1979 Buick Electra Park Avenue Sedan (Test Drive)
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 22 дек 2021
- A quick test drive of my survivor '79 Electra Park Avenue, which is believed to be an original California car.
The car is currently being auctioned on Bring a Trailer: bringatrailer.com/listing/197...
Hey everyone! The auction is now live: bringatrailer.com/listing/1979-buick-electra-park-avenue-sedan/
Blows my mind (as someone now in my 50s) that a car that was so common in my childhood is now considered a rare classic, and that it now gets the respect it arguably lacked even when it was new.
You are right. Because my mother had the first Buick that they cut short. It prevailed 1977 Electra 225 it was the same car as 1979 Park Avenue.
You'd find a dozen or so in every shopping center parking lot!
It will take another 50 years before you can accuse accuse this car being a rare classic. However the old saying you can't turn a sow's ear into a silk purse is not true. The mere passage of time does it with cars all the time.
Great way to put it. I feel the same.
I can practically feel the plush ride through my screen. Glorious.
My grandma had this same car in the same color. I’ll never forget the plush interior or soft ride.
Nice car, nice color scheme that blends right in with nature. I just want to breathe it in.
I love the mint- green interior
Hi, my name is John and I really like these kinds of cars. They are some of my favorite makes, and models. God, and Jesus bless y'all.
There's nothing like the sound of the Rochester 4-bbl. secondaries opening up on these! Whether it has a 403 or a 350, it's still awesome! Beautiful car :) I am with an Irish Dancing studio and these are the types of cars you'd see towing parade floats, etc.
I had one of these for years, one of the best cars I ever owned!
My grandfather had this same car, same color, but he added a large magnetic sign on the back that read "Warning Senior Citizen Driver" and he was sincere about that sign. He wasn't that bad of a driver, but he totally blew up on the little lady in the parking lot of the buffet who approached to tell him "pranksters" had put that sign on his car. OMG, LOL
Beautiful car. I would love to see more, it is a sister to my 79 Olds 98. I always loved the Buick dash layout.
I think the little floodlights illuminating the panel were unique to Buick. The Olds has a green one to light up the mechanical switch for cruise control and rear defog.
Please post more videos of the Buick…fantastic example of truly great American engineering
My parents had an 84 Electra when I was a kid. Brought it to Ontario from Vancouver Island. It was so clean and ran so smooth. It was like driving a boat haha.
Great interior and fun video - it's great to see these survivors become appreciated.
Thanks for bringing it to us.
My dad had one back in 90s.beautiful cars
this was my first car, handed down to me by my dad in 1992! Great car. 1979 Buick Electra. Mine was burgundy. That 403 V8 made really decent power, especially for the time. Regularly blew the doors off my friend's Trans Am (although that's not saying much -- woof, 80s cars were traaaaash!!). The needle on the speedometer waved back and forth, that was the only part that didn't work right. Held up for about 200,000 miles, at which point i totaled it by running into a wild horse at the Outer Banks (the horse was actually okay, miraculously). Anyway, I notice yours is missing the "wood" boomerang piece for the center of the steering wheel. I imagine that's unobtanium at this point. Mine was badly cracked, even back in the 90s. It was made of very, very thin plastic.
Yup, it was missing when I bought it, though it did come with a spare one that was also cracked and had been spray painted over in black at some point (not sure why). Parts for these cars are easy to find in some instances, and hard to find in others!
My mom had this car too. I drove it Manny times.
Her car had the turn single lights, high beam lights on the hood. Like Cadillac had.
Wow.....what memories. This is the exact same make, model, color, year Buick my mom had. Wish we had not sold it. 😞
Whoa. Could it have originally been hers?
Years ago I almost bought a '79 Electra exactly like this one green on green
Very nice Electra. Beautiful color!
Buick Park Avenue was the top notch luxury back in the day 2nd Cadillac
The styling of these '77 to '79 models was gorgeous in the entire GM lineup.. They had beautiful lines and proportions.
No joke my dad had a Buick Riviera 2 dr with a Park Avenue Electra badging.
It was the technology of the time, remember the speed limit was 55 mph and not 70 mph.
I've driven 2 of these. One witha a 350 and one with a 403. They are great cars.
The thing I love about the Park Avenues, the Sedan deVilles, and the Regency Broughams of this era is their reliability. True, they did occasionally have electrical problems (sometimes catastrophic electrical problems), but generally they were reliable luxury. Then the 1980's came, and American luxury cars infamously became associated with UN-reliability. These cruisers, like you have here, were built for the interstate, and that's what people used them for. Unfortunately, I don't think a lot of Park Avenue and Regency owners thought anything about their collectability and nostalgia 40-some years later, so these cars wound up in demolition derbies, were given to teen drivers who drove them into the ground, etc, etc... They were tanks, and nobody figured they would have any value ever again. Well, they were wrong. I've driven a couple of Sedan deVilles from the late 70's, and I can attest to the pillowy-soft seats. They're absolutely incredible. Great video. Loved hearing the rumble of that big engine.
I bought my '77 Coupe de Ville new and never had a problem with it. It was a solid performer.
@@nomebear You all are absolutely right! I learned how to drive in an Oldsmobile, owned 3 Buicks, then purchased a near mint 78 Cadillac coupe deville that had Cameros for breakfast on the highway. The 425/400 is very powerful. My 77 Park Avenue had an Oldsmobile 403/400, also powerful. Young guys ALWAYS asked if I wanted to sell. An offer was made for my Park I could not refuse. After my 78 Caddy, I turned to pickup trucks. But I miss my cruisers!
What kind of electrical problems?
@@mattbartolovich8228 power switches would short out, as well as electronics hidden under the hood. It was not uncommon for these cars to eventually catch ablaze (Cadillac Sedan deVille was the biggest offender) in the engine compartment. The malaise era was hugely problematic for GM in terms of quality, and electronics were very much at the helm of that. I hope that makes sense.
