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Deuce And A Quarter: 1965 Buick Electra 225

Big V8-powered luxury cars were a specialty of American car makers and the 1960s stand out for me as being an era of crisp, big-but-not-overly-bloated cars with plenty of power before regulations and gas crisis after gas crisis hit the country. This beauty is listed on Hemmings with a $4,950 or best offer asking price. It’s located in Buffalo, Minnesota.

This was the first year of the third-generation Electra 225, known as the deuce and a quarter by some enthusiasts. This particular example looks fantastic to me, the seller says that it’s a “One owner car, always spent winters in Arizona.”

At almost 19-feet in length this was as big as it got for Buick in 1965. Dave Holls, the head of Buick’s design studio at the time said, “we tried to make it look as long and wide as you possibly could.” They succeeded, this is one long, elegant car.

I would have hoped that a car listed in Hemmings Motor News would have had a photo of said motor/engine, but there isn’t one. This car has Buick’s 325-hp Nailhead 401 cubic-inch V8. An optional 425 V8 was available with either 1 or 2 four-barrel carbs for 340 or 360 hp. The seller says that this one has “the orig 401 Nailhead engine and Turbo 400 transmission. Both operate perfectly.” The interior looks about as close to being perfect as anyone could hope for with a 53-year old car. Again, no power windows seems unusual to us now but my dad’s Olds 98 didn’t even have power windows that that came a few years after this 225. The back seat looks almost new; very nice. They mention that the “Owner’s daughter just spent approx $3300 having steering, susp repaired and tires replaced.” I like it. Have any of you owned a deuce and a quarter?

Comments

  1. Avatar Luke Fitzgerald

    Beautiful – worth every penny

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  2. Avatar John B

    Another car with it’s own song….
    Detroit made, deuce and a quarter babe.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3Ba02JN6I8

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  3. Avatar Pat

    A co worker had one of these, as he described it, a burick deuce and a quarter with 460 air and a “a and f and m” stereo. It went well with his lime green leisure suit….

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  4. Avatar Miguel

    Too bad it has no air, but it is well worth the ask.

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    • Avatar Pat

      Those cars had 460 air, 4 windows down at 60 mph

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      • Avatar Miguel

        I have a better one. It still needs A/C though, in my opinion.

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  5. Avatar olddavidp

    It has A/C on the hump in the front. When I saw the trailer brake and the hitch I winced out of habit. Now, we don’t have the luxury of omitting anything for its past usage. No tilt cruise or power anything makes me wonder if it was a special order. No dealer would spec one of these like this for stock.

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    • Avatar Poppy

      My best friend in HS had a ’65 LeSabre his parents bought new. That one was pretty basic, too. No A/C or power windows and manual drum brakes. I think the common rationale back then was, “I don’t want all that extra stuff; it’s just more to go wrong!” Finding and adding these rare options now is part of the fun.

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    • Avatar Miguel

      You have to remember this was 1965. A lot of customer didn’t trust power accessories yet.

      You mean it has dealer installed A/C. I was talking about factory A/C

      I have a 1965 Wildcat which did have factory which has a vent above the heater controls.

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      • Avatar Miguel

        I will give you an example.

        I bought from the original owner a 1963 Plymouth Fury. The woman told me that she had to talk her husband into the power steering but could not talk him into the power brakes. He just didn’t trust them.

        The car ended up equipped with power steering, A/C, power windows but no power brakes.

        There were a lot of people buying cars in 1965 that had grown up on Model A’s and Model T’s. People get set in their ways.

        Another thing is that this car might have been an early production model that was not optioned with anything.

        I remember when working at a Chevrolet dealer, the first 2 Caprice’s we got in for the 1989 model were a crappy brown, with no power accessories. Nobody would ever order the car that way but Chevrolet built a few to send to the dealers as early models.

