Buick Electra 225 2-Door Hardtop (1971)
Like the other GM brands, Buick completely restyled its B-body and C-body cars for 1971. The full-size cars emerged larger and heavier than ever before or after. The new GM full-size bodies, at 64.3" front shoulder room and 63.4" rear shoulder room set a record for interior width that would not be matched by any car until the full-size GM rear-wheel drive models of the early to mid 1990s. The styling featured curved bodysides, long hoods and wide expanses of glass. All Electra 225s were hardtops in the 1971 to 1973 model years, eliminating the previous four-door pillared sedan variant and the convertible. In 1974 Buick adopted GM's pillared coupe body and fitted it with the "Landau" option on the Electra Limited coupe. Optional driver and passenger airbags were also available from 1974 to 1976, but they were unpopular due to their cost.
In the first year for new GM C-body shared with Oldsmobile 98 and Cadillac, the 1971 Electra 225 rode on a new body chassis which retained the 127 in (3,226 mm) wheelbase with styling evolutionary from previous models. The new design included a double-shell roof for improved roll-over protection and noise reduction. Inside was a new wrap-around cockpit style instrument panel shared with B-body LeSabre and Centurion models that grouped all instruments with easy reach of the driver. Under the hood, the 455-cubic-inch V8 was retained as standard equipment, but featured a lower compression of 8.5 to 1 compared to 10.25 to 1 in 1970 as part of a GM corporate mandate requiring all engines to run on 91 Research octane regular leaded, low-lead or unleaded gasolines. Horsepower also dropped from 370 to 315 as a result.
Buick Electra 225 2-Door Hardtop (1971)
Like the other GM brands, Buick completely restyled its B-body and C-body cars for 1971. The full-size cars emerged larger and heavier than ever before or after. The new GM full-size bodies, at 64.3" front shoulder room and 63.4" rear shoulder room set a record for interior width that would not be matched by any car until the full-size GM rear-wheel drive models of the early to mid 1990s. The styling featured curved bodysides, long hoods and wide expanses of glass. All Electra 225s were hardtops in the 1971 to 1973 model years, eliminating the previous four-door pillared sedan variant and the convertible. In 1974 Buick adopted GM's pillared coupe body and fitted it with the "Landau" option on the Electra Limited coupe. Optional driver and passenger airbags were also available from 1974 to 1976, but they were unpopular due to their cost.
In the first year for new GM C-body shared with Oldsmobile 98 and Cadillac, the 1971 Electra 225 rode on a new body chassis which retained the 127 in (3,226 mm) wheelbase with styling evolutionary from previous models. The new design included a double-shell roof for improved roll-over protection and noise reduction. Inside was a new wrap-around cockpit style instrument panel shared with B-body LeSabre and Centurion models that grouped all instruments with easy reach of the driver. Under the hood, the 455-cubic-inch V8 was retained as standard equipment, but featured a lower compression of 8.5 to 1 compared to 10.25 to 1 in 1970 as part of a GM corporate mandate requiring all engines to run on 91 Research octane regular leaded, low-lead or unleaded gasolines. Horsepower also dropped from 370 to 315 as a result.