My job is to try to provide context for what I find on the streets, but sometimes that does get a bit challenging. What am I supposed to make of this? And on the official CC car, no less.
And, no, this stuff isn’t all just sitting there, although the beer and the bin obviously didn’t make the trip there. But there’s a bike carrier strapped to the trunk in an unorthodox fashion, and some of the baggage seems to have ridden there to.
The interior seems to be given over to bedding and such. The back seat would mike a pretty decent bed.
Mighty fine looking ’78 Electra Limited. I was a bit suspicious of the wire wheel covers, but they are stock indeed. The “Safety-Soft” tinted rear window “glass” was an option, though.
Good thing families are smaller than when the Joads made the trek across the silver screen in their Hudson Super Six.
Oregon or bust
http://www.mcrrmuseum.com/images/oregonorbust.jpg
Next stop… TTAC Junkyard Finds
The sad way many once majestic autos end their lives. 🙁
Murilee will want the clock from this one. 😉
Only in the Peoples Republic of Eugene…
That car looks seriously under-tired on the front. All the better to overload the back, I guess. Why not just remove the trunk lid and make some plywood sides to form kind of a pickup? The Buick El Segundo?
I don’t recall the taillights being as such. Amber turn lenses? And the back-up lenses don’t look right.. Canadian car? Or possibly homemade lenses? It is the Joads’ after all.
I think those lenses came from the same parts supply house as the left rear side window.
My Dad’s ’77 LeSabre had amber lenses, but they didn’t look like THAT!
LeSabres did have amber turn lenses, though they have a different rear altogether, Electras had red tailights with the back up lights on the outside edges.
It’s tape. The turn signals were amber, if I recall correctly, but there’s tape over both the right and left assemblies. Plus the garbage bag left rear window is a nice bonus.
Although we did it more carefully, my family used to load its 1972 Estate Wagon with at least this much stuff on our trips from NJ to Cape Cod.
A guy I used to work with bought a new 2 door version of this car. Yellowish cream colored, with the pillow tuft 60-40 seats in medium brown. Landau half vinyl roof to match the interior, and Buick rally wheels (like a Riviera). The car was positively strikingly beautiful. Although the 77’s on had the chopped off boxy look, his car looked every bit as good as the full sized 76 or earlier.
I don’t know what ever happened to the car, I didn’t work with the guy past 1981. He was the kinda guy who took care of his cars, but no doubt age and wear and tear took its toll. The car would have been a wonderful survivor; however, its chances were slim.
There are a good number of these large 77 and up Buick still around, they were pretty well made no BS cars, still using a Turbo 400 and a OHV V8, they were usually bought by people who did care for them. This one is a loaded up car, cornering lamps, light monitors, thermometer in the driver side rear view mirror, too bad it’s not a 2 door.
C’mon, can’t you even find thin whitewalls for this beast? Are they that expensive now? Hate hate hate seeing the big barges with blackwalls, doesn’t look right. Maybe we should pass the donation plate…
Also, and maybe this is just me, but this style of wire wheel cover -with the straight spokes-just doesn’t look appealing. I do love the other GM wire wheel designs however, especially those from Cadillac.
Anybody out there agree with me, or are you a strictly ‘true wires’ wire wheel lover?
They would look much better with white walls, but if its a Buick, its Road Wheels or go home.
Road wheels or grab a set of these alloys.
It is getting harder and harder to find white wall tires and you’ll usually need to step up past the made in China/Mexico cheapies. Heck sizes that fit these are getting hard to find in non-truck tires.
You’d be surprised how hard it is to find good whitewall tires at the corner tire store.
I had to get a set for my 77 Chevelle, and went to a couple tire chains and they had either brand X tires that I already had and they sucked for traction and wore out quickly, or none at all. ($79 a tire)
I went to an independent tire dealer and they had a set of what I consider good tires and the only set of whitewalls in that size they carried. ($90 a tire)
This car looks like they just went for the cheapest set of tires in that size for this car. The days of 4 for a $100 specials are long gone from when I used to sell tires.
(Yes these cars do look much better with with WSW tires. Blackwall only if it has some wheels to add some visual diameter)
What happened to this car? It looks to have been in pristine condition until very recently. Most likely, someone’s aunt or grandmother gave it to their niece, nephew or grandson, who doesn’t give a flip about it because it’s “old.” Shame.
This and the previous article could be the start of a CC Steinbeck thread. Now, tell me again about the Rabbit, Kevin…
A while back I spotted this car’s sexier corporate cousin- a ’77 or ’78 Olds Delta 88 landau coupe for $700. It was in suprisingly good shape.
Wether it was legit or another Cragslist scam I don’t know.
To poorer people, an old GM near lux car is a status symbol. “The Beverly Hillbillies” had a 1929 Olds converted to a truck.
This ’78 looks mint, nearly new condition.
and That Electra is 2 years Older NOW, Than The 29 Olds Was When Beverly Hillbillies debut, in 1962.
Looks like it was rear ended. In picture one the trunk looks slightly bowed. That would also account for the custom tail lights.
I bought one of these new. Brown metallic with the road wheels. Pillow seats in matching velour. You don’t slide on those babies. That thing had just about every option you could get IIRC. That was one mighty fine ride.
My Brother had a 77 Silver One, he traded a 73 Thunderbird in on. In 80 he again chose a “Park Avenue” in Brown … Until His Fox Continentals.
At $4.00 a gall. These are worth more scrap than what some one would pay for one.
Who can afford to run one as an every day car at 15 mpg?.
In the UK unleaded gas is £1.36 per lt!
Needs curb feelers.
My grandparents ordered one of these in 1977. The car never gave any problems, was fast, quiet, and drove great. In 1982 they ordered a new Fleetwood to replace the 77 Electra. It was a poor replacement.