1972 Electra - another oddly equipped

[Guest Shaffer]

Hey guys/gals, its been awhile since I have posted here... hope everyone is still around and doing good! Oh, finally I have another Buick, but nothing special... a 1990 Buick Century Custom 4dr with 98K actual. Will post pics in the "me and my Buick" section soon. It was an old grannys car. Primary its my work car.

I thought of this thread when I found a 74 Electra Limited I am thinking of buying... wow, its a beauty and I posted here because I think it has every option ever available, right down to the air cushion restraint option, which means it would not have tilt wheel, lol. Dark green on dark green. I will try to get some pics. Also this 73 had got my attention...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1973-Buick-Electra-225-Custom-2-Door-Sport-Coupe-/110599378724?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item19c03c9724

Hey 63Stude - its been awhile since I have been on here... not sure if you are still around on here... have you seen anymore interesting cars?

63Stude, a couple of years ago we were discussing this and I had tried to get more info, but I had mentioned I had never seen on in person until now, FINALLY found one and thought I would share.... a 72 Kingswood Estate (Caprice) wagon with the optional brocade cloth interior. Some guy I know has one he is selling.... I had wondered if any even existed because I had only seen it in the sales brochure as an option. He sent me a pic of the 3rd seat... really cool... thought I would share....

its definitely getting a little worn and dirty... I also noticed it has the rear defog option....

and here is the car it is in...

Hope everyone is still around and doing well!

Shaffer, I am 99.99% sure he's joshin' you on the shift knob option on that Grand Ville!

That is a beautiful Cadillac Calais. So similar to a deVille, it's true, but much, much rarer, and less money then and now. I can see why people bought them..."stepping up to a Cadillac" but still watching the budget. It's still a Cadillac, inside and out, despite no woodgrain!

I clearly remember a black '72 Calais sedan, new, at our local dealer's. It was only there a couple days. Solid black, black cloth, blackwalls, no air and NO RADIO! I remember as plain as day, the price, with no options but with destination added, was $6,480.00 at the bottom of the sticker. Even Calais models at that time came standard with power windows.

Bill P.

Edited October 21, 2010 by Shaffer (see edit history)

[Guest 75RivGS]

Good to see you're still around, Tony.

Very interested to see some photos of the ACRS car....one on my wish-list for a long time

[John_Maine]

This has turned out to be a long thread and I don't remember if I put this in already, but a fellow BCA member here in town had a base '71 LeSabre sedan with a 3 on the tree, 350 2bbl., power steering, power brakes and AM radio. It came with black walls and dog dish caps, but had whitewalls and non-71 wheel covers on it when he owned it. The dog dishes were in the trunk. He found it in Montana, flew out there and drove it to Maine. It had 85K on it at the time. It was a pretty stark car.

[Guest Shaffer]

Good to see you're still around, Tony.

Very interested to see some photos of the ACRS car....one on my wish-list for a long time

Hi Rob, still around... just not on here much since I sold my beloved 72 Electra, but still love these old cars... still have my 73 Pontiac Grand Ville and 72 Chevrolet Caprice Kingswood Estate wagon that you know I have had these crazy engine problems with... that darn 402. lol.

That guy said he decided to keep that 74 Electra Limited... would love to have it. He has it in his body shop garage and is getting ready to paint it. The car has some thin paint. I am still going to try to snap some pics of it. I do hope to soon own another 71-74 Electra. Have thought about maybe possibly trying to trade my 72 Caprice Estate wagon for one, but not sure yet... also have my eye on a 72 Cadillac. Hope all has been well with you.

This has turned out to be a long thread and I don't remember if I put this in already, but a fellow BCA member here in town had a base '71 LeSabre sedan with a 3 on the tree, 350 2bbl., power steering, power brakes and AM radio. It came with black walls and dog dish caps, but had whitewalls and non-71 wheel covers on it when he owned it. The dog dishes were in the trunk. He found it in Montana, flew out there and drove it to Maine. It had 85K on it at the time. It was a pretty stark car.

Wow, dont remember that one John, sounds like a rare one! Would love to see pics of this car. I remember a '71 Chevy Caprice sedan on ebay a few years ago.... 3-speed manual on the tree... that was a rare pup - it was loaded otherwise!

