(first posted 12/16/2013) Dude! This winter thing blows, man. It’s, like, 25 degrees outside – that’s like -4 Celsius for you metric dudes and babes. That’s totally frigid. And then this vision in white pounces on my corneas. Seeing a surfin’ wagon in this cold – is that like the most total insult, or what?
Mother Nature is cruel, man.
Man, seeing this Buick surfin’ wagon is righteous. Damn straight! It’s thinkin’ summertime and riding waves and chasin’ babes. Far out! Man, we’re like miles from the ocean; anybody thinkin’ they could, like, ride a wave behind a tugboat on the Missouri River has got some serious cranial fungus goin’ on.
About the only surfin’ a dude could do around here is like tying onto a Seadoo down at the Lake of the Ozarks. That’s wrong, man. Too many drunks swimming and draining their main vein and raising the water level. That’s like totally repugnant.
Check this out! This is like a real old-school wagon, dude. This is totally gnarly and far out. Check out that painting on the side; dude, that’s so old, it was painted on, like, when John and Ringo first met that Ed Sullivan dude and before Jackie K. became Jackie O. There’s some serious history stuff going on here, man.
Check out that phone number too; really, dude, people really did use, like, letters and stuff in their phone numbers. That’s just radical. Hey, I even know that address. Somebody is trying to like really dupe us, dude, that’s some house out in a residential area, man; it’s nowhere near the Pacific. Somebody is really bogus.
The General Meister was like kicking some major ass in 1960 – the year that, like, New Zealand got their first boob-tube station and Mr. Peugeot’s son Eric was kidnapped in Eiffel Tower Town. Man, this LeSabre is like totally bitchin’ being a wagon. Yeah, man, the Meister made like 145,000 regular LeSlobber’s in ’60 and like 7,500 wagons. These wagons are sweet, huh?
For some freaky reason, the General Meister’s 1960 Buick didn’t sell wagons like Hank’s winged messenger did. Yeah, I guess you could say David Dunbar (that’s Buick, man) was going all Don Quixote on the Merc-Man, who was like wicked competition for them every year in wagon sales. It’s freaky man, when Mercury – I’m saying Mercury, dude – would sell better than 22,000 wagons in 1960 against the 12,600 of Buick. Hell, man, Mercury even outsold Oldsmobile in wagons in 1960. That had to totally humiliate the Meister just like wiping out in front of the most wickedly awesome babe on the beach and then watching your trunks wash up on shore as you are in knee-deep water. That’s a real downer.
But not really, man. Some babe must have really liked what she saw as the General Meister still sold more wagons overall than Hank’s boys did in ’60. But Mercury still handed Buick their wagon ass on a platter, man.
But, whoa, there’s a lot of pretty sweet vibes about this Buick. Look at those eyebrows, man. They almost seem to scowl at a dude and say, “oh yeah? I’m gonna kick your ass!” and then they wrap around shaping the sides that slope down to the cars tail. That’s far-out. Whoever penned this car sure had their groove on man; this car is so totally righteous, kind of like that dudette that, well, never mind.
If you go scoping out a ’59 Buick like this one, the ’60 model looks a little lame in comparison. How’s that? Dude, the ’59 had the headlights at an angle to the ground, not all parallel to it. It had that same pissed off look as a ’59 Dodge, and – whoa – was the Meister aping the Lincoln’s cat-eye face? There is still some pretty righteous stuff cooking here, but I wouldn’t throw this ’60 out of the house for eating crackers in bed. You know what I mean?
If a dude has to nit-pick, you gotta say the greenhouse is looking like one of Louie Chevy’s finest for that year. But, hey man, this is a Buick! This isn’t some generic vanilla wafer Chevy, man. This is a Buick and it’s totally bitchin’. Upscale all the way. The wheelbase is longer. The trim is nicer. And there’s some serious V8 cooking under that hood, no wheezing six banger snooze-fest here. Damn straight! A Buick got you a really groovy 364 cid V8 with like 250 horsepower. Pretty sweet.
And for a few more greenbacks, a dude could move up to the Invicta wagon and its 401 V8. That could haul a dude’s ass to the beach like totally pronto.
It’s pretty wicked this LeSab wasn’t all pulverulent and stuff like so many ended up. Some dude or dudette must have treated this like their board and slathered all kinds of top shelf wax on it. Yeah, a car is like your board; treat it like royalty and it’ll love you like your momma does, man.
