It was a banner year for Buick sales in 1969, as the boys and girls in Flint managed to sell 665,422 cars, good enough for fourth place in the industry. Still, one couldn’t help noticing that perhaps Alfred Sloan’s famous automotive ladder was out of sorts; after all, this bare-bones LeSabre Custom Sport Coupe, as nice as it is, had a base price of $3,368. Meanwhile, across town at the Chevy dealership, a top-of-the-line Caprice sold for $3,294. Back in those days, however, brand loyalty was strong, and to many, a good solid Buick couldn’t be replaced by a “mere” Chevrolet, no matter how luxurious the trim. Certainly, the original owner of this LeSabre was extremely proud when they first came pulling into the driveway, and you too could be a proud new owner 56 years on for the very reasonable price of $10,900 ($2000 off if you don’t want the “Supreme” wheels). First-rate Barn Finder T.J. sent it our way from Marketplace in Toledo, Ohio.

One nice thing about buying a big Buick was that there were no six-cylinder engines or small-displacement V8s; the standard powerplant was Buick’s 350 small-block, shown here in its 230-horsepower two-barrel state of tune. As many Barn Finds readers know, all General Motors 350s were completely different from each other, and it’s easy to tell a Buick by its front-mounted distributor; every other GM 350 had its distributor in the rear. This LeSabre was clearly a price leader; it has power steering but no power brakes and certainly no air conditioning. That’s par for the course in the Great Lakes region where this car is located, and if nothing else, it makes for extremely easy underhood maintenance.

The interior is very nice, if somewhat plain with its standard vinyl bench seat. There are “no rips or cracks in the seat or dash,” and it has a “perfect headliner and nice carpet as well.” This is not the LeSabre “400,” so it should have the Super Turbine 300 two-speed automatic, which is a solid if uninspiring transmission, especially when paired with the standard 2.93:1 axle ratio. Unlike earlier Buicks with the ST-300, the 1969 model unfortunately doesn’t have the “Switch-Pitch” torque converter, which gave the car a little extra oomph by changing the angle of the stator blades at heavier throttle inputs. Regardless, the car “runs beautifully.”

The seller mentions that the LeSabre has a “solid underside and trunk,” which is a rare treat up here in the salt belt.

I would let the owner keep the wheels and I would ask him to install the originals, which come with the car regardless. With nice-looking “Trumpet Gold” paint and solid Buick mechanical bits, this LeSabre makes my Buick-loving heart a little bit warmer on a cold Midwestern day. The price isn’t too bad, either.