Worst Automotive Features of All Time: GM's 1985 Buick Electra "Kinking" Hood Design 

I was a Buick Tech at a dealer from 1981 to 1996 and even returned after that . Concerning the Buick hood that opened forward I loved it and all the other Techs loved the hood too ! This hood made it easier to see because it let in more light . Also there was now crouching under a hood over your head . All under hood work was just easier .

My grandmother bought a 1986 Electra Park Avenue in early 1991. White with a red velour interior, as I recall. It was her final car, as she passed away in early 1993. She knew she was sick, so she wanted to go out in a comfortable car. Her previous car was one she bought brand new, a 1975 Chrysler Cordoba with a non-catalyst 400. Yes, non-catalyst. My grandparents lived in the middle of Iowa and leaded gas was still the norm, and a lot of cars were exempted. I got to ride in her Buick only a couple of times. I was active duty at the time and didn't come home much. I loved how the Buick rode. I loved its stereo. I loved its interior and upright airy body. Grandma had a lead foot and liked to drive fast, and she giggled while doing so. So, kinda ironic yet cool. It's been over 30 years since my last ride with her and I still remember her smile behind the wheel of her Buick while stomping on it.

After watching a great number of your videos , I’m struck by your professional, proper use of grammar. It seems a small thing, but to simply narrate a video with a voiceover seems difficult for a lot of videographers. It’s refreshing to hear proper English, as well as a voice that has diction and inflection that supplements the descriptive content. In other words, your voice, inflection, diction and command of the English language makes listening to your narration a pleasure. Keep up the outstanding work!

I had a 1988 Park Avenue, and it was a fantastic vehicle. It was just 13 years old when I bought it off its elderly original owner. It had beautiful leather upholstery, load level control, and power everything. Most reliable car I’ve ever owned.

Had a 90 Park Avenue Ultra (last year of that body style and I believe the first year of the Ultra.....though it may have come out in 89) and loved the clam--shell hood. Was never aware of the spring issue with the early cars, but they must have had it fixed by the 1990 model year as the hood opened and closed very easily and I loved how much access I had to the whole engine with the hood up and completely out of the way. Made changing spark plugs on the firewall side an absolute breeze. That 90 Park Avenue Ultra was truly one of the best cars I ever owned. And one of the most reliable as well. The only failure points with mine was it needed a new ignition coil pack every 60K miles and I replaced the timing gears proactively at 150K as a preventative since they were known to shed teeth. Those were just common issues with the 3800 engine. Sold the car with 261K on the odometer. Actually the only other car I have had that has been as reliable as that Buick is the 2015 Lincoln Navigator I have now. It's been bulletproof and has only ever needed tires, brakes, a battery and spark plugs with 98K miles on it now. Has never been back to the dealer for any warranty repairs (or any unscheduled repairs of any kind).

My father had a 1986 Buick LeSabre with the same hood design and as far as I can remember, he never had a problem with it in the four years he had it. He traded it in for a GMC Safari mini-van to carry the grandchildren but he loved the Buick.

I worked on many of these cars with the rolling hood and, never once did I ever have a problem.

I (high school) co-oped at Buick Motor Division in 1983/84. I had the chance to drive a few of the 1985 models. The 17 year old me thought they were GREAT!

I opened plenty of these at the dealership and never remember this being an issue.

This is very interesting. I had three LeSabres and an Electra in my family, and we never had a problem with the hood mechanism. I always thought it was a clever design.

The Saab 99 hood had some flaws too. We had a 1973 2.0LE 4sp manual. One day after checking the oil (the engine being an English Triumph design, it leaked a lot), as I was pushing down the front edge of the hood to latch it, the J-shaped secondary latch didn't quite aim at its hole correctly, so when I slammed the main latch closed, the J hook was bent sideways 90 degrees. The main latch had indeed locked, but with the compression loading of the bent secondary latch, the hood release no longer worked, the hood was jammed unopenable. I recall we recovered from this by sneaking a bent coat hanger into the slot towards the latch, with great difficulty and time delay. I still feel guilty about the Saab; it was my teenage idea for an OPEC-crisis replacement for a LeSabre, and it did succeed in giving the family about a 100% improvement in MPG, but the car was a disaster in reliability its whole 7 year time with us.

