Looking both elegant and sporty, this 1976 Buick LeSabre Custom Landau has fewer than 23,000 miles on it, which is amazing after so many decades. These low-mile cars seem to be coming out of the woodwork lately. The seller has this one posted here on craigslist in Pendleton, Indiana, just northeast of Indianapolis, and they’re asking $14,900. Here is the original listing, and thanks to Rocco B. for sending in this tip!
This was an era of transition and many, many changes in the car industry. The year previous to this car rolling out of the factory, 1975, would have been the first year for Buick to require a catalytic converter on the LeSabre as well as requiring unleaded gas for the first time due to those easily-sawed-off money makers (as we call them here in the Midwest).
The fourth-generation Buick LeSabre was made for the 1971 through 1976 model years and they were the last of the big LeSabres before GM downsized most of their cars the following model year. The ’76 had four rectangular headlights rather than round headlights, which may be the biggest noticeable change. This is a LeSabre Custom, which is a level above the base LeSabre and the Landau top is a perfect crowning glory on this car for this era. I think the colors are even great, especially the pop of blue on those beautiful road wheels, although almost any color combo would look good on this car.
The interior has the Prado cloth seating surfaces and they look about as nice as you’d expect on a low-mile car. The back seat is equally nice. As seen in the rear seat photo, this LeSabre Custom is a real hardtop, in that the small-but-functional rear windows roll down. The landau windows are fixed, of course. This car would have been equipped with GM’s Turbo-Hydramatic 350 three-speed automatic with a column shifter.
While the base LeSabre came standard with Buick’s new 3.8-liter V6 – the only full-sized car in America to offer a standard V6 – the standard engine in the LeSabre Custom was Buick’s 350-cu.in. OHV V8, which would have been factory-rated at 155 horsepower and 280 lb-ft of torque when new. A 455 V8 was also available, and the base LeSabre buyer could check a box for either the 350 or 455 V8 engine if the V6 wasn’t enough power for them. The seller says that this one runs great, has new tires, shocks, and exhaust, and is ready to drive anywhere. Have any of you owned a ’76 LeSabre?
The first thing we do with our older cars is cut those friggin’ converters off the exhaust system.
And install a “test pipe” to “verify the need to replace your catalytic converter.”
Remember those days?
Wow, it screams 1976 and still looks good, unlike the 1976 Thunderbird yesterday.
This may be my favorite ’70s period representation!
Nope, nope, nope….the T-Bird had it all over this Buick.
You my friend, must just be a GM kind-of-guy ! lol
As a teen in the late 70s, my grandparents had a burgundy 76 with the 455 v8. They let me drive it on occasion. Always under supervision (of course) car was a dream to drive. But thirsty…
I had a ‘76 Olds Cutlass Supreme White w/White Landau Maroon interior for years that this car brings back to my memory! Days of old when cars were Automobiles & men didn’t wear buns! Hahaha
This would look a better under the hood if they cleaned up the routing of those plug wires .Looks like a great investment though
Lovely LeSabre.
More giant bumpers………yeah !!!
Giant bumpers for giant cars……what’s not to like !
We had a family friend who owned a similar car, a 75 Lesabre Custom 4 door hardtop. It was finished in a tan color I think Buick called Sand Beige, with a beige vinyl interior. He was no youngster when he bought it in the spring of 1975 at age 84, as a dealer “demo” with a few thousand miles on it from Peter Glennon Buick Cadillac in Southampton NY, trading in a barely used 74 Mustang II 4 cylinder he’d bought new in the fall of 1974. He wasn’t very tall, and didn’t like it because the bucket seats were too low and he had trouble seeing over the steering wheel. So I guess he decided to take the complete opposite route! Anyway, he was sweet on my aunt, who was more than 30 years younger than he, and had proposed to her several times over the years, offering her all sorts of material “enticements” to sweeten the deal. She kept turning him down because of the age difference, but he kept trying. He took her out to dinner often at fine restaurants over the ensuing years, and frankly, she admitted that many times, she went with him so that she could offer to drive the Lesabre. She LOVED the soft ride and the smooth operation of the 350 V8 and Turbo Hydramatic transmission. She wasn’t a nervy person, but she did muster up the courage at one point to ask him to leave her the car upon his passing, even though she could have afforded to buy one if she wanted to. She just LOVED that particular car. He politely turned her down, saying that he was leaving it to one of his daughters, who was poor and really needed a good car. So when he passed on at age 90, his daughter took the Buick. We would see her driving it around Hampton Bays in the ensuing years, and sadly, it didn’t take long for it to go downhill, at least in appearance . The last time I remember seeing it, the front bumper was missing, and both sides of the car were badly battered, all dented and scratched up. Sad to see such a once beautiful car end up like that…
The V6 was never enough power!!!!!!!!!!!!! …But I do like the Turbo 3.8L!!
This is a REAL Buick.
nice car. shame the original owner did not spring for the road wheels instead if the fake hubcap ones.i have a low mile 76 225 reverse color combo that am parting out and boy they were great cars. wish i could buy this one!
“Road Wheels” were mentioned by the author. HOWEVER, if you look closely you will note that this car has the “Road Wheel” look-alike wheel covers, not the actual chrome-plated wheels.
Mr. D., are you sure about that?
The only way to get “Touring like” quality in a vehicle today, you have to go to a truck/ solid framed vehicle. This is a BUICK. A “Touring quality” automobile, that trades fuel economy for quality. Ironically, oddly, Mercedes Benz, BMW, Rolls Royce didn’t sell out their “Touring Quality” automobiles. They build them still today. I wish we did. It would be nice, fun again, to go to an American car lot, any of the big three, and be mesmerized, excited, inspired to buy a car. I guess you could say Chrysler/ Dodge is as close as you can get. Maybe, just maybe, something better is on the horizon. Great article, thanks, loved it.!
I remember these new (well, not the two-tone), and loved them, especially the distinctive coupe body style. A friend had a 1975 convertible with the 350, and it was not terribly adequate. I would occasionally spot a LeSabre with a V6 badge on the front fender, and can’t image how slow that would have been. With the detuned engines of the period, the 455 was really the best fit.
I agree with the 455. Step on the gas, and that car would just get up and GO!!