French Sword: 1960 Buick LeSabre

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Sometimes we’ll come across a car that is better than it looks. Sometimes, they will be worse than they appear. This one is pretty much exactly what you’d expect from a classic car being offered here on eBay for a buy it now of $1,100! The big Buick is located appropriately in San Antonio, Texas.

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The seller makes no misleading statements; they know the car needs plenty of work and it’s admitted in the listing. However, they do claim to have all of the trim, a later model open rear end and, importantly, a clean Texas title for the car.

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Now, bear in mind, when the seller says it needs floor pans, they aren’t mincing words. There really isn’t much of the driver’s side front floor pan left at all! On the bright side, I found them here for $65 per side after only a little looking. Hopefully the rest of the sheet metal needed to at least make the car safe wouldn’t be much harder to find. The seller also said that it needs a windshield. That was a little tougher, although I found one vendor here that has them at $364.

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Although the seats are not shown here, the seller says they have them. I really enjoy the unusual dashboards we saw in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s — designers were being very creative and no two brands looked much alike. Compare that with the jelly bean outside, bland inside that most cars are now and there’s no contest for me!

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Somewhat surprisingly, this is an air conditioned car–I’m guessing that it may have been a Texas car from the beginning. This is a 364 cubic inch “Nailhead” V8 that the seller says is original. It also turns freely, although nothing is said about it running or any attempts to make it run. I think we are right on the borderline between parts car and restorable here–what do you think?

 

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Comments

  1. Johnni B

    I like. Priced right too

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  2. Bob Hess

    Good price. 2 door hard top. Good parts availability. Would make a great restomod cruiser. Lower, good paint and interior… Sweet! Grew up south of the mason-dixon line. Very few cars down there without AC after 1955 models. About Purple…

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  3. piper62j

    Pull the engine and drive train for a Rod, pull any trim and small parts for EBay and crush the rest.

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  4. Zaphod

    You can get an alloy nail head out of any Range Rover wreck. This is so fugly it’s pretty, like seeing the school nerd on prom night without her glasses. She deserves a chance to dance.

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    • M B

      What’s in the Range Rovers is descended from the GM 215 V-8 from the early 1960s, NOT any Buick Nail Head engine. Buick did have a version of the 215 (replaced by the 196/225 cid Buick V-6 engine family) and it might have looked like a “baby Nail Head”, but it was not a Nail Head of the same block design as the real Nail Head in this particular Buick. Not sure how close the Rover 4.0L V-8 is in exterior block/motor mount architecture to the Buick Nail Head, but it might be an interesting project, provided you could get the electronics adapted to make it run.

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  5. Fred W.

    Bob, you must have lived South of a different Mason-Dixon line than me, as where I lived (FL panhandle) 90% of the cars had no air and didn’t start getting it until the late 60’s. This one looked pretty good in the first photo, but all the ones after said major work. Price is right though.

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  6. JK

    It seems these 2 door hardtops are worth less than their Impala siblings. Can anyone offer the reason? Seems like a more affordable way to get that B-pillar less style or am I wrong about the values?

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    • VR LIVES

      This vehicle was buildt a couple of years before I came into this world, but I remember seeing them when I was little. The aggressive look of the front end always got my attention. Vehicle was Brad’s car in ” Fast Times at Ridgemont High ” Even though he had a 4dr, I remember Nancy Wilson of Heart, pulling up next to him at a stop light and laughing. He thought she was flirting, but he was wearing his Captain Hook’s uniform. To summarize Groundhog Day,, “Don’t Drive Angry”.

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  7. Jesper

    Almost as bad as this Mercedes coupe

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    • Josh66

      Jesper – where is that coupe? Some of the trim could help mine out…

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      • waynard

        What else do you need? I might have some trim items from a 280SL lying around from a car we parted and crushed.

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      • Jesper

        Hi Josh.
        Its in east germany.
        But some of stainless is still good.
        But there is not much left’ of that car.
        Its a shame. Its a cool model.

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  8. Bob Hess

    Fred… agree with you on Florida as all the vacations we took down to the Panhandle were to get out of the sweltering heat of the middle of the deep south north of you. My first AC ride was as a very young kid in my family’s doctor’s ’54 Olds Super 88 two door hard top with leather interior. A blue exterior similar to the Buick just above with a white top with the blue leather. Never forgot that one!

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  9. JimmyinTEXAS

    Sold. Someone got them self a deal.

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  10. Lion

    I had a LeSabre just like this. I bought it in ’66 off a GM used lot. Beautiful … black with blue interior. It was the worst piece of crap I ever owned. Went through three trannys and two engines before it was crushed and buried. It was our honeymoon car and she divorced me and took our 56 Chev and left me with the Buick. I still have the taillights, radio, and that neat clock, if anyone needs them.

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