Neighbor had one of these. That hood baffled me. My '90 Olds Touring Sedan (awesome car!) had the traditional opening hood. These were GREAT cars though if they had the 3800. You still see a few on the road today.

I miss my 1984 Buick Electra. Chocolate brown paint, Chocolate brown velour seats, just beautiful. And comfortable

These Buick Electras were incredible cars, and nobody is going to convince me otherwise!

I purchased a 1985 Buick Electra Park Avenue in March of 2005, from a 92 year old woman who never let the car shift from 1st to 2d gear - she just coasted everywhere she went. The car had the 3.8 liter V6, fuel injected engine with only 50,000 miles on it despite she and her husband having owned it since new. Yes, the first thing I had to do was have the transmission rebuilt, but of all the other things you described: power steering, stalling, window regulators & switches - those were never a problem. What became a problem was eventually the door handles and latches seized up and my mechanic had to drill holes in the door sides in order to get a lubricant inside to free them up. REGARDING THE HOOD DESIGN... you missed something with respect to the opening of the hood: Yes, first pull the release handle inside the car, then step out and go to the front of the hood. There was a small thumb-operated latch under the front lip of the hood that had to be operated before you could pull the hood forward 6-7". If you didn't trigger this latch you couldn't pull the hood forward. After releasing this latch the steps you describe were correct in pulling the hood forward, then tipping the front down and the rear of the hood would rise up and open fully. I thought this was one of the neatest features of this car and enjoyed surprising friends and relatives with it, but had to make a point of asking mechanics if they were familiar with them. Imagine my frustration, one day, watching a young man trying to lift the hood and I raced into the service bay and stopped him. He was amazed! Only once in ten years of enjoying this very smooth riding and comfortable car did I have a surprise from the hood. It hadn't latched completely and popped upwards a couple inches while driving, forcing me to pull over and reset it, however, no damage was experienced as a result. Love your channel and your in depth reviews of many of the vehicles!

I had one of these, the hood was the thing I liked the most, really cool, yes I had problems with airflow sensors, the steering rack and windows, but all of that did not cost much to repair, I could do it all myself, the car drove great got over 30 mpg and had lots of room, I liked it

When I was a young man, my mother had I think and 88 (maybe 89) Park Avenue, I did all the maintenance and that good design even then was a little odd, that said with the 3800 the car was peppy, rode like a dream, quiet and extremely comfortable. I still remember it has one of the nicer cars my parents ever owned (though it must always take second to the 70 Olds 98).

My dad had a 86 LeSabre that was in an accident (got cut off on a no left turn intersection) the body shop he took it to had a junkyard adjacent, and they grafted a Electra (or maybe park ave at that point) front end on to his LaSabre, as it was cheaper than trying to get all new grill, lights, fascia, etc. I liked the clamshell style hood. It was unique and sporty.

Personally I loved that hood design and that platform in general. The later versions were mechanically robust with the 3800 engine, super comfy and economical. I have been looking for a clean example for the past 4 years. Seemingly they all disappeared or were horribly neglected.

For the 3 people in the market for a 85’ Buick Electra, this vids for you. Seriously though, great content as always Adam.

I had an 89 LeSsbre. Only issue ever with that car was the transmission. It would sputter/shake in overdrive. Otherwise a great car. Bought it with 170,000 miles and sold it with 220,000 on it.

Not only was the hood not "idiot proof" the alternators on the diesel models didn't have an over-run clutch, so upon shutting down, the engine would stop very abruptly, but the high inertia of the alternator rotor would continue to rotate and make a screeching sound on the belt that would send chills down your spine, like a strangled ostrich and wake the neighbors for blocks around.

Local Buick dealer mechanic kinked the hood on my Uncle's Park Ave when it was getting its first service.

I always thought this hood design looked so cool. I had no idea about the kinking issue. The closest I ever got to one of these was my father-in-laws company car….1988 model, I think. It was so nice to ride in: open, airy cabin and a very smooth ride

I always thought this was only created to differentiate Buick from the other GM models. If it was truly to assist technicians and to make the components more easily accessible, why not make it standard across the board? I was not aware of the hood kinking possibility. Great info as always! LOVE this channel!

