(first posted 4/29/2013) I for one am glad to see Buick return back to what it did best–stylish transportation for folks who wanted a premium car but not the flash of a Cadillac. With cars like the Rendezvous and final-gen LeSabre, Buick was fast becoming the new Oldsmobile–not a good thing, despite my love of Oldsmobiles. But back in 1961, no one would have considered Flint’s finest as nothing but little old lady mobiles. They had style! Indeed, the 1961 big Buick–any model, I’m not picky–is one of my favorite Sixties Buicks.
The 1961 Buick was a breath of fresh air for the nearly-new decade. The parade-float 1960 was replaced with a trim yet stylish new body. About the only exterior styling cue that carried over were the trademark Ventiports, which had been on Buicks since 1949.
The top of the line was the “deuce and a quarter” Electra 225, available only as a four-door hardtop and convertible coupe. Unusually, the four-door was the most expensive Buick of the year at $4350; somehow the drop-top was a bit less, at $4192.
Just below the 225 was the plain ol’ Electra–still quite a nice ride, but not quite as luxy–or gadget-bedecked inside–as the Deuce and a Quarter.
At the opposite end of the spectrum was the LeSabre, the least dear big Buick. Despite having the least amount of exterior chrome trim (just a narrow band on the upper body, following the curve of the bullet-shaped front fender), they looked just as good as the rest of the line, thanks to Bill Mitchell’s careful attention to detail and sheetmetal sculpturing.
For those of you who thrive on such trivia, the least expensive full-size Buick was the humble LeSabre two-door sedan (seen upper right in the picture above). Also available in the LeSabre line were two- and four-door hardtops and a convertible. The $3228 pillarless sedan was the best selling LeSabre, to the tune of 37,790. Our featured CC, the four door sedan, was right behind it.
Of course, LeSabre Estate Wagons were available too, in 6- and 9-passenger models. The three-seat wagon was the scarcest ’61 LeSabre–only 2,423 found buyers. No Di-Noc woody trim graced any 1961 Buick wagon–that would come later.
About that front fender: it was one of the most prominent Jet Age styling cues (save the ’61 “Bullet Bird” T-Bird’s flanks and most Ford cars’ jet-tube taillights) found on 1961 U.S. cars. I don’t use the oft-repeated “moving when standing still” line, but on these Buicks, the shoe fits, even on a four-door pillared sedan.
I would love to be able to say I discovered this Buick (wouldn’t you really rather have one?) but it was our own Richard Bennett who took the pictures. And what fine pictures they are!
LeSabres came with standard Turbo Drive automatic and a 364 CID V8 engine with 4 BBL Carter carburetor. This engine was good for 250-hp at 4400 rpm. It was only available in the LeSabre; fancier Invictas, Electras and Electra 225s getting the 326-hp 401 instead. This was a lot of car for the money, as a LeSabre sedan went for $3107 before options. 35,005 of the 4102-lb. sedans came off the line at Flint between September 1960 and early summer of 1961, all more than worthy of gracing your suburban driveway.
I love aqua cars, and this one is even better with matching interior! I love the instrument panel on these Buicks too–especially that lovely Jetsonesque clock perched in the middle of the dash. Yes, the LeSabre was the entry-level full-size Buick, but it was still a Buick, dagnabit! No Biscayne-grade interiors here. And really, why can’t we have colors like this anymore? What’s with the institutional color palette on most modern cars today? I am tempted to get a 2013 Chrysler 300, as they can now be had with a red leather interior. So can the Challenger, Charger, Cadillac ATS and others. Please, please manufacturers, keep it up. And let’s add an aqua interior too, OK?
No shortage of space, either. Just look at that back seat! Plenty of room to stretch out. And, as I have previously mentioned in previous CCs, there was no risk of depression when riding in such a bright, cheerful–and comfy–interior. Unlike many of the light gray, dark gray and medium gray interiors in modern cars.
All in all, a lovely car. I am very grateful that Mr. Bennett stopped to record this survivor. If you want to experience a bit of what the Sixties are like, you should have a car like this: A time machine you can drive for fun, to the bank, or to the grocery store. And you can take five friends with you too!
I’ve always loved the 1961 Buicks–they just might edge out even the 1961 Cadillac as my preferred 1961 GM car. And for those of you who are wondering about the nice ’58 Olds next to it, here’s a picture. Amazing how much cars changed between 1958 and 1961, isn’t it?
