Last weekend I had occasion to drive to Minnesota which means that crossing Nebraska is usually the quickest way to get there. Nebraska, for those not in the know, is 500 miles across of not much to see when traversing it from west to east (or the other way) via the interstate. I’m sure it’s a wonderful state and I love corn and beef as much as the next guy, but dairy, forest, and mountain country is usually prettier, at least in my own opinion.
On the flip side, driving across Nebraska is a pretty mindless affair for which cruise control, adaptive cruise control, autopilot and eventually teleporting were or will be invented. So it leaves you plenty of time to pay attention to what else is on the road if in fact you’re still awake and paying attention at all. And on that day the best thing I saw was what looked like an older farmer gent and his wife from Kansas in their glorious showroom condition 1983 Buick Electra Park Avenue in light green metallic paint with matching padded vinyl top.
It could well be a different model year than 1983, I don’t believe they changed much from about 1980-1984. I think all 1984 Buicks got an Olympics sticker on the rear quarter window so that’s why I’m guessing 1983. In any case the only engine options by then were the Olds 307 gasser or the 350 diesel, in prior years there was also a Buick 350 gas engine available. There’s no diesel badge evident so probably the 307 here.
As maligned as that engine seems to be on this site, for this purpose it would appear just fine, the car was doing a pretty steady 75mph with presumably the air conditioning blowing cold from all the vents and the suspension softly cradling the occupants in their pillow soft 50/50 front seats that may or may not have had the optional leather. Not a bad way to cross Nebraska.
Postscript: Thankfully I didn’t see an eagle (edit: apparently it’s a hawk, not an eagle, I’m no birdman) like the one on the brochure approaching through my windshield, it would have scared the bejeezus out of me. Even the cover car looks startled. What was up with that, Buick?
A good friend gave us on of these in 1998 for our son to drive. When our son went into the Marine Corps in January of 1999, it sat in the driveway until my 1986 GMC Safari died on Memorial Day (318,000 miles). I drove from then until March of 2000. What a car! Soft smooth ride. Loved it. We gave it to our mechanic who was looking for a car for a young lady who was out of cash and needed transportation.
Not sure that a car that gets 15-16 mpg overall/13-15 city/19-20 highway (depending on V6 or V8) is a good choice for a “young lady who was out of cash”.
Sometimes a well running car for free is a godsend – even if 16-18 mpg combined is the best it can do.
Today is Father’s Day in the U.S. Greetings to all of you who are dads.
It was a hawk, not an eagle. BuIck had a thing for hawks (hence Skyhawk).
“In 1975, the the Skyhawk line came about and so did a hawk perched on block letters of Buick . In the 80’s the popular hawk mascot (named Happy) retired and Buick decided to re-emphasize the tri-shield.”
https://www.penskesocial.com/buick-logo-full-of-history-and-symbolism/
Buick TV ads of the period ended with a hawk perching atop a Buick dealers sign with an audible screech. Nice car. Things like crossing Nebraska is what these cars were made for.
fueleconomy.gov only goes back to 1984, but for that year, besides a diesel, it lists versions of a 4.1 L (250 cubic inch) V6 as well as the 5.0 L (305 cubic inch) V8 for the Electra/Park Avenue. The gas mileage as I listed in another comment is only a couple mpg’s different between the two, and apparently there were different versions of each available (although none are listed as flexible fuel engines) as there are a couple mpg’s listed for each engine.
Too bad you and the Byoo (I had an old Buick for a while in college and everyone called it “The Byoo”) didn’t end up at the same roadside rest area with the opportunity for a chat. I’ve stopped at lots of them across the interstates, and I always appreciate a non-commercial bathroom and Spaziergang place with some grass and trees and maybe even a sculpture or something.
Here’s a really good one, and it’s in Nebraska:
I-80 Eastbound rest area, Sutherland, Nebraska
https://www.nps.gov/places/000/ofallons-bluff-at-sutherland-rest-area.htm
The 4.1 used in these was not the 250 that is a straight 6. These had the 252, a larger version of the Buick 3.8 V-6.
It’s as if whoever planned I-80 through Nebraska intentionally chose the most featureless route possible. It’s a shame, because there really are beautiful parts of the state, particularly in the panhandle. Any time I cross Nebraska, I try to go with a route across the extreme north or south edges. Lovely country.
And a poorly-kept secret—there’s a large “dry belt” from Kansas to North Dakota that does wonders for preserving cars. It’s like going back in time. Minimal salt, minimal traffic, patina heaven.
My father in law used to work as a regional sales rep for Swifts Premium (meats), and he had a salesman turn in a 1980 Electra Limited who worked out of Kansas City. This was in 1983, and I recall it had about 60k on the ODO. My wife and I had little expendable monies, so we were able to fly out to Chicago from NJ (father in law paid the tab), and we bought the Buick for a song. I remember driving it home to NJ, and how comfy those velvet seats felt, how quiet it was cruising at 70+, and that it was a bit heavy on the fuel.
When we arrived at home, we looked out of place in our modest neighborhood..the Buick replaced a ’70 Country Squire wagon! Our other vehicle was a ’71 Volvo 142, and I felt we had the best of both worlds.
BTW, the Buick was a looker, and I lent it out to friends for weddings and other special events when they wanted to make a splash. Great fun.