I had a 1987 Buick Electra given to me by a GM executive friend of my mom to help me commute to grad school. It was the best car I ever owned. No Boston snow storm could stop that car and it got great gas mileage as well as being very dependable. I never had a problem with the hood and loved the access it gave to the engine bay.

The Saab 900 had a similar hood design. I had heard that it was designed that way so that you could easily remove snow from the hood. Just unlatch the hood open it and all the snow slides off.

Thank you Adam. One correction. The downsized Park Avenue/Electra was a 197 inches long. The Deville/Fleetwood were 195. The Ninety-Eight was 196.4. The largest downsized GM full sized car at one time was Pontiac Bonneville at 198.7 inches long. The Oldsmobile Intrigue was 195 inches long and classified as midsized. The 1989-1990 Buick Riviera was longer than the Park Avenue/ Electra and Le Sabre at 198.3 inches long. I did enjoy the video because the content and what you shared. I also like the fact you are honest about your commentaries as well and do not show bias. Volkswagen soured people in diesels today. Thank you again Adam.

I loved the hood on mine, it made everything easier to reach. I miss the seats more though, even my overstuffed couch that I’m sitting on now can’t compare

1985. Eleventh grade. I knew nobody who drove these cars, but their grandparents did! We were still driving every type of $150.00 to $500.00 car from the sixties and seventies. My buddy's AMC V6 Hornet burned a quart of oil for every tank of gas. And it would pull wicked, oil smokey doughnuts, none of us cared about these big new cars, they were invisible to us😂

I forgot the Buicks had that hood. A about 10-12 years ago, with fuel economy in mind I almost bought a clean mid 80’s Olds Ciera with that 3.0L V6, however it stalled on the test drive. The car was being sold through a dealer, and the “salesman” was gushing how it was a little old lady cream puff, aaallll the sleazy stereotypical lines, then it died. The engine did fire right back up, the damage was done though, he went from slickster to having the awkward sweats 😅😂

I sold these cars new, and I never saw any hood issues. The hood design DID make it easier for mechanics to work on.

I feel less alone now because of your video. I have a 1986 Buick LeSabre and I've experienced the same issue. Thank you for posting this video I feel less alone now

I knew a guy who retrofitted the hood hinges from an electra onto a 1995 Ford Thunderbird SC.

Adam, It sounds like a GM buyer had to kiss a lot of frogs in the hopes of finding a princess in 1985.

I actually had a 1985 Park Ave. It was a great car. Very comfortable. I never had any problems with the hood that you described in the video.

I owned an 88 Fleetwood, and it reminded me of driving a brick. Heavy in the front with the 4.5 V8.

The most common reason people don't push the hood down is that it's too hot to push with your hands.

I had a 1969 Buick Skylark Custom 350 with a 350 turbo tyranny in 1985. It cost me $200 dollars and somewhere near $150 for my Massachusetts Registration and 10% down on insurance. It was bad enough that I was driving a Buick, - but, I remedied that by painting the body satin black under the perfect vinyl top, and it became cool enough because it was a 2 door with stock chrome mags! My gf at the time cried when I drove it into the boneyard because I didn't have the mechanical skill to fix it up, or the money to have a decent mechanic go through it and make it pass inspection! I did a whole lot of awesome burnouts and donuts in that car!

My dad had an ‘88 LeSabre with the same hood design. The car was awesome and had zero issues. The hood was neat and allowed easy access underneath. Between ‘88 and ‘90 or ‘91 in the case of the LeSabre, these Buicks were pretty solid.

It behooves me to never buy a first year run of a auto. The only time that I have ever heard of a successful new introduction was a friend had bought a new S-10 and had no apparent problems. I believe it was even with the 2.8 liter!

It would be nice a video about the 301 and 301 turbo pontiac engines. Congrats for your work! Great and adictive content!

I've owned 7 of these (1988 was the oldest) and loved the hood as well. My more beat up cars of this era, my high school friends and I would run at the hood when it was open, jump onto it while hanging off of the top/back, and ride the hood as it closed, body slamming it shut. Not because it was hard to shut but because we were stupid high schoolers who had to destroy everything we touched

I owned 1985 Buick park avenue for 3 years and experienced none of the problems listed. Replaced it with a 1988 park avenue with similar favorable experience that lasted for 12 years. Still look upon both cars as superior to the later Buick I owned.

