From the jump, I realize that it’s an understatement to say that deindustrialization had a significant impact on many Rust Belt cities, including in my hometown of Flint, Michigan. Once a vehicle manufacturing powerhouse, we still build trucks and parts, but now at a fraction of the level that was the case up through my early childhood. While Flint continues its reinvention and diversification of its economy, with education and health care coming first to mind, there are still a few reminders around of its past glories as an affluent and enviable blue-collar community. Nowadays, just the continued existence of a long-time business is enough to excite me, as many establishments have since shuttered in the wake of prior decades of General Motors plant closures.
Star Bros. Coney Island at the Dort Mall. Friday, August 20, 2010.
I had eaten lunch at now-defunct Star Brothers Coney Island at the Dort Mall for lunch with friends maybe six or seven years ago. This business had been open since 1975 and had been a mainstay at the mall through many changes that included the arrival and departure of anchors, a children’s pizza parlor and entertainment center, a grocery store, a legendary discotheque in the basement, a multi-screen cinema, and the still-continuing success of a giant hockey equipment emporium. My friends and I sat in our comfortable, brightly colored vinyl booth comprising the majority of customers in this clean, inviting restaurant with its patriotic red, white, and blue color scheme.
After we had placed our orders with Tina, our pigtailed server, I watched as these nicely dressed, mature ladies came walking in. They were wearing proper slacks and blouses, were nicely made-up, and if I recall correctly, one of them had arrived with one of those plastic bonnets designed to keep her roll-and-set hairdo in place. They spoke with the kind of loud, slightly nasally dialect that seems specific to Genesee County. These were fancy Flint ladies, and they seemed transported right out of my 1980s childhood into Star Brothers that afternoon.
The former Battiste’s Temple Dining Room. Downtown Flint. Monday, February 18, 2013. Flint fancy.
I tried not to stare, but it was hard not to keep trying to sneak peeks at those ladies while conversing and eating with my friends. There’s a specific presentation exclusive to Midwestern folks from industrial areas who take things upscale. There’s a take-no-guff bluntness to Flint people that I both witnessed and internalized as part of that community, but this is not at odds with some folks looking nice or speaking properly. There’s a pride among residents that will not tolerate your pity, and don’t ask us about the water. I imagine that these ladies’ names might have been Maxine and Connie. I imagined that my fancy Flint ladies were going golfing after lunch.
This was the imagery that came to mind after reviewing frames of our featured car snapped at the end of June. I had just left the historic Maxwell Street Market and its tents and vendors on a Sunday afternoon when this ’83 Electra Park Avenue surfaced in traffic to make a left turn from West Roosevelt onto South Union. The driver and I made eye contact as we both waited for the light to change at the intersection, after which he nodded in appreciation of my respect and I got my shots.
A license plate search confirmed this ’83 example was indeed built in Flint, and that it’s powered by a 140-horsepower, four-barrel 5.0 liter V8, which was the only non-diesel V8 engine available. A four-barrel, 4.1 liter V6 with 125 horses was standard equipment, and a 105-hp diesel 5.7L V8 was optional. With over 3,800 pounds of curb weight to start, the two-door Electra Park Avenue would have been best served by the five-liter unit. By ’83, the two-door Electras just weren’t selling. With total sales of just under 98,200, only 8,900 of them were coupes, good for just 9%. Even the Estate Wagon sold better, with about 9,600 units.
Compare this against production numbers for the ’77, the first model year of the big shrink, when two-doors still comprised a significant proportion of sales. Out of 186,702 units that year (again including the Estate Wagon on the LeSabre’s shorter 115.9 inch wheelbase), two-door Electras accounted for 53,600 cars, or almost 29% of that total. The market had changed significantly even just six model years later. Decoding what looks like a factory paint scheme was a challenge perhaps because the scanned color charts I referenced might have been yellowed. From what I can tell, this example is in Silver (code 15) with a vinyl top in White (code 11).
Speaking of that vinyl roof, it reminds me a lot of Maxine’s hair bonnet. If this car had been in the parking lot of the Dort Mall that day, I could imagine these ladies climbing in after an after-lunch Virginia Slims under the canopy of the mall’s main entrance, with Connie later sitting cross-legged in the front seat next to Maxine, clutching her purse on her lap with both hands. I appreciated the factory stock appearance of this grand, old Buick, down to those eternally attractive, chrome-plated road wheels. The custom license plate on it was another sign of pride of ownership, an indicator that the owner knows how to treat this fancy Flint lady. Here’s wishing him many more years of comfortable cruising in this beautiful, increasingly rare type of Buick.
