Here at Curbside Classic, there’s plenty of B-Body love among the writers and the readers, so when I saw this LeSabre, I slid my car to the curb and grabbed the camera. An iconic cornerstone of mid-west sensibilities, this car represents my automotive roots more than my automotive passions. My personal vehicle preferences lean towards the smaller end of the size spectrum, but as a native born Minnesotan, the big American car is imprinted on my soul. I also enjoy the sharp edge styling GM specialized in during the late seventies and early eighties, and firmly believe a white car shows that style to the best effect. So when it was all said and done, I knew finding this Buick was a home run.
Note: Jim Grey posted a Curbside Capsule on a similar LeSabre Coupe back in January. To review his take, click here.
But what to say about it? While I grew up living and breathing automobiles, the early eighties saw a drop off in my interest level (for a few years). In addition to working a full time job, I was involved in the production of a yearly Science Fiction Convention (a major time suck). Spending eighty hours a week on other projects significantly cut into my car magazine review time. In addition to my time issues, Detroit was still climbing out of its 1970s trough and their designs didn’t really inspire me.
So while I remembered (and approved) GM downsizing their B-Bodies in 1977, I couldn’t nail down the exact model year of this iteration. I recalled Buick building a pretty flashy coupe in 1977, but this example didn’t seem to live up to my memory.
A quick Google search reinforced my recollection. The 77-79 LeSabres used this sharp roofline (shared with Pontiac), and included a pronounced drop off on the back edge of the trunklid that helped distinguish it from the other B-Bodies. I prefer the ’77 Chevy coupe roofline with the bent glass back light, but this comes in a close second. Clearly, the Buick I photographed lacked these lines, so I started checking the later years of this series, and discovered that this formal white coupe represented the end of the line (at least for RWD Buick B-body coupes and sedans).
The internet points to this being a 1984 or ’85 model. There were very few trim differences between these two final years, but some internet sites say all the ’85 LeSabre Limiteds came with “Collector Edition” Badges. If so, this badge free model is a 1984. Unlike the clean lines offered in 1977, this LeSabre offered a formal roofline, vinyl top, and wire wheel covers. When you throw in the squared off trunk lid, the early exuberance of the coupe body was now buried in an avalanche of dowdy. To go with the vanilla exterior, these cars offered two very average engine choices, a 3.8 liter Buick V-6, or a 5.0 liter (307) Oldsmobile V-8.
Looking at this rear quarter shot, I realized that in the early eighties, Buick COMPLETELY screwed up their B-body coupes. I recall my disappointment when Chevy squared off the back of their coupe in 1980- it was no surprise to me that the two door Chevy coupe disappeared a few years later. What I didn’t realize is that Buick took that same roof, and mounted it on the LeSabre. Perhaps I missed it because the car now looked liked an oversized Cutlass Supreme. How do I really feel? How about this- GM phoned in this roofline. While the basic B-body goodness remains, I no longer feel the love.
Alright, enough negativity. Let’s admire this interior shot and take in that massive chrome trimmed dashboard. Once again, I feel that big American car vibe tugging at my soul. I don’t care for filigree on the exterior of my cars, but I’ll let you brougham up the interior all you want. I may prefer a smaller car, but my ancestral homeland is a distant 2,000 mile drive. During such a trek, I can picture my butt firmly ensconced in that blue velour seat, enjoying the ride as the miles click off. When it comes to comfort, this interior delivers like a UPS truck.
In closing, let me share this rear view. Based on that blue and white license plate and dealer nameplate from Austin, I’m not the only Minnesota native who’s made the trip out here to California. I’m sure neither one of us miss the snow and slush of our native state.
I’m not sure how long this Buick has been hanging around Los Angeles, but I’d recommend that it stick around. While the ultraviolet and ozone may remove the last of that plastic filler panel behind the bumper, the dry climate will protect the sheet metal from further corrosion. Based on the license plate frame, this Buick needs to keep its body in shape. LA is an unforgiving town, and a car has to stay in top shape while pursuing those expensive, shapely redheads.