My parents bought a ’77 Electra when I was in HS. It was floatier than Grandma’s Cadillac, and the 403 was smooth and powerful and got about 18-19 mpg at best. After a couple of years, the rear began sagging. By the time my dad finally had new rear springs & shocks put on it, the front was sagging, so the rear stuck up in the air until he had the front replaced. Not long after my sister took it to grad school in 1985, both ends had settled again. We had the base model, so the seats weren’t particularly comfortable–too spongy, and they pointed you toward the center line of the car.
“Electra” would’ve been a perfect name for a new Buick EV. “225” could indicate the standard range (along with higher priced models “Electra 320” and “Electra 400”)
Whether eagle or hawk, not the sight you want to be filling your windshield!
Once I was on a busy interstate when a flock of ducks thought it would be a good idea for some reason to land in the middle of it with cars whizzing through at 70+ mph. It wasn’t.
So that Olds 307 put out 140hp, an improvement in efficiency but also deep cut from the 185hp of the 403 powering my parent’s ’78 Estate Wagon, which I later inherited. Good thing Nebraska’s pretty flat!
I always liked this generation of big Buicks, which managed to retain enough distinction to set them apart from their B-Body stablemates.
That is really one well preserved example! It’s even green! Obliviously this is proof of pride of ownership. I remember when discreet, people of middle class means chose this type of car. I guess they buy Lexus ES 300s now.
I have the same 307 Olds under the hood of my 88 Brougham – it struggles on any grade, but since it has a good bit of torque (255 ft/lb) on level grade it will cruise at anything under 80 nicely. It helps that the Buick/Oldsmobile C bodies were a little lighter than the Cadillac.
Nice find! My company has an office in Ogallala that I need to visit…hopefully the beef is worth the drive from Pittsburgh.
Jim – we know that drive across I-80 well – from the border at Pine Bluffs to the Missouri at Omaha. We try to get across with only the one fuel stop at Kearney; the next one waits until Iowa. We are in a hurry to get east or back home.
But if and when you have time two fun stops are very close to I-80. Speedway Motors Museum is on the west side of Lincoln, on the south side of 80. And the great SAC Museum is between Omaha and Lincoln, on the north side of 80 and just south of the Platte River crossing. I recommend both but with so much Nebraska to cross it is hard not to be focused on making time.
Yes, with Lawrence Welk or 101 Strings emanating from the optional Delco cassette deck, such a velour-lined cocoon would have been just the travel-capsule for its original owner. Nothing Buick ever made later completely filled the void these cars left when they went away.
Yes, this is probably what would be appropriate to my current age, such that I should be driving something like it. My Dad had a ’78 Caprice Classic Wagon, and later 2 (FWD) Impalas, and (as age will do) I’ve come to appreciate the higher seating position (without having to go to a truck or SUV for that). My current car is fine for 21 year younger me (when I bought it) but “an old man’s car” is really what I could use, and they no longer sell them new.
Vectoring back to Nebraska, I have no connection to the state, but was thinking of a trip I took 24 years ago from my home in central Texas to Rapid City, SD, one of the few times I ever went through Nebraska, I went up route 83 (sometimes called the road to nowhere, but obviously it goes somewhere, it took me much of the way). Took me a bit to get to 83 from my home, and I only stayed on it into North Platte NB, and even then didn’t get on nearby interstate 80, instead took state roads up to Rapid City (Route 83 does to South Dakota and I guess I could have stayed on it then gone west on I 90, but I didn’t). I came back through Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, and back to Texas, and the net of that trip was I travelled only about 70 miles out of about 2300 total miles for the trip on an interstate…probably doesn’t sound like much for someone who lives in the country away from interstates, but it impressed me. Maybe a glutton for punishment, having to stop for every small town along the route, but I was thinking about a similar trip up route 11 from Slidell LA up to Pennsylvania (my relatives live near route 11 there) rather than going up route 81. Probably was the best way before they built 81. It might remind me of my Father driving us on many back roads in the 60’s before they built the interstate…we came back from California probably on route 66 around 1960 or 1961 when we moved back east (bucking the trend, my Father was probably one of the few people moving from California to Pennsylvania in 1960, he wasn’t pulling a UHaul, but I’d imagine they might even pay him to take an empty one back with him just to even things up. One of my first jobs was even similar, I worked as a transporter for Hertz to move one-way rental cars back to our home location (South Burlington, Vt, at the airport). Drove lots of back roads for that job, since the interstate doesn’t go near everyplace one of the rental cars might have (and indeed did) end up. Hardly any Buicks, though, Hertz focused on Fords (good pun) in the 70’s when I was driving for them.
That Last bit about the eagle was absolutely hilarious. The car does look starteled!
Startled. My bad. What, no edit? 🙁
The ’80 – ’84 B-bodies are among my favorite cars of all time. I think the styling has aged very well. I consider them very “handsome”.
The Buick and Olds versions were really better choices than the Cadillac on most points. I think they looked better and projected a more subdued statement of success without screaming it. They had less social baggage than the Cadillac.
One cool GM-exclusive feature on the these large cars (though they did show up on some Buick and Olds C- and G-bodies) are the fiber optic lamp monitors mounted on the front fenders, to show headlamp and parking/turn signal bulb operation. There was also a display mounted in the headliner at the rear for the rear lamps, that you could see in the rearview mirror. Man, I miss those. And real cornering lamps mounted low on the front quarter panels.
I meant to say “C”-bodies.
I have been looking for one of these to buy. I had one back in the 90’s and I want to get another one now that I can afford a second collector type car.