My parents used to have a 1989 olds 88 royal brougham, it was a bullet-proof car, never had any issue with the car. We owned it from 1996 till 2006. One of the most comfortable rides, with its silky smooth 3800 engine and its velour double paded cussions. I still prefer it on any suv offered today on the market.

1986-91 LeSabres had the same hood design. I disagree that it was a bad feature. I really liked it and thought it was a good feature. I never had any trouble closing it on our LeSabre. It was unique, looked good, and gave better access to most of the engine bay than a conventional hood.

I saw many of these Buicks with this hood design. My parents owned a 1986 . I was unaware of any problems with this design. I personally never witnessed any issues. I guess they existed because you made this video. But I never saw one.

I was in high school when these were built and they had an image of being an old person's car, just like the full size Fords, Mercurys, and Lincolns. They had a decent size interior and overall really weren't bad cars. The achilles heel seemed to be their transmissions. Those GM FWD transmissions were more or less originally designed to be used with four cylinders and those V-6 engines just wore them out.

Grandparents had a 85 old 98.... stalled out all the time when driving. U had to quick slam into N and restart and quickly get back into D. A shame great looking and riding car at the time. Car eventually became a hand me down to a family member in the city and the car was stolen many times over and kept getting found and returned.

Mom had a 1989 lesabre when I was a kid. Someone backed into it at low speed. Not much visible damage. Hood no longer opened. The person who hit the Buick had to have a tire cover replaced. The Buick needed a entire hood and grill. Body shop had to cut the hood open

Strange, I've never heard of this hood issue before. Living in the midwest, these cars sold shockingly well and stuck around for a good couple of decades. If you didn't own one, you knew someone who did. The reverse-opening hood received almost unilateral praise from the folks I knew. The early cars did have their mechanical problems, but by 87/88 were pretty bullet-proof. It was salt that finally did in my '88 Touring Sedan, 32 years and 225k miles later.

i'm surprised this is considered a "worst" feature. Saab owners loved this for ease of access to the engine bay.

My dad bought a 1986 park Ave as a company car in the autumn of 1985. It was the dark red burgundy… I loved that color. In 1989, I acquired it and drove it until autumn of 1995. It began to have transmission slipping issues, and it was time to part with it. But while I had it, it was one of my favorite cars of all the ones I’ve owned.

I had a 1988 Buick Electra T-Type sedan and it was the best car I ever had. I loved the clam shell hood.

These cars were beautiful and the styling was so efficient. I thought GM finally got "Full Size Cars" right. In my neighborhood, the Park Avenues were always in that red color. My friends family had a new one, and never had any issue with the hood.

Very interesting. It's a little funny to think that someone today is shopping for a 1985 Electra. Your videos are very good. I find them interesting and entertaining even though I don't have a particular interest in '85 Buicks. I like that you focus on the cars off the beaten path and highlight both gems, and lemons.

Seems like that during the Malaise Era the Engineers were just overwhelmed to the point where thorough testing of something as simple as a hood mechanism could be overlooked.

I thought that this generation of GM luxury cars were the most beautiful cars I had ever seen (until the 2000 Buick LeSabre). So many of these were on the road (especially in that gorgeous tan color). I had no idea that there were so many problems with those cars. I did not buy one as I thought they were overpriced. Thank you again, Adam.

Adam, I've noticed that besides a few short mentions you NEVER discuss the N body cars. You've done episodes on X, J and C body cars from this era but not the N body. Is there a reason for this? I own a 91 Skylark coupe (formally somerset) and would love to hear your thoughts on this particular series of cars. Always great talks! Keep up the good work

I had an ‘86. The only issue I had was the steering rack went bad. I put 300k on that 231 V6. One of the best cars ever made.

My grandparent’s neighbors bought a brand new 1989 Delta 88 Royale like this. It was burgundy.

I have a 89 Park Avenue Ultra and it’s so fun to drive!

Hey, at least this design gave you all that wonderful room in which to work... Unlike the ridiculously small reverse hood on all those otherwise huge 1960s Lincolns!

