“Peaceful” 1963 Buick has some good Karma, too
The 1960s Buick Electra 225 sedan sits in an uncomfortably unpopular place these days. It’s not prestigious or rare enough to command the pricing of vintage German luxury sedans, or be on par with its counterparts from Cadillac and Lincoln.
But mid-century Buicks had quality materials and luxurious proportioning with understated styling worthy of stealth-wealth enthusiasts. Just look at the space between the front axle and the front door (albeit accentuated in this sales brochure) and the subtle integration of Buick’s famous four portholes in the fender.
Clearly, Buick’s famous Deuce and a Quarter deserves more recognition.
Because it ain’t easy being a luxury sedan, and the Karma Revero feels the Electra’s pain. The former luxury flagship of the fledgling Fisker brand saw new life under Chinese ownership, including a superior in-car entertainment package (one with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay) and the option of moving from the GM-infused hybrid powertrain for one derived from the BMW i8. The parts shuffling is not unlike what Buick does on a daily basis with frames, powertrains, and technology available from the GM parts bin.
Such hardware isn’t enough to make Karma play on the same field as Tesla, but what if you took the strengths of both and made something absolutely astounding? That’s what celebrity car builder/presenter Ant Anstead made for actor James Marsden in season 1, episode 2 of Celebrity IOU: Joyride.
The mission was clear, as Marsden wanted to thank his brother-in-law Will for everything by giving him a Buick much like the one from his past. Once they found a suitable candidate, they hatched a plan to electrify the Electra.
Well, partially electrify.
The Karma donor car had both a BMW gasoline engine and electric motors, with a blending of the Buick’s X-frame and the Karma’s battery-infused chassis. The blending is most obvious in the Electra’s rocker panels, as they are lowered significantly to (presumably) accommodate the Karma’s floorpan with its massively tall center spine. The end result was given a name worthy of Buick’s mid-century comfort and Karma’s effortless hybrid powertrain: Peaceful.
And “Peaceful” is now on full display, as it will be auctioned later this month at Mecum Glendale. Finished in Aston Martin’s California Sage Green paint, the Electra features a “copper weave carbon fiber hood” and a carbon fiber trunk lid that’s painted to match the body. Most of the Buick’s exterior body panels and trim remain unmodified, including the chrome bumpers and grille. The custom wheels are made by HRE, and have a mid-century Chrysler Turbine vibe about them.
The interior is a mix of old and new, with period-correct door panels facing the interior of the Karma Revero, complete with its unique 2+2 seating layout. The rear seats face a 6 point roll bar finished in the exterior color, while burnt orange and black leather cover most of the repurposed Revero interior. A suede-like headliner also finished in burnt orange finishes off the package.
The builders even took the time to integrate the charging port into the Buick’s factory gas filler, which shows impressive attention to detail. No word on how the BMW range extender gets its fuel, but perhaps watching Season 1, Episode 2 of Celebrity IOU would shed light on that part of the build. No matter, the seller states there are receipts totaling $250,000 for the build, and that doesn’t surprise us one bit: the cost of these parts combined with the value of skilled fabricators doesn’t come cheap. Let’s hope the winner of the Mecum Auction for this “Peaceful” Buick Electra relishes this unique creation and hits the street frequently so everyone can enjoy the style and craftsmanship.
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I had a 64 Buick LeSabre 2 door, originally in a light blue. I (badly) repainted it in what turned out to be a terrible robin’s egg blue but the car still had presence, orange peel rusty original rims and all.
This custom has some questionable choices in the details (my turn for some Vellum Venom):
-1960 Buick dash is a work of art, the new dash looks like any modern (Neon, 2005 Mini, etc.) generic dash.
-the “Peaceful” badge is a totally different font than the rest of the car –desktop publishing rule is “too many fonts = amateur product”
-The rims could look great on a C4 Vette, maybe a Trans Am… to my eyes they are way out of place here.
-I like the black and orange interior… though the door panels are more like the custom van era than 60s Buick, but with the vintage green exterior it is like a pumpkin garden, and the hood looks like a kid swapped parts on the model kit
-The vintage colour doesn’t work with the dropped rockers. The dropped rockers are very problematic and mess up the lines of the car badly… but, a front air dam and rear bumper lip kit (like Mustangs and Japanese cars often get) could tidy this up, especially if the 2-tone paint of the hood was the whole car and these added lower sections were the black.
