Yesterday, I saw this face when I turned up a chichi side street on my way home. I remembered the words of many commenters here: the Le Sabre coupe is the prettiest of the GM B-bodies. I went home and got the dog to grab some shots before sundown, but my mind was full of doubts. The only Buick coupe of this era that I knew well was an Electra that belonged to an older friend of my parents. The only things I remember favorably about that bath-towel green car (a shade somewhere between Kermit the Frog and Aim toothpaste) were the strength of the air conditioner and the speed of the power windows.
So I came up on this end of our well-preserved (if slightly decked) example and noticed the subtle turn at the end of the trunk. GM’s “formal” roof from the Seville hasn’t been grafted onto this.
This looked to be fairly well optioned. I couldn’t get a good photo of the light blue velour seating, but it was clean, not discolored. The imitation wire wheel covers were all in place, with the proper divisional marking in the center. Complain as we do about today’s grayscale cars, the silver paint seems to make the design easier to see.
We know Bill Mitchell loved British and Italian tailoring, and these B-bodies were the final act in his decades at GM. Maybe this was his last, quietest tip of the cap to Pininfarina…
Ferrari 365 GT4, photo Charles01, Wikimedia
The Ferrari’s hood is much longer, as is to be expected of a V-12 GT. The Buick looks like it’s supposed to be a burly, Clydesdale adaptation of the Maranello stallion. Unfortunately, Buick brawn was pretty indifferent in those days between the Gran Sport and the Grand National, so these little cues–the back window, the ridge from the rear fender back–don’t really have much meaning here. But I do understand the praise of the LeSabre coupe a little better now, I think. It’s a masterwork of 1970s design. That said, why, oh why, couldn’t GM have stiffened these cars just enough that they didn’t go mole-hunting every time you toed the brakes?
I completely agree about these being the most attractive B-body. Never noticed the similarity with the Ferrari before, I think you are right!
A set of Buick Rally wheels on the silver car would put it over the top. Great find.
I agree, the wire and the LACK of whitewalls are a terrible combination, these look best with the “big” Buick road wheel and a nice pencil thin whitewall.
Like this,
Agreed, but it is not easy to even get whitewalls anymore, especially if you want to get a premium tire like a Michelin.
That’s a lot better. The sport mirrors help too but I prefer these with the blackwall tires. I believe the Turbo Sport Coupe had the blackwalls as standard equipment but I may be wrong.
+1 to blackwalls and the Kelsey-Hayes style roadwheels. I like that copper color a lot better too. That and the apparent blacking on the grille and mascara on the headlites gives this car a little ‘tude.
Aftermarket wheels suck. Rallys it would have to be.
I agree wholeheartedly, Carmine.
These things can go…witness:
Albeit with a nitrous injected LT1, granted, I could strap that to my grandmother and do 9’s too, though she wouldn’t like it.
Best you could do from the factory in one of these would have been a mexican standoff between the the gen-you-wine Buick 350 4bbl and the Oldsmobile 403, or if you wanted to go for the oddball, the 4bbl version of the turbocharged 3.8 V6.
A 1979 example, you can tell by the tail lights. You could get these stiffened up, all you had to do was check the right boxes, would it be an M3? No, but that wasn’t this cars objective.
Having driven a 1979 2door Limited example of these, your description of the the softness of the suspension is greatly exaggerated.
I know its tough to wade through the notion that every 1970’s domestic car was like some out of control Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade balloon that just bobbed and weaved like an out of control Garfield on a windy day, but thats not the truth in most cases.
I know you’re right, the options were there. For me, these were older cars we kids borrowed from our parents and did stupid things in. Those cars tended to represent either the basic, or the broughamy, type of B-body, not a single console shifter or rear anti-sway bar to speak of. The “squat and dive” was real, although not responsible or adult.
I’ve always loved the fact that there is a Buick turbo V6 or Olds pacecar version of these cars out there…or an earlier Caprice or Impala with the 350.
Again, agreed. The stock suspension on the LeSabre wasn’t that soft at all, and even the base cars drove really well. My 1978 LeSabre had HD suspension and drove beautifully for the day. Beautiful interior and dash, by far the best of the B Bodies.
oh, dear amber taillights!
“I know its tough to wade through the notion that every 1970’s domestic car was like some out of control Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade balloon that just bobbed and weaved like an out of control Garfield on a windy day, but that’s not the truth in most cases.”
