Part of the joy of being in the old car hobby is getting to mentally drive down memory lane. Many enthusiasts actually seek out cars they remember from their youth to add to their collection to complete a circle of sorts. The 1973 Buick Regal for sale on eBay in beautiful Homer Glen, Illinois, brings back a flood of memories for me. This car, from the vinyl seats to the Colonial Yellow paint, is an almost perfect twin to the Buick Regal that my mother had when I was in elementary school. While the $12,999 asking price is a bit more than I would shell out for a car to relive my early youth, the price is a bargain for such a well-kept car. If one of you buys this 52,000-mile Buick, I will give you some cash for one more ride! Thanks to reader Curvette for this wonderful tip!
Let me take you back to the mid-seventies in Central Florida. Disney World opened a few years before, setting into motion a radical change for what could be best described as a sleepy little part of Florida. We had one interstate, a diminutive expressway, and a one-hour drive on state roads for the frequent runs to the beach. The speed limit was just 55 miles per hour nationwide. It was a time when, believe it or not, you could drive down the road drinking a beer, and car seats for youngsters were just a suggestion. Seat belts were in just about every car but were seldom used. Moms would reflexively throw their right arm across your young body in the passenger seat if an emergency stop was needed. American cars ruled the roads, Volkswagen Beetles were on the wane, and Japanese cars were making their foothold in the area. To say it was different back then would be a massive understatement. Survival was purely Darwinian.
The yellow Buick Regal was the third car my parents owned. The first was a big block first-generation Camaro bought off a used car lot that my mother fell in love with. My father was the one who loved to drag race, so his reluctance to agree to this car was a rare sign of common sense on his part. He thought that a young family should have a station wagon. I don’t think the Camaro lasted more than a week because it overheated habitually. It was returned to the car lot, and a dark green 1974 Buick Electra 225 took its place. Before long, that Buick went to the junkyard after my father was involved in a violent head-on collision.
The replacement was the yellow Regal. We ended up having the car for around four years. Like all GM products of the time, it was pretty reliable and was easy to work on. I have memories of “helping” my father replace the starter and an alternator or two. It was the stereotypical scenario where I was sent to get a specific wrench only to come back with a handful of them. Or the old “Hold the flashlight still!” deal. The good thing about cars of this era was that the average guy with a small box full of tools could fix nearly anything. I remember how insanely hot the vinyl seats got in the summer, and that the car had indents in the glovebox door to put drinks when you went to a drive-up restaurant or, joy of joys, a drive-in movie. In Florida, those mosquito repellent coils you activated with a lighter and placed on the dash were as mandatory as popcorn. Bottled Cokes were brought in a Coleman cooler. Those used to the comforts of today would recoil in horror at our existence back then, but I think I was very lucky to grow up in such a place and time.
What did the Regal in was the Achilles’ heel of many cars at the time: the vinyl top. To simplify the problem, rustproofing wasn’t that great back in the day, and vinyl tops gave moisture a safe place to stay. Rust would form under the top in various places, but most prominently around the edge of the top under the trim that separated the top from the body. Once the corrosion took a foothold, it wasn’t long before the circle of life took the car to the junkyard to provide parts for other Buicks. To add insult to injury, window leaks soaked the passenger rear floorboard when the Florida skies opened up every summer afternoon. I distinctly remember the floormat being out and seeing the road go by through a few small rust holes scantily clad by disintegrating carpet. Adios one good old Buick.
It was replaced by a humiliatingly slow Olds Cutlass Supreme coupe, and I never saw the car again. In fact, I have only seen one other example that was close to the way my mother’s car was optioned out in a write-up I did for this site. The car you see here may just be one of the few surviving examples of that year’s Regal. From what the seller tells us, this car lived a very sheltered life. It has just 52,000 miles on the odometer. Part of the reason for that was a 24-year hiatus from the road due to a blown head gasket. The ad covers the laundry list of parts that were replaced to return this car to the road. Now that it is roaming the streets again, the seller tells us that it has been in regular use this summer.
Is this a car that I would go down to the bank on Monday morning for? Not really. I was too young to get overly attached to the old Buick. I also was born with an unhealthy addiction to sportscars and prewar vehicles of all sorts. I do think it would be a great first collectible car for someone. Cars like this are rolling examples of why General Motors was so dominant in the marketplace in the early seventies. GM mastered the art of producing comfortable, reliable, and easy to own vehicles. They were also affordable, which gave my not very well-to-do parents proper transportation in the early years of their marriage. Despite what you have read on the internet, cars from the seventies weren’t that bad, and neither was life in that era. You kind of had to experience it to get the proper perspective, I guess.
Do you have a memory of a Buick like this one, or of cars from your youth? If so, please share them in the comments.
Kojak era Buick!
“Who Loves Ya Baby?” Sorry, couldn’t resist!!! I thought the same thing too. Just needs to be brown.
The colonnade coupes from GM are one of my all time favorite designs. It is really something how a particular car can get your memory banks running. This one looks like a really solid good one. Curvette has a knack for finding some amazing stuff on here. Jeff, we both grew up in the same era. I remember our ’70 Olds having those indentations for drinks. The trunk release button was in there, I remember Mom popping the glove box door open all the time to hit the button to put the grocery bags from Stop N Shop in the trunk. Great memories Jeff. Thank you
I remember our 73 Buick Regal, the exact same color. My dad stated that this car was the worst at MPG of any car he ever owned. The car was painfully slow, but I don’t recall the car being problematic.
My uncle had the buick century big 455 under the hood same indent in the glove box but bucket seats automatic on the floor would pass everything but a gas station he wound up trading it in after 4 years on an audi 4 wheel drive that broke a front axle he could never get repaired
nice Buick. this was for sale last year, so it looks like it did not sell. colors look good together. regal emblems are in the wrong spot. these are not as popular as the chevies of this era. be a good buy @7500.00. if they really want to sell it they need to drop the price.
