Many people today consider the 1980s to be the Good Old Days. Folks at that time, though, might have found such a sentiment absurd. It was a tumultuous decade, including in North America’s automotive market, where trends like imports, aero styling and small engines were seemingly taking over from long-set conventions. Not everyone welcomed those trends. Domestic manufacturers offered choices for those wishing to eschew such things, such as Buick’s Electra. Electras not only bucked those emerging trends, but strove to outright take customers back to the Good Old Days.
With its formal styling, traditional interior and body-on-frame construction, these cars transported their buyers to the not-too-distant past when large two-door cars dominated the automotive marketplace. Customers looking for such a throwback car in the 1980s tended to be older, and Electras like this were Grandpa Cars.
Cars weren’t people’s only outlet for yearning for simpler times. Looking at this Buick and considering its marketplace positioning got me thinking of The Judds’ mid-1980s song about a woman asking her Grandpa to “paint me the picture of long ago.” “Grandpa” reached the top of the Country Charts in 1986, shortly after this generation of big Buick ceased production. Sentimentality is a funny thing, of course, and a lot of people blissfully select what they want to from the past. But I can just imagine Grandpa driving an Electra while nodding along to this song the radio.
The story of General Motors’ B- and C-body cars has been told before, but it’s worth summarizing. During the 1970s energy crises, GM admitted that its cars had grown too portly, and needed to be slimmed down.
Given that North American consumers liked their cars big, this was a tricky endeavor. GM’s opening salvo, however, was a remarkable success. Downsizing started with the company’s full-size B- and C-body lines. Introduced for 1977, these cars were significantly smaller and lighter than their predecessors, yet kept similar interior dimensions.
In terms of engineering, comfort and efficiency, these downsized cars represented a triumph of sanity. Far from being old fashioned, they were considered modern, sensible and refreshing. They were popular with customers as well. Buick’s models (the B-body LeSabre and C-body Electra) sold 377,000 units for 1977 – a 34% increase over the previous year.
In fact, these new full-size cars opened the door for two of Buick’s best sales years. For 1977 and ’78, the division produced close to 800,000 vehicles.
Source of production figures: Standard Catalog of Buick, 1903-1990.
Even good things, though, need updates… however, the B/C cars didn’t get many. After their first three years, a good bit of the new had worn off. This was reflected in sales figures. During 1977-79, Buick sold on average 330,000 LeSabres and Electras annually – over the next three years, that average fell to 165,000.
1980-84 annual Electra sales sank to about half of 1977’s numbers. While that seems bad, LeSabre (the cheaper of the two models) fared worse. During the entire 5-year period of 1980-84, Buick sold 162,000 LeSabres… less than what was sold for 1977 alone.
Another trend during this period involved the popularity of two-door sedans. Large two-door cars plunged in popularity during the 1980s, and GM’s B/C-body cars proved no exception. Pontiac discontinued its big two-door after 1981, and Chevrolet pulled the Caprice coupe for ’83, though it returned the following year. Nonetheless, despite an overall decline, some models continued to see significant demand for two-doors well into the decade.
Interestingly, around the time our featured car was built, the take rate for B/C-body two-doors fluctuated wildly. For Oldsmobile and Buick’s lower-end models (Delta 88 and LeSabre, respectively), two-doors accounted for a quarter or more of production. Yet the two-door take rates for higher-end Ninety-Eights and Electras cut those figures in half. That may lead one to believe that two-doors were more appealing at the lower end of the market, but then Cadillac Coupe DeVilles accounted for 38% of all 1983 DeVille sales – the highest ratio of all B/C-bodies. Meanwhile at the low end of the price spectrum, only 12% of Chevy Caprices were two-doors. Some trends just defy easy explanations.
