Unsurprisingly, electric vehicles had a heavy presence at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas this year, with General Motors getting in on the action with the debut of the 1957 Chevy Project X, as well as bringing along the production-ready GMC Hummer EV Edition 1 off-roader. However, a few other electrified GM products were also in attendance, including this custom 1963 Buick Electra.
Rolling in front of the debut stage Monday night with American actor and singer James Marsden presenting, this custom 1963 Buick Electra combos the classic cool of early ‘60s styling with a more modern take on transportation technology under the skin.
The story behind this custom 1963 Buick Electra starts with Marsden, whose former brother-in-law was forced to sell the family Buick Electra after he was unable to afford the repairs. The car had been passed down through the generations, so Marsden felt compelled to step up and bring some of that joy back.
To the end, Marsden hooked up with the team at Celebrity IOU: Joyride, a series on Discovery Plus that gets celebrities to gift custom vehicles to special individuals in their life. The team went out and found a donor 1963 Buick Electra 225, then set it down on top of a chassis from a Karma Revero hybrid, electrifying the old-school Electra body.
As for the hybrid components, the Buick Electra now sports a plug-in powertrain that mates twin electric motors with a turbocharged 1.5L three-cylinder BMW engine. Unfortunately, the team declined to use the older Karma hybrid powertrain, which included a turbocharged 2.0L GM Ecotec engine and may have been a bit more “appropriate” for a Buick, but either way, it’s a nice combination all the same.
The exterior looks fantastic as well, with a lowered stance and gorgeous green paint. Carbon fiber accents were added here and there, and actually help to cut overall weight by about 100 pounds.
All told, this custom build undoubtedly brought more joy back into the owners‘ lives. Stick around, because we have further coverage of this year‘s SEMA Show headed down the pipeline, and make sure to subscribe to GM Authority for more Buick Electra news, Buick news, General Motors-related SEMA news, General Motors electric vehicle news, and around-the-clock GM news coverage.
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