Near West Side, Chicago, Illinois.
Sunday, June 30, 2024.
Brochure photos were sourced from www.oldcarbrochures.org.
I have always liked big 2-door cars, and thought this final generation C body looked good in each of its three flavors, whether Olds, Cadillac or this Buick. In fact, I think the Buick may edge the other two in looks.
I can vouch for how rare these were – when I had my 2 door Olds 98 (a final-year 1984 model) I rarely saw others, though the sedans were all over the place back then.
From your descriptions, I think the people from my own hometown of Fort Wayne might have been a little more reserved than those from Flint, but I absolutely get what you are saying here!
JP, you now have me thinking about which two-door C-body I like best *aesthetically* (hometown Buick would always get the nod, otherwise). I remember loving your COAL about that big Olds.
My father bought a 1979 Coupe De Ville new (same colour as the pic I found on the internet) and no car since or before rode as well. It shared its full frame construction with the other “C” bodies which contributed to its driving comfort and quietness, whereas cars today have unitized construction (cheaper to produce?) and lower profile tires geared more towards sporty handling. And where most new cars’ bumpers are merely a painted, plastic cover over styrofoam or some plastic egg-crate material, so easily marred up in the lightest parking mishap, (good for auto-body shops though) , these cars had practical chrome bumpers with black rubber strips backed by heavy supports. Miss these large GM cars.
The bumpers thing is kind of a sticking point with me. One moderate scratch, scrape, or bump on that bumper cover, and either it looks terrible or costs a relative fortune to repair or replace.
I remember when body-colored bumpers or bumper covers seemed like the best thing looks-wise since sliced bread, but having seen so many luxury cars (in the city, anyway) with beat up bumper covers, I also miss the chrome deals. Those Bumper Bully things also aren’t the best look if one forgets to remove them before actually driving somewhere.
Dort is the Flintiest of names! Dort was Billy Durant’s partner in the buggy business and later made a Dort car.
Haha, yes! There are so many Dort-named things in Flint, because of J. Dallas Dort. The Dort Mall is on South Dort Highway. It was originally the Dort Mall, then the Small Mall when I was a kid, then the Mid America Plaza in the late ’80s, then finally back to the Dort Mall.
I love your imagery, Joe. I belong to a FB group from my old home city. Yes, I remember distinctively the old places they pine away for, but I also make sure on my annual visits home (I left the area 42 years ago) to take note of the new and exciting. Everything changes.
So glad, for whatever reason, Flint is reinventing itself.
Thank you, Dave! I also belong to a few hometown groups on social media. It’s always tricky for me not to get caught up in nostalgia and to be willing to let go of some of the old things, places, and ways of doing things in order to make way for new things. I’m sure I will weep uncontrollably if and when my old high school building is torn down if another use for it isn’t found.
What a coincidence! Just this weekend I saw a very similar ’83 Electra Park Avenue coupe – it’s been quite a while since I’ve seen one of these. This example is brown, but otherwise similar to your find, down to the road wheels.
Your imagery is right on target. The chance of the original owner being named Maxine is pretty high. (Back in the early ’80s my folks belonged to a tennis club, which was a natural habitat of fancy ladies, and quite a few were named Maxine.)
I’ve mentioned this before, but my own association with these cars always leads back to my uncle, who drove a Park Avenue sedan. I’d relish the opportunity to ride in it, and admire the cushy upholstery, all the chromed power buttons and so on. It seemed like heaven to me at the time.
Wow, nice example! That is so much cooler looking than the modern cars around it.
That car is beautiful. CC Effect in reverse? I wrote this first draft about three weeks ago.
There were so many ladies named Maxine when I was growing up. Maybe Maxine was the “Jennifer” of the ’40s.
Funny thing about Maxine. Based on your comment, I looked up the incidence of American girls named Maxine by birth year. As we’d suspect, it was a popular name from the 1920s-1940s, and then began dropping off. By the 1970s there were hardly any Maxines born each year.
But about ten years ago that began to change, and the name has increased again quite quickly. In 2023, there were actually 588 Maxines born in the US (more, in fact, than Jennifers). I have no idea what the geographic or ethnic distribution of the name is now, or why it’s become popular. I suspect it’s been a response to the popularity of the boys’ name Max… but that’s just my guess.