Swinging back to Buicks, an overview of the brand’s full-size offerings can set the stage for discussing our featured car. Full-size Buicks came in two models – LeSabres (B-body) and Electras (on the slightly larger C-body platform). LeSabres came as coupes or sedans in either Custom or Limited trim, with the latter adding higher-level equipment. Base LeSabre Customs could be pretty spartan, with a standard 110-hp V-6 engine, manual windows and locks, basic upholstery, and so on. For 1983, prices started at around $9,300 – which happened to be the upper price range for the smaller Century as well.
Electras, meanwhile, were plusher, with standard air conditioning, power windows and seat, a 125-hp V-6, and higher-level trim. Additionally, Electras – while visually similar – provided an extra 3” of wheelbase and length, and 2” of width. Prices reflected the added prestige. Electra Limiteds (the ‘entry-level’ Electra) started at about $12,500.
Let’s interject a word about wagons here as well. Buick offered LeSabre and Electra Estate Wagons – however, both were B-body vehicles. Electra Estate Wagons combined the grille and trim of Electra sedans with the smaller LeSabre dimensions.
For the full Buick luxury experience, coupe or sedan buyers could spend an extra $1,600 on top of the Electra Limited’s price and opt for an Electra Park Avenue. Park Avenue was – in Buick brochure lingo – a testament to “traditionally good taste.” Traditionality was Park Avenue’s hallmark; a six-passenger, rear-drive, body-on-frame car that harkened back to those days before terms like “compact” or “import” blighted car-buyers’ preferences. In other words, a solid choice for a well-off Grandpa.
The general shape speaks of 1980s conservatism – renouncing the rounded aero look or anything Euro-inspired. As insinuated in Buick literature, this was a 100% traditional design, with lots of length and width, a nearly vertical rear window and a long hood punctuated by a hood ornament.
Speaking of body panels, has there been a longer door made since these GM coupes ceased production? The door appears to be slightly more than half of the car’s 118.9” wheelbase, making it just over 5 feet long. Parking next to a sidewalk like this is a good choice; the driver had plenty of room to swing that door open and climb back in (sliding across the bench seat if necessary).
While Buick’s design was itself traditional, the Park Avenue added a few additional flourishes to those on the cheaper Electra Limited. Most noticeable are the ventiports – front fender portholes that had been a Buick styling attribute since 1949. On these 1980s cars, the four ventiports are rather subdued, nestled in a full-length brushed aluminum molding that Buick noted accentuated the car’s length.
Before moving on, let’s dwell on ventiports momentarily. First appearing in 1949 (functional for the ’49 models, but then purely decorative afterwards), they quickly became associated with Buicks. This 1954 ad shows how proud Buick was about its ventiports just a few years after they debuted. Even decades later, the adornment still visually defined a “real Buick” in many people’s minds. In the ’83 Park Avenue’s case, ventiports denoted it as Buick’s top-of-the-line offering.
Ventiports are the best way to identify Park Avenues from this era because most other exterior enhancements could also be ordered on Electra Limiteds. Park Avenues came with a standard vinyl roof and electroluminescent coach lamps, both of which were optional on Limiteds. Custom wheel covers were another Park Avenue upgrade, though most were probably ordered with wire wheel covers or road wheels like on our featured car. Road wheels give this car a commanding presence, and are as distinctive to Buicks as the ventiports.
Our featured car’s tinted windows made interior pictures impossible, so we’ll rely on brochures and webfinds instead. One of Park Avenue’s selling points over its Buick stablemates was the standard deeply-padded velour 50/50 bench seat. This was a noticeable upgrade over the Limited’s 55/45 seat with less-cushy upholstery, and for a car sold on traditional comfort, the interior was a significant asset.
Although the upholstery was sumptuous, perhaps this car’s most memorable interior feature was its copious woodgrain trim. Surprisingly, these planks of fake burled wood covering the door panels and dash weren’t Park Avenue exclusives, but rather were found on all Electras as well as on LeSabre Limiteds. Still, there was little question you were in a big Buick when you saw this wood pattern, and it undoubtedly influenced numerous car-buying decisions.
