1970 marked the end of an era for the Buick Electra 225 — the last year of its 1965-era styling, the last convertible, and the last high-compression engines before emissions rules changed everything. Buick sent it off right with a new 370-horse 455 V8, the biggest engine this generation ever got, and over 150,000 buyers agreed it was worth the honor.
For the 1970 model year there are few exterior changes for the Luxurious Buick Electra although the radio antenna is for the first time concealed  in the front window glass. The best news for this year the Electra is now has a 455 cu in (7.5 L) V8 under the hood putting out 370 hp. (275.9 kW). The engine is bolted to a TH-400 automatic tranasmission.
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Every era has a car that goes out exactly the way it came in, and for Buicks biggest, longest land yacht, 1970 was that swan song. The Electra 225 had worn essentially the same styling since 1965, and this was the last time buyers would see it before a full redesign swept it away. Underneath, though, Buick was not coasting — there was a genuinely new engine for the occasion, and it happened to be the biggest one they had ever bolted into this car. Over 150,000 buyers ordered one that year without knowing they were buying the end of an era. What made this particular send-off worth remembering was not just the size of the car — it was everything quietly disappearing underneath it.
Going Out With the Biggest Engine Yet
The headline change for 1970 was under the hood: a new 455 cubic inch V8 rated at 370 horsepower replaced the 430 that had done the job from 1967 through 69, bolted to the three-speed TH-400 automatic. That is a genuinely big engine for a genuinely big car — at 225.8 inches long and riding a 127 inch wheelbase, the Electra 225 needed every one of those cubic inches just to move its own roughly 4,500 pounds with any authority. Buick also gave the antenna a quiet upgrade, concealing it in the front window glass for the first time, a small styling touch that mattered more to the guy who had to look at the car every day than to the sales brochure.
The Last of Several Things at Once
1970 was not just the final year of the 65-era styling — it was also the last call for the Electra 225 convertible, the last year for the high-compression engines that defined this era before emissions regulations reshaped everything, and the last appearance of finned aluminum brake drums on the model. Buick moved over 150,201 of these for the model year at a sticker price between roughly $4,460 and $4,800, proving buyers were not scared off by the idea of owning the end of something. Find one today and you are not just looking at a big comfortable cruiser — you are looking at the closing chapter of an entire styling generation.
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