1972 Buick Electra from North America - Comments

New water pump.

The distributor is on the front of the engine and gets wet when it rains, causing hard starting and raw gasoline in the exhaust, I have split open two mufflers. Sounds like a howitzer going off and a 455 on open pipes is impressive.

This car has enough power to accelerate uphill while pulling a boat.

I am the second owner and it has been very well maintained. The car is all original except for paint (same color) and looks brand new (almost).

It drives like the big block road crushing sedan that is is. Power is awesome, but has significant roll and under steer.

This car is the last of the cars that were built the way we use to build cars; big, powerful and with a presence that could not be ignored. It is the last year before emissions choked the engines and quality started to go down.

This car can pass almost every thing on the road except a gas station. Who cares about mileage with this much power and torque.

Dear Steven

I am the proud owner of a 1972 Buick Sedan Limited with 350000 miles in the odometer. Her 455 cubic inch motor likes to drink fuel. However, on a long trip the comfort is worth it.

-72 Buick Electra is great cars! I own a Limited and these cars are very popular here in sweden. Strange, our gasoline prices are roughly about four dollars per gallon!!

Ingemar Umeå Sweden.

My best friend owns a 1973 Electra, and almost everything you said is 100% true! He never has problems with starting in the rain. I think you can solve that with a shield around the distributor fashioned from a Hefty leaf bag and some twist ties.

Those cars a Big, Bad, and simply Awesome. Good luck, and never give it up!

I am the proud owner of a two-door 1972 Buick Electra. I pay $50 a month to keep her in storage and never intend to get rid of her; someday, the dream is to restore her.

Bought her secondhand from an elderly gentleman in Sacramento, California back in 1993, the first car I'd bought as an adult. She was in perfect condition, original hubcaps and rear wheel-well covers, all the chrome still nice and shiny, with a metallic blue paint job with white vinyl top. Being young, naive, and stupid, I went and painted her black with neon green racing stripes. Ruined the classic paint, but have to admit she did look pretty mean with the new job. Never maintained her terribly well, but it was an incredibly forgiving car.

The '72 Electras truly are unique cars, almost an archetype of an ideal for a certain fleeting time in American automotive history. They are for a select type of driver, definitely not the meek. Having a '72 Electra strapped to you is a curious combination of handling a sportscar and a tank simultaneously. The four-barreled 455 cubic-inch engine is just sickeningly powerful and loud. It is also thirsty, and loves its gas like a sailor loves his rum (I reckoned I got around 7-8 mpg on a good day).

The car is a slab, but handles like a slab on rails, if you know how to treat it. Slow turns are completed in a zen-like manner, not so much thinking as feeling your way around the corner. High speed turns are a matter of establishing a quiet trust bond between you and the Buick, where you each agree to do your best to see each other to a successful turning conclusion. Very high speed turns, except for very shallow ones, are well nigh impossible.

The 1972 Buick Electra is a tank, make no mistake about it. It's low to the ground, real long, wide, and weighs as much as a small planet. At higher speeds, you require an obscenely long roll to stop - it can get dicey on the freeway, so do not tailgate others in this car by any means. On the other hand, when commandeering a '72 Electra you are likely to win any vehicular argument you have the misfortune to enter. Nothing short of a direct hit from a tactical nuclear weapon will have any serious deleterious effects on this car.

Mine gave me faithful service from 1993-1998, being driven constantly and mercilessly through every part of California. She delivered Chinese food in the Hollywood Hills and pizza in Sacramento. In California's central valley, the temperature will regulary hang around 110 degrees for weeks at a time in August and September; my Buick let me overheat her on a daily basis, and that cast iron enging just held its shape and kept on keeping on. Furthermore, my '72 Electra has been rear-ended not once, but on two separate occasions, by an 18-wheeler truck. The first one dented the left rear quarterpanel; the second increased this dent. That is all the damage done. When I retired her in '98, it was reality had set it and I just couldn't afford to drive it anymore. It was not because she was broken.

For the sheer love of driving beastly machines, you can do no better than a 1972 Buick Electra. For getting around day to day, it does not top the list. Handling this car in city traffic requires an intimate physical connection to the car, where as the driver you are aware at a subliminal level of the exact position of every part of your car along an x-y-z coordinate system in geometric space. If you do not possess this - what fighter pilots call a "kinesthetic sense" and what the French would call a "je nes se quois" - then lawsuits will likely be brought to bear against you by various pedestrians, property owners, and local civic groups and parents' organizations. Driving in San Francisco was nearly impossible and parking there definitely impossible. However, for tearing down long, straight country roads that you know by heart, with no one else on them and no smokey for miles around, this is the car to drive. If you find one, buy it. Love it, protect it, and keep it safe. Cars like this will never be made again; they come from a time when gas flowed from the ground like water, when engines were made huge and ridiculously powerful just because, well, why not? They are pieces of a better, vanished time.