A true beauty. Only thing that could make it better is if it were a hardtop.
It is a hardtop.
It’s a pillared sedan. 4dr. hardtops don’t have a B-pillar.
Its being a sedan, pillared or not doesn’t alter its being a hardtop rather than a convertible. It was certainly an elegantly graceful design for Buick that year, in both convertibles and hardtops; I especially like the medium blue shown in the ad – a color never seen in cars now that are so “nothing”-colored so to speak.
Nice car. The aqua color suits it very well, and despite the fact that it’s a full size car it still has a trim, almost athletic look to it, especially next to the Olds.
The 61 GM full-sized cars were all a breath of fresh air compared to the previous year. My favorites of 1961 are Chevrolet, Buick, and Cadillac, though Pontiac was pretty nice, too. The 61 Olds rear styling looks too awkward (fixed in 62).
The compact Buick Specials of 61-62 also were great looking cars.
Another fan of the 61 Buick here. I love the little interior details like the color-keyed knob on the end of the gearshift and what appears to be a red reflector in the rear door armrest.
But Richard, Richard! You missed photographing the coolest feature of the 61 Buick’s interior – the backwards speedo that displayed through a mirror that could be adjusted up or down for drivers of varying heights. Your shot of the dash shows the thumbwheel that adjusted the mirror. I have a shot of an Electra dash that shows the speedo.
Great pictures of a fascinating car that is seldom seen today. I love it! And its shiny turquoise paint is just the antidote to bring us out of Patina Week.
That’s pretty cool, I’ve never seen anything like it. Thanks for posting it.
The “mirror-matic” (or whatever it was called) was only on the 60 and 61 Buicks I believe.
Right you are. The ’61 was also the last year for the bar graph speedometer. Along with getting rid of the Mirrormatic dashboard, the ’62 also switched to an ordinary needle speedometer. Olds kept their bar graph speedometer one more year. Unlike the Buick which kept the bar red, the Olds changed colors with speed. Some of those old GM dashboards could embarrass anyone whose bowtie doesn’t light up.
Getting shots of details like that through a closed window is not an easy thing…
Speaking of photographing people’s cars, especially the interior, what do you Curbside warriors do when you find a car? If you were to rush and try to take the shots quickly it might look suspicious so I’m guessing you use a more deliberate attempt.
If the owner approaches you do you say you are doing it for the CC website and ask if it is OK? If it’s obviously parked in front of the owner’s house do you knock on the door first?
I ask because there are several beauties in my area that I’d like to post on the Cohort but am wondering how to go about taking the pics.
If someone approaches and asks what I’m doing, I usually say “Oh, I really like your car, I was just taking some pictures. Is that OK?” If they are fine with it, I do. If they are talkative, I usually mention I write for a car hobby site and their car might show up on it. Sometimes I will get the car’s history from the owner, which is very cool! If someone doesn’t like me taking pictures or having their car on a website, I don’t use them.
I’ve only been approached a handful of times. Most folks are busy watching TV, I guess 🙂
That makes sense, thanks. I’m sure there are enough “stories” to merit a post along the lines of “That time I was trying to photograph a ’63 Valiant.” One of my favorite recent articles was the one from Paul about his encounter with the Volt owner.
Shoot first; explain later, if it’s really necessary. It helps to slightly obnoxious, like me. Smile, and wave your camera, and say “cool car”.
There is a green ’59 Sedan de Ville near me and also an aqua ’63 LeSabre. It should be obvious on those there is no malintent so I will just go ahead, shoot and save the cool car in case I get “caught”. I do worry a little about a beat up Volvo 760 down the street from me.
Paul was mighty brave on the Lumina from last week. Not sure “I really like your Lumina!” would work on that one and these guys always think their stuff is gold and everyone is trying to rip it off.
Maybe folks are less paranoid here, but I’ve hardly ever had anyone get uptight about me shooting their car. The most common thing is that they think I’ve hit their car and am taking pictures for insurance reasons or such. “Cool car; I just like to take picture of old cars, no matter how weird!”
Folks with “art cars” like the Lumina totally “get it”.
If he’d shot from the passenger side window, as I always tell my Contributors (cough, cough) to do, one can get quite good shots of the IP and other front passenger are details.
I don’t know why folks keep trying to shoot the IP from the driver’s side; it just doesn’t work.
Um…oops!
nice find Tom. Beautiful color.
Well, I “found” it on the Cohort, Richard Bennett took the pictures.
