The last of the really big Buicks signed off in 1976 with the Electra 225 and Electra Limited—true heavyweight cruisers.

In our 2021 feature on the “91-’96 Roadmasters (you can read it here) we declared them “the last of the big Buicks.” That’s true, but in context. Relatively speaking, we mean. By former Buick standards, this final Roadmaster series was almost  intermediate in size. The last of the really, really big Buicks were the 1976 Buick Electra 225 and  Electra Limited.

Based on the ’71-76 General Motors C-body platform, the Electra sprawled out on a luxurious 127-in wheelbase and was a full 233.3 inches in overall length. That’s eight inches longer, you will note, than the original Electra 225 back in 1959, where the 225 designation originated. And with 4,700 lbs of curb weight, ithe ’76 Electra definitely rolled in the heavyweight class.

So yes, there were two models in the big Buick lineup for 1976: Electra 225 and Electra Limited. There was also an ultra-deluxe Park Avenue, which was not a distinct model per se but an option package. Shown above are just two of the nine available interior combinations: diamond-tufted leather for the Limited and for the Park Avenue, pillow-top velour. (On the Park Avenue a veour-covered center console was also available.) If anything, the big Buick interiors that year were even more over-the-top than Cadillac’s, which were a bit more restrained, arguably.

A relative handful of ’76 Electras were built with GM’s first-generation Air Custion Restraint System (ACRS) airbag package. GM produced some 10,000 cars with ACRS in the mid-70s, but buyers showed little interest in the safety feature and some owners were unaware their cars were so equipped. The option (RPO AR3) was dropped after ’76 and airbags would not appear on GM cars again until 1988.

The standard powertrrain on the ’76 Electras was the robust Buick-built 455 cubic-inch V8 with 205 net horsepower, coupled to a Turbo-Hydramatic 400 transmission. (A 350 CID V8 was optional.). With an EPA fuel economy rating of 14 city and 18 highway, which few owners actually witnessed, guzzling gasoline was an Electra 225 specialty. But on the plus side, the fuel tank held 21.6 gallons.

Clearly, the times demanded a change, and for 1977 the Electra was radicially downsized, along wth the rest of the B-and-C body cars across the GM full-size car lines. This was the same basic platform that, with contrinual refinements, was under the ’91-’96 Roadmaster.