That rear bumper is incredibly disproportionate, eh?
Yes, it does seem small compared to the rest of the car.
😉
I think one of the major improvements to B-bodies over the years was the flush-mounted bumpers. I think those came with the “aero” (and I use that term generously) headlights.
Covert Buick is in Austin, Texas.
Its been a long time since I’ve seen a buick Lesabre of this vintage without a completely rusted out rear bumper.
I had a 4 door very similar to this as a “beater” for about a year. I used to drive it from NH to NJ ever other weekend. It was a comfortable cruiser that would pull down 21 to 22 mpg with the 307 th200 3 speed auto combo. Well at least until the transmission ate an o-ring.
I’ll admit that I prefer the earlier roofline on the Cadillacs, Pontiacs and Oldsmobile B-body, but I think the more formal later setup looks better on the buicks. To me the really looker with the best roofline for buick B-bodies was the 77-78 Riviera.
From a design perspective, I agree the original ’77 B-body roof lines were probably the most unique and timeless. Including the Riviera. The latter more formal ‘Seville-style’ roof lines were so heavily bastardized by GM across various lines, that they lost their uniqueness IMO. By viewing the roof silhouette on this Buick by itself, it would be a challenge to identify it as a LeSabre.
Early to mid 80s generic GM styling was starting to set in.
This one does look outstanding.
Damn, I just bought one of these. It was going to get the big wheel treatment and the body is no where close to being this nice but I figured V8 RWD I may make something out of it. Oh yeah, mine is a 82 year model with the vinyl roof stripped off.
My vote for best B-body roofline goes to the bent-glass rear window Caprice (and Impala?).
OK, I don’t know why… but, I STILL like the Buick / Pontiac slanted the best. Maybe like Dan said, it reminds me of previous GM cars I owned, the car still has class, sportiness, muscle AND timeless lines.
The culmination of all those things happens with a car, well… almost never.
But, that hot-wire bent glass on the Chevy (and previously, of course on the Oldsmobile Toronado XSR) were pretty damn unique AND veeerry good-looking.
I miust disagree…like the 77-79 coupes, but love the 80 restyle. they also raised the deckline and put just a little downward slope on the front end. the only downside is the further shrinkage of the engines. however, nowadays they are all prime candidates for an engine swap.
+1
I think the post ’80 LeSabre coupes were much more attractive than the ’77-’79 models. I’d still rather own a ’77-’79 simply because of the more interesting option & drivetrain combos…and the silver gauges/clock.
Well, actually…I’d rather have a ’77-’79 Pontiac or Olds…
I like the ’80-’85 restyle better. The more formal appearance fits in with Buick’s image better.
But Buicks weren’t this formal prior to the 80’s were they? I can’t think of any from the 70’s, but I’m not that familiar with them. Did this car start that trend, rather than follow it?
All of the big 1980 changes that were made to the B’s and C’s were in the interest of weight savings and aerodynamics, remember that the next gas crisis doom and gloom were just around the corner every year.
I owned one of these, a navy blue 85 LeSabre Limited Collector’s Edition. A 2 door, just like this one with that very same navy velour interior. It is my shortest-ever ownership of a car – 3 weeks. Long enough to drive a couple of times, but not long enough to put gas in.
Around 1996 or 97, I had the crazy idea to sell my Club Wagon to escape the payments, and make do with two big sedans with no car payment, instead. The Buick belonged to a co-worker’s wife who had maintained it meticulously. After 3 weeks, I reconsidered and sold the Buick to the husband of one of the office secretaries.
I liked the looks of these much better than the final rwd Olds 88. About 2 years later, I made up for the short time ownership of this one by buying a white 2 door Olds 98 Regency (a 1984), which I kept for 4 years. The one cool thing that you missed in your pictures was the great big analog silver-faced clock in the glovebox door, that reminded me a bit of some of the symmetrical dashboards of the 1940s.