+1 on the patina relief comment. Spring is sprung, let’s see some color!
Nice close-up shot of the front fender spear, RB. I can picture a Bruce McCall-type spoof ad, touting its lethality to pedestrians as a selling point.
To steal from Bryan Adams, “It was the summer of ’69…”
I was 12, riding my bicycle down a rural road between Niagara Falls and Chippawa, Ontario. Turning my head to see a car coming at a distance, I would shift from the right to the left side of the road, afraid of being bumped off the road from behind. But the car was traveling quickly and as I shifted, there it was…
…a ’61 Buick. I remember it as a mint color 4-door Invicta but may be wrong…
I rode the hood as the driver slammed on the brakes, throwing my off and onto the road.
Could’ve been much worse. I spent three days in the hospital for observation but suffered no broken bones…although there remains one scar from where my behind hit the chrome spear at the center of that hood…OUCH!
At least the speared front fenders didn’t get me…
Thank goodness for those finned aluminum brake drums that made for some of the best brakes of any car of that era. Good thing it wasn’t one of those flat-fronted forward-control vans like the Falcon or Corvair we read about recently.
GM cars certainly changed between ’58 and ’61. My uncle had a ’61 Electra 6 window pillared sedan. Two tone: dublin green top, kerry green bottom (his ’56 Super was three tone: gray, black, and white). The next year. my father traded his ’58 Special wagon for a ’62 Estate Wagon. I remember the shades of brown plaid seats- very upscale. Night and day difference between the two cars, starting with the steering wheel size. The one, pure Earl, the other, pure Mitchell.
Unfortunately, Bryan Adam’s song “Summer of 1969” had nothing to do with the year – he was only 10 years old…and nothing to do with cars, either.
Sad, as it could have been a great song – it was my H.S. grad year…
Glad to hear you weren’t seriously hurt.
Yikes! Glad it wasn’t worse, Chas.
A quick brochure check shows that the Turbine-Drive aka Dynaflow was standard in LeSabres in 1961-2. Then for some reason, they went back to a 3-on-the-tree in 1963, and it remained the standard LeSabre trans until, believe it or not, 1971.
Wonder if there was a Buick from this era actually sold with 3 on the tree?
I know of at least one. My wife’s great-great aunt bought a ’64 Special 2-door new with the v6, three on the tree, radio-delete and manual everything. It currently sits in my FIL’s storage building with 19k miles on the clock.
A manual-equipped Special is not common, but also not too surprising, as it’s not a full-sized Buick.
A manual-equipped LeSabre is likely to be extremely rare.
I saw a 60 Lesabre 2 door post coupe with 3 on the tree, and 2 63 Lesabres with 3 on the tree, also on e-bay. All 3 cars had dog dish hubcaps. Bare bones Buicks for frugal folks who grew up in the depression. My dad called these kind of people “die hards” My dad was always quick to embrace the latest technology.
I think they have been called Cheapskate Dads here.
My first car was a ’62 Buick Special station wagon. 198 V6, 3 on the tree, AM radio, 15 inch wheels and limited slip
We had a ’66 LeSabre with automatic, Seafoam Green, and the neighbors across the street had a ’66 LeSabre in blue, that was 3 on the tree and the cheap, small wheelcovers!
That two piece chrome accent on the fender in picture #9 bothers me for some reason. GM couldn’t stamp them out in one continuous molding? It seems like an easy access point for rust or to get caught on something and pulled off the car.
Too difficult to handle without risking kinking and damaging on the assembly line.
It’s amazing how often “dumb” features on cars exist because of the assembly process. We forget that cars are designed first and foremost to assemble quickly and easily.
Technicians bitch when they dissassemble garter style AC or fuel lines, but at the factory they instantly click together without using any tools.- Perfect for mass production.
I also love the aqua, I had a ’60 Bel-Air in that color. So many cars today have such dull paint. Although Ford seems to have a pretty decent variety lately, at least on their trucks and Mustang. Hopefully that trend continues.
I was just thinking the other day about how depressingly dull modern interiors are. You can’t hardly even find beige anymore, almost everything is dreary gray. I used to think the ricers painting their dash trim was dumb, but now that I think about it I can see why they do it, even when it’s tacky at least it adds some visual interest.
That’s one of the reasons I won’t buy a new car. Dreary grey interiors with the same 5 exterior colors that everyone else has.
Nice! The aqua seems characteristically early Sixties. What did the factory radio look like? Did it take up more of the center dash? That aftermarket unit looks lost in there.
