Final Year! 1975 Buick LeSabre Convertible
This! Yes, this is a car that I could get behind, a 1975 Buick LeSabre convertible. It’s a final-year, 63K mile example and is one of only 5,300 produced that year. Appearing to be in beautiful condition, this big brown bruiser is located in Cape Code, Massachusetts and is available, here on craigslist for $18,500. Thanks are due to Mitchell G. for this fantastic find!
Yeah, I like big GM B-body convertibles. They’re great for cruising top-up or top-down, and depending on the year and powertrain, they can generate a surprising amount of get-up-and-go. Big? You bet, this full-sizer stretches out at 227 inches in overall length, somewhat enhanced by its five MPH ramming speed front bumper, and tips the scales at 4,500 lbs. As a comparison, this convertible weighs about 100 lbs. more than its corresponding two-door hardtop thanks to additional body bracing and probably a boxed rear frame, two enhancements designed to help control torsional twists. The seller tells us that this car has undergone a respray and it presents perfectly. While brown is never my favorite shade, it serves this refined-looking convertible well, especially when fashioned with a recently installed tan fabric top and presented rolling on a set of incomparable Buick “styled” road wheels.
The seller states, “Starts, runs and drives absolutely beautifully” and that’s thanks to a 165 net HP 350 CI V8 engine. For those unfamiliar with 1970s GM cars, this engine is a Buick 350 powerplant and not a GM powerplant – Chevrolet, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, and Buick all had their own versions of this mid-sized V8, and other than the displacement and number of cylinders involved, there are no commonalities among the four. And while I’m sure it does drive well, I can tell you from experience, that this LeSabre will hardly move the earth – the bigger and optional 455 CI V8 would be a better choice when the engine room is ensconced in this much mass. A curious item is the air cleaner decal which reads “350-2” meaning a 350 CI engine fed by a two-barrel carburetor. According to various 1975 Buick publications, that engine didn’t exist, only a Quadrajet-equipped (four-barrel) version of the 350 engine was available and it was standard LeSabre equipment. Wrong decal maybe? Another noteworthy item is the automatic transmission, it should be a Turbo-Hydramatic 375B (“B” as in Buick) which was a Buick-developed version of the Turbo 350. It’s considered to be a stouter gearbox for a big car when the need to resort to the sturdier Turbo-Hydramatic 400 was unnecessary.
Buick made things work inside with finer interior materials and upholstery and this convertible is no exception. The smart two-tone color combination works perfectly with the brown exterior and tan folding top and none of it appears to have suffered weather-related ravages as a result of too much fun in the sun time. There are no signs of degradation and I’d say that the interior environment is good to go, as is.
The seller suggests, “Ready to put the top down and start driving and enjoying right away“. Well, I’m down with that thought, and why not, after all, “When better cars are built, Buick will build them”, right?
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Comments
Cape Code? Perhaps cape cod?
Nice big old cruiser my uncle had one like this but white top and interior over red it was SMOOTH
Maybe Cape Code is code for Cape Cod
Roger that!
No, we all know that Codes are really biting at the Cape.
I can’t stand cod so I changed it…
JO
Don’t like that straight tailpipes, looks like it comes from a plumbing supply store. It needs the OEM beveled edge pipe. Then it’ll be okay. Looks real clean from here – maybe split seam on driver’s side of the seat. That’s nothing to get repaired. Not that up on the 2bbl 350 either. It should be no less than a 400, but I think it was either 350 or 455 nothing in between with Buick. Nice wheels, they set it off nicely! Not sure on the price, just got to see what they’re going for and go from there.
Beautiful car, but to the best of my knowledge, it should have a 4bbl, so that air cleaner lid or the decal could’ve come from an earlier year. What happened to the original? Even with the 4bbl and dual exhaust, it’ll be a dog because it’s so heavy. Nice to see that it has A/C, power windows, Buick rallys and isn’t a rot box, but the price is steep, and there are plenty of clean GM convertibles with the bigger engines. You just have to find the one you want, and be willing to pay. I think the 350 in this car is a bummer, and he will be waiting a long time for a buyer at that price. Hopefully it’s cared for until that happens, or it’ll rot very quickly if left outside in New England weather.
Yes, Buick really did use 2bbl carburetors, Ford did too. Cadillac, Pontiac & Olds of the time did not. No dual exhaust after 1974 due to single catalytic converter on GM cars unless Camaro/Firebird or Nova/Nova style other divisions because they were dual from the muffler only.
Edit: Cadillac, Olds, Pontiac DID use 4bbl carbs standard during that time exclusively on the V8s, whereas Buick and Chevrolet used standard 2bbl unless optioned for 4bbl. I’m fairly sure that’s how it went.
About as much of a ‘dog’ as my old ’76 LeMans 4dr @ 3995 lbs was for the Chevy 250 (4.1ltr) in-line 6 cyl OEM…….if I researched THIS INFO right, it originally had 120-125 net hp @ 155 lbs ft/torque….in otherwords it couldn’t get out of it’s own way. …I cant SEE PAYING twice what it’s worth for that kind OF Low power……..
I drove one of these in 1977, a friend had one. Except for the stealthy badging, it was a carpet ride Cadillac. High-torque 350. The force was with me.
I’m probably confused, but this car seems familiar. Could I have seen it for sale somewhere else not long ago?
As for those white seats surrounded by saddle doors & dash, uh-uh.
Absolutely agree! Mismatched interior, dreaded scissors top, tiny engine and steep price. I’d give this one a hard pass!
These actually move quite well for their size, not a missile but adequate. I had a light beige over brown. I had it about a month and some nice individual took out the right side. The door and quarter were heavily damaged. The 455 was an option, standard was the 4bbl 350. Mine is long gone to the parking lot in the sky but its hardboot is still hanging on the wall in the garage.
I’ve been looking for a hard boot for mine. Consider selling?
Email at [email protected]
At least the seller knows that it’s a LeSabre Custom model (see the title of the advertisment), the author calls it a LeSabre. But if you wanted the convertible, you had to order a LeSabre Custom model instead of a regular LeSabre.
Thank you for that niggling detail!
JO
Interesting combination of earth colors. I like it. Would make a good fair weather driver and parade car.
“I’m ready for my closeup, Mr. DeMille”
Yeah, I thought those seats were replaced too. They would have been saddle like the rest of the interior.
JO, as for brown, it was the 70s. Popular colors were brown, green & harvest gold
Yeah, I know:
Green = great!
Harvest Gold = OK
Brown = fuhgeddaboudit
JO
Seems like only yesterday that brown was going to be the new black. That sure didn’t last…lol.
Not sure it needed more power. As the urban warrior version travels at parade pace from one traffic light to the next.
A rural car with the big motor makes more sense to me.
I bussed tables one summer with a guy who owned the non convertible version of this Buick. This is what you use take your lady riding. It’s utterly luxurious and roomy as a living room inside while announcing to the world stylish people are driving by.
No easy trick while driving a TR-6. 😞