Quote of the day!
I learned to drive in a ’76 Ford full-size, among the worst handlers of the times. Somehow I survived, the platform was one of the best sellers of all times, and Ford never got sued for people helplessly flying off the interstate.
This LeSabre, in PROPERLY MAINTAINED base form, is a competent handler in 2014.
Happy Thanksgiving to all, by the way. I’ll be looking for Garfield and ’79 LeSabres crashing into buildings in the morning!
Hate to disagree, but my favorite was the less chichi bother Olds Delta 88 Royale. Very aspirational for the middle class in its day.
Too bad GM dropped the ball on this brand. I always preferred an Olds over a Buick.
I do like the Delta 88 done up in “Official Pace Car” regalia. These were pretty interesting B-body coupes too, all the pace car replicas came with the biggest engine available, the 403 along with a suspension upgrade.
The comptroller at the company I worked for for a long time had a Holiday version with the wheels, buckets and console. A bit rare, but quite desirable. As a sensible financial manager, she found the car very desirable into the 1990’s. In rust country. These cars were durable!
Not a coupe, but this fully loaded ’78 Delta 88 is still in the family and all original with a 350 (Code R) V8.
Nice!
I remember we had a teacher that had the same sedan in that color, Mrs. Shatnoff, and she was a tiny woman, so she looked almost invisible behind the wheel of that big Delta 88.
As an Oldsmobile fan and many times owner that spent a lot of time in the ’77 and ’79 versions of this car, I salute your good taste and preservation!
Make my B-body a buckets and console Holiday 88.
yeah, it’s unfortunate that there was no buckets and floor shift package available on the LeSabre, even the Sport Coupe version. Nor were there more gauges available for the dash like you could get on the Chevy, the Pontiac and even the Olds (although very rarely seen there).
Actually you could get buckets and console on a LeSabre Sport Coupe in 1979 and 1980, but they are pretty rare. The 1980 Sport Coupe did get gauges from the Skylark Sport Coupe, they used the same big round gauges.
Not fair! I’d just gotten over my irrational desire for a 1977-1979 LeSabre Coupe, and you hit me with it one more time! You even made the Ferrari/Buick comparison that I made in one of my comments a few months back!
That said, as Carmine said, without the buick road wheels, it ends up looking a touch generic from some angles. Of course I’d take it in a second, but I’d start searching for new wheels and tires immediately!
That’s one thing I did for my 1974 LeSabre! It had the very plain 1974-77 wheelcovers and I recplaced them with a set of winter tires already mounted on chrome rims!
That mirror had to go… I had a correct replacement for it and this was a correct replacement for my 1965 Wildcat!
With the new wheels and mirror (OK it didn’t look much better like that!).
Later, I did repaint it in red, still not the prettiest beater around but I liked it!
Very nice. I had the same year but a red LeSabre Luxus convertible.
Nice ’74. I had a 74 Electra in the 90’s and loved it. You can’t go wrong with any full sized Buick from the 70’s.
Interesting that Pontiac and Buick steel tops shared the same rear side window, while Chevy and Olds got their own design.
That Bonneville is mighty pretty too, it’s hard to pic a favorite!
Plus, on the Bonneville you could get…..
VALENCIA!!!
Wow, we had couch in a similar fabric- talk about mobile living rooms!
I think the Bonneville coupe is the best looking of them with its rear fender skirts and how the pointed middle of the hood merges with the pointed part of the grill. I think the Catalina coupe got a flat grill and no fender skirt option.
I’m with you, the Bonne’s by far the prettiest. Never was a fan of the Buick’s notched headlights.
Hello
Is the car in the pic yours? If so, would you be willing to sell it? Please let me know at jbrosch1@comcast.net. Thank you,
Joe
Buick LeSabre coupe THE most beautiful B-Body of all?
NO. It is second. THE most beautiful B-Body is the 1977 Chevy Impala bent-window coupe, hands-down.
True, the bent rear window on the ’77 & ’78 Impala/Caprice was unique.
However, I still prefer the Delta 88. The above Holiday coupe with sport wheels would be great!!
In before me, ZM. The Caprice coupe with the bent window looks like it should be a true hardtop. In the right color and with the right wheels, they do have some muscle car DNA in the look.
