1970 Buick Electra 225

1970 was the final year the Electra 225 wore styling that had been introduced in 1965. Its 'Coke bottle' design rested on a new chassis with a full perimeter frame with side rails for added safety. Initially, power was sourced from the 401 CID V8 with 325 horsepower, along with the 425 CID V8 that offered 340 with a four-barrel carburetor and 360 horsepower with two four barrels. The transmission was a three-speed Super Turbine 400 automatic.

By 1970, the wheelbase had grown slightly to 127 inches, the styling had matured, and the standard engine was now a 455 cubic-inch V8 (which replaced the 430 CID V8 used from 1967 to 1969) which offered 350 horsepower with a Rochester four-barrel carburetor and 370 horsepower in its ultimate tune. This increase was the result of higher compression, a hotter cam, forged pistons, an Edelbrock B4B manifold, and a different carburetor setup.

Along with being the final year of this styling, it was also the last year for the convertible body style, high compression engines, and finned aluminum brake drums. GM B-body and C-body cars, along with the Electra 225, were given a major restyling in 1969. The Electra wore rear fender skirts, tapering sweepspear, and crisper bodylines. New safety features included headrests, a steering column with ignition switch that locked the steering wheel with the transmission in 'Park,' a revised front suspension tuning called 'Accu-Drive,' and a variable-ratio power steering system.

The list of standard equipment included a Deluxe steering wheel, heater and defroster, Comfort-Flo ventilation, glove compartment light, power steering, power brakes, rear seat ashtray, carpeting, front-door operated interior light, and backup lights.

The Electra 225 Custom added a more comfortable interior with additional interior lighting and side coat hooks. A 'Limited' Custom trim was available on the two-door hardtop coupe and the four-door hardtop sedan. The 'Limited' trim package was first offered the previous year and added 60/40 notchback front seats and Limited script on the roof sail panels. The four-door sedan had a factory base price of $4,675, the hardtop coupe at $4,660, the hardtop sedan at $4,770, and the convertible at $4,800. The hardtop sedan was by far the most popular with 65,114 units sold, followed by 26,002 of the hardtop coupe, 14,109 of the sedan, and 6,045 of the convertible.

The Estate Wagon was also new for 1970 and shared the Electra's 445 V8 engine and four VentiPorts. Since it was a B-body car, it had a 124-inch wheelbase. For 1971, Buick moved the Estate up to Electra's larger body which allowed for more interior space for its occupants.

The 1971 Buick Electra grew even larger, continuing to use a 127 inc wheelbase but growing 0.4-inches. This generation of styling would continue through 1976 with its size peeking in 1975 at 233.4 inches. It would set a record for interior width that would be unrivaled by any car until General Motors introduced its full-size rear-wheel-drive models during the early 1990s. The only body styles available were hardtops during the 1971 to 1973 model years, as the convertible and four-door pillared sedans were dropped. Under the hood remained the 455 cubic-inch V8 from the previous year, but lowered compression dropped its horsepower but allowed it to operate on 91 Research octane regular leaded, low-lead or unleaded gasolines.

By Daniel Vaughan | Jul 2022