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    • Avatar Doug

      The hitch? T.H. 400 I tow some pretty heavy stuff in awful conditions+I have 500 C.I.D. and never had any issues what so ever…….T.H. 400 Fan

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  6. Avatar Jim Mc

    Scotty, I have owned one. Was almost 35 years ago. It was a ’65 two-door and a wonderful automobile and, more than any other car I’ve ever owned, the one I wish I still had. Now that said, I do NOT miss the 8-9 MPG! Nor the fact that you needed a parking lot for it. Parallel parking? Ha ha, sure I could swing it in if there was room but they don’t make spaces that big anymore! But stock posi and a 0-60 of six seconds outta the 4-bbl on a 5K+lb hunka Detroit iron! And luxury….wow. Electric everythang – front bench, windows, antenna, A/C; would seat seven of yas, it was the best. This one here, even with rollie windows and four doors, five large will get you a LOTTA car. Just as long as you got a LOTTA room for it. (and just for comparison sake mine was rustier and needed brake work but was only $200!)

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  7. Avatar Michael Gregory Member

    I learned to drive in a ’65 LeSabre with no power windows because my dad was afraid of driving off a bridge into water and not being able to get the windows down. I kid you not. Fortunately, he never drove off any bridges. I always dreamed of owning an Electra and finally did get a ’74 225 Coupe. It was totally tricked out with a sunroof and padded landau roof. It’s weird to see older cars without A/C, but back in the day people up north would order them without it and people down south would buy cars without heaters. This car is a beauty and would turn heads at the car shows. Always loved the taillights all across the back. They were still doing that in ’74.

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    • Avatar Miguel

      My aunt said the same thing living in Southern California about driving into a lake.

      I told her not to drive into a lake.

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    • Avatar Doug

      Telley Salvallis would have been very happy to have one, instead he got a Centry …….Gool OL Stainless steel and chrome……Lucky to live in a rust free area…..

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  8. Avatar Gay Car Nut

    Lovely looking car. My favourite GM cars have always been Buicks and Oldsmobiles. My grandparents drove Buicks and Chevys.

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  9. Avatar Beatnik Bedouin

    A/C was fairly uncommon in the mid-1960s. When this Electra was built, GM Dealers were given a questionnaire to promote and record the option. I remember seeing them in the local Pontiac dealer.

    Power windows and electric seats were also optional equipment, hence so many cars from that era lacking such luxuries.

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    • Avatar Gay Car Nut

      I agree. Unlike today’s cars, where just about every accessory known to man is standard with the car, 40, 50 yrs ago, you had to order them as you ordered the car, and that was before you took possession of the car.

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      • Avatar Superdessucke

        Yup. and then you had to walk 5 miles barefoot through the snow to pick it up. You had to take your options seriously!

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    • Avatar Doug

      Beauty in simplicity…….live in a area that does not A/C either……

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  10. Avatar Mark N

    My father bought one of these for my mother in ‘65. It had power windows except for the little vent windows. With a name like “Electra” you would think it would have electric everything. I can remember my father bringing the car right after they bought to a place to install aftermarket seatbelts including a separate retractor that wound up the belt like a cinch strap but with a spring inside. BTW, it made a great camping vehicle, the trunk slept 3.

    Like 0
  11. Avatar lenny bello

    just my luck its always on the other side of the country talk about being born under the wrong sign ;-(

    Like 0
  12. Avatar PatrickM

    Sweet Mama! Can you say road trip. I was in my mid 20s when these came out. Everybody was drooling

    Like 0
  13. Avatar Gay Car Nut

    I’ve never owned or driven a car that *didn’t* have seat belts. They were either installed at the factory or installed after purchase, but they were in the car.

    Like 0
    • Avatar Miguel

      I bought an original 1974 Chrysler Dart here in Mexico.

      The car did not come with seat belts, even in 1974.

      I keep getting stopped by cops because I don’t have a shoulder harness. I have had to educate them on the fact that Mexico did not put seat belts in their cars until much later.

      I have installed lap belts because I will not move a car without out having everybody belted in.

      Like 0
    • Avatar Beatnik Bedouin

      I have, but installed belts as soon as I brought the vehicle home.

      Like 0
  14. Avatar Loco Mikado

    Nice looking car but just don’t run into another car with one, In the mid 70’s a little old lady rear ended my ’57 Chevrolet panel with one. I got out expecting to to see the back end of my truck demolished. The front end of Buick was but to my amazement I only had a 3″ dent in the rear bumper. She had to have her car towed away, I drove away. I still to this day wonder how my truck was so undamaged.