But, damn, man, 1960 wasn’t all blue skies and righteous waves for the tri-shield company. They really drank some water that year, what with sliding to ninth place and all. Yeah, their sales were so bad it was like the worst finish they’d had since 1905 – the year that Alfred Deakin guy became prime minister of Australia and, like, Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn were banned from the Brooklyn Public Library.
Sure the economy was like really crappy in 1960, but this really had to suck for Buick.
Truth to tell, dudes and babes: This most awesome Buick is wanting to roam free, man; it’s feeling as cooped up as Charlie Manson, dude. It’s waiting for adventure. But, hey, it was parked next to the curb and it’s got some buddies around it. Hell, man, it’s beside a Crown Victoria Sport (yeah, some of you curmudgeonly skeptics probably think that is all oxymoronic and stuff) and in front of a Jock Ewing Lincoln Mark V. Dude, there was even a Yugo behind that flatbed!
Well, good peoples, I gotta go wax my board for this spring. Hang Ten!
Far out, dude. I’d drive that as-is. Well, after a little air in RR tire.
Way cool Daddio I love this wagon!A most excellent find thanks Jason
How wide are those back tires? Amazing they fit under there without being tubbed.
When I was a kid our next door neighbors had a 1960 Buick wagon. No surfing, just car-pooling. They traded it on a ’63 Riviera, suddenly the carpool got very cool
By 1959, Buick started designing beauties, instead of beasts. Love the look of these.
Great lines and proportions, especially that elegant face…
Winter does blow, it is minus 22 fahrenheit where I am right now…
A red 59 Electra Coupe was the first car I ever wanted when I saw one driven by an airman from the nearby USAF base when visiting my Grandparents in the early 60s.What a difference from the ostentatious 58s,you’d never guess they were the same manufacturer just 12 months ago
One of the coolist things about the ’60 Buick was it’s speedometer. It wasn’t the typical needle pointing to your mph/kph. It was a solid line that changed color as it gave a cumulative total of speed. Very high-tech
Also I think what you are looking at is a mirror that could be adjusted to suit the drivers preferred line of sight.
Yes, the adjustable Mirromagic instrument panel. Here’s a better picture of the solid line speedo in action taken from a ’59
Man, I’d have love to have been on THAT ride. She was moving!
On those skinny bias-ply tires? Too scary for me
Interesting location for the HVAC controls, too (directly underneath the gauges in the same pods).
PNDLR
Correct, the mirror speedometer was on 1960 and 61 models.
Buick started introducing thermometer style speedometers in 1955.
I always associate this kind of speedometer with Swedish cars (Volvo used them forever as did the Saab 96) – didn’t realize Buick had it first!
Identical to the 1961 Vauxhalls a feature they kept.
Here’s the drum that’s behind the slot. Cute.
My 64 Imperial had a similar speedo. My problem was that there was a 5 mph gap between the leading edge of the red and the point where the full “glass” was red. So, I never knew just how fast I was going, as I was never sure just which part of the red to pay attention to.
IIRC the 59 Olds did something similar but in 3 colors – green up to 30 mph or so, then yellow to 50 or 60, then red or orange above. My cub scout den mother drove a 59 Olds, and that speedometer was my favorite part of the car.
That’s great you found this, I knew it was some kind of roller
Dude, that sweet! Diggin’ the Vicster too. and that Yugo, is that one of those bitchin’ droptops?
Good eye, that body colored grill and those 17″ wheels, if they are original to the car, indicate that it is a LX-Sport which means it has bucket seats, console and a floor shifter as well as the HPP package. So actually it is rarer, based on the number produced, than the Buick.
Nah, dude, the Yugo was a steel top, man. Kinda sucked, but it was an ocean blue to match the Buick, dude!
The only thing that blows today is the snow coming out of my snow blower this morning. There will be no surfing in Indianapolis today. Not that this really affects my day-to-day life or anything.
Fabulous find. These 1959-60 GM wagons sort of prefigure the 1977- versions, as they share so much sheetmetal all up and down the line. I had not realized that Buick’s fortunes had sunk so quickly – they had been the 3rd place seller in 1955, IIRC. Going down to 9th (in a shrinking number of entrants) was not good. No wonder they were hard at work on the 61 Special.
I love the old alpha-numeric telephone exchanges. Did nobody else look this up? The number is FRontier 7-1571. Not as lyrical as PEnnsylvania 6-5000, but I am ok with it.
edit – a question: why did GM like those little triangles between the bottom edges of the front and rear doors? To prevent rusting door corners? Keep from hitting curbs and legs? No idea.
Those door ‘triangles’ are puzzlers. I never noticed them before and wonder if any other cars (GM or otherwise) had them.
