1961 Buick Electra Bubbletop

Not mine, this is a lead.

https://cincinnati.craigslist.org/for/d/tyro-1961-buick-electra-bubbletop/6768548939.html

 

The engine is described as “stuck,” but the front seats clearly show the effects of extreme acceleration. I’d bet that in its day, that car was a real tire fryer.

 

Oh, man, I'm glad that one is far away.

 

A solid car at a good price. Wonder how many came with buckets seats ?

 

Pretty sure they are Cadillac seats, cuz they " go way back like Cadillac seats"
Jim

 

I was about to panic because it's posted in Cincinnati c-list and Cincy is 25 minutes from me! But the map shows it's in Kansas, so I'm going to convince myself it is indeed in Kansas so I don't hook up the trailer and get myself into trouble.....

 

I didn’t see that. It’s about an hour away from me. Good thing I’m broke...

 

'61 brochure only shows buckets as available in the Invicta Custom, and they looked like these (attached). I see a handful of E 225 converts with buckets- so they seem to have been an option there too.

 

OK V-8 Buick People: 64 SS buckets could fetch some good dough. Add the discount to this and that $5,300 comes down , alas, still very slow. Mitch

 

Why do I look at these post????????????? I want the car, its only a few hours away.

 

Mitch
Those look original, kind of. Are you sure they aren't 61 factory buckets even though they should be leather. I owned a 61 Electra bubbletop form Oklahoma. Like most of my cars, wish I had I never sold it.

 

Bryan- did you see the image in post #8?
Attached here is the '64 ImpySS interior:

 

Mark
I missed that sorry. So, is the back seat out of an Impala SS too because the vertical ribbing looks close? I can confirm I have seen at least one 61 Electra convertible with factory bucket seats.

 

I don't really trust this car now. Not enough photos, door panels missing. Although rare, when found a nice one should be no more than $22,000 and most drivers in nice condition would be $12,000 to $18,000. So this seller wants $5000 for a car that someone would easily drop $35,000 into.

 

Yep, that pretty much sums it up; - welcome to the world of restoring big Buicks. These are cars you build for love, not for resale.

 

So how much money do you think a nice, straight rust free Electra body on a good chassis should go for? -$30,000? Looks like a good buy and a great starter for a guy that does his own work.

 

Lucas, you're absolutely right. It's straight enough and there is enough there that as long as a guy did his own work he'd have a fairly good build done on the cheap. The moment you have to whip out the cheque-book for anything, you're underwater on a car like this. The nice thing about these early Electras was that they looked the same as the Invicta, just that they were on a slightly larger wheelbase. So the weight difference was marginal, and performance wise, they were pretty much the same depending on options load. What scares me about this car is the interior; - if it is out of a 64 Impala, can the Buick parts be made to fit, is the proper console there; this is one part you don't want to screw up unless you're going to go totally custom.

 

The one I've been looking at also has Impala buckets, and comes with the original bench, so I'm assuming (and that's all it is) that it's probably a similar or same pan...if I was planning a stock restoration, I would most certainly just buy an already done one instead. With what I'd do to this, I'm money ahead of the 30-60k my style of '61s are asking to start here and build it myself. But I do understand the point.

 

....of course these ones don't look like they were actually "installed".

 

if it was on the left coast , id have another buick!!