As one would expect, Park Avenues offered a long list of options. Most of these were also available on Electra Limiteds – the main exception being leather upholstery. At $525, this was the only major interior option unique to Park Avenues. It was far from the costliest, however. That distinction went to the $1,195 astroroof (that’s nearly $4,000 in today’s dollars!), though good luck finding an Electra equipped with one.
Electras came with a choice of 13 paint colors for 1983, as well as eight vinyl roof colors. Our featured car’s original owner specified… brown for both. And admirers of creating paint names would have been disappointed by Buick, which simply called this color… brown.
Under the hood, 1983 Electras came standard with a 4.1-liter V-6 producing 125 horsepower. Needless to say, that engine didn’t exactly propel a 3,800-lb. car with must enthusiasm. For an extra $745, buyers could choose a 140-hp, 5-liter V-8 that also provided nearly 20% more torque than the V-6. While still not a fireball, this was better suited to the car. Judging by the VIN, our featured car was ordered with the V-8. Buyers could also opt for GM’s 5.7-liter diesel in these cars, though most people who selected that option likely regretted it soon afterwards.
By the time this car was built, GM had already announced that the next Electra would be smaller, and front-wheel drive. The rationale, of course, was to lure younger buyers. By 1983, the industrywide average age of full-size car buyers stood at 58 – luxury models like the Park Avenue undoubtedly trended even older. Buyers of these cars in 1983 knew they’d be buying one of the last of its breed. For such buyers, this car held considerable appeal.
The next Electra and Park Avenue generation was more contemporary, yet largely stayed within traditional parameters. Still, this didn’t quite have the fossilized cachet as our featured car. These smaller, front-wheel drive Buicks sold well, although the two-door variant didn’t last long. Two-door models were discontinued after 1987.
An early 1980s Buick brochure captures this car’s appeal by stating that “In a world filled with harsh realities, Electra can be very rewarding.” Indeed, being surrounded by a pillowy bench seat and gleaming wood trim was a likely an antidote for many of the world’s annoyances. With those surroundings, the Good Old Days could last just a little bit longer – which is what this car was all about.
Photographed in September 2024 in Fairfax, Virginia.
Recently I turned 62. My wife and I were out to dinner driving our 1978 Cadillac Fleetwood. After dinner we took a drive I and said to her that I’m starting to really miss the years gone by. She told she’s been feeling this same thing; I mean we were around for color TV, then cable, microwave ovens, cell phones, and on it goes. Now I’m not aggravated by the newer technology like some of my same age friends are. I know one guy who will not look at a new car to replace his 25 year old Honda accord with nearly 375,000 miles, even though in the past year he could have paid cash for something newer in his repair bills. Why? All the computer screens that get to him.
So yes, I do tell my kids and soon as he’s older my grandson about times gone by.
On the subject of the GM downsizing, I think that was one thing they did very well on. My dad was ready to shed the excessive size of his 1976 Sedan DVille for a new Buick Electra almost immediately. He waited until 1978, and he liked that car so much more.
I remember reading the ’80 refresh took ~200 lbs off most of the B&Cs, and that colored the way I thought of them–less robust than the ’77-9s. Much of the reduction may have been due to the smaller engines, but the rumor was thinner sheet metal, and it looked like it. Our ’77 Electra seemed to have bigger bumpers, too.
The Coupe de Ville outsold the Sedan for a number a years.
Correct, see below and my Dad’s experience in selling steel to the Big 3 + 1 in Detroit. I was told it was more like almost 300 lbs of weight shedded in ’80 in some models.
As the former owner of the Oldsmobile version of this car, I can tell you that it was a really pleasant cruiser. My only gripe (besides the awful THM2004R transmission which cost me dearly) was the lack of power a car of this size and class deserves. If only GM could have offered the earlier engines (from 1977-79) and a decent OD transmission with these later-style cars, which I consider an improvement in looks over the earlier ones in most cases.
