My Father liked his big Buicks. In a previous article, I outlined the Buicks he owned in the 50’s and 60’s. In 1977, he bought another big Buick, a LeSabre like the one above. His was a base model, not even a Custom. It had no stereo, no vinyl top, no power windows, and not a whole lot of options. But it was a good looking dark green LeSabre with a light green roof.
However, in 1984 he switched from Buicks to Chevrolets; a Caprice Classic Brougham to be exact. And his ’84 Caprice had the most beautiful paint I’d ever seen to that point; it was a green silver. Or was it silver green? I’ve scoured the internet and the best paint code I can come up with is either Light Gray Fern or Dark Gray Fern. It was not silver, not green, but a beautiful combination of both. A color much like Caprice above, captured by AGuyInVancouver at the CC Cohort.
His Caprice had about every option you could imagine; deluxe wheel covers…
… and I’m pretty sure he had the full padded vinyl roof like this ’88 model, but I can’t find an image of an ’84 one with this roof, so I can’t say for sure. But all in all, the 1984 Caprice Brougham was, in my opinion, the best looking of all the B Bodies of that era.
In 1989, my dad bought yet another B Body. Also a Caprice Classic Brougham; this one….
While this was every bit as nice as the ’84, I still liked the silver green one better. Still this was, again in my opinion, a far better looking sight than the whale looking models that followed.
This 1989 Caprice Classic Brougham was the last car Dad bought. He died in 1991, and it became Mother’s car until she died in 2010. My brother was a certified mechanic and he’s kept that car well maintained all these years and it remains in the family to this day. Last year, my brother passed this family heirloom on to my daughter and her husband (who is also a mechanic), and they plan on keeping this in the family for another generation or two.
One Family Owned. 36 years.
Related CC reading:
Curbside Classic: 1978 Chevrolet Caprice Classic – GM Knocks One Out Of The Park
I believe that you have a typo regarding your father’s death. You said that the 89 was the last car he bought before his death in 81. Did you perhaps mean 91?
Yes, that is correct. The year he died was 1991.
I ordered a puffy padded half roof on my ’77 GP so padded roofs were available by ’84… and, of course, some effort was being made to have less amount of vinyl on the roof… if desired…
Oops, I missed that one. The date is fixed now.
I surmise that he died in ’91 not ’81, having bought an ’89? They were the last of the classic B bodies. My Dad had an ’85 LeSabre Collectors Series, last of the good looking Buick B bodies. Like your Dad he moved on to the ‘whales”, a ’91 Caprice and a ’96 Roadmasher. His best one imo was the ’77 Electra Ltd, a fine car, must more solid than the lightened ’85.
My grandfather was a Buick man for life. My mom learned to drive during the 40’s in his. I rode in a succession of lesabres until he graduated to electras in late 60s. He traded every 2 years until he retired then went on a 3 year cycle. Winters were hard in western Massachusetts. Garage kept. 1971 on his way from Texas he was rear ended and swore the car saved their lives. Back end was pushed up to back of front seat. Front end suffered cosmetic damage being pushed into car ahead. Passed in 86 my grandmother sold the last one too big for her.
Nice collection of B Bodies. My 1985 BMW motorcycle was a silvery green, or greenish silver, not unlike the Caprice in the second photo. I always thought of it as silver, but one of my friends insisted it was green. I still remember that BMW called it Madison.
Like most of us here, I was heartily impressed by the 1977 B-Bodies. They lived up to their billing, and deserved their many accolades. In terms of styling, I felt the LeSabre was the weakest effort. Specifically, the sedan. Didn’t like the droopy trunk. Or the glued on appearance of the ventiports. The nose and bumper, looked too heavy. The overall effect was less commercial, and more anonymous, than the Chevrolet.
I thought the 1980 restyle, helped the LeSabre, the most. More defined, and crisper lines. It also made the Buick look larger, and more substantial.
Last year when Dylan, my son in law, took possession of Caprice it came with a dent in the right front fender.
He’s started work on repairing it and hopes to have all the body work looking like an 8/10 if possible.
This is a great story. Reminds me of my own dad. He was a Buick man as well. Before my time he had a large 58 Buick Wagon (maybe the Cabrolo?)
Then when I was born in 63 he had a 62 Invicta convertible. That one was stolen off the driveway so he then bought a 67 LeSabre 400 convertible.
He own a Caprice, three Cadillacs, two Lincolns, and then in 1978 he bought a new black Electra 225.
I too have owned several Buicks and Caprices.
I think it’s awesome that your dad’s last car is still in the family.
Many older buyer preferred to buy a higher line full size car, even if it was more modestly optioned, than a smaller more optioned model. Their thinking was that the full size car was a superior vehicle, even if it was more basic. I can understand that. I prefer a full size pick up truck to the smaller versions. I bought a basic F150 instead of a Ranger, which was available at the time. I just don’t see the appeal of the new Ranger or Maverick, or the other new compact trucks. The full size truck provides the most versatility, in my opinion, and the Big Three still make basic affordable work trucks.
The B Body of 1977-1979 is, in my opinion, on of the best series of cars ever made by the American makers. There was a B Body for every budget, from a lowly Chevrolet Belair to a loaded Buick LeSabre Custom Brougham. They are drove remarkably similarly and this is a compliment. The cars drove very well. The cars after 1979 were not as good and the big motors were abandoned due to tightening fuel efficiency standards.
My idea B Body would be a 1978 Oldsmobile 88 with Rocket 350, a/c and FE3.
Hindsight is 20-20 but they should have either left the Caprice as is or made it look the Impala SS in ’91. These didn’t really look that dated by then to justify the Shamu design.
Thank you for telling us about your Dad’s choice of cars. The silver green piqued my interest, too. My Dad had a ‘66 Pontiac Catalina sedan, a darker green, but pretty. In ‘68 he bought another Catalina, but in a silver green. It was gorgeous! May have been the same color as your Dad’s Caprice.