My parents had a ’77 LeSabre coupe, with Buick 350 2 bbl. but it had issues with vacuum lines. Traded in for a one year old ’80 Regal v6, in 1981, that we had for 7 years afterward.
But, I agree that the Chevys were the best looking, mostly since they were not putting on airs of ‘middle price’ brands. Olds next best, then Pontiac and Buick B’s.
For same era C body, Caddy is #1!
I love the ’77-79 LeSabre. The coupe and the sedan. I do prefer the Sport Coupe model.
The featured car is a 1979 LeSabre “Limited”. That year, the “Limited” trim replaced the “Custom” trim of 1977-78 on the LeSabre.
The amber-colored rear flashers and lack of any excessive trim at the back make these cars look a bit European! And the way the decklid tapers reminds me of the Peugeot 504 (which is one of my favorite French cars!)
Here’s a large picture I got from the previous owner of a 1979 LeSabre Sport Coupe.
Yes! These were good looking cars. I particularly liked the Turbo Sport Coupes.
I agree, this Buick has great línes, but do you really like its front end?
I’d say more tough or handsome than pretty, but yes, The LeSabre is my favorite B body too.
The front end of the Buick is the best part. I’m less fond of the sloping rear end (especially compared to the Olds 88 with its fin-lets), but overall these are great looking cars. For me, the one to have would be the super-rare 1979 Palm Beach. What a distinctive option package! Even the grille was color-keyed.
The Palm Beach is lovely. Unfortunately, they are hard to find today in good shape, especially the interiors, as the light colored interior fabrics were dirt magnets.
One went for just $1,650 on ebay last month:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Buick-LeSabre-Palm-beach-1979-buick-lesabre-palm-beach-edition-/151433443506?forcerrptr=true&hash=item234222f8b2&item=151433443506&pt=US_Cars_Trucks
Styling is subjective, but I’m really surprised so many people like these so much. The roofline is nice and slim, yes, but I’ve always thought the front and rear ends of the 1977-1979 big Buicks were god awful and easily the worst of the four divisions.
To me the streamlined front end of the 1980-1985 models was a huge improvement, along with the full-width all-red taillights added for ’84-’85. The formal roofline on the updated version wasn’t as pretty, but geez, the front end of the the ’77s looks absolutely massive and ungainly, while the chintzy orange taillights come across as a cheap, clunky afterthought (wouldn’t be out of place on a Nova/Granada/Aspen). I kind of get the look they were going for in the rear since this was that weird, very brief period when Buick was trying to be “sporty”, but the car comes across a Frankenstein of multiple clashing themes.
Always thought the Impala/Caprice was the nicest of the bunch; clean, crisp, and simple. Cohesive all around, they fit the downsizing look best. The early Pontiacs also had this Buick’s roofline, with much less clunky looking (to me) front and rear clips. They seem to be the rarest, although there are a lot more in Canada.
It’s interesting how your opinions are moulded by what you see around you. Several of you guys now have derided the “chintzy orange taillights” as Max described them – but to us foreigners they look quite normal. To us it’s the all-red lights that look weird. In Australia indicators have to be orange, and US imports had to be modified to conform; I think they’ve relaxed that law lately for private imports.
Anyway, I like this Buick’s taillights. Colours look ‘right’ to my foreign eyes, and there’s just the right amount of trim around them. Well done, Buick! 🙂
I’m with Chris, I think Buick had the best front end on the ’77-’79s and really on the ’80+ too. Everything else had the flat front and this was styled, man. I don’t think the back comes off as well; looks a bit tacked on and the final RWD LeSabres looked better from the rear.
It may be the bias of ownership but I prefer the Electra rear end treatment of the sloping trunk and tailfins. Front and rear, especially in the early versions, those Buicks had a dramatic look to them that was absent from the other brands save perhaps the Pontiac Bonneville.
The coupe’s body styling along with the Pontiac Bonneville/Catalina coupes resembled those of the Nova sized 1978-81 Malibu Coupes.
Those boxy 2 door ‘bus are pretty nice! Good ‘synthetic’ muscle car fodder.
It’s really hard to pick, as all four of the B-body coupes in the ’77 to ’79 range had very nice styling. Can I have one of each? If not, probably the LeSabre would be my favorite as well, preferably in sport coupe trim.
