It’s impractical and expensive to buy everything you want, such as a 1977 Buick LeSabre, especially if it’s only because your grandpa owned one and drove you to elementary school in it after making you breakfast and introducing you to coffee. When you were eight. (I still remember the jitters today, and I still have the habit.) Regardless, I’d like to sit in this similar LeSabre Custom Coupe just to smell the interior and bring back those mid-1980s memories of my dear, long-departed grandfather, who sang silly songs for the entire ride. If you’d like to actually buy the car, it’s posted on eBay at Druk Auto Sales in Ramsey, Minnesota, with a reasonable asking price of $8,980.
That’s just a little more than the total retail price of my grandpa’s LeSabre when it was new, at least according to the window sticker (which I ended up with because I’m the only one who would want it). I have to imagine that he talked them down a little, and he surely had a trade-in, but Grandpa’s car was equipped much like the car on eBay: 301 V8, air conditioning, exterior molding package, tilt wheel. I have to imagine that out of the 58,589 LeSabre Custom Coupes to come of the line in Flint, many of them were equipped the way this one was.
I still remember Grandpa wheeling that big Buick into his ancient, narrow one-car garage with inches on each side and releasing the tilt wheel with a “ka-thong!” so he could extract his six-feet-four-inch frame. I don’t think he had the mechanical sympathy I do.
My grandpa’s car looked much like this, painted the aptly named “Light Blue” with a white vinyl top rather than the blue vinyl on this example.
But the interior was much the same as our featured eBay car, down to Buick’s spectacular black-on-silver gauges. I still remember the big silver clock mounted directly in front of me on that fake wood inset, making barely audible clock sounds as we got closer to school—second by jittery, anxious second.
It’s not quite visible with the glare, but the selling dealer is pushing the fact that this might be a 37,218-mile car. Given that it’s in rusty Minnesota and is not a memory with a window sticker attached, there’s a chance that it is, but the dealer is unwilling to assertively say so.
The velour upholstery is exactly as I remember it, and it’s in such good condition that the odometer reading could very well be accurate. I can smell this car from two states away (in my mind, not literally).
Another thing this car has in common with my grandpa’s Buick is the engine: Pontiac’s 135-horsepower 301 V8 with a Rochester two-barrel. It is common knowledge among car buffs that 1977 was the year that General Motors went all-in on divisional engines, and finding a Pontiac engine under the hood of a LeSabre was not to be unexpected, and it was well worth the extra $145 over the standard 105-horsepower Buick V6. I rode in a car so-equipped once, and it was even slower than you might expect, not that the 301 was any great powerhouse, especially with its standard 2.41:1 final drive ratio.
Like my grandpa’s car, this one has air conditioning, which needs repairs (as most old cars air-conditioning systems do). It also has power steering and brakes, which were standard equipment on the LeSabre, as was an HEI distributor. The coating of surface rust on the hood hinges, steering shaft, and upper control arms tells me that the car was probably stored in a non-climate-controlled situation, and Minnesota deals with huge temperature swings in certain months of the year.
Buick was not very creative in naming its color palette in 1977; as I said, my grandpa’s LeSabre was Light Blue, while this one appears to be Dark Blue (no other blues show up in factory materials). Those are not Buick’s famous Rally wheels, by the way, but rather wheel covers intended to mimic them. Yes, they were a factory option.
The left rear plastic bumper filler needs replacing, and it looks like the piece is available online for about $100 (I have no idea if the quality or fit is any good), but if you’re replacing one and painting the other bumper fillers, will the originals crumble as you sand them? It might be better to shield your eyes as you pass and simply leave it be. Replacing all the bumper fillers and having them painted to match will be a significant expense, and they’re not terribly noticeable on the 1977 LeSabre.