You’re right! That REGAL’s just floating there. Hmm . . . .
My parents bought a 73 Buick Century when it was barely even broken in. The front seat had an actual plunger that you could hear and feel if you sat down just right that would activate the warning buzzer if you did not fasten your seat belt.
WE used to fasten the seat belt and then SIT on it.
Mine was 73 Century 350, same car just different roof. It was Mediterranean Blue with black interior. I ordered it and it cost me $4500, lost it in a divorce. Worth it believe me
Mine was 73 Century 350, same car just different roof. It was Mediterranean Blue with black interior. I ordered it and it cost me $4500, lost it in a divorce. Worth it believe me
Must’ve been “worth it” to post twice! LOL!
Brown, blue, gold and green was 75% of the pallet in ’73. I like the perfect equipment and beautiful condition of this car. Thanks, Jeff, for painting a picture of what life was like fifty and sixty years ago. I had a lot of the same experiences and am not to pious to admit that I may have even done some of what you describe. Was another time and place. I’m glad I got to live back then.
I was just thinking about this the other day. I was working at a Buick dealership in Scotch Plains, N.J. in 1983. I was between wheels and when a customer traded in a 10 year old Apollo with a V8 I snatched that up for $200. Turned out to be a great car.
What has all this got to do with this 1973 Regal you ask? A few months later another customer traded in his 10 year old Regal, dark red, black vinyl top. I forget how much we paid for it but that was my boyfriends car. So we were a family of 1973 Buicks, and as much as I liked my Apollo I really wanted the bigger Regal. As I said, I was just thinking of that Regal the other day and wondering whatever happened to it.
My Apollo got rearended and I sold it for $900, but I can’t remember what happened to that Regal.
Queen Diva? Congratulations on the promotion, Angel.
Ha ha! Thanks Nelson. Rick W. was the one who dubbed me that about a year ago. Haven’t seen him around the Barn in months. I hope he’s OK, I miss his twisted sense of humor.
Angel, I too miss Rick W’s comments. His experiences and wit made these postings that much better. Thankfully we have so many other regular commenters.
To round out the decade old ’73 Buick line one of my dad’s work buddies had a dark green LeSabre, also a Florida car in Vermont which meant much less rust and the first air conditioning I’d experienced in a car and one of my friends’ older sister had an Opel 1900 (Ascona) wagon, white with red interior that wasn’t as all-consumingly red as I was used to since the dash was black and the headliner off white.
Dad tossed the keys to a white with burgundy top regal like this across the breakfast table to me so I could drive to school.
This was the morning after I learned to fly (but not land unfortunately) in a Volvo 242.
I was petrified driving that morning but getting back on the horse was just what needed.
Nice luxurious car as I recall.
GLWS
Hairyolds is right, those roof emblems are too high. Maybe the adhesive got dry & they fell off or washing the car & off they came. At least they still have them.
A lovely car and just wish it had cloth/velour seats; vinyl too hot in the summer. Like the luxurious look of them, especially the seat backs.
Used to see a ’74 at car shows, light blue, no vinyl top. Body off restoration with a 455, a/c, pw, pdl,
can’t remember if there were buckets or not. Stereo 8-track, rear defog, loaded up and gorgeous.
Will always love colannades. Grew up with them and they define the ‘70s and the cars we kids all drove in ‘80s perfectly.
And yes, we knew then how to make them run and we still do.
Out of the colonnades, and I am an olds guy, Buick had the best. Solid
My mother took me to disneyworld in 1974. First time flying and our rental car was a Century coupe in brown. It was the first air conditioned car we spent time with. My family never bought GM cars but this car was impressive. I turned 16 the next year and bought a Cutlass. Mother got a Century wagon, Dad bought his first Cadillac and my sister bought a Pontiac the next year. Poof we were an all GM family.
Ditto on Mr. Owens’ comments – Buick had the best of the Collonades. And in spite of the ultra-’70’s colors on this one, they work very well in concert. Unless you are on the West Coast there can’t be more than a handful of them left in this no-apologies-required condition. In light of the aforementioned, price sounds solid to me. I’d fly up from MO and drive it home proudly, A/C blasting.
Agree. Looks like a keeper
This car was one of many used for drivers ed my sophomore year in Dade County. They were brand new and most were the same color as this one. I’m in the minority in that I disliked the redesign of all the 73 models. GM did a terrible job integrating the 5 MPH bumpers. The think Chrysler did the best by adding the bumper guards to their models. But nice memory of a world gone away as the song says.
An acquaintance of mine from years ago, that I spent a lot of time working high school, his grandparents had one of these but a different color. It was absolutely nothing special. It was just one of the GM clones from the generation. Every division had one of these slightly reworked. In my opinion, the Buick was the worst looking of all of them. That front fender line swooping into the door and just stoping, made the car look front heavy and disjointed. Sales were still good, but the public saw through this badge engineering. Same engines, same windshields same side glass same frames made these intermediate GM cars all the same. all GM was doing was trying to be cheap and save money. Why buy the expensive version when you can buy the cheap version and it’s the same?
Actually these were more distinctive than you believe. With the exception of the Chevy six, engines were still divisional. Grand Prix had their own quarter windows.
Please fact check before making comments here. In 2026, it is just too easy to check these things. Anything else is lazy or just bluster. These cars certainly shared SOME parts, but engines, suspension designs, even things such as AC components in many cases were specific to the division. Very few companies had such a dynamic engineering model as GM had up until the 1980s.
Ditto on your comments.
Mine was scared of water puddles… died every time I hit one. LOL