I really miss big 2 door cars. Yes, they were poor choices for rear seat passengers (and downright terrible if you had to deal with child safety seats as I did) but for one or two adults, it was so convenient to put parcels or small suitcases in the back without having to open a second door.
Last thought – Buick’s (and Pontiac’s) high-end wheels looked great on their biggest cars. Oldsmobile’s wheels did not, and I don’t recall ever seeing them offered on 98s of this era.
The convenience of putting stuff behind the drivers seat is one of those small benefits of two-doors that’s hard to understand until you’ve enjoyed it. I’m reminded of that simple pleasure whenever I drive our Thunderbird to work, and just put my work bag behind the drivers seat.
The people who really benefit from that are those who use wheelchairs, canes, etc. We had a friend once who had leg paralysis and he bought a Sebring convertible because it was the easiest car to put his walker into when he drove.
The ’84 Park Avenue was the last Buick with Ventiports for many years to come.
I like the car here, although I like the ’78 Park Ave coupe better (even plusher seats, more realistic woodgrain, more powerful engines, a real coupe roofline, and those big silver dials on the dash, including the clock).
I like those seats – look much nicer than the rock hard bum-perches in my BMW.
lolol Yes, bought my first “Bimmer”, bout a year ago. Have pretty much adjusted to the hard seats..lol
It’s not just BMW’s. Have you sat in a Mazda? I swear the metal park benches have more give. The seats in my Bolt EV are way better, but still too firm for my bum. haha.
My best friend’s father owned TWO Buick Park Avenues. One a 1982 in a very dark “charcoal grey”, the other a 1983 in Code 62 Light Brown. Both were four doors and fully loaded with wire wheel covers like the brochure picture. He babied them and my friend spent many a weekend washing and waxing them.
They rode very comfortably (don’t try to take sharp corners though), but as JP Cavenaugh commented they were s-l-o-w. 🐢🐌 Acceleration was “leisurely” at best. They were the last of the big Buick cruisers, but they lacked the “oomph” of the older cars.
At some point each were sold off and a fully loaded Nissan Maxima replaced them both.
IMO GMs 80s Aero styling didn’t appeal to upscale previously loyal
buyers. FMC full size and Chryslers Fifth Avenue offered more formal TRADITIONAL American luxury. Fifth Avenues (I had 83 and 85) offered almost every option as STANDARD. Only Cadillac and Oldsmobile 98 came close in appeal. The growth of VANS may have taken sales down as well. But for most TRADITIONALISTS, change was (and still is) extremely difficult. As mentioned in another post, after FINALLY navigating the net, problems with my Peacock subscription no longer allow me to view without a complicated sign in process. The Golden years can kiss 💋 my 😲. 🎵 Gee,Our Old LaSalle ran great 🎵 Those WERE the days 👌
My father-in-law owned a 1984 Buick Electra Limited two door that looked similar to this one. He was 43 when he bought the car. The 1984 replaced a 1977 Buick Electra Limited two door that my in-laws inherited from the estate of my mother-in-law’s father. Her father died just after purchasing the 1977 Buick so it was a brand new car and served the family well. They loved that car and my wife still speaks fondly of that dark blue Buick Electra so when it came time to replace it in 1984, my father-in-law went down to North Side Buick with specific instructions to purchase a four door Buick Electra, also in dark blue or perhaps black. He came home with two door it a cream color with a brown vinyl roof–the half roof. My mother-in-law hated brown. The interior was a brownish color–equally hated by her–and it had the 4.1 six which made it slow when compared to the 8 cylinder engine in the old Buick. Needless to say the new Electra was not as well built as the old Electra. The only thing that did not break on the 84 Buick was a little plaque on the dashboard that the dealer stuck on when he bought the car. It said, “Made Exclusively for James Kleyle”. That Buick was towed to the Honda dealer and traded on December 26, 1989 for a 1990 Honda Accord LX. If they had a car crusher there, my mother-in-law would have pressed the button to rid herself of it.