The rounded door corners was a thing that GM picked up from the world of Kustoms as it was a fairly common modification on the original lead sleds.
GMH did that too and the door corners rusted out just fine on Holdens too
Love that, a bit too patinated for my taste but strip off all the surfer stuff, quality respray in white and we’re good to go.
Then I wouldn’t have to look for my vehicle in a sea of Cayenne Red Caravans.
Dude, mad, what a buzzkill!!! That patina, like, makes it, man! Without that patina then it’s, like, the old man’s car and that ain’t happening, man!!! Dig it?
Ok, four years later I’m on board with the surf graphics.
That’s because two years ago I surfed for the first time. Even got up, long enough to shout “Woo Hoo, middle aged dad surfing!!!” before I fell and cracked a rib.
Going back to Costa Rica this winter, leaving the surfing to the kids. Wish I could bring this Buick with me 🙂
As much as I like the original 1960 Buick wheel covers (I had a set that I ran on several different cars and pickups) I think the bean-hole mags look good on that car.
Yeah Godzone got TV in 1960 I woulda preferred we got Buicks, Ive never seen a wagon this model even sedans are rare. Much prefer this for a mudshark tour than that tall Dak Dak in the other post
FRontier 7 was the same telephone exchange we were in, about five blocks from the beach in my case. Bluff St. in Torrance was almost across PCH from South High School and an easy skateboard ride to Torrance Beach. The Marineland of the Pacific logo brings back memories.
Mercury probably outsold Buick wagons because of price. Mercury was more of a Pontiac and Dodge competitor. Chrysler was more at the Buick level. How many Chrysler wagons sold that year? Wagons were considerably more expensive than equivalent sedans. My dad stepped down from a Pontiac sedan to buy a new Chevy wagon in ’59. My uncle also traded a Buick sedan for a Chevy wagon that year.
Tucson had three exchanges that I remember from growing up: MAin (62), EAst (32), and (I kid you not) AXtel (29). (How on earth did Mountain Bell come up with THAT?) Then non-lettered exchanges started showing up–the 79 and 88 exchanges. Oh–in those days, Arizona had just one area code: 602.
My grandparents loved Buicks, but when they dropped wagons for 1965-69, my Grandad got a 1966 and ’69 Chrysler T&C, after a 1963 LeSabre wagon. My Grandma hated the Mopar rigs, didnt like how they drove or started. She just liked Buick’s ‘unpretentious luxury feel’. [This is just repeating family opinions, not starting a GM vs Mopar string]
In high school, my first “road-worthy” car was a 1960 Buick. A “flat top” four door.
A couple of random memories:
– The car used a GM ignition switch that could be used without inserting the ignition key. (You could lock this switch if need be)
– The starter motor was activated by the accelerator pedal. After turning the ignition switch to the on position you would fully depress the accelerator, the starter would spin, and the engine would light-off with authority!
A great automobile.
Growing up inland one of my mates used to surf on a dam spillway, hanging on to a rope tied to a tree.
I like the 59 Buick over the 60, and this one has crossed the patina line too
Wonder how that Buick got to the Midwest especially with all the graphics intact?
This dank Buick is wicked gnar!!!
my brothr had a 60 wagon wth 401 sprayed a nice metallic green a sprayon vinyl top buick mags n a tan rolld n pleatd interior tht was his family cruisr. i also like wagons myself
Fun find there Jason. Love the Marineland of the Pacific graphics on the car. Marineland is the original SeaWorld pre-dating the San Diego theme park by a good ten years.
Now *that* is beyond cool right there. Far out, man.
This most awesome Buick is wanting to roam free, man; it’s feeling as cooped up as Charlie Manson, dude. Manson got a lot more cooped up last month. I hope this CC outlived him.
Love this wagon, the ’59 and ’60 Buicks were some of my favorite Space Age cars.
Way, cool, man!
Perhaps Brad Hamilton could use a new ultimate cruising vessel?
I prefer the ’60 Buick over the ’59. Never liked the canted headlights or the drawer-pull grille on the ’59 and the later car has more interesting side sculpturing.
I was a fan of the ’59 but the much better grille treatment of the ’60 has swayed me over to it. Likewise, I used to think the canted headlights of the ’59 were the best version of that particular styling gimmick, but I’ve since come to the conclusion that ’60 Buick is an overall better styled car with the more traditional horizontal quad headlamps. Still, for 1960, I think I’d have to go with a Pontiac.
But for sheer outrageous-ness in a canted headlight front end, it’s hard to beat the ’61 Plymouth.