Modern Buick Owner’s Manuals should say, “It’s OK to drive the speed limit.”
I posted a shot of a 61 Electra dash above. It shows the factory radio, which does appear larger.
Thanks, I missed that. Just the same, there’s still a lot of dead space, as if they were planning on a super-sized Art Deco tube radio. Or they were Crazy Prepared for 21st century dashboard navigation systems!
BTW the rear-legroom looks astounding despite the low ride height.
A cool thing about Buick radios in much of the ’60s: There were five preset buttons, with one letter stamped into each…B-U-I-C-K.
If you haven’t done so yet, you owe it to yourself to check out oldcarbrochures.com, where you can see details of these cars in scans of the original manufacturers’ brochures. Forgive me for saying this, but it’s almost like porn to an old car enthusiast…
Thanks for the URL, it looks dangerously addictive.
BTW, I found the featured Buick’s brochure, & the empty space above the radio is there for an optional center dash vent, I assume for A/C.
Aqua was a favorite color in the mid 90’s on OBS Ford Pickups.
Whew! Finally… a REAL Curbside Classic! I was about to rename this website “Curbside Junkers” after all the crusher-fodder of last week.
Whether I like this car or not – not particularly, because it’s a pillared sedan – I like the condition it’s in. Sure, it’s had work done, but if it were mine, I’d have done the same thing.
Finally, I too would like a return to the bright, optimistic colors, as I am attracted to aqua and turquoise, most recently used on the Chrysler LeBaron convertibles.
If I had my druthers it would be the wagon. Since I retired from the Navy I have always had a truck because of the work I did (air conditioning not teaching). I found when I owned 77 Impala wagon that it would do almost all the work of a pickup and if you hooked up a small trailer it would do more. Much as I like my handyman, it would have been more handy with two more doors.
Now that I’m really really retired it would still work for highway trips that we want to make. Now if we could do something about the price of gas.
I too am a sucker for pastel interiors. My two favourites are my aqua ’64 Rambler Classic 550 with matching aqua interior and sparkly pressed fiberglass headlining, and from 25 years later my ’88 Mercedes 300SE in seafoam green metallic with matching green interior. Third place goes to my ’82 Citroen GSA in non-metallic seafoam green with light green interior- but with a BLUE center console- apparently as they all were from the factory, as Citroen didn’t make enough green interiors to bother making a bespoke center console. Lets just say that Citroen fired most of their quality control people to buy LSD for their designers and engineers then. It would have been a great car to rent when new, but owning one when 25 years old- different story. The ‘rotating drum’ speedo with magnifying glass was nearly as cool as mirror-magic.
First thing I thought of when I read this post was my parents’ early ’60’s (62 or 63, I think), which was a similar color, in and out. And yes, Mercedes (and others) used to offer so many more and colorful choices. Now they seem to be offering more, but only had super high prices.
For any of you who like playing around with online configurators, and I’m guessing there are a few here who do, the best is the Rolls Royce Phantom app – loads of colors, and you can custom make your own too. My kids are even hooked.
My avatar should illustrate my feelings on this color. 1964 Rambler American 440 Hardtop in Lancelot Turquoise with matching interior.
Nice!
My father had the ’61 Invicta convertible, medium green, light green top, 3 tone green interior (vinyl). & I turned 16! Thought it the best Buick because of the bigger motor and small body. Of course he traded up? to a ’62 225 convertible, tan with brown leather. A real boat by comparison.
Great Buick! A real rescue for the brand from the 58-60 disasters. Relative had a 62 225 four door hardtop and it was wonderful.
I too am a sucker for the aqua and turquoise colors of the 60’s. The 61 Buick is not my favorite 60’s Buick, to me it is a big let down from the flamboyant 59.
Not a fan of the bullet fenders. Thunderbird did it better, the Buick’s is set too high, too pinched and too narrow. The rear of the Buick is good, as is the IP, but I wouldn’t have green lighted those front fenders.
Look on the bright side, it’s still better-looking than the 1961 Ambassador. Looked as if Rambler met Citroën.
Interesting contrast between the ’58 Olds and the ’61 Buick. It certainly seems that most of today’s sedans are now closer to the proportions of the Olds, or at least the higher beltline and height.
What a delightful touch that Jetsons clock is!
About 1986 a date showed up in one of these… I thought this is destiny, an old car enthusiast. That was the high point of the evening, but I still remember it was this green -aqua, with similar roof and insides.