I ran across this 71 LeSabre 2dr - very nice car. Low optioned, but it is a base LeSabre, so I guess not that unusual.... does have some nice options though and only 26K miles! WOW!

Buick : LeSabre - eBay (item 110628948043 end time Jan-06-11 10:36:12 PST)

There is also a 1973 Olds 98 2dr on ebay... very low optioned... A/C, FM radio and power seat are about it... doesnt even have the cut-pile carpet option. A very nice car though!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/SURVIVOR-1973-OLDSMOBILE-98-LS-42K-ORIG-MILES-/120663266636?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item1c1817554c

Edited December 29, 2010 by Shaffer (see edit history)

[Smartin]

I like that LeSabre, but it's too GREEN for me ...and it isn't 455 powered.

[Guest Shaffer]

I like that LeSabre, but it's too GREEN for me ...and it isn't 455 powered.

Hi Smartin, good to see you are still on here...

Yeah, she is green for sure isnt she?

[Smartin]

Yep, I'm stuck here!

[Guest Shaffer]

Yep, I'm stuck here!

lol... I have always loved this site, but not on here much since I sold my beloved 72 Electra to a guy in South Carolina a few years ago, man how I miss and regret selling that car!

-----------

Changing gears here....

Oh, someone asked me the other day about this car and I found it.... this was the LOWEST price GM full-size car for 1973... Chevrolet Bel-Air 4dr sedan, check it out.... very low optioned and a very plain Jane... NO A/C and is a 6-cylinder, 3-speed manual on the tree car! Very rare! I see it does have the bumper gaurds option however, which was really not even seen that often on the upper level Impala and really not even that often seen on the top of the line Caprice that year. The car also has an AM radio and I notice a factory clock on the dash.... I didnt know the base Chevy had the clock that year. Clock was optional on the 72 Impala and Bel-Air, standard on Caprice - the 1973 brochure really dont specify, but I bet it was optional. Interesting car to say the least. Looking at the 73 Bel-Air in the brochure, it looks like though a Bel-Air could be loaded up good and I can attest because in the 90s I almost bought a local 1973 Bel-Air. At first glance, I thought it was an Impala... it was an unusually high optioned car... it had a vinyl top, side mouldings, bumper strips and gaurds, etc... interior even more interesting... it had power windows, power locks, cruise and tilt! Very rare car I bet.

Chevrolet : Bel Air/150/210 - eBay (item 300513922564 end time Jan-17-11 16:27:32 PST)

here is a link to that 73 Bel-Air in the book... looks a little fancier than the one here. lol.

http://www.oldcarbrochures.com/static/NA/Chevrolet/1973_Chevrolet/1973_Chevrolet_Brochure/1973%20Chevrolet-14.html

Edited January 16, 2011 by Shaffer (see edit history)

[Guest buickapollo455]

72 equipment:

cheap cars or base 72 electra had manual windows and mini arm rest doors. which in time are the better door panel to have. Arm rest are available new.

Deluxe or Limited and custom series did get the long armrest molded of thin plastic on foam. poor , and all crack up. this was used untill 76 in the later cars was used as base models 225 and 72 arm rest of 225 was discontinued in 73. The deluxe light in was introduced in 75 models. with carpet on sides. Option of reflector or lamp package.

The 72 early had stainless around edge, how ever in the DELTA 88 olds cars they had same door panels and they have walnut triming in the stainless surrounds. much nicer, switch mine to oldsmobile trim. I like the cheaper low class door panel, with manual, motors and upper class door panels all failed. OLDS used the cheap door panel mini arm rest till 75.

72 DASH was last year dash pad, as 73 had newer right side dash above glove box much nice than 72, 75 changed the dash totally.

72 had 2 carpet too. shag plush in limited offer, and loop weave in 225. Again cheap outlasted the plush.

Tape deck was offed or std AM or option slide flip amfm, or amfm 8track, NO delete plate was offered in these years.

NOTE according to BCA rules too, NO ralley rims are on 71-72 Electras, only riv and Centurian. In 73 the ralley became part of Electra stock items. so only Hubcap was available in 71-72 on Electra.

manual mirror on pass side is still option 71-76, corner lamps option on all Buicks till 1996, then became standard.