I have yet to encounter a 2-door Olds B-body. Seen my share of Chevies, Buicks, and Pontiacs, but never an Olds. Prior to Googling it just now, I had sometimes wondered whether or not such a beast existed.
Curious. What convention were you running? Did the fannish scene for about 25 years, both my wives and the girlfriend in between were Worldcon costumers (as was I).
Syke – It was called Starcon Denver back then. I think it goes by Starfest now.
It’s still run by KathE Walker, and back then I was room mates with Steve Walker, who became her husband. We were a team for a couple of years (80 to 82}, until I moved on to pursue other interests.
Dave – I am the owner of the LeSabre. I have additional information that I believe you will find interesting. Bob
I always thought the ’77-’79 generation looked “saggy,” while the ’80+ models had a crispness and energy that made them look like they wanted to go places. It was the more upright stance and the raised deck lid. Many of them (on Olds and Buicks) had a pinstripe which ran along under the windows and then kicked up around the quarter window before shooting off to the tail. That always seemed to add some zip.
This was probably the high point of GM’s formal roofline period. They went overboard with the box look when they switched the B’s to front-drive, as well as the godawful Eldorado, etc.
Wow, these photos just gave me a flashback to my childhood. From about 1989-1997 my grandmother drove an ’83 LeSabre that was pretty much this car’s twin. I remember being about 5 years old or so and having to stand on the ground to pull the door almost closed before I actually got in the car to close it because those huge doors were too heavy for my little boy self to pull closed sitting inside the car.
I spent many weekends with my grandparents in those days and did many miles in the front passenger and back seat of that car. With that roofline and those rear windows, the back seat seemed like a cocoon where I could hide away from the world on a trip.
The first mountains I ever remember seeing were went we went to visit relatives, in that LeSabre.
I’ve rambled on long enough but I remember we always knew it was her car because it had these strange dents, one at one of the corners on top of the trunk and and another on the top of the left front fender and hood near the windshield after a tornado lifted the carport out of the ground and tossed it into the backyard but left that big behemoth sitting in the same place.
Sorry to ramble but I haven’t seen a car that similar to her’s in a long time. It made me smile thinking about those days.
Now that I think about it, her’s had the red interior rather than the blue of this car but nonetheless, close enough.
That copper LeSabre coupe above= Nice, nice, very nice! And the blackwalls work so well along with the awesome OEM sport wheels.
Malaise, low HP or otherwise… GM sure did build some beauties in that era
+1
The ’77 b-bodies were original amongst each division, and timeless in their design. Maintaining a styling link to their past versions, without that unnecessary bulk.
I thought the Buicks looked best, myself.
That’s the only bucket-seat LeSabre I’ve ever seen. Very very rare.
Webpage title needs to be fixed, “LeSabre” not “LaSabre”.
YESSSSSSSSSSSS!!! This is my car!! Only mine is an ’85 custom, dark red on dark red.
What a car. Makes me pine for the days when i could drive her. Someday i shall…
This white example shoes the classic issues these cars had with filler panels disintegrating. Good news is there is a company that specializes in remolding these parts. Even my garaged, well maintained ’85 succumbed to this flaw. Somehow the rear fillers’ demise was exacerbated by the drip of the fuel nozzle when refilling. Gasoline and ABS just don’t mix i guess…
The great thing about these cars is their reliability. However, by the time GM got these cars right, they had the C and H Bodies to undo all the B-Body goodness.
Ryan,
Did you have your car on Cardomain at one time? I seem to remember reading about one on there and the story matches yours perfectly!
Yes i did!! I’m mcevoy86…that page is almost a decade old tho lol Lots of history between now and then. I had to move the car to another locale out of state due to life but the car is safe and well taken care of til the next time i can get her on the road. I just love these cars!
Thanks for noticing!
Im gonna try to put a picture here…it wasn’t working yesterday 🙁
I found the link to your old cardomain page and pulled a pic from it for you…let’s see if this works…
Mines
I knew it!