@@TVHouseHistorian did not know this
I love the beautiful green interior.
Nice car that I first saw on BAT. Owned two of them 25 yrs ago. A cherry 1983 Electra Park Ave and a nice 1984 Electra Park Ave. One of them had the underpowered V6 4.1 Only complaint though. Love these cars.
Im definitely on a 60s green kick and this cars interior is a guys dream right now.
I like the funky colored interior from these old cars. It's like you're inside a bar of soap
The executive suite on wheels, definitely so with a 403 engine.
Great video, thanks!
dream car
nice comfy cars. jsut dont get in a serious accident in them, the era of if the car survives you survive philosphy didnt hold up well XD
My grandmother used to have the exact same car in 1980
I had one for a drivers ed car in my freshman year...1977..Buick Le Sabre ...they were all 4 doors ..But sadly the very next class got Buick Skylarks...by my last year... drivers ed had all Plymouth Horizons...
Nice ride
I used have 78 limited 403 the car was so smooth they good if you take care of it
Scott G is right about this segment's reliability for GM at the time, my Dad owned one of these "downsized" behemoths and I only remember scheduling one service outside of the recommended maintenance schedule appointments. Booking the service appointment left much to be desired because the earliest availability was two weeks off, must have been a dealership issue because I found another GM dealer who could service the car the next day. Love the large fuel gauge, accelerate and watch the fuel drain in real time, that Barcalounger green interior, whoa! What's the condition of the exterior?
Thanks for the insight! I always wondered how reliable these were back in the day. And feel free to check out my other videos of the exterior! I’ll have other videos coming up too, so if you subscribe you’ll stay in the know.
Ahh a real car...
Fantastic car's...
Beautiful car, although prefer 1980-84 for better aerodynamic design still a great car!
Those are great too!
They were great cars- like driving in a big marshmallow. One thing though, the shoulder belt goes over your shoulder not under your arm. Even in that big marshmallow, you don't have an air bag. Trust me, I know.
"Marshmallow" is such an accurate word for the ride's feel. You really do float over the road when you're in it. And thanks for the note about the shoulder belt! It actually is over my shoulder in the video, but it's hard to see because of the camera's angle.
Yes, a question here: *why no exterior shots?* How many customers shop for cars by their interiors only!? 🤔
Check my other videos.
Weird that the Park Avenue has the strap door pulls, My 1977 Electra Limited (a step BELOW the Park Avenue) had the fancier "coffin handle" door pulls.
Yup, I noticed that too. The ‘78 Park Avenue seemed to actually have the coffin handles as well. Maybe it was something they discontinued for the ‘79 model year.
This must be a Limited not the even more Park Avenue option this one have even more plusher loose pillow look seats
@@ShervinsGarage I guess so, the "80-'84 Park Avenues also has the cheaper straps. Cadillac kept the "coffin handles" on the Fleetwood/Broughams until 1992.
@@klavers This one’s definitely a Park Avenue. Only the Park Avenue came with this specific Velvet Knit Cloth interior and the opera lights on the vinyl roof. This particular car just wasn’t very highly optioned, it seems.
@@klavers Maybe the cheapened the content too. There is a Park Avenue script on the dash (I know it COULD have been changed, but I doubt it.) IIRC, The Park Ave outsold the Base Electra 225 and the Electra Limited, so I guessing gold old GM cost cutting.
Nice video Sir ! beautiful sound. By those years you could recognize an american car from a japanese one. Nowadays they are all similar designed. That's to bad in my opinion.
Also…ashtrays and lighters for everybody, have to buy your own cup holders though. How the times have changed.
✅
How are you? Wanted to buy Buick Park Avenue, 1981, in very clean condition, the exterior color is white, the interior color is blue
Did it have the 8 track player?
It did. :)
Do we get to see the exterior ,?
Yes, check out my other videos. I plan to also upload an additional video soon, so feel free to subscribe so you can see it when it comes out.
Does this have a 403 V8?
Yes!
I can’t choose between the 50’s and the 2000’s vehicles because they each had characteristics even though they had some faulty parts
As far as styling, it’s hard to beat the ‘50s… it was an era where cars were designed as works of art first, and everything else came second. But as far as safety and reliability go (at least today), most cars from the 2000s would win in those categories. So… why not both? 😉
How about driving it at 75? 25 doesn’t really get me going much.
Look at all the wonderful glass...
I refuse to get in a vehicle made after 2009
Wow this car has so much space. I can imagine cruising with a two or three of hot women all sitting in the front bench seat
couldn't this guy turn on an analog radio? it's terrifying
Same engine as my 1979 Pontiac Trans Am
Yes!!
That buick wieghs less then a new Impala
And somehow looks like it weighs more!
Does it have an exterior too, or just an interior with a guy talking too much?
RUclips has a really cool feature where you can click on the uploader’s channel and see if they have any more videos.
You live in these...you don't want to get out when you reach your destination...
The most comfortable cars in the world! Might as well take your shoes off when you get in…
@@ShervinsGarage I live on Curaçao in the Southern Caribbean...i always drove barefoot to go to the beach...i my landyachts...i had two Monte Carlo's..a Cordoba...a Bonneville..a Grand Marquis....
No a/c, bummer.
That color is SO AWFUL that I actually like it.
I disagree, but I like it too!
Had one of these, same year as well, an ex diplomatic car. Not very quick but a nice lazy cruiser
No kidding! Who originally owned it? Was it an embassy? Was this in the US?
@@ShervinsGarage no, in the UK, even more impressive! Was owned by the Saudi Arabian National Gaurd on diplomatic plates. I picked it up very cheap in a car auction