    Like 0
  15. Avatar Lindsey Johnstone

    My first car was a 1965 Buick Electra 225. Mine had the 425 single 4bbl. I rebuilt the top half of the engine (the tappets were aluminum tipped with steel, one of them broke) and while I had it tore down that far, I had the cam shaft and rockers rebuilt. I also replaced the hydraulic lifters. My God did that thing MOVE thereafter. I am 6’2.5″ tall and I could barely reach the passenger door to open or close it from the drivers seat. Bought in 1973 for $650.00 with 65k miles on it. It did some limo type duty during the gas shortage of 1978.

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  16. Avatar ccrvtt

    This car appears to have been painted with a very rich shade of cream. It was a color that exuded class in 1965. Very appropriate for such a nice car.

    Mid-60’s GM sedans were the epitome of automotive achievement – big, comfortable and incredibly fast. Fast enough to get from East Lansing to Ann Arbor in 35 minutes. And plenty of room to relax.

    Great find. Great car.

    Like 0
    • Avatar Doug

      Some of the best cars ever built,the Full size Oldsmobile and Pontiac’s had the better front suspension…The Buicks,Cadillac and Chevies had the strut rod’s they did not handle as well and had their issues…..Worked on all of them….driven them too….the best bodies of their era……

      Like 0
    • Avatar CaCarDude

      When the car was new and shined like a new dime the color was a very popular with the older crowd, it was called Shell Beige. I own a ’65 Skylark Vert that was the same factory color, like I said when new it was great but left uncared for it looks so drab. By the way my ’65 has Factory A/C that was not installed by the Factory but at the dealership post delivery. The reason I know it was not done at the factory is because it was not listed on the window sticker, like all the other options it came with. I like this Electra, they are definitely the poor mans Cadillac!

      Like 0
  17. Avatar W9BAG

    Without the amenities, such as power windows, tilt wheel, power seat, factory A/C, ect., I wouldn’t touch it.

    Like 0
    • Avatar Doug

      There was a time when I started driving where there was a starter button by the gas pedal,bias ply tires,drum brakes,parking brake on the floor next to the shift lever and leather seals and cork gaskets,I survived it still have the car……

      Like 0
  18. Avatar Gay Car Nut

    While these amenities are appreciated, it wouldn’t be the end of the world if a car didn’t have power seats.

    Like 0
    • Avatar leiniedude Member

      I gotta agree Gay Car Nut, I have power seats in my Grand Cherokee and can’t remember the last time I moved the seat.

      Like 0
      • Avatar Gay Car Nut

        I’ve owned cars in the past that didn’t have power seats. My last car, a 2006 Toyota Corolla LE didn’t have power seats. Toyota’s top of the line version of the Corolla, and they couldn’t install power operated seats. How crazy is that?

        Like 0
  19. Avatar Chris In Australia

    I’d love it, but I fear it won’t fit in my garage.

    Like 0
    • Avatar Poppy

      Your garage just has to be at least 225 inches deep. Buick did us a favor by naming this car after it’s length, if I’m not mistaken.

      Like 0
  20. Avatar Alexander Member

    Coming from three generations of Buick owners, I would never classify this particular find as coming from the era of “crisp, big-but-not-overly-bloated cars.” This is a big land barge, and would likely not fit in most modern garages in the ‘burbs. Still, and interesting build sheet and yes worth every penny. Wish it was pillarless.

    Like 0
  21. Avatar Ken Carney

    Had a chance to get one of these (a 4-door hardtop) back in the late ’80’s.
    But before I could get the cash, the owner sold it for scrap! Only thing it
    needed was a brake job! Otherwise, the car could’ve been driven home under its own power. I wanted a large car with cushy seats after hurting my
    back on a paper route. unfortunately for me, the small sedans my wife liked
    beat my back to tears. Can’t wait ’til I can get a car like this one!

    Like 0
  22. Avatar MARK LOVINGOOD

    Back in 1972 my first car was a 67 Buick Wildcat convertible. It was beautiful! Red exterior, black top, black interior. It rode like a dream and was great for road trips. I only paid $800 for it. After it got damaged in an accident, I went and bought a 68 Buick Electra. Another great land barge. Back in the 70’s you could go and get a land barge pretty cheap because nobody wanted them. They had alot of class.

    Like 0

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