And It’s been quite a while since I recall seeing it. You had found it in the front yard of an elderly person’s house. I also remember you talking about how good the stereo sounded in it!
I was (well, still am) supremebrougham on there.
Wow… great memory! That was her the day after i bought her.
You’re correct, I bought her in March of ’04. I made that cardomain page while i was still in High School…how time flies.
Started her for the first time in 7 years about 2 months ago. Started on the first try…and the stereo still sounds great for a 30 year old piece!
Well it was a car worth remembering!
If you are on Facebook, look us up at The Brougham Society, I’d love to have you share it there! In fact, we are celebrating Burgundy colored cars this week!
There are two stylistic features that this car lacks that, in my opinion, transform this from the 9/8th scale Cutlass into a truly stunning, broughamified coupe. The “road wheels” or whatever they were called. Second would be the 1983 front clip. I always felt that these two features made the car look more stately, and dare I say it…intimidating? I had a middle school teacher who had one of these with something like 200k on it. I LOVED that car. Big coupes have a presence that no modern car has. I found this pic on google.
I agree – the ’83 front clip and road wheels truly transform an already good-looking car into something unique.
Here is my ’82, which I’ve owned since’97. A very nice running car with the 307/350thm combo with the lock up torque converter. I think that the 350thm was only offered in Canada at the time.
Back view
An ’81 coupe spotted in PEI a few years ago. It looks good from 10 feet, but was a bit rusty around the seams.
Back view
It could be a 1984 or 1985. Only the 1985 Limited had the collectors edition badging on the passenger side. It could be a 1985 Custom. 1983 and previous had both a analog two knob style radio and ether a large analog clock or small digital clock in the dash on the passenger side. The one surefire way to identify a 1984 Buick was the 1984 Olympic sticker on the side windows but that is not as surefire as I thought because I have seen some 1985 Buicks with that sticker on it. Since the all new Electra FWD arrived in showrooms in mid 1984 some of the earliest 1985 Electras had that same 1984 Olympic sticker on it
I like both styles.
I have to disagree that white suits this car (or any other). It doesn’t highlight the lines, it washes them out. Give me this car in a navy blue or dark red.This isalso the end of the line for the formal roofline’s usefulness. The horror of the C bodies to follow illustrate that well enough.
I find the ’77 LeSabre pictured here bridges that gap between being sporty and luxurious.
Very similarly to how the ’64 Riviera achieved this. IMO it’s a more timeless look. I find the LeSabres from 1980 to 1985, though still very handsome, became primarily luxury highway cruisers… without that balance of sportiness in it’s appearance. You can see that link to 60s personal luxury and muscle in the ’77 LeSabre’s styling. The ’84 LeSabre owes more to the Seville in it’s look. The demographic looks about 5-10 years older in the ’84.
Yes, Daniel, perfectly stated. I agree and exactly how I feel about that ’77-’79 car.
Don’t get me wrong, I love the ’80-’84 B bodies very much, but in a different way. (Big fan of the Fleetwood Brougham & Ninety Eight Regency Brougham)
And as far as Buick, I just always thought the 4 door Electra worked best in the 80-84 body, again like the Cadillac and Oldsmobile. Especially a full-tilt Park Avenue with all the pillowed velour and chrome you could buy 🙂
One of my vehicles is a 1979 Cadillac Seville, and although the sheer look still ‘works’ on my car in a timeless, pioneering design, GM just went back to that well way too many times for way too long. All the while, diluting the look across practically every brand and model for the next decade.
Now, look at these cars, (sorry about the crap-tastic paste job)
Which would you rather own, then or now? I’d grab either of those 78/79s over the next gen hands down. And, for the very reasons that Daniel just spelled out, a perfect mixture of the past and present as well as sport, muscle and luxury. And they have stood the test of time, they are not dated at all today, unlike some models from the next gen offerings.
To me, these just had it all 100% ‘right’. It’s hard to improve upon perfection.
