1980 Buick Elektra Park Avenue, brochure image.
Please note that this was the first of three Park Avenues. I’ve already written about my favorite –my 1993.
The year 1994 was a sad one for me as for the first time in my life of 36 years, I would be away from my mom. We decided after Dad passed away in 1992 that she move to Charlotte to live with my youngest sister.
While I was away finishing the move, a dear friend, Scott, told me he had a surprise for me that he felt would surely cheer me up. A call from my wife later that evening revealed that he had dropped off a 1980 burgundy Buick Park Avenue (did they make any other color?!)
She said it was a nice-looking car that needed a deep cleaning and eventually paint, but it met with her approval. I couldn’t wait to get home!
Two days later, Jacob Cindy, and I were inspecting this new to us car. Total cost? $300
We all agreed to put money into it and make it something very nice. It was a 97000 mile car and everything worked.
I called Mom to discuss what I was working on. She asked what color I was going to paint the car. I hadn’t considered anything but the original, but she asked me to repaint it black. It was her and my dad’s intention to gift me a black 1978 Buick Electra that they had leased, but they had lost it in bankruptcy.
Cindy agreed and we started the process.
From burgundy to black. Image from the web.
We were knocked off track after the state of Florida disputed the sale price. John, the man Scott bought it from, and I went to the DMV to correct the misunderstanding. John asked how I liked the car, and I told him we liked it enough to restore it.
He told me that this Buick was the most reliable car and that it simply refused to be put down. He shared a story about the car being stolen from his driveway and it being part of a high-speed chase. The thief, refusing to give up jumped curbs, drove through yards and the police ended up ramming the driver’s side door. Damage that the local Buick dealer eventually fixed after John haggled with the insurance company.
We decided that even knowing this, it was still a car we wanted to give a second, er… uh, third chance!
It started with new tires, a reworked exhaust, a tune-up, and a new timing chain. Then, on to the paint shop. Much to our surprise, the paint shop, to which I had sent many customers, offered to paint the car for free. Better, another friend paid for the vinyl top, and yet another family paid to have a newer, nicer stereo system installed (way before infotainment systems) and finally I bought a set of Buick rims.
About three weeks later, we were driving our beloved Buick, now named John because, you know.
One day I was on the freeway in traffic and running about 60 when the oil pressure light came to life. Unable to get to an exit right away, I must have driven about another 6 miles before I could stop.
I was home and looked under the car to see that the oil-sending unit had broken. So a quick trip to the parts store where my friend Kevin hooked me up with a new sending unit, oil, and oil filter, and I was back in business. By the way, there was not a drop of oil in the pan or filter.
The following month, the temp light came on. Again, being on the 595 freeway, I was still about 8 miles from home. I pushed it all the way home and it was so very hot. I put a few water droplets on the intake which turned to steam immediately. Uh oh, I thought. It may be all over. This time a rock had gone through the lower radiator. Kevin, my favorite parts guy ever, set me up again. Now we were ready to roll again.
We took a family trip to Clearwater from Davie Florida, took it to Orlando, drove it for our daily chores, and all the while we were more impressed. It seemed Buick had put this car together very well. I should mention that it did have the Buick 350-4-barrel engine, one of the last made. Too bad, as they were seemingly very reliable.
Not only did we enjoy this car, but friends used it as well. Scott used it to take several friends to Busch Gardens in Tampa. It seemed we would drive the ole guy for many years.
However, about the fourth year, there was an electrical short and the car wouldn’t start even after sitting for just a few minutes. I took it to a local battery shop and we tried a deep-draw marine battery. That lasted about 3 months before it began going dead as well.
The battery shop did testing and found that some short was drawing about 7 amps and even shut off. It was suggested that we sell it before we put more money into it.
It wasn’t ideal, as we had just bought a hardware store. But a truck would surely serve our needs for both business and personal, and to that end, we leased a new 1998 Chevy. The Buick almost wouldn’t start for a test drive, but the salesman agreed to give me $300 cash!
He told me to pull the stereo out because it was worth more than the car.
My friend Scott saw that car a few weeks later on the side of the road with the hood up.
Yep, I suppose I had truly driven the life out of that Buick.
Related CC reading:
Curbside Classic: 1982 Buick Elektra Park Avenue – Good & Plenty
Curbside Classic: 1984 Buick Elektra Park Avenue – Now THAT’S a Buick!
What a sob (thankfully not SAAB) story. The last generation of these RWD Park Avenues was the end of my interest in Buick. But, I once had a 77 LeSabre Custom. At a traffic light, behind a semi, when I started to drive forward the car ran over a truck brake shoe. I heard a grating noise, by the time I pulled to the side of the road, the engine locked up. The brake shoe punctured the oil pan. And that, as Paul Harvey used to say, is the rest of the story! Guess that’s my sob story.
You must have had some incredible connections to get so much crowdfunding for a car. Seems like it was exactly the right car at exactly the right time.
Most people remember events by people or food . My husband had a canny ability to remember life by our cars . They are really enjoyable stories.
Cindy Downs
People or food…or dogs. Or cars. There are so many ways to mark time and events. Whatever works.
For me, it’s dogs and cars. Although I think food is another great marker, and one I’d like to hear more about!
I wonder if the electrical gremlins were widespread. My 1984 Olds 98 was plagued by multiple shorts and wiring issues during its life, including some from its time with the original owner. More than I have had on any other car to date.
The Buick 350 would have made yours a lot more pleasant to drive than mine with the Olds 307.
Neighbors “Electra” was gold; rather looked like this. Believe it may have been a “79′. Seemed to be a pretty decent car.
They got it used, round “81-2”.
As they had garage parking, the car stayed pretty clean. I recall it ran “waay quiet”.
Excellent story Chips!
I love how so many people came together to help you get and keep this car on the road.
And while I understand the need to move on to a truck, I have to question the “deep cycle marine battery” as a way of dealing with the parasitic current draw. That’s like addressing a fuel leak by filling up more often. Seems like there may have been a way of diagnosing the problem a bit further. But like you say, it was time to move on, so there’s that.
I really like the personal angle you provide for your stories.
As I reread this article, I was reminded of the light-up Park Avenue script over the glove box. Well mine had stopped working, and it frustrated me. So I dug into the issue and found a relay thai had gone bad. So I had a customer that used to shop at the hardware store who was a GM parts guy. He took the part number and keyed it into his computer. None were available. Finally, after weeks of trying, a dealer in Utah called him and asked what this was for, and so he told them.
They had found one, the last one!
So, while that car finally stopped running, at least the Park Avenue script lit up.
(BTW, that wasn’t the electrical short. That was actually traced to the wiring from the fuse block into the driver’s door)
Thank you for all the kind comments