4 doors: back doors fit only 71-74, as slope is different, 75-76 have different back door alignment to body.

Skirts had propeller blade option till 74 on skirts. the std pot metal trim was only part of skirt. prop could be optioned. wide body molding was on Limited series, still had prop on skirt.

mid 70s offered 2 potmetal trim skirts for deluxe cars with wide body molding on door bottoms, skirt trim changes 74-76.

options:

compass was dealer option for dash top. trunk matt and inner mats optional, lighted rear view mirrors were optional. power trunk release optional. power seats optional in bench and 60 40, bench had option of armrest folddown center. back seats had same option of fold down or std back seat. cheap seats did not carry storage behind seats, this was option on Deluxe interiors. Speed buzzer, optional. cruise and tilt are optional too. Tele wheel was optional had to be ordered as was a Cadillac part till 73, then buick had started more installs of tele on Limited cars. Air bag was available in 1975 very rare. Vinyl top was optional too, pebble grain till 75, then Elk grain was option on Limited, std on Park avenue.

I may have missed some, hope helps. bca 27925 craig

[Guest Shaffer]

Thanks for that info. The 74 and 76 also had optional airbag on LeSabres and Rivieras, as well as the Olds 88/98/Toronado and Cadillac DeVille/Fleetwood/Eldorado. My grandmother had a 74 Olds Toronado back in the early-mid 1980s with the airbags option.

Nice list of options posted there... one that my 72 had that I didnt see there is the fingertip wiper washer control.

72 equipment:

cheap cars or base 72 electra had manual windows and mini arm rest doors. which in time are the better door panel to have. Arm rest are available new.

Deluxe or Limited and custom series did get the long armrest molded of thin plastic on foam. poor , and all crack up. this was used untill 76 in the later cars was used as base models 225 and 72 arm rest of 225 was discontinued in 73. The deluxe light in was introduced in 75 models. with carpet on sides. Option of reflector or lamp package.

The 72 early had stainless around edge, how ever in the DELTA 88 olds cars they had same door panels and they have walnut triming in the stainless surrounds. much nicer, switch mine to oldsmobile trim. I like the cheaper low class door panel, with manual, motors and upper class door panels all failed. OLDS used the cheap door panel mini arm rest till 75.

72 DASH was last year dash pad, as 73 had newer right side dash above glove box much nice than 72, 75 changed the dash totally.

72 had 2 carpet too. shag plush in limited offer, and loop weave in 225. Again cheap outlasted the plush.

Tape deck was offed or std AM or option slide flip amfm, or amfm 8track, NO delete plate was offered in these years.

NOTE according to BCA rules too, NO ralley rims are on 71-72 Electras, only riv and Centurian. In 73 the ralley became part of Electra stock items. so only Hubcap was available in 71-72 on Electra.

manual mirror on pass side is still option 71-76, corner lamps option on all Buicks till 1996, then became standard.

4 doors: back doors fit only 71-74, as slope is different, 75-76 have different back door alignment to body.

Skirts had propeller blade option till 74 on skirts. the std pot metal trim was only part of skirt. prop could be optioned. wide body molding was on Limited series, still had prop on skirt.

mid 70s offered 2 potmetal trim skirts for deluxe cars with wide body molding on door bottoms, skirt trim changes 74-76.

options:

compass was dealer option for dash top. trunk matt and inner mats optional, lighted rear view mirrors were optional. power trunk release optional. power seats optional in bench and 60 40, bench had option of armrest folddown center. back seats had same option of fold down or std back seat. cheap seats did not carry storage behind seats, this was option on Deluxe interiors. Speed buzzer, optional. cruise and tilt are optional too. Tele wheel was optional had to be ordered as was a Cadillac part till 73, then buick had started more installs of tele on Limited cars. Air bag was available in 1975 very rare. Vinyl top was optional too, pebble grain till 75, then Elk grain was option on Limited, std on Park avenue.

I may have missed some, hope helps. bca 27925 craig

[Guest Shaffer]

Wow, havent posted here in forever it seems (almost a year), but just ran across this one on ebay and thought she is definitely one of the rarer ones!