This is the same reason why I much preferred GM Colonnade styling in the mid-seventies compared to Ford Torino/Thunderbird/Elite/LTD II styling.
GM was able to produce mid-sized cars that could be made to look BOTH luxurious AND sporty. You had the Chevrolet S-3 Laguna, the Pontiac Grand Am, Buick Regal Gran Sport and many of the other Colonnades that carried their weight well and could look very sporty. Many of the post ’73 Gran Torinos and mid-sized Fords in general, looked like faux luxury barges, not sporty at all. For older Ron Burgundy style guys.
GM styling was doing great IMO until the early 80s and that X-car, J-car, A-Body phase started up… and all their cars adopted that same corporate look popularized by that Seville formal roof treatment they adopted so frequently. That’s when Ford trumped them badly with the Ford ‘Aero’ look.
Meanwhile, GM was flogging that Seville-style formal roof. It really turned me off GM styling at the time. They too widely adopted it, in so many models IMO. Too many styling eggs in one baskets and it cheapened the look, big time.
These are nice and damn what we could do today with that body and modern engines and transmissions! 3.6 V6, direct inject, six speed automatic… 30 mpg might be almost possible!
And I wish somebody would do it. As a tall guy with a family, I can’t get comfortable and get the utility needed in virtually any “car” available.
Not in a car, no, but there are several minivans, SUVs and pickups that work great. That is if you don’t mind the purchase price, gas mileage, and size.
And if you don’t mind the styling.
I call my black 2012 F-150 Lariat Supercrew the reincarnation of the ’65 Continental. Outfitted with a tonneau cover and a bed rug, it works just like a huge luxury sedan. Too huge at times. Would love to be able to pop into my Old’s dealer and pick up an ’84 Ninety-Eight, midnight blue with all the trimmings.
A ’99 Town and Country and an ’02 Durango have been my modern big cars. Almost regardless of money, the Camry is about the roomiest sedan you can buy today – even over the Avalon.
I have some hope that the new Impala could someday supplement my F-150. I miss having a nice big car.
I had an instructor in tech school help me build the E4M Carb on the ’85.
He told me he used to work on on the Y-code 307 Cadillac limos in the 80s.
We finished up the class and got the car back together. Then, I drove the car from Providence back home to Jerkwater, CT….
Would you believe the LeSabre broke 20+ mpg average on the highway? I didn’t think it was possible either…but the Monday we returned to school, the tune the instructor comes back and asked, “How’d your car feel afterwards?” “Good” I replied.
Then he asked, “How’s your wallet feel?” To which I said, “Even Better!!”
This was in May of 2005 when gas prices went thru the roof in wake of Katrina
Priceless
30mpg wasn’t far off from what this thing was capable of on the highway.
Mom and Dad had an 1984 Olds 88 with the 307 and a 2.41 rear axle, with 3 speed automatic. At 60mph it’d return an easy 25mpg, and in town it managed (when I wasn’t driving it) 18-19mpg. Slow to 60 though, but it’d easily top the 85mph speedo out and continue to bury the needle.
Ours had a penchant for eating blower motors on trips, so much so that we’d buy a new one and toss it in the trunk with tools to change it. It was finally done in by the THM-200 losing 3rd and reverse for the 4th time in 120,000 miles, looked brand new otherwise.
Problem with GM–solid, timeless B-body design and a great array of engines (excepting the HT4100 and a few others) undone by crappy THM2004R and 200R4 (different) trans.
Same issue happened with the DN5 (’86-95) AND the DN101 (’96-04) Taurus–the AOD and AXOD and AX4S killed the otherwise reliable Vulcan and Essex engines.
The attached 1982 Oldsmobile Delta Eighty-Eight Royale Brougham was mine during roughly ’86 – ’88. A truly broughamy name, and possibly the one of the longest car names in both words and letters of all time!
It was an odd choice for a college age guy, but the severity of the broughamitis I had from driving it’s predecessor, a 1976 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme Brougham, left me in hopeless condition, and only a large rear drive V-8 would do. A girl I was trying to woo at the time was briefly impressed by my “Cadillac” as she called it. But, her relationship with an on again, off again boyfriend turned out to be too on.