Colorful. a brilliant comical wright up of your Buick. love it.

I had a 72 Electra 225 for several years. (Two door all black!) It was truly one of the great cars built in Flint. It's size, huge engine and luxurious, but tasteful appointments bespeak a cruiser of the first class. We often forget that these great sixties and seventies cars were designed in the midwest where roads are straight and wide. I well remember opening up that car driving from Detroit to the Straits of Macinac in Michigan and just sitting back to enjoy the passing countryside at quite a considerable velocity. There's no experience quite like it. Gas mileage was poor, of course, but then, at that time gas prices were below 60 cents a gallon. What a wonderful memory. A great ride and a great time of life!

I picked up a 1972 electra last summer. it's a true survivor with 29,000 miles on it and mint condition. the 455 still runs like a swiss watch and is a dream to drive. I've owned 5 pontiac GTOs over the years and this buick is almost as fun to drive. maybe more, since $2,500 is much cheaper than a comparable condition muscle car. plus there just aren't many around. most of the full size cars of the '70s went to the crusher years ago. I also drive a clean, original 1970 bonneville 455 convertible. if you find a nice rust free example of any GM full size car I recommend you pick it up. the gas is expensive, but they're cheap to maintain and the comfort is unmatched.

I have owned several 1972 Electra's in the past 20 years and they have all been great running cars. The 455 engine runs great regardless if it has 30,000 or 300,000 miles.

They were the last GM cars built before the 5 mile an hour bumpers showed up in 1973, so the styling is a bit smoother.

Creature comforts vary since you had to order your options when new. I've seen some Electra's that were loaded with options, and some that didn't even have power windows.

They are typically smooth running cars, but should have routine maintenance done (plugs, points, wires etc) to keep them running well. Keep an eye on the vacuum lines since this car has many. One leak and your car will run rough.

All in all these were great cars built in an era when American cars ruled the world. Emissions, gas crisis and a deterioration in quality would plague GM cars later in the decade, but 1972 stands as one of the last great years for Buick.

I own two Electra's - 1972 and 1973 - both have always been in the family. Both are excellent cars and have more than enough power to do just about anything. I do not drive them for 'workhorse' usage, but rather just enjoy maintaining, restoring (when needed) and driving around town. The ride of these large cars is without question the smoothest you can find. All in all, they will never see a (New England) winter road again. I'll keep them for as long as I can.

Back in the '70s, I drove a 1973 Electra which belonged to my aunt. The ride was memorable! The engine had such power and torque that maintaining a cruising speed of 70 miles per hour was effortless. I checked the gas mileage after a long trip and found that mostly freeway driving resulted in almost exactly 12 mpg. Not really bad for a 5000-pound car with 455 cubic inches of engine, running for half a day at 70 miles an hour!

I noticed that the advertised power and torque for this engine was a meager 225 horsepower at only 4000 rpm and 360 ft-lbs. My guess is that this must be the rating at the rear wheels, not at the flywheel. Assuming a 20 percent drivetrain loss, this would mean flywheel horsepower of just over 280 and torque of 450 ft-lbs. Now that's more like it!

I am blessed to have a 1972 Buick Electra 225 and it is one of the best, if not the best, car I've ever had or driven. For a very large car, it handles very well. Have you noticed that the steering on this car is so smooth and easy, you could make turns with just one finger if you wanted? Also, if you need to pick up speed suddenly, it is so smooth and seemingly effortless in this car. This car accelerates on an uphill highway entrance ramp like it's going downhill. No airbags or fancy electronic safety devices, but at just a shade under 20 feet long and almost 5,000 pounds, with large heavy bumpers and thick sheet metal body, you feel safe in this car. I would tell anyone with an Electra 225 of any year to just enjoy it, take care of it, and don't get too rattled by the gas mileage (which is about the only negative I have heard for this car).

Hi, I am the proud owner of a 1974 Buick Electra 225 with less than 30,000 miles on it, a beautiful car, but it overheats and need to know why. If there is someone out there that could help me, please do. Thank you.

Try a thermostat replacement. check for coolant leaks around the radiator, hoses and water pump, also check your expansion (freeze) plugs on the block and heads. Could also be your water pump impeller is rusted off. Those are some basic causes for overheating, Some not to basic and expensive causes are blown head gaskets or blocked coolant passages in the heads or block. good luck and if you need more help email me.

Miketastic1982@yahoo.com.

I know, weird email address, It's a long story and a lost bet...