-I like stealth retro customs at times (i.e., using the old light metallic paints these cars came in) but this car doesn’t seem to live by any concept or theme that is cohesive.
Nicely done. You can Venom anytime you wish!
Thanks for being my voice
The 1984 Buick Park avenue was one of the nicest elegant cars interior and exterior. It’s sad that GM doesn’t make elegant interiors anymore. Included with that are the sister cars 1984 Oldsmobile 98 Regency Brougham and the Cadillac Fleetwood.
Wow!! I agree totally those 1984 ninety-eight by Olds and Park Avenue by Buick are the classiest and best looking luxury models that GM ever built! My 2nd favorite is the 1977 and 78 Pontiac Bonneville and 3rd goes to the 1973 Buick Electra and 1973 Olds 98 with that 455 V8 engine those cars were just awesome!!
Just because you can do it, it doesnt mean you should. This doesn’t work . Too heavy and out of proportion. Very amateurish.
No, no and no! Buick sacrilege totally. The nails are popping out of the head…
Agreed.
Frankly it’s a monstrosity.
The interior and wheels just don’t fit the car. The wheels come close in that they are a lot more sedate than some of the wheels folks throw on customs… but just not close enough. That car needs wire wheels or something along the lines that fit the styling, era, and role that car played.
The interior belongs in a 90s-plus sports car, and just doesn’t fit. The dash has that wonky ill-fitting low-volume manufacturer look to it that is a minus on top of just not being the right look for the car. The whole idea of getting a car like that is to get away from that plasticky roundy looking interior that is in every other %^&*() car out there
I think the people who do these resto-mods just plain don’t actually really like old cars and they keep trying to turn them into newer ones. I don’t get it, but as they say, there’s one for every seat, and they probably have a reasonable chance of recovering their costs at auction, especially if they are a ‘name brand designer’ customizer
To each their own.
As a particular fan of the 63s, the garish bisecting tunnel is an affront to the nearly flat stock floor pan. The wheels look cartoonish and the stance is all wrong. The interior reminds me of 1980s guys who put little black and white TVs in their consoles. Dated, before it was complete.
At least they didn’t molest a coupe or convertible.
Too many things going on here. I agree with snailish, it just not a cohesive package and the badge just sticks out poorly.
Nope.
awful.
This trend is disappointing. People like this are the HGTV house re-modelers of the auto world. It is similar to finding a beautiful Victorian home and gutting it to fit all the fashionable decor of the time. Rip all that makes it a classic beauty out, keeping only the facade and installing garish trendy finishes and furniture.
Please stop destroying classic cars and looking around for a pat on the back, because we all know keeping a classic original and running well has far less impact than this monstrosity.
Regardless of the marque, why put this time and money into a 60’s 4-door post car in the first place?
GM will be definitely missing the boat if it doesn’t rebrand any EV it comes out with the “Electra”. It’s the perfect name.
I have no problem with well done electric conversions but this is all wrong! What were they thinking? No sense of what goes together. Ant, you have done much better.
Geez, that’s just dreadful. Desecration of a classic. Leave the cool old cars alone and just buy a Tesla.
I feel the car doesn’t pull together.
I would be interested to see the final hammer price.
I personally wouldn’t brag about the plug in port, with open holes and screws missing it definatley won’t help bring the price up.
I’ve located a 1963 Wildcat, Silver 4 door Garage Find, Frozen Nailhead, Beautiful Console with a Floor Shift Automatic, Looks like a 63 Riveira package. Leather Seats, Awesome Dashboard… Car needs a refreshing do over, Interior has a thin veil of mold, and if it sits much longer, it may pass into oblivion. Owners’ relatives are not in the frame of mind to sell her……….. Regarding ‘Peaceful’ I’m almost at a loss for words….. How about my Favorite Deceased’s Radio Hosts Saying, to Compliment all that has been said by: Snailish, TD, Rick, Mike, BMD, Gary, Steve, Reinhold Jim Beck, Jeff G, & Smasher G………..”DITTO”
David, if you want a 63 Wildcat I have one for sale. It is a two door hardtop but needs a complete overhaul. The body is pretty good with little rust, most of interior is there (including center console) but front buckets are missing The motor was blown up but I have a running 62 Buick with Nailhead & automatic for transfer. I wanted to rebuild her but am getting too old to go ahead. If you are interested I would let both cars go really cheap to someone who cares to get her back on the road