A 1972 Electra LIMITED 2dr hdtp with NO A/C. She is rough, but was a beauty in the day. This is my favorite color on these. The seller knows she is rare too, apparently only 367 of these optioned without A/C.

Buick : Electra Buick : Electra | eBay

[Guest my3buicks]

The seller didn't know squat about what an odditity he had - that information was supplied by our very own 72 Buick guru B. Alberini to him.

[Guest Shaffer]

The seller didn't know squat about what an odditity he had - that information was supplied by our very own 72 Buick guru B. Alberini to him.

Oops, my bad.

The way it was listed there appeared that he/she had listed that. I didnt read between the lines. LOL. Anyway, a rare car.

[buick5563]

Epic thread.

[Smartin]

8 years and running!

[Guest buickapollo455]

Buick did have 2 arm rest for 72, limited class and electra class, or std hard arm rest ,the only one that survived time. soft was introduced under Govt mandated softer interiors, the inner car bump around in a accident. However buick kept the cheap std arm rest all the way to 76 if you wanted it . same as Delta 88 and 98 offered. , manual windows was available on all buick electra as std material , electrics were extra. door lamps were extra like Cadillac. corning lamps on fenders were optional all way in buick history till 2002; , radios had 3 am amfm amfm8track, with extra speakers optional to rear and front in stereo 4. option light rear view mirrors, not seen much but are out there. bumper ettes, optional, most were dealer installed. Speed buzz optional all electra, cruise optional too. tilt and tilt tele was available. full power seats options on all cars, electra. power trunk trip was also option. Dual exhaust was factory option, dealer could install if did not have on car at sales date. 1972 also brought out the Radial TIRE, poly glass radial J78-15. 4 star tires were top of the line from 1970-1973, union 76 tire upgrade. only seen one set at a national meet. spot lamp dome was also available, rare. Carpet trunk and full rubber mat also available. Full floor mats inside were optional materials. seats had vinyl, basic, and embroidery style seats for deluxe option. cloth seats were plain and match colors or contrast, were also available. Ralley rims, `15 were not option to ELectra sorry guys. points lost for ralleys on 71-72 electras. However dealers did do switch overs from Riviera to give owners what they wanted. 1973 option was offered to buick electra, chrome ralleys. Only Deluxe hubcaps were offered 1972. 2 different vinyl tops were out, paint surround edge, or full vinyl top, all in pebble grain. 73 first offer 2nd vinyl option, on custom coupe to offer elk grain on double padded roof. , 72 is a transition year, 73 was a loner, 74 started the last roll thru 76. What most owners dont know is 72 is the law passing to assembly plants, to meet 5 mph bumper laws, so many 72 after christmas assembly break, started to add extra reinforcement to front ends that early cars dont have. thus the big bumpers in 73 with pistons. I judge bca bc cars and have a help address at bca for electras, craig geske , mpls mn 1971-1976

[Guest Shaffer]

8 years and running!

lol, yeah and it all started with my '72 Electra. Wow, I miss that car, but having fun restoring my '72 Caprice Kingswood Estate wagon. Well I ran across another interesting Buick on ebay - 1973 LeSabre Custom. No A/C. Not that unusual for a northern car of that era, but this car is in NC, where most cars were ordered with A/C back then. It may have been a northern car originally. Buick : LeSabre Custom in Buick | eBay Motors

*You know they may have seemed odd to me back in '02, but the more I had researched old cars, it soon became clear that in this era so many cars were ordered with individual options and equipped in many different ways.

Edited May 4, 2013 by Shaffer (see edit history)

[Guest Rob McDonald]

Can one even "order" a car today? Seems to me it's, take whichever one you want from the dealer's lot or have one brought in from another locale. The big consumer choice now is, which shade of grey do I want? A Smartcar isn't much, either as a car or as square footage, but at least they come in some pretty snappy two-tone colours!

And then there are the available body kits...

[Smartin]

Pretty sure that Lambo midget is a photoshop job. I used to see those all the time.

Here's a 71 LeSabre Custom 4 door sedan w/o AC in Canadia.