That’s a great story!
The ’77 to ’79 were great cars, newly sprightly handling and still fitted with good running traditional V8s. The post ’79 cars lost weight, some of it thru use of thinner “high-strength” steel, at GM starting in 1980. Dad managed the division of Bethlehem Steel that sold sheet steel to Detroit and told me Chrysler was the last to use heavier gauge steel, a few years later than GM.
He owned a ’77 Electra Ltd, then a ’85 LeSabre Collector Series. The trunk on the latter once bent when he closed it on a protruding suitcase, and he told me why, decrying the use of thinner steel. The whole car just felt flimsy compared to the ’77, a car that I really loved. I later bought a ’78 Electra 225 which was equally great for the 5 years we drove it, 100 miles a day into Baltimore City from way out in the country. GM in general just sucked, post ’79, no thanks to their bean-counter mentality imo!
Although the ‘80’s weren’t quite as significant a transitional decade as the ‘60’s, I look back on them pretty favorably. Music, cars, motorcycles especially, not to mention my own marriage, career, home ownership etc. all made huge changesand for me they were all for the better. Though by the end of the decade my daily driver still had pushrods, and my wife’s SOHC vehicle still had a carburetor.
Not sure when the pics of this beautiful car date from. It is quite an amzingly preserved/restored, time piece.
Driving it anywhere in this “wild, DC metro” area would be nerve wracking.
Somehow I forgot to add the date and location of the pictures – so I just added that now. I found this car in September in Fairfax.
I think that I have a reason that the higher line two doors sold better than the lower line models. Maybe it’s because the buyers bought the big fancy two doors, instead of a personal luxury coupe. A buyer might find an Electra coupe preferable to a Riviera. They were close in price.The Riviera was popular, but it’s numbers were never really that high.
Years ago I picked up a really clean 1980 Park Ave 2 door nearly identical to the brown one in this article. However, mine was dark maroon and had the diesel. Over the years, I’ve owned way too many cars and just enjoy buying and selling them some times. Of all the cars I’ve had, that one was probably one of the top 3 favorites and it was fantastic on the open highway. It could tickle 30 MPG while floating down the road in total comfort. Those seats were amazing.
This was a great and comprehensive read. I think the decrease in popularity of the LeSabre two-door may also have been because while the 1980 restyle wasn’t unattractive, it just wasn’t distinctive. People have said the rear of the 1977 – ’79 LeSabre was too plain, but I thought it looked fine.
As for the featured two-door Electra, the details on the 1977 – ’79 just look better to me. I love the fin-lets on the rear quarter panels, the triangular rear quarter windows, and many other little details of the first downsized C-bodies. But I love the featured car for existing and looking so resplendent. I also love a music reference. 🎶
I’m glad you liked the musical reference. I came across a Judds CD that I’d long forgotten about and was listening to it a few weeks ago, during the time I was writing this article. One day it just clicked that the song and this car seemed to fit together.
I agree that the ’77-79 Electras are better looking – the details just seem more flowing to me. I do love the interiors of these cars though!
Great article!
I was not a luxury car owner until my father-in-law had an option to buy an end of lease ’83 Electra Limited from his company’s fleet in 1985.
My wife, I and our 2 daughters flew from NJ to Chicago where we picked up the car and drove it back home.
I will never forget the smooth, quiet, and roominess of the driving experience, with plenty of power. At the time we were driving a ’71 Volvo 142 and a ’66 Dodge Coronet, which needless to say were entirely different.
All in all, it was a nice change of pace.
I really liked the styling of the 1977-80 full size Buicks, I’ve always felt they were the most attractive of the GM full sized cars of that era. Compare those vehicles with what Buick sells now-a bunch of nondescript SUVs, CUVs and crossovers. Sad.