1964 was quite a year. Most of us think of the 1960s as such a great and peaceful decade but there were some bad things going on at the time. There were also some good things, a lot of good things. One of those good things involved Frank Sinatra buying his father this 1964 Buick Electra 225. This car can be found here on craigslist in Howard Beach, New York. The seller is asking $6,000 for this car with a very interesting provenance. Thanks to FordGuy 1972 for sending in this tip!
One of Sinatra’s biggest hits of all time, and my personal favorite song of his, is Fly Me to the Moon which was released in 1964. It was the era of the space race, after all. The second-generation Electra 225 would be made for four short years with 1964 being the last year before the next-generation cars debuted. The Electra 225 is affectionately known as the deuce-and-a-quarter by legions of Buick fans.
Vehicles rust in New York, even ones that have been stored since 1980 which is what the seller tells us is the case with this car. This Sinatra sedan has 49,000 miles on it which would be 816 round-trip drives to Hoboken, New Jersey, in the off chance that Antonino Martino Sinatra only drove it to his son’s birthplace and back home again. Sadly, today Frank Sinatra’s birthplace is an empty lot with a star on the sidewalk.
The interior has seen better days. It looks mostly complete but a full restoration will not be inexpensive. How much, if any, the original owner of this Electra 225 adds to the value I don’t know for sure. It would certainly add value if this Buick would have been Frank Sinatra’s personal car. The interior looks like it hasn’t been cleaned since 1980 and the back seat appears to have been the place to store the car’s supply of parts and other things. We don’t see any photos of the inside of the trunk which is where I assumed those things would be kept.
The seller says that the 401 cubic-inch Nailhead V8 engine runs and everything works, even the power windows and AC? I would be very surprised if the AC worked after being stored for 40 years but.. maybe? Have any of you owned a celebrity-owned car?
Scotty, with all due respect, who thinks of the 60s as a peaceful time?? There was the assassinations of JFK and MLK, lynchings, race riots, the Vietnam war, campus protests, civil rights unrest, the Stonewall rebellion, the Manson murders…what am I leaving out?
Still, I am forever drawn to the cars of the 1960s, because that was the first decade of my life, and those events and those cars are imprinted on my soul. Now, is this cheap 225 REALLY Frank’s Dad’s car?
…and sorry, but, the song was written in 1954 under another title.
Perhaps I can field this one, Rex. By peaceful, I’m sure the author means, as a kid, we were shielded from those atrocities, and were busy drawing ’64 Fords in our notebooks. Yes, those things were heard of, but we were more interested in putting baseball cards in our spokes. Unless a family memeber went off to war, it really didn’t touch a kids life much. It wasn’t until the 70’s, when most of us got into the real world, aka, jobs and it crushed our fragile spirits.
Ol’ blue eyes dad’s car? Oooookay, that’s a good one, still a rusty “deuce and a quarter”, doesn’t matter if the Shah of Iran owned it. If it is his car, took lousy care of it.Who knows, they were really nice cars, but again, got to be nicer than this, and nice ones are out there. I doubt anyone going to stick the kids college fund, if any, into 4 door Buick.
… what he (Howard) said, Rex! I know that there was a ton of trouble in the ’60s, but being a kid as a lot of us were at that time, as Howard mentioned, it just seemed like such a simple era. Most people point to the 1950s as an idyllic decade to grow up, if you didn’t get polio or smallpox or have to duck and cover 3 times a day and whatever other things were going on in the 50s that a lot of us have forgotten about. The ’60s were also my first years on the planet so I have great memories of living in the boonies of northern Minnesota, basically being sheltered from all of the bad things that were going on at the time. I know better now, but as a kid, not so much.
Baseball cards in spokes, eh.
I did it too until I got a real Varoom Motor from Matel to replace them.
Bob
I’d only be interested in this car if my own father owned it, because if he had, it would be in a lot better shape, I can tell you that much.
Howard and Scotty, your points are well taken.
The rear overhang on that thing is a wonder to behold – it looks like the trunk lid could be used as a helipad!
Parts are in the back seat because the trunk is full of bodies.
We have found Jimmy Hoffa!
Looks like the old man parked it in the Hudson River for a few years!
Raise hands all those who saw ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ this past summer. Nice slice of the times even if fictionally written. The cars, the music. I’m sooooooo relieved I wasn’t old enough to be drafted to go die in Vietnam.
I can’t remember what kind of car it was, maybe a Thunderbird? A short time ago it was on this site and Frank supposedly bought it for his daughter Nancy.
Howard Beach was flooded in 2012 by hurricane sandy. In my opinion it looks like this was 1 of many victims.
Few years ago one of my customers was legally named Frank Sinatra..just saying 🤔
Please
A rusty old Buick by the beach is worth
1700
I agree, Jay; the provenance is a nice touch, but the ol’ Buick has fallen on some hard times. $6k is a reach considering you’re going to have to a long rehab ahead of you. Ask $4k, settle somewhere shy of $3K
There’s a lot of rust you can see..it’s what you can’t see is what I’d be afraid of. This car will need a frame-off, for sure.
Looks like the Sinatra family was a lot better at singing than maintaining automobiles!
Maybe it’s just me, but the wear showing on that interior (excluding the dirt) says a lot more miles on the car than stated.
Began life Sinatra-adjacent, ended up looking like DeeDee Ramone.
In high school in the 70’s we bought these things for $2-300 and beat the heck out of them.
Frank didn’t buy his dad a Cadillac? Every star in the 50’s and 60’s who purchased a car for their friend or loved one bought a Caddy. I mean, c’mon, Elvis was buying them for strangers. Frank’s dad got a lousy Buick? Hard to believe.
I think that this is one gorgeous luxury land yacht. Try finding one with all of the trim bits intact and all of the luxury items there in working? order. The price is unreasonable, provenance not withstanding. There is likely a lot of hidden rust, given the front fender rocker areas and the underside of the door. Still, if you can do your own work, it would be a cool ride when finished. It could even be just a driver as is to enjoy. Thing has to be 20 feet long and weight 5K. I believe that Bubba Smith drove one of these when he was at Michigan State (wonder how he could afford one?).
This is the third time we’ve seen this car posted on Craigslist in as many months and with Haggerty Insurance listing the #4 “Fair” (Daily Driver) estimate at only $3,500, its clear no one is willing to pay a $2,500 premium for what is now a very dated provenance. That said, there’s an understated cool driving a “Deuce-And-A-Quarter” versus a very similar Series 62 from that year.
Make it a 67 Limited and we’ll talk. It was named 225 because that’s the length, 225 inches, longer than some SUVs today. Love them.
I agree with Rex.
The 60s were a gong show and ended with a war still killing many Americans in a lost cause.
As far as this being connected to Sinatra, there better be some paper work. Otherwise this is just another rusty land yacht worth less than 750 bucks