My surpise was in choosing a LeSabre if you are going to drive a classic car, so
(I mean that’s kind of an old lady car-the 27 y.o me was thinking)
I may have said something along the lines of ” Why did You pick This Model” and it went downhill from there. So much for that.
Look at the yellow convertible with Aqua interior . When was The last time you could boldly pick any color? Taste and resale market be damned.
now how rare these cars are, makes them sought after models , to me anyway. I love the random survivor cars, it says someone took care of them for 50 years.
These look liveable in today’s world, I wonder if the reality would live up to that.
When my parents’ 1956 two-tone Olds Super 88 sedan got tired, they bought a 1961 LeSabre sedan just like this, white exterior and aqua interior – they liked it so much that my grandparents bought the same car (as a ’62) the next year. It must have been our last car without seat belts.
Grandmother’s 1961 was same color, but she was 44 y/o when she got it, and I was just born. So, she was not an “old lady” at all! Grandad had a LeSabre wagon.
They certainly didn’t drive slow in the left lane, either, back before 55 mph era.
For a very short time I owned a 1961 Buick Invicta two door “bubble top” coupe.
To my eyes the very best looking ’61 Buick . It made me smile every morning I walked out the door to go to school.
I wish I had it back.
The ’61 GM cars were such a breath of fresh air, when Bill Mitchell was able to fully apply his stamp to the styling. I love that little curve at the base of the A-pillars; no one else had anything like it.
Our family car at the time was a ’61 Chevy Bel Air 2-door sedan, turquoise inside and out (bluer and darker than this Buick). And my aunt bought a new ’61 Olds Dynamic 88 2-door “bubbletop.” What a looker in medium blue! She had this car long enough that I got to drive it when I was 16.
As usual Tom, great job!
To me, this color combo best represents the early Sixties optimism in America. It’s definitely a favorite of mine.
I found this car (and the Olds next to it) back last summer On M-55, half way between West Branch and Tawas City, Michigan. I was still recovering from having been so sick, but when I saw these I just had to go back and shoot them!
I’m glad I did 🙂
Back when men were men and women were women and we liked it that way! 🙂
So elegant and classy,I love the colour and I’d like to see one in the metal.
This CC-Effect thing is getting ridiculous.
Nice car! It needs 15″ wheels, factory wheel covers and narrow-band whitewalls, though.
I like the wheels, the color (cream), and I used to have (own/drive) a Midnight Blue 61′ for many years. The Buick Hub Caps did nothing for the car. These wheels on the cream 61′ gives it that sporty look, just need to drop in an L3 Chevy Engine with the trimmings and give it some get up and go. So it can get up and went.
I have to admit, that aqua color doesn’t look bad on that LeSabre.
Maybe it’s just the pictures but I think it looks pretty good.
The other comment is…..the advertisements look great as well. It seems like all the car advertisements back then looked like Normal Rockwell paintings…..
These are beautiful cars and even more so in the aqua colour. I think I like the LeSabres most of all for their trim size and restrained use of brightwork. There is quite the rake on those windshields, any body else notice that?
> About the only exterior styling cue that carried over were the trademark Ventiports
Also the cantilevered wraparound rear window on some models, including some shown here.
1961 was a stunning year for Buicks. As the proud owner of 67 LeSabre coupe, I can attest to how under appreciated they are. Advertising for the era is limited to only one or two pieces and 95% of the 67 catalog is taken up with the Skylark and Special.
these 61 62 63 64 Buicks were real favorites of Consumer Reports . Pontiacs
may have been setting the showrooms on fire, but CU was not impressed
by the WIDE TRACK . Year after year it was ” BUY THE BUICK”
If I had been buying new cars then I would have been taking their
advice
My grandfather bought a LeSabre 4 door pillared sedan new in 1961. Blue with blue interior. Last car he ever bought. After he died in 1981 I drove it as a second car for 5 years. It was a smooth and powerful cruiser. I used to tune the tube AM radio to an oldies station to enhance the early ’60’s vibe.
Wow, this brings back memories of the late 60s and early 70s. Even though I was a very young kid, it was cars like this that seemed “right” to me, compared to stuff Detroit was turning out. The proportions, the details, the real chrome. ’61-’64 really was a pinnacle for the American car.
I’ve always found these ’61 very interesting. Very strong front that carried down to the Special “senior compact”. Sporty, but heading to formal. Crisp lines on the body proper, with a lingering hint of the wanton ’50s in the greenhouse.