In Mid-Michigan where I grew up, Buicks and Chevrolets were perhaps even more popular than they were in the rest of the country, simply because so many local people worked in the factories that made them. Although my grandpa worked at “the Chevy” for only a short time, it made sense that he bought Buicks as he could afford them. His 1977 LeSabre was his last new car, as his health forced an early retirement and used cars from that point on, but I’ll never forget those rides to school in that Custom Coupe. This beauty has certainly stirred up those coffee-soaked memories, and it should sell fairly quickly.
Related Reading
Curbside Classic: 1977 Buick LeSabre Custom Coupe – Mellow In Yellow (by JP Cavanaugh)
Vintage Review: 1977 Buick LeSabre Sport Coupe – Gran Sport By Another Name (by GN)
Curbside Classic: 1977 Buick LeSabre Coupe – B.M.O.C. (by Joseph Dennis)
If you get lucky, there are some out there with the Buick 350 or Olds 403. My 79 Bonneville had the Olds 350 and was just fine.
The 301 kind of takes the prize for the most lack luster GM engine. At least they have oil pressure, unlike the Buick engines.
There was the Pontiac 265. And the Chevy 262. That’s just for the V8s. I could go on with the fours and sixes…
My father’s 1977 LeSabre sedan also had the Sonomatic AM-FM radio with the rear speaker – single.
It wasn’t stereo, of course. But using the front/rear fade control, you could get a nice balance.
My uncle had a 4-door Olds Delta 88 Royale in these exact same colors, bright blue metallic with light blue vinyl top (full, in his case) and light blue crushed velour interior. I was a few years younger when he got it than you were when he did.
Nice tribute to a handsome car and your grandpa. This was arguably the best of the ’77s, at least the coupes.
A beautiful example of one of my favorite exterior colors. Looks great with the amber rear turn signals too.
GM got this right with the roofline. After changing to the formal roofline for the earlier 80s, it was nice to see the downsized 86 model go back to this roofline for its design.
We had a ’77 LeSabre sedan and a ’78 Electra 225 sedan, as well as prior to those 3 other Buicks with a 350 2 bbl engine, not one of them ever had an oil pressure problem or for that matter any engine problem, which evidently was more a factor with the 455, including my best friend’s ’75 Electra Park Ave. We owned and drove daily our ’78 from 62K miles to 195k miles, and at that point it did develop a rear main seal leak, though it still ran smoothly and perfectly. Never cared for any Pontiac V8s, especially the 301. The Olds 350 is the best choice overall.
My Dad had an ’84 LeSabre in that champagne rose looking color, and I’m not sure, but it may have had a maroon vinyl top to match the similarly colored interior. Cloth velour like this one. He inherited it from my great uncle, as this was my uncle’s last car, and my great aunt did not drive. IIRC, it too had the 301-V8, as did his ’80 Bonneville.
I really like the color of this one… in these photos, this “Dark Blue” looks more like a shade of “nineties teal” that was featured here yesterday… (I have to go back and comment on that, as I am one who LIKES those colors).
I had no idea that Buick offered a full wheel cover that was a look-alike stand-in for their famous road wheels. You learn something new every day here at CC!
If I had to choose a vehicle of this size in 1977, this was not a bad choice. But it needed the 350 V8 to enjoy the ride it offered. I liked my dad’s as it cruised along the expressways, but it was no fun elsewhere. I would never want velour seats – they’re gross feeling to me, like dirty clothes. I suppose growing up on vinyl and leather programmed me for smooth seating?
These were good cars.
What a sharp car. Styling wise, I think the Oldsmobiles were a notch above the Buicks but a LeSabre would be a close second. These were everywhere back then and I never got tired of looking at them. I had an ’83 LeSabre with the “big” 4.1L six and it was a “leisurely” performer but it rode and drove so nice.
The early 3.8 Buick V6s were notorious for oil pressure problems as they got older, but it wasnt until they got up and over 90K miles, as was the case with my own ’80 Firebird I had back then and the ’87 Grand National I have now. At least they have external oil pumps for easy repair. I dont seem to remember oil problems with the Buick V8s though but I never had one.
Remember when you could get these with the Turbo 3.8 V6? I admire GM for at least trying to put some excitement in these cars.