Item: 1960 Rare Buick LeSabre Convertible
Asking Price: $19,000.00
Description and Image By: daddyo-z
This car is in much better than average condition.
White exterior, red and white vinyl interior, black cloth top.
364 cu. in. (6 litre) Wildcat V-8 with 2 bbl Stromberg carburetor
Overhead valve Wildcat (nailhead) engine, 10.25:1 compression, 250 HP
Dyna-flow Twin Turbine super smooth transmission with Torque Tube driveshaft
Front suspension: upper and lower A-arms, coil springs
Rear suspension: live axle, coil springs
Brakes: front/rear aluminum drums
Power Steering option, Mirro-Magic Instrument Panel, ignition switch under gas pedal.
Custom Dual exhaust with Flowmaster mufflers
American Racing Torque Thrust II magnesium wheels with good BF Goodrich TA Radial 225 x 70 – R15 tires.
Delta Wing styling, last of the Detroit tail fins, headlights styled from the B-52 bomber jet engines.
13,588 convertibles produced (Flint, Mich.) They didn’t make many and there are very few left.
This is the only 1960 Buick convertible we know of in the St. Louis area, and I’m told they are rare everywhere.
This is a beautiful car, much better than a daily driver or “20-footer.” It has always been well-cared-for and I have used it as a weekly and sometimes more frequently, nearly daily driver. It has always run reliably and even won some car show plaques, though it is not really a concourse level show car.
The car has never had a top to bottom restoration, but has had paint, mechanical and interior work when needed. There are pits in some of the chrome. There has been rust repair in the lower rocker panels and lower rear quarter panels behind the rear wheels. They used fiberglass which looks perfect on the outside and appears to be a quality job that has not reappeared. The engine is tight and runs perfectly, as does the transmission.
The speedometer ran about 10-20 miles an hour too fast with the original tall bias-belted tires that were on it when I bought it. Then the speedometer sped up to 20-30 miles per hour higher, as a result of the radial 70 series tires I put on with the mag wheels. So the miles on the odometer are also too high at 103,000. I estimate the true mileage under 90,000. I still have the original tires, wheels and hubcaps.
The convertible top is in excellent condition and has a white vinyl boot that snaps over when the top is down.
The clock, radio and gas gauge have never worked for me. The power top worked well until just this last summer when the electric switch failed. I detached the hydraulic piston rods from the top, and have been raising and lowering the top easily by hand. The heater fan does not work.
The heater core has been rebuilt, the gas tank cleaned and sealed, the transmission rear seals have been replaced. The pilot shaft on the drive shaft and its U-joint have been replaced.
The turn indicator actuator wire/rod inside the steering column has failed and that has also turned the brake lights off, but they will work when the blinker rod is replaced, I am currently trying to repair this.
I’ve replaced steering and suspension control arms and ball joints, rebuilt and replaced the water pump this fall. The engine doesn’t vibrate rattle grind or smoke. It feels like it has all the power it was meant to have, and the mufflers make it sound like a muscle car, though the 2 bbl carb is way better for gas mileage, which I estimate at around 12-16 MPG.
This car has been a joy to own and is a HUGE crowd-pleaser. I bought it to cruise around with my family of five and now they are grown and running around in their own cars.
When I bought the car it had no seat belts, so I think it may have been in storage for many years. Someone fixed it up and sold it to the dealer I bought it from. I bought it from a classic car dealer in Park Hills, MO and they said they bought it in New Jersey. That is all I know about it. I put in six pairs of original style GM seatbelts, and have had a great time cruising with my kids and their friends. Beautiful car.