Mighty darn similar to the subject car, it had a blue cloth interior – obviously with a matching blue vinyl half roof. Hard to see in the picture, but the low rear corner of the rear side glass frame had a slight curve up instead of the LeSabre’s hard 90 degree bend.
My car was loaded – I was shopping very loaded two door Eighty-Eights – and saw probably every option available, and this one was the best condition of the lot. Missing only the CB Radio, sunroof and cornering lamps. My favorite feature was the fiber optic lamp monitoring system – you can see one bump on the fender – they were on both fenders. There were also a couple of little lights in the top of the interior rear window frame that duplicated the activities of the rear lamps, and you could keep tabs on things in the rear view mirror. No assistance needed for this brougham owner to keep his tail lights in good order!
Dave, great story and a fun read on a very nice car. They drove wonderfully and were highly reliable with the right motor choice (wink)
I happen to be quite familiar with your car, as I worked for an Oldsmobile dealer for over 10 years from age 16-almost 27. Started as a porter, wash-boy and then worked in every dept except the body shop, priming to become a dealer myself. Anyhow, those were the big days for Olds, we worked up to 1.3M units annual at the peak.
During the time that your car was built, I had been promoted to the front end in sales and soon after, I was assigned to order ALL the inventory. I was in 7th heaven, and, back then you actually got to ‘build’ a car from a mile long list of options and colors, unlike today. (Almost every car I built had FE3, I think it was under $40bucks)
Lamp monitors were a wonderful, ‘high-end’ but non-fluff very functional (and cool) thing to have on a car. I was always fascinated by them on my Mom’s Cadillacs, and now I can still enjoy them on the Seville, as, the system still works flawlessly.
Since you seem to enjoy the little things on these cars, I’ll tell you that in addition to the lamp monitors, on my ’79, when you push in the door handle to illuminate the interior, it is not a bulb that shines down on the keyhole, but an additional fiber optic cable running from the door’s courtesy lamp bulb out to the clear plastic lens underneath the door handles. They even went and used this method one more time to illuminate the thermometer thats mounted outside on the driver’s rear view mirror.
Here’s a pic for fun, I am actually checking the lamp monitors here because I updated my headlights and had to modify the housing to adapt the fiber optic cables to carry the light to the colored lenses. You can also see that outside mirror thermometer.
Yes, it’s the little things. And I miss them much on today’s vehicles. Mark~
I always assumed those lamp monitors were individual lights. Fiber optics are more useful, more reliable, and probably cheaper. Clever.
Well, GM def did put some legit end-user thought and $ into designing them right because after all…
What good would another bulb be in indicating if a bulb was burned out? You’d always be wondering and/or looking into which bulb had to be changed. The monitored bulb, or the monitor bulb. 🙂
In addition to R&D, as far as production lines goes, it had to cost more in the end as well, because someone had to run and connect all the various fiber optic lines to the front fenders and interior rear window panel from the headlamp and tail-lamp assemblies. As opposed to additional wires added into the body harness for assembly line workers to connect based on options ordered (a one-shot deal) and a few extra bulbs.
Thanks for the compliment and your story as well. Ordering for a dealer would be quite the dream job, especially an Olds dealer in that era!
I had no idea fiber optics went even further as in your Seville. I suppose LED’s would cover all this ground now.
I’ve seen an advertisement for the fiber optic lamp monitor on a 1969 Caprice of all things. Outside of Cadillacs having fender top turn signal indicators in the ’60s, I have not seen a great many GM cars with these sorts of things until the late ’70s, and I’m not sure Chevy ever did them again. I think that ’69 Caprice also offered headlight washers and a traction system that dropped sand by the rear wheels. Talk about your Batmobile! It seemed like Chevy walked away from a lot of higher end options in the early ’70s, even the Comfortron AC that was in a decent number of ’60s Caprices was mostly dead in the 70’s
Yes, now THAT would be Batmobile tech!