Anyway, just an interesting tidbit for today.
Love it! Thanks for this, Eric. I actually like the resurgence of names I used to associate with people of my grandparents’ generation, like Henry, Cora, Violet, Eleanor… these are young kids!
So true! When I was a kid, Henry and Eleanor were kids’ grandparents’ names. Now, every kindergarten has one or two. It’s an amusing cycle of popularity.
Looks quite good. Don’t recall too many, if any, “Electra, 2 doors” of that generation.
It was in beautiful shape. I didn’t even see a two-door Electra of this generation at the Back To The Bricks car festival in Flint last month, IIRC. These are rare.
Never liked big 2 door cars of any make, they seem ridiculously impractical with all that real estate consumed by a car with a back seat that requires a contortionist to get into, and even more so with the previous ’71 to ’76 C-bodies. I had 3 of those, all 4 doors that were very comfortable for 5 to get into easily and relax in that space, though not as much as one would think for such enormous cars. And even then the ’77 downsize made more sense, retaining all of the rear seat space of the previous behemoths, essentially. Still, while I can admire the style, if not function, of these last of the big GM 2 doors, I can also understand why they eventually became obsolete before their 4 door brethren.
All of these practical reasons make sense. I remember being happy when only family of origin had purchased a four-door instead of a two-door for some of the reasons you describe, even if we had a compact. Like you mentioned, this was a big, two-door style statement.
I loved this; excellent descriptions and imagery. And yes, this would have been the perfect car for them.
Thanks, Paul. I had Connie and Maxine in my mind’s eye as I was writing this. I’m sure that helped with the finished product.
Joseph: Seeing the pic of this 2 door Buick instantly brought back memories of when I was working at the Buick/Cadillac dealer in the mid-west where I grew up. One of the techs drove that exact color Electra (P.A.). It’s actually a more gray color (instead of silver), but it’s not as dark as most grays would be. The top is a very light gray that does almost look white from a distance. A dirty white no less, but it is a light gray and may be called Dove Gray.
Going back to my childhood, my uncle who owned a used car lot would often buy a brand new Buick or Chrysler every other year, drive them for 2 years and then sell them used on his lot. In late 1981 he special ordered a 1982 Park Avenue sedan in a light tan with the dark brown P.A. velour seats and a dark brown top. Stunning car. Many years later (now back again when I worked at the Buick/Cadillac dealership), we traded in a gorgeous 1980 Park Avenue 2 door just like the one in your story, but in a stunning dark maroon (top, interior and exterior). It was a DIESEL!! I loved it and purchased is on the spot. Drove it for a couple years and it ran like a champ.
Dan, thank you for this. It adds so much to my experiences of posting these when someone chimes in with a positive, firsthand (or secondhand) ownership experience of an example of the featured make and model.
Excellent imagery. I can entirely picture the “two mature ladies”, even down to the plastic bonnets. Star Brothers seems familiar too. Not that I know that particular business, but it seems like so many communities had places like that that were “hang outs” as well as family restaurants. We were all about that kind of place in high school. By the 1970s, these were inevitably in malls or at least shopping centers. I don’t know if those kinds of places still exist anywhere. My kids, growing up in recent decades definitely didn’t have them and I doubt would have had any friends who would have “hung out” anywhere physically.
Very good point about the restaurants. I can think of a number of restaurants that my family frequented when I was a kid that also served as a hang out type of place – some of them at malls. I can’t think of a modern equivalent.
I think that there are several factors. In no particular order…
1) In my experience, most kids nowadays (all the way up to graduating from HS age) seem to prefer to simply hang out at home, most of the time with a parent in the house. While my generation (and I think many previous generations) after a certain age (like…12?) wanted to be as far away from our parents as possible, it seems that current generations are just fine hanging out with adults constantly within ear shot/eyesight.
2) In a corollary to the above, parents nowadays seem to be happy to hang out with their kids and their friends around. In my generation, parents always seemed to have something else to do and socializing with their children and children’s friends was not an adult activity by choice.