Sorry I can’t agree Chris, the headlight treatment looks ridiculous. Just “well we have to be different from the other divisions”, the Pontiac/Olds/Chev versions look much better. I do agree that this side window shape is better though.
I prefer the Buick to the Olds unless you’re in love with bricks. I would, however, kick them all aside for a nice ’84 Park Avenue in a midnight blue. Those were, to my eyes, the best by a country mile.
For me I prefer the 1977-79 styling over the 1980-up styling on the GM B bodies except for the 1980-81 Pontiac Bonneville sedan and the 1980-85 Oldsmobile Delta 88 coupe, the rest of the restyle’s were IMO nowhere near as good as the original’s, I also thought the downsized 1977-79 B-bodies were major improvements over the 1974-76 cars (especially the coupes).
My vote for the prettiest B-body would be the 1977-79 Chevrolet Caprice Classic 2 door aerocoupe.
I see hints of the beautiful Fiat 130 coupe in the C pillars & side window treatment.
Anyone else?
Most certainly- almost a big brother to the Fiat, and that is not a bad thing at all. Plus they both had two of the most stylish dash boards of the time!
Agreed. Just needs the front screen raked back a few more degrees.
I will never forget the face of that Buick. These were always around in the neighbourhood when I was a kid.
Not bad at all. 2 doors. Yum. But my favorite late model Buick by far is the Grand National and GNX. The 2 door Regal body style is a winner.
According to this Ebay listing, the LeSabre Sport Coupe could be ordered with buckets & console:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/very-special-1979-turbo-buick-lesabre-sport-coupe-1-of-1-magazine-car-collectors-/321568817037?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&forcerrptr=true&hash=item4adefebf8d&item=321568817037&nma=true&si=80UE0IftlZ1GvKoumWaImO0WqyQ%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557
Hey Paul! Forget about the car, how did you train your dog to use a camera?
“I went home and got the dog to grab some shots before sundown”
Def the most beautiful of the B cars. The 77 to 79 LeSabre’s were beautiful. The classiest had to be the Palm Beach, with it’s elegant interior and several pieces from the Riviera of the same year including the interior door panels, and exterior body side moldings. The base model LeSabre coupes didn’t have the thick B pillar as the Customs or Limited model did, and the base model was very rare. The elegant dash board was very classy too. The Delta 88 roof looked to boxy, the Impala/Caprice roof look beautiful when the Landau option was ordered with the canopy roof and roof colored window frames and molding. The Pontiac Catalina and Bonneville did share the LeSabre roof, but Buick pulled it off better.
The 78-79 Holiday 88 would be my pick with the Olds Rocket 350/403. The LeSabre was a nice looking car with the Buick rally wheels but it’s power train lineup was inferior to the Olds with the majority using the 301 2BBL 140 HP Pontiac V8.
I’m afraid, being an admitted detail freak, I never thought too much of these late ’70s B bodies as they just looked a bit cheap to me with the exception of some of the special editions mentioned above. The metal side beltline moldings didn’t match the plastic hood moldings. The mylar side trim looked like it came off a stock roll and was hacked to length by a shear and stuck on and not even straight on every car. After a year or two in the weather the cellophane outer layer would peel off. The bent window of the Chevrolet 2 doors made the C pillars too narrow and who the heck decided that back seat passengers were second class citizens and that their windows would no longer open? (I know that started before, but these finalized the death of opening quarter glass.) I thought the freshened up and softened ’80 models were a good improvement and eventually grew to quite like the Buicks late in this generation before they started over with the front drivers. For this gen of big cars I would have to go with a Chrysler R body.
I like the styling of these ’77-’79:s most, the 80 is not good with it’s vertical rear window. The same with Regal and even GNX, they’re even less length, I just like the full size more! Making the general design for a car almost 220 inch long and some 54 inches high and only 1 door per side, that cannot be missed and they didn’t. With Olds of the time I really do love the taillights yes of 1978-1979, but I think the Delta 88 is best as 4 door sedan to me, as weird as this may sound! And fake-wood or not, I bought the Buick after owning some years a Caprice. In chevy the plastic inside just looked plastic and I am happier of cheating myself with wood looking plastic! It is enjoyable, the dash. Generally the Buick design is not too underlined as it was in all those Cadillacs and Lincolns and all marques of the time especially few years earlier.. About GM B-bodies I think Pontiac Catalina was quite good, but the design of the taillights is not to my taste.