Very creatively written. Maybe the owners still occasionally take a trip in stillness from the way back seat. . . .Bubblebubblebubblebubblebubble —–ffffffffffffffh. . . . Whoa!
If only it was a woody, this song would be perfect…
https://youtu.be/qEHmM7IjSjE
https://youtu.be/0gVxZBWMNdI
In the main picture , is that a Studebaker logo above the Amoco sign ?
That is the flame of the Amoco sign.
You know what always amazed me about these cars with their extreme body contours is how they managed to make the doors so that they closed tightly and lined up properly with the rest of the body. Somebody should do a story on the hinges GM used during these years, I’m sure there was some interesting engineering that went into such prosaic pieces.
Nice to see this, Jason—I wasn’t a CC followed just yet when it appeared. I was an adolescent midwesterner when the whole surfing fad–fueled by the Beach Boys and so on–caught me in its web just before the Beatles were a thing on U.S. shores.
I just found a fun GM promo film, taking a ’60 Buick through 10,000 miles at
Daytona averaging 120mph–including clever refueling-in-flight, kinda like jet fighters: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dczamtg3UMk
George, you are always able to find the most amazing things. This video was great!
You’re too, too kind, Jason–I return your tip-of-the-hat with my amazement at your scene-setting & tale-telling ability. (You know I’m always willing to help you search out a photo, ad, whatever–just ask!)
A few fun 1960 Buick commercials here–I can see the kind of buyer they were aiming for: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z35MnWDYM-4
Never cared for the ‘60 Buick – styling was too heavy handed, it did do a good job transitioning all the familiar styling themes back. The sculptured metal side treatment was lifted from the 1958 Pininfarina Buick XP-75. Buick dropped the VentiPorts, vertical grill, and reduced the sweapspear in 1958, which helped cause a drop in sales. In 1959 Buick cut back on chrome and introduced new model names with the Chrysler inspired new GM ‘B’ & ‘C’ bodies. I love the slightly downsized 1961 Buicks – it had one of the best dashboards of all time.
I bet in 1955 no one would believe #3 Buick would drop to 9th place in 1960, or that 80% of Buicks sold in the 21st Century would be in China!
Tube city!
Saw a Buick wagon like the feature car just the other day on the way to work. It was lowered and driven by a guy younger than me. He had good reason to be on the road. We’ve had little snow so far this winter and pavement is bare up here. In fact, I’ve seen some summer only cars on the road including a newer Corvette and a Lamborghini!
Little slice of history: The car used as a mule to smuggle heroin in the movie “The French Connection” was a Lincoln Mark III, if I remember correctly. The movie was based on a true story that happened 10 years prior. The real “French Connection” car was a 1960 Buick, though I can’t recall what model.
Frankster, what I found laughably “Hollywood” in the movie (as best as I recall now) is that the Lincoln was in a garage being thoroughly strip searched and the detective was ranting that “it” had to be hidden in the car somewhere, because the 2-odd-ton hulk weighed some 10 pounds more than it should have. LoL
So they started digging deeper and cut open a rocker panel where the stash was found. roll eyes
And if the actual car was a ’60 Buick… 10 lbs.? In Flint, a Monday roof mated to a Friday body could get that much lead slapped in the fit-up. LoL
I had a ’60 coupe, but whatever.
Anyway, if any CCer ends up with this era Buick note that the driveshaft had a hidden grease fitting, reached through an access plug in the torque tube. Most of ’em were forgotten and never lubed, but once you have to disassemble the torque tube for repairs, you’ll remember.
Jason, man, I dig ya! Thanks for an hysterical presentation on this car. As your old ads show, the four-door hardtop is certainly a striking vehicle. The wagon is a bit dowdy in the cab to say the least. AS for why Mercury outsold Buick in the wagon department in 1960, well, here’s why…
And here’s more reason why…
That car is Bad man. As in Bad Ass.
I spent a lot of time hangin’ round Torrance CA. I never ran across (or into) this surf wagon over there. Mucho regrets Man, what a cool ride! Then again, I don’t remember any residential neighbourhoods in that town, I was layin back around 190th St or shootin’ over to Huntington to check out the scenery, you dig it?
The angle of the headlights change was a first for this guy. Thanks for layin’ it all out for us noobs. Gimmie five!
I remember when I was very young I always thought of the ’59 as “the angry car.” I like the one that was created for Ghostbusters but would have loved to have seen an “Ecto-1” based on a ’59 .
Interesting that the third row seat has stripes, too.