Like others, I have just preferred big cars. In my group of high school friends back in the '70's, we all drove big cars. Electras, Rivieras, Eldorados, Toronados. FWD burnouts in the school lot always turned heads. :Brow: One kid had a '69 Cadillac 60 Special. What a party barge!
I think you guys are beyond boats- in this day and age, my '64 Lark is considered a boat. You guys have moved up a class- you're driving land yachts now! :laugh:
For me the land yachts are delightfully American. Big, bold, beautiful and unapologetic about it. Very few auto companies made cars in this scale. I drive an unusual model (Centurion) that very few people can identify, but they know it's American. John
I know I'll get hate from the Buick crowd for admitting this, but my first car was a '66 Pontiac Bonneville 4-door with the 389. It was big and had blue on the outside and the inside, and I never did get to drive it even though I owned it for a year. My mother says my current car is my second chance at getting that Bonneville. I didn't even think that way until I realized it was another big engine, blue and blue, 4 door from GM. Of course this one I've owned for 8 months and already racked up 80 miles on it, so I'm lightyears ahead of where I was with the Pontiac :laugh:
My first car when I was old to have license was a 67 GTO Conv ( had a comet and corvair before that)- it was insured under my mothers cause that was only i could afford it. She used this to " claim possession of the Goat often" many times leaving me to go cruisin in her baby blue 4 door 70 Lesabre. -
Style,comfort,rarity,power,smoothness,good looks all in one car.I love takin leisurly rides to the coast on weekends with 5 adults comfortably, then walking on the smile pedal at a stoplight and seeing the kid next to me in his little car with a 4 inch tailpipe scrape his jaw up from the floor as I dissapear in a cloud of tire smoke! When you own a big Buick you have the best of all worlds I.M.O.
I have to admit that I didn't even think about the size differences, I was only looking for a cool old car, any make...
I don't know about that; - my 46 Super is just about the same size as the 08 Allure. It's a little taller of course, but physically it's about the same length and width. The Electra is a good foot longer and probably at least 8 inches wider, - not really that bad when you think of it...Most modern pick-ups are longer. The real land yacht is the 59-60 Lincoln; it's even bigger than the mid seventies Estate Wagons were. You won't get one in a modern garage. Though it's pretty sad when a 64 'Lark is considered a "full-sized" car these days...the only reason I've never owned an A-body for any length of time was because there's just no way I can fit into it comfortably. I'd love to find a early-seventies Centurion or Electra (and have some fun hopping up those rather stale engines) but the wife has threatened divorce if I bring one of those huge things home. (She hates the styling) I even tried to convince her that all of our kid-carseat space problems would be over when I came across a low mile 76 LeSabre but she wasn't buying any of it...Oh well, at least I tried...
The styling grows on you. I wasn't sure at first, but I've grown to love the tail lights in the bumper and the mini fins on the back.
...And I happen to be one of those that loves the styling on that series. My wife however, absolutely hates them. When we were dating I had a lovely 74 LeSabre, and she can't even remember it. When I showed her a picture she said she vaguely remembers it and decided that the reason she forgot it existed was because she hated it. So I get a compromise; - I get to find another big Buick as long as it's a 59 Invicta or Electra. So far, no luck; haven't found one yet that was even worth the gas to go out and look at it, just a lot of rusty LeSabre sedans. Worse yet most of them were selling with the story "it ran when it was parked X years ago" but where so far gone that the reason they were parked was because the seat was sinking through the ever increasing hole in the floor and it got too drafty. Good thing I love my Electra...
Style, class and something different than all other cars here. (parking spots can be a problem here though)
I've always loved fullsize cars, since I was a child. One of my first toy cars was a 65 Wildcat 2dr-HT. I've still got it, but it's in bad condition, unfortunately I didn't treat it with enough respect way back then I never minded the sporty type of cars, it always had to be big and powerful as well. I've owned a Cadillac, a Chevy, a Lincoln and a Chrysler. But nothing compares to the Electra. Mighty, impressive, stylish, effortless, comfortable and even quick too
A model year 1959 Lincoln Continental or Premiere is "only" 227.1 inches. The model year 1975 Estate Wagon (and Electra) is 233.4 inches in overall lenght. (longest factory model Buicks ever built)