I must admit, I had never heard of that sand-drop traction control option. I’d think it would be fun to look it up in the old brochures sometime, I want to see how they presented it and all.
If I can find hard copy of it, I’ll let ya know 🙂 Mark~
Search on “liquid tire chain option” combined with camaro or chevrolet
Dave & Junqueboi, thanks for mentioning the headlamp washers & liquid tire chains . Lean something new every day.
I found the brochure page!
In addition, they also had a feature they called:
FLUSH-AND-DRY ROCKER PANELS
Rain water washes inside of rocker panel clean of corrosive salts and dirt. Incoming air then dries it out as you drive along. Helps keep the body beautiful.
Awesome stuff!
Mark, sweet find on the Liquid Tire Chain!
I swear to the following:
I’ve seen an ad format with a pretty lady in snow country showing the headlight washer and liquid tire chain.
Started to think I saw it on You Tube. I’ve searched and can’t find it. Maybe it was a print ad. I just can’t recall.
This was touched upon in DeLorean’s book.
http://www.amazon.com/Clear-Day-You-General-Motors/dp/0960356207
When he took over Chevy Division he rationalized a lot of low-volume options to improve profits.
As an example, 71-72 Chevelles were unavailable with power windows because so few had been ordered in the past. The were reinstated for the Colonnades.
LeSabre is my favorite B-body
I saw this car’s twin in Davenport last spring. Blue interior and all. It was in nicer shape though; even appeared to have the OE wider-whitewall tires on it!
Yes, very straight car, and looks much better with correct wider whitewalls.
But personally, if it were mine, the rear body-side molding piece on the quarter panel would be stripped off. A car looks so much better when that molding stays in the center section. Another example would be the Cutlass Supreme Brougham Sedans in the 80s. When I worked there checking in the new cars, I wanted to tear off that piece on every one after it rolled off the car carrier.
(Disclaimer: is any older GM cars where they were riveted real chrome and ran full length with skirts) whole different animal then.
I love that bronze ’79 you posted. That little drop-off at the rear of the bootlid reminds me of the Peugeot 504. The entire rear of the ’79 reminds me of the De Tomaso Longchamp for some weird reason.
That’s not a Peugeot 504; it’s a…a….a….let me keep working on that…
Here’s a 504 coupe:
It was the 504 sedan I was thinking of Paul – the way the back half of the bootlid drops off reminds me of the ’79 Buick’s drop off above. See 504 sedan below. The pic I posted above is the De Tomaso which is what I instantly thought of when I saw the bronze Buick. But then again I’d had a glass of wine…!
This time:
Well, I don’t know about the Peugeot, but…
ever since this post today and I saw that copper Buick, I feel the ‘need’ to go out and find one now. Like I really need another car
But… the styling, the wheels, the dashboard, the……. Ugghh
This is definitely a 1984 LeSabre Limited. The Collector’s Edition for 1985 had the 1984 Park Avenue’s interior.
I see this one has the Delco UX1 stereo in it..talk about good sound!
Great find!
I think I’ll link to this at The Brougham Society…
Good morning Richard,
Can you tell me, is there any way to regularly access or read thru the Brougham Society posts/pics without using facebook? Thanks.
Hi Mark!
Unfortunately FB pages like TBS are set up where you have to be logged in as a user to see them. What I might would recommend is that you register with an assumed name and when you go to join, shoot me a private message letting me know it’s you, and I will get you in!
TBS has been growing like crazy, and once I hit the year mark in January I might start exploring my options on how to take it beyond FB.
Last try to see if i got this uploader right. My bad if it doesn’t work
…somehow i missed out when they taught us this in engineering skool lol
if anyone is interested, on Phoenix Craigslist right now (11/23/13) there is a 79 Lesabre Turbo Coupe for sale, asking 2700…looks pretty mint, 80k or so. Not mine…you can find it easily by searching for Le Sabre Coupe.
