same with the Electras. Early models not standard - late models- standard.<p>[ 01-24-2002: Message edited by: Shaffer ]

[Guest grisby]

72 rivguy, yeah that all makes sense, I remember that hype now that you mentioned it!! I guess GM was getting everyone ready for the 73 model years with the "retractable baby buggy bumpers" that came out. Who knows?? <BR>My documentation is all dated late 71 for the 72 model year. Thanks for the info, its good to know.<P>AK buickman, looks like you started an interesting thread here, it amazing how some pieces of rubber can make or break a day LOL

[Guest]

The sticker from my 72 Electra Custom manufactured in Dec. 71 list the "Bumper protective strips" as option N6 at a cost of $25.26. I don't recall ever seeing a 72 without these strips. I have seen 71s without these strips. I like the look better without them. The exact thing happened to my 72 on the rear bumper with the metal backing having rusted but the rubber is in good condition. They are currently off my car. I removed the metal completely and am going to try to make a new metal backing plate with studs on it to refasten them to the bumper. I hope to attach the metal to the rubber piece with epoxy and reinstall them. I have called dozens of used parts suppliers and when I did find them they make you buy the whole bumper, not just the strips.

[Guest Shaffer]

J. Rackov - it is interesting you mentioned airbags in the 1973 Chevrolets. I have a entire collection (somewhere) of Time magazines from 1971-1976. I remember seeing a Allstate insurance company ad, applauding airbags. I found it odd at the time that in the ad, they showed pictures of cars crashed. If I recall (its been a very long time since I have seen the books) I think there is a 1973 Chevrolet pictured and it states that the owner was saved by the airbag. I thought it was odd, since I thought only the 74-76 full-size Buicks, Oldsmobiles and Cadillacs had the option. Possibly the airbag equipped 73 Chevrolet was one of the ones you mentioned? I may have read it wrong and it may have listed something about the seat belts instead. At any rate, it is interesting about that note.

[AK Buickman]

Thank you 72 Rivguy;<BR>Your documentation answers my original question.<P>AK Buickman................