Buick : LeSabre Custom Sedan 4-Door | eBay

[Guest 75RivGS]

Had to think about this thread when looking for 68 Wildcat items. Found this dash cluster: clock delete/no pwr antenna/no CC/no defogger/no courtesy light switch, but with speedo warning

[John_Maine]

When I look at an instrument cluster like this, I always wonder what happened at the exact moment the odo stopped working, assuming it was working when the car last ran. This odo stopped at 39457.7 (almost). Was that when it went to a junk yard? or was in an accident? Guess I'm weird.

[Guest Shaffer]

Can one even "order" a car today? Seems to me it's, take whichever one you want from the dealer's lot or have one brought in from another locale. The big consumer choice now is, which shade of grey do I want? A Smartcar isn't much, either as a car or as square footage, but at least they come in some pretty snappy two-tone colours! And then there are the available body kits...

I don't think one can even special order a new car anymore, with individual options that is. They give you that choice of options packages, but in many cases you have to get one big package to get one small item you want. I have a friend that recently purchased a new Kia Soul ! "Exclaim", top of the line model (I personally don't like the Souls, lol). She didn't want the top of the line model, but she wanted the wheels that came on the top line model. She tried to get them to put wheels on the mid-line model + "Plus", but they would not! They told her to get those wheels, she HAD to get the "!" model, which she did.

Pretty sure that Lambo midget is a photoshop job. I used to see those all the time.

Here's a 71 LeSabre Custom 4 door sedan w/o AC in Canadia.

Buick : LeSabre Custom Sedan 4-Door | eBay

That is a cool car. Its so strange to see a big early 70s car without A/C, but the more I am on the station wagon forums, I see more and more wagons from the 70s, even the "luxury" wagons that don't have A/C, then you look and sure enough, its a Canadian car. lol. There were apparently a lot of Canadian cars without A/C prior to the 1980s.

Had to think about this thread when looking for 68 Wildcat items. Found this dash cluster: clock delete/no pwr antenna/no CC/no defogger/no courtesy light switch, but with speedo warning

That is a neat cluster, that radio delete was probably pretty rare. I see it did have A/C however. The last radio delete Buick I seen was actually a beige colored 1972 Buick Estate Wagon with ZERO options! No A/C, no wood-grain, no 3rd seat, no tilt wheel, no cruise control, no luggage rack, it had nothing power (other than PS and PB) and of course, not even a radio and it had the base interior trim. It was a plain-Jane for sure.

When I look at an instrument cluster like this, I always wonder what happened at the exact moment the odo stopped working, assuming it was working when the car last ran. This odo stopped at 39457.7 (almost). Was that when it went to a junk yard? or was in an accident? Guess I'm weird.

lol, you know I never thought of that before, but I think now I will wonder the same thing when I see a car that has been setting for years or something, lol.

[Guest Shaffer]

How is this for a ODDLY OPTIONED Buick? This time a 1973 Buick Estate Wagon. Someone had posted this on the wagon site and it appears to be a Canadian car. As far as options, it has wood-grain exterior trim, luggage rack, bumper guards, rub strips, power windows, power door locks, cruise, tilt, Custom luxury interior, but NO A/C (seems pretty normal for an older Canadian car) and has a manual tailgate (most of the Buick wagons had the power gate option). Also it appears to be a 2-seat (6-passenger) model, but the car is in excellent condition and is a beautiful wagon.

[Guest Shaffer]

Here is the link BTW: 1973 BUICK ESTATE WAGON - Ontario Collector Cars For Sale - Kijiji Ontario Canada.

[Bill Bernhard]

As a purchasing agent for fleets, back in the '70s, I can remember actually having to pay a (not insubstantial) premium ($150) as an "option delete", in order to request NO A/C in the Electra Wagons. This was, of course, very rare indeed, as the operator could easily and simply avoid activating the A/C, using the multi-function controller for HVAC functions. The Electra was the top-of-the-line Buick model, on Buick's largest car. Buick's own, in-house, 455 C.I. V-8, with Turbo-Hydramatic 400 transmission, produced enormous torque, if not horsepower, motivating this 5000 lb car. Beauty meets brute force in this particular vehicle !  The rear brake light treatment was unique to this year, I believe. Very pretty indeed !