And better yet, contrary to the usual trend of compacts only getting the full size look handed down years later when it was outdated, the 1961 Buick compacts actually looked almost the same as the big ones, if not even more dynamic with their rear fender treatment leading up to the rear lights. And you could have them with an all-aluminum V8 before the Corvette boasted it, or a year later with America’s first volume production V6!
The first compacts are still out there, but where can you find a bra like that?
When it comes to cars of the sixties I’m usually focused on Ford and Mercury cars as they were the first to catch my attention as a little boy. That has changed over the years as I have begun to appreciate the designs or engineering of other manufacturers.
This Buick is certainly a sharp looking car in a cheery colour that radiates the optimism and energy we experienced at the beginning of the sixties. As big as it is, the styling makes it look more mid-size in pictures.
This so represents my favorite era of design, in cars, architecture, interior design, etc. The long, low, wide, sleek and clean design aesthetic just really pushes all the right buttons for me. And yes, the optimism in the color choices just acts as icing on the cake. Yeah Chrysler touted the “Forward Look” in ’57, but right around 1961 was when automotive design really started to live up to the name. Beautiful car.
These ’61 models really are a wonder. So different from the ’59 and ’60 models (which I’m also a big fan of)–crisp and almost athletic, with sculpturing to add visual interest but not as a central design tenet like their predecessors. A car that, to me, just looks “right”. And the shape/curvature of the rear bumper is really an interesting design element as well.
My father bought this car. This car gets an amazing reception wherever it goes. I love the design of this car, its very mid century but also very understated. We have been putting it back to original and will have the body fixed and painted this summer (it has been painted in the past, we wouldn’t paint an original car)
GM cars certainly changed between ’58 and ’61. My uncle had a ’61 Electra 6 window pillared sedan. Two tone: dublin green top, kerry green bottom (his ’56 Super was three tone: gray, black, and white). The next year. my father traded his ’58 Special wagon for a ’62 Estate Wagon. I remember the shades of brown plaid seats- very upscale. Night and day difference between the two cars, starting with the steering wheel size. The one, pure Earl, the other, pure Mitchell.
Wow that is one beautiful car.
Yeah, to me the 1961 Bill Mitchell full size GM line was a major step towards modernity. All divisions had clean, sheer lines that looked good on sedans, hardtops, coupes and convertibles, even wagons. These cars made products from Ford and Chrysler look old, dumpy and dowdy by comparison. With the exception of the ’61 Lincoln Continental. My two favorite GM lines of this time were the Pontiac and Buick.
Alas, we’ll never see aqua again. My first car was a ’64 XL coupe in Dynasty Green with two tone aqua inside. And you can skip the R color, not at gunpoint.
Please notice the red convertible profile in the ad: so svelte, the way it tapers down toward the back of the car: exactly the opposite of cars today, which have their “asses in the air” so to speak – as they’re swooped UP rather than down in the streamlined, beautiful way of these lovely cars shown.
Was the early 1960’s Buick Dynaflow automatic transmission as slow and sluggish as the early 1950’s versions were?
Anyone who has driven various Dynaflows can comment?
I don’t think the early 60s Buicks had so-called dynaflow. I never drove my dad’s ’58 Estate Wagon, but I did all the driving chores in his ’62 Invicta wagon- a much more modern car in every way. Plaid interior no less. I believe he ordered it with the 350 4 barrel engine. Also limited slip differential. It was not slow or sluggish.
Buick no longer called it “Dynaflow,” but the Turbine Drive automatic transmission in full-size Buicks of 1959 to 1963 was what they had previously called “Twin Turbine” or “Variable-Pitch Dynaflow” and worked the same way. It had two turbines, two stators (one with two-position variable blades), and a planetary gearset within the converter hub that provided additional mechanical reduction.
(Turbine Drive in the big cars bears almost no resemblance to the two-speed Dual-Path Turbine Drive offered in the Y-body Special and Skylark.)
Turbine Drive had a lot less fruitless churning than the original Dynaflow, which had a very different torque converter design. It was reasonably snappy, although you could still shave a second or so off the 0-60 times by putting it in Low and winding it out, and it was no match for the later Super Turbine 400/Turbo Hydra-Matic.
I have one of these and I’m trying to find how much it’s worth. . I have curbside classic 1961 buick lasabre sedan aqua time machine. I’m looking to sell. I have lots of pictures of it.