3) Kids nowadays are much less likely to drive themselves to places. Often kids are actively discouraged from driving peers or being driven by peers. And anyway, it just seems less common than in the 1970s (etc.) when it was entirely common that groups of teens would load into a car and all go somewhere – e.g., a hangout – together. Modern license restrictions seem to actively encourage the practice of keeping kids out of cars together. For better or worse. So, unless your parent or over-18 sibling can/wants to drive you somewhere, as a teen you are just as likely to go nowhere.
4) Restaurants nowadays need to serve alcohol to stay in business. Therefore, the number of places that can exist in a “family friendly” mode are reduced. Groups of teens are not generally encouraged to frequent establishments that are trying to make $ from serving alcohol (e.g, even places like Applebee’s).
5) Kids seem to enjoy staying at home alone. Or physically alone at least. Many kids nowadays would argue that they’re seldom actually alone given all of their virtual interactions…which many would also say are preferable to “IRL”.
I don’t get any of this. But as someone (not that far) over the age of 60, what I get is largely irrelevant.
Excellent points. And as the parent of two teenagers, it’s true – my kids and their peers just don’t hang out. Lots of root causes (and I think what you wrote about kids being actively discouraged to go places is definitely true), but it’s resulted in a vastly different adolescent landscape than even what my slightly older nieces and nephews experienced.
Thanks, Jeff. Star Bros. was a special place, but the BBQ restaurant that replaced it also smells super-delicious. I also love these diner / family restaurant places that, to your point, used to be in many malls.
When I lived in Tampa, there was a mall (can’t remember the name – Westshore, IIRC) that had a Harvest House family restaurant in it that always looked like it was frozen in 1973, and awesomely so. At the time, though, I was in my mid-20s and wouldn’t have thought to prioritize going there by myself. I wish I had, because I’m sure that HH is long gone.
That’s a beautiful big Buick coupe, the stock road wheels give it all the dash it needs. So nice to see one that was left in the original condition. I have always loved big luxury coupes and still mourn their passing. I suppose that my Riviera is the last of that breed, and it carried on the traditional role of providing top level comfort and convenience in the quiet, less ostentatious Buick manner. Thanks for the great snapshot of the car and the Flint Ladies.
Thank you, Jose! I’m afraid to ask if the Riviera is one in your fleet that you’ve hung onto. I really hope so! 🙂
It’s still here, I’m working on a few problems at the moment, but it runs really well. You can read it’s story in a couple of weeks.
Nice essay and car! It is indeed sad when longstanding pillars of the community go away. I imagine the Star Bros. faced the headwind of declining mall business. Most malls are struggling these days. It would be nice if they opened back up as a regular freestanding restaurant.
The Electra looks to be in wonderful shape. Very midwestern type of car! It appears to be wearing Vogue wide whitewall tires, the auto equivalent of wearing one’s best make up and fanciest clothes. Certainly not original, but I have to say it fits the car rather well. I usually see those on aftermarket wire wheels, especially the ridiculous ones that “poke” way out. They look good on the stock chrome wheels.
I can understand why the coupes didn’t sell well. The practical advantage of the sedan would be hard to pass up, and to my eyes these large luxury cruisers look better with four doors anyway. My great uncle bought a brand new 83 Electra sedan. I loved it and got to drive it a bit as a teen. It had the 4.1, which was fine for toodling about town, but my Uncle Gene said it left a bit to be desired on the highway especially when it got hilly.
Thank you, Jon. You know, I don’t think I would have noticed the Vogue wide whites if you hadn’t mentioned them. To me, though, that speaks to just how organically good this car’s overall presentation really is. It’s a slight modification that looks almost factory.
I think the owners of Star Bros. we’re probably ready to hang it up after over forty years in business, especially when COVID hit. This mall was never super busy when I was a kid, though it did have cool stores back then. I hope the former owner of this restaurant found time to retire and enjoy.
Did the Buick road wheel have the longest life of any wheel? Did it die with the RWD LeSabre, or were they offered on the later Roadmaster/Estate Wagon (don’t see any on an image search)?
I’m not sure when they officially ended. I know they were never offered on the Roadmaster. I’ve seen people retrofit Roadmasters with them and it somehow never looks right to me. You’d think they would be a natural fit. If I had to guess, I’d say 1987 on the Estate Wagon was the last year. It’s at least the last year they are listed in the brochure.
“Longest life of any wheel” sounds like a great QOTD to me.