These 2 door LeSabres and Delta 88’s sold really well in Chicago area in 1983-85, after recession eased. So I know them by heart. The Caprice/Impala seemed to be 90% sedans, OTOH. Many were kept on the road by their owners/admirers into the late 90’s.
“An avalanche of dowdy,” great line; I’ll have to remember that.
I guess I’m in the minority here, but I hated what I considered GM’s butcher job on the 1980 B, C and D bodies. The 77-79 cars looked trim and crisp, but these cars — particularly the Cadillacs — now looked bloated. Combine that with the much better engines available, and I’d much rather have one of the first-generation downsized big cars, an F41-equipped Impala with a 350 or a Coupe de Ville d’Elegance with a fuel-injected 425.
I think that the post 80 redesign on the coupes was a big visual improvement over the ugly ptr 80 coupes with their ugly slant roof. Then with the redesign came the terrible v6s with no power and awful gas mileage and under powered v8s. And they cut out so much weight that driving in rain was like driving in the snow in a normal car. I had an 80 0lds Delta royal Brogham. Had decent power out of the olds 350 but used tremendous amounts of gas. It fell apart. The top of the door fell off. The hood ornament fell off n broke the windshield. The seats collapsed under normal sized people. The engine broke rockers n drank oil. The windows went out the tracks if you put them up going over 30. And the paint fell off with the body side mouldings. I traded it for a 78 ford ltd landau that had more room. All the features worked and the windows could open n close at any speed. It never broke down n had a 400 that would leave the olds in the dust. Nothing fell off. The ford got 18 to 27 miles to the gallon(emissions removed) n can advanced 8 degrees. It was a better car in every way except gm made better vinal tops. And my 79 lesabre with 3
301pontiac was even more horrid than the olds. V8 with power of a 6 and gas mileage of a big block. Give me a full size ford it panther ford any day. Used to drive taxi in the 90s. Best cab was the ltd or grand Marquis. Second best was the diplomat or volare or r bodies and worst was the gm especially if it had a v6. The full sized Chevy was OK with a v8. Only thing that made these seem better was the truly ugly fwd pieces of junk that came next. Ford had the better cars from 1970 till the killed the panthers in 2012. IMO.
I just saw an identical white LeSabre coupe being driven through the snow,slush and salt with an old mattress tied to the roof! From a distance it looked rust free. I haven’t seen one on the road much less for sale in years. It makes me furious to see a nice old car misused and mistreated like.
Lots of 80’s era GM cars had the “rusted rear bumper syndrome” Even on otherwise clean, Ziebarted cars. When your average Joe/Jane car owner decided it was time to clean their beloved 80’s GM car, they went to the car wash. The car wash apparatus (apparati?) did not clean the bottom of said bumpers, and the average Joe/Jane 80’s GM car owner in due time wound up with a badly rusted out rear bumper! Most people just figured, “Hey I took it to the car wash, they cleaned all the salt off-plus its Ziebarted, there won’t be any rust!” I say this smugly, I can remember being out in the freezing cold, many a time, wiping down the rear bumper on my 84 Regal to keep it from rusting out. Not that I was smart enough to figure this out on my own…An old guy I worked with told me this.
We have a 1985 Coupe LeSabre Limited Collectors Edition with a Old’s 307 engine.
It was ordered at the dealer 12-18-84 for my mother in laws birthday (12-20) and of course Christmas. the dealer ship delivered it on Feb 3d. 1985.
Mom sold us the car in August 2016. the paint was pretty bad but the rest of the body was clean.
We enjoy showing the car at the many SE Michigan car shows.
[img]https://i.postimg.cc/MH4HSyNX/uVXsIXy.jpg[/img]
Yes we had it repainted the winter of 2017/18
We enjoy showing the car at the many SE Michigan car shows.
[img]https://i.postimg.cc/MH4HSyNX/uVXsIXy.jpg[/img]
Yes we had it repainted the winter of 2017/18