Had an 87 grand am with a fuel injected 3.0v6. That engine took 300,000 + miles of unyielding abuse from me as a teenager. It overheated once so bad that a intake lifter collapsed into itself. As a teen not knowing much other than how to take up that slop between the push rod and rocker arm. Every day before I left for school Id ball peen hammer a nickel and stick it between the rocker and pushrod. This solved that issue for me. The nickel would last almost a week but to be safe I changed it every morning. Kids.....we were all one at some point.

I remember when these cars came out. One of the few times when buying a more expensive car was a definite downgrade. The old larger Le Sabre was a better car and they lasted on the whole a lot longer.

I think it was the 41-52 buick with an even weirder hood opening design...from either side it allowed...

I had an 89 LeSabre with this hood. Always reminded me of opening a tractor trailer hood. Strange

Was that hood only on Buicks? My dad had an 86 88 Olds and if I remember, it had a "normal" hood😅😂

The first Electra 225 was 225 inches long, hence the Electra 225!

Had an '89 Park Avenue till about 4 yrs ago...loved it and the hood. The only issue was the headliner

Owned a 1986 Oldsmobile Delta 88 with the 3.8, 15" cross-lace alloy wheels, that was originally the family car from 86 to 1993. I bought it and drove it through multiple winters as a winter beater (it was pretty well rusted out on one side from being in a side swipe accident. All of the replaced panels were junk and rotted away compared to the original paneled side). By then it had 156K miles on it. I never encountered any of the issues mentioned here, but I do know the window switches were replaced a couple of times. It was a solid car for the most part. I sold it for $600 when the fuel injectors started to leak. Just needed new injectors. Was completely reliable on the coldest of Wisconsin winter days. You could build a "problem list" like this video for any car. A well maintained car was going to last no matter what. Or, be in the shop. LOL! Roll of the dice with GM products back in the day I suppose. I actually find these mid 80's boxes charming. Would love to find one. Also the battery on my car did not have a support over the top. Must have been a Buick thing?

I had an ‘86 Park Avenue and didn’t have any of those issues from what I remember.

I owned a 86 Electra t type clone. I really liked the hood. It was confusing to figure it out but I appreciated the open space

This was a random pop up but I enjoyed it. Thank you!

I was one of the lucky ones who had the diesel engine in the 98 Regency. Every trip to the shop,and there were many, had to do with the engine. It would be the last GM car I would buy.

I like these and rented a brand new one in 86. It had great cruise control as it would not deviate more than 1 or 2 mph even over mountain passes. I never had an issue with the hood.

Those Park Avenue coupes were 🔥 🔥! Miss full size GM 2 door models.

I worked for a GM subcontractor at the time and got one of the first 1985 Sedan de Villes. I can attest to the miserably unreliable window motors switches. That car was soon traded for a first-year Acura Legend, which gave unblemished service for its entire lifetime. Lesson learned.

What a beautiful Buick. (The brown Electra)

I own a 1990 p/a ultra sinds 2002 and I love the clamshell hood!! Never any issue just gently pushing in to the lock!

I never knew that this was a problem. I always liked the Styling of the mid-80's Buicks too and almost bought one. I did not get into a Buick until the 1990's. They were the Last GM vehicles that I ever purchased before switching over to Toyota. The 1980's were my Chevrolet vehicles. I would never purchase them ever again.

Similar to the kinking hoods of the Chevy/GMC trucks that were introduced in 1973. It seems that either the hood was not strong enough or the springs were too strong. Back in the day, it was common to see 73 to 80 GM trucks with either the rear of hood raising up or the hood kinked just before the hood hinge mounts. When the trucks were facelifted in 1981, the hood hinge designed changed. I remember seeing hood braces in the JC Whitney catalog that supposed to increase the torsional strength of the hood to prevent the kink from happening. I personally saw this on two Chevy trucks our family owned...a 75 Chevy C10 Custom Deluxe Stepside (I really miss that truck) and a 77 Chevy K10 Scottsdale with the standard short box. Also miss that one...and wanted as a college vehicle but Dad thought it was too much of a gas hog. When we bought the 75, one of Dad's mechanically inclined friends paid us a visit and inspected the truck and gave us a tutorial on how to properly close the hood.