I really enjoyed this and the photos of the Electra are great. It reminds me of the Electra sedan the pastor of the church l grew up in had. His was also an 83 in the exact same color combo. He bought it in 84 for his wife to drive, but she was not to thrilled at first because she really wanted a new Town Car. Eventually she grew to like it and drove it until her death in 1988. Preacher (as we all called him) kept the car for several more years, and when he re-married in 1990 his new wife drove it for several more years. I got to ride in it a few times and it was a very luxurious and quiet interior. Brings back good memories, since both Preacher and the car (and sadly the church too) are long gone. Your stories are always great!
Thank you so much, Mitchel. I like that this car reminds you of something happy. The church in Flint where I was baptized disbanded earlier this year. That felt like a loss.
Nice pictures of a beautiful Buick .
Sad they didn’t sell more of these coupes .
-Nate
Thanks, Nate. I think the coupe’s rarity was part of what made this sighting all the more special on this summer Sunday afternoon.
I too have respect for the continued existence of a long-time business. A lot comes down to management’s grasp of the times. While they cannot live in the past forever, it can take an especially astute mind to know how much change is necessary; how much progress might be a bridge too far. Know your customer.
Over the last few years my formerly little town had grown to a not-so-little town six times the size. Small businesses have closed and been replaced by franchises, which (to my mind) suck, offering a standard product for an imagined standard customer, rather than responding to the locals’ perceived needs. Take it or leave it: this is what we sell. Whenever possible, I go elsewhere. It feels good to be recognized as a regular customer, maybe even greeted by name. It gives you a sense of belonging, you might say. It’s a welcome anchor amid changing times. Local businesses know the customer.
The more I read about this generation of downsized GM biggies, the more I realize just how right they were for America of the times. Management brought these out at just the right time. The next round of downsized big cars was not so fortunate. Often I feel that the seventies/early eighties Buicks were the most attractive of the GM brands, they seem to have a ‘rightness’ the others lack.
Peter, thank you for these well-expressed ideas. You have expressed what I realize now has to be part of the reason I’m looking for the mom & pop shop / restaurant even when I’m traveling on the interstate system here in the U.S. I may not be return customer where people will learn my name, but these places know the area and add value in not offering a homogenized product – which I get is a plus to some.
There’s no comparison aesthetically between this ’83 Electra two-door and the downsized ’85.
Very interesting that you point out de industrialization as a column on an earlier version of this car made in my home state touched upon it as well:
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/my-curbside-classic/my-curbside-classic-1977-buick-electra-225-the-green-goddess-of-linden/
I hear a lot about “eds and meds” replacing economies in Rust Belt locales and I find it annoying and not a real solution. Now if these are research centers that create new products that improve people’s lives it is one thing. But demand for higher education that does not have an occupational focus is probably in decline. And health care may be good w aging populations but not declining ones. The point is these are secondary to an economy that has a unique commercial or industrial connotation. (Finance in NYC, Tech in the Bay Area, Energy in Texas etc). Now some newer parts of the country have diversified service economies but it is hard in the rust belt because
1) You are transitioning from a prior economy with certain expectations vs building a new one
2) Climate and geography are a factor as well. Even most of the new auto plants seem to be in states with better climates (and weaker union support).
Interestingly, the county Flint is in retains a higher manufacturing employment base than the country as a whole (16 vs 10 pct) but much lower on professional services and finance.
As for the car I always liked the 1st downsize wave GMs. Again would GM have fared better if they had given these cars a major update vs euthanizing most of them for the FWD replacements? Probably at least for a while. But if I had been planning in 1979-82 I would have been thinking the old fuel prices were not coming back and to build something like the H/FWD Cs even though I like these better. We are at similar crossroads today w how long gas should survive vs hybrid vs fuel electric. Or even the new GM full size crossovers (essentially the modern answer to these) dropping the V6 for the turbo 4.
Great points. I remember reading your article years ago, and just from clicking the link before I get my day started, I think I’d like to reread it.
Haha not my article but it was a good one.
The first thing that came to my mind when you said “Maxine” was this song by Maxine Brown (no relation to “The Three Bells” Browns) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atIHwVrz05Q
Love your writing style and how emotive it is – not to mention the great shots of what is the best looking coupe out of the Buick/Olds/Cadillac trio.
Thank you so much, Tom. And in a bizarre twist, earlier this summer I picked up a used, one-dollar hits anthology CD by Maxine Brown and absolutely love it. I think I may give it another spin this weekend.