I have an 89 Park Avenue that I hit a cow with on the highway at night and I cried so much about totaling that car. I had full coverage and got a couple grand from insurance and got to keep it. It sat around looking sad and then we happened to come across an 87 Electra for sale for $400 and scooped that bad boy up and did some parts swapping with the Park Avenue, like the seats I swapped because they were way nicer in the 89 and a back door. We did some crank shaft work and put in a new mass airflow censor and the Electra runs like a top now. I love it so much. I call it my Electric Avenue since they're Frankensteined together

I had an 86 2 door. I LOVED that car, and I LOVED that hood.

I had 86 Electra. I liked that ride.

The clamshell style hood (or bonnet) has been fairly common here in Europe - Saabs, early Renault Clio and Laguna, Volvo 340/360 etc. good for styling and avoiding possible opening when driving but the biggest issue is the lack of access to the engine bay really.

I owned an 88 Le Sabre. And never had a problem with the hood. Thar was one of the best cars I ever owned. We called it the timex. 188,000 thousand miles. Not to mention amazing gas mileage. Would Owen another one in a heart beat.

I had an '86 Park Avenue, and I loved the forward-tilting hood. It was attractive, elegant, easy to use, and unique among large American cars. It also let in more light than a conventionally hinged hood. I can't imagine why anyone would consider it a fault. Overall, I loved everything about that car. I regretted selling it for years after I let it go.

I had an '86 Park Avenue and while it was a beautiful looking car, it had many issues. When the torque converter failed, the entire would violently vibrate when shifting. The driver's side power window was so slow that it barely made it back up to close. Even the power antenna failed relatively early on.

Excellent video. Thank you Adam .

Ever since I first saw it on a friend told BMW 2002, this hood design always struck me as eminently sensible. They don’t need springs or prop rods to hold them open. The weight of the hood itself is shifted forward so its centre of gravity is ahead of the pivot point. An elegant solution.

My parents gave me theirs and I loved the hood design. This made the car so easy to work on. You were Able to change all 6 spark plugs with ease

Had an 88 Buick Lesabre in the family for a number of years. That car was all heart. There were a few times when the hood could be a pain, but I liked the uniqueness of it, and the confusion on the faces of people when I'd open it. Some days, I really miss that car.

My grandpa used to drop me off in one of those. While we listened to radio news 950

I believe it was the 1985 Oldsmobile 88 that was a pretty good car,last year of the "real" Olds with a conventional big car layout and serviceability,had a smooth running and usually trouble free V8 engine but without the acceleration capability of earlier Olds even as compared to the 330 engine. Three of these comfortable cars in memory, one of them got stolen,joyrided and recovered but messed up,the older woman who owned it soon began a decline upon giving up driving because of losing the car and was dead in a couple years or so,another was also owned by an older woman whose husband wrecked it,the other one was in the hands of its second owners for many years,I believe it was replaced about 10 years ago by an all wheel drive Subaru (gave them I think over 20 years of mostly trouble free service) I think those cars had 307 Olds with lightweight block,did not seem to come on as strong as a Lincoln 302 (LSC?) fuel injection V8,the Olds still had a 4 barrel carburetor I think.

I had an 88 Park Avenue, bought it 2002 from the son of the little old lady who only drove it to church. It had 74k when I bought it, traded it in with 140K 6 years later. It leaked PS fluid and I had to replace the AC and he’s right about the window regulators, all 4 failed at 100K but otherwise the 3800 was bullet proof. I went through front pads and rotors every 35K, auto zone hated me coming in for lifetime replacements 😂. I actually liked the hood.

I loved this design on the 86 LeSabre I got from my grandpa. Even hit a dog, dented the hood, hammered it out with a claw hammer, had a welding shop build a garbage headlight bracket, and it still worked fine. A cool feature I miss on a car I miss, so I disagree entirely!

I have to admit I thought that hood was pretty cool when I first saw it inside a dealership showroom back then.

I loved my 91’ Buick skylark. Silver with red interior

I worked at a Goodyear shop in the late 80s doing mostly tires and oil changes. I had to deal with a few of those strange clamshell hoods and wasn't fond of them.