The second-generation Buick LeSabre was produced from 1961 to 1964. Every year, the design of cars was changed, but the filling, in fact, remained the same. Three V8 engines were offered - with a working volume of 4.9, 6.0 and 6.6 liters. Transmissions - mechanical, three- and four-speed, or automatic, two- and three-speed. In 1963, they made 171, 183 LeSabre cars with different bodies, of which 8328 were two-door six-seat sedans. Buick LeSabre of the second generation was produced from 1961 to 1964. Every year, the design of cars was changed, but the filling, in fact, remained the same. Three V8 engines were offered - with a working volume of 4.9, 6.0 and 6.6 liters. Transmissions - mechanical, three- and four-speed, or automatic, two- and three-speed. In 1963, 171, 183 LeSabre cars with different bodies were made, of which two-door six-seat sedans were only 8328.
Gently moving on this Buick is very difficult. Instead of starting with a dignity that befits the giant of American engineering and design, he shows something strange. You’ll sort it out with gas, and the car scrolls the rear wheels with a juicy roar, and on wet asphalt it starts to vulgarly spin the booty. What did they build there under the hood?
Himself from the people
I remember that in the literature lessons at school we were told more and more about “typical representatives”. In 19th century literature, these are, of course, slaughtered peasants like Turgenev’s Gerasim and abandoned young ladies - say, Sonia Marmeladova, to be consumed by predatory capitalism. Well, in Soviet literature a worker reigned, a peasant woman and a laboring intellectual who joined them.
A thin steering wheel, painfully reminiscent of the one on the GAZ 24, in the early 1960s is the pinnacle of high automobile fashion. It was the Americans who invented the huge brake pedals. Not getting hit is so hard. A thin steering wheel, painfully reminiscent of the one on the GAZ 24, in the early 1960s is the pinnacle of high automobile fashion. It was the Americans who invented the huge brake pedals. Not getting hit is so hard. |
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Minimum devices. There is nothing to clog the head of the layman with unnecessary information! Minimum devices. There is nothing to clog the head of the layman with unnecessary information! |
The levers are cleverly hidden under the top of the dashboard. The levers are cleverly hidden under the top of the dashboard. |
Today, manufacturers boast of polished metal in the cabin. Sounds like it, right? Today, manufacturers boast of polished metal in the cabin. Sounds like it, right? |
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GAZ-12 ZIM: the party nickname Buick LeSabre was also supposed to be on the pages of a textbook on the history of the car, since it is a typical representative of its time. A model with this name appeared in the line of the company, which is part of the General Motors concern, in 1959 - in the heyday of American aerospace design. The stylistics of the 1961 version became noticeably calmer: the most bizarre fractures of the body disappeared, even the chrome became a little smaller. But, changing the appearance of the models almost every year, American firms were not particularly sophisticated over the filling.
At the heart of this red and white splendor is the same sturdy frame. Front - independent suspension on wishbones (very similar to the Volgovaya; rather, the Volgovskaya - to the American one), rear - long springs. Under the hood - of course, a huge V8 engine and automatic transmission. By the way, for the LeSabre model in the early 1960s (this two-tone beauty came from 1963), a mechanical box was also offered. But there were very few eccentrics who chose such an aggregate. And around all this - albeit a two-door, but a long and wide body. Here you have a typical representative!
Making large mirrors even for large cars was considered unnecessary. The main thing is grace. Making large mirrors even for large cars was considered unnecessary. The main thing is grace. |
Knitting needles, of course, are fake. It’s just a cap the size of a battalion pan. Knitting needles, of course, are fake. It’s just a cap the size of a battalion pan. |
The power windows are mechanical, the window is opened by a rotary handle, and the mirror is adjustable from the passenger compartment. The power windows are mechanical, the window is opened by a rotary handle, and the mirror is adjustable from the passenger compartment.
By the way, such a LeSabre with a two-door standard body was relatively inexpensive in 1963 - it was sold for 2869 dollars, and for a four-door version they asked for 3004 dollars.
What to compare? The base folk by American standards, the Chevrolet Nova (the cheapest representative of the brand) cost 2040 bucks, and the prestigious Cadillac Fleetwood, which was fetishized in those years in the USA, cost as much as 9939 “green” ones.
I talked a lot with the "Americans" of those years. Here is the same soft suspension and lulling sofas. Does it cradle? It happens. But American cars were made for American roads, and they are mostly straight and even. Buyers of American "cruisers" in their homeland have never seen potholes and any waves built by negligent road workers. And the "big three" in those years didn’t worry much about the foreign market. With a gigantic domestic demand.
Of course, the power of any American motor was enough for decent acceleration. But here is something special! Let's open the hood?
Biceps and Triceps
Under a huge red hood like a ping-pong table there is a tuned engine with two carburetors. Devices of the Edelbrock brand were installed, of course, complete with another intake manifold. Offenhauser has still sold and sells such kits. For an advanced American motorist, this name means a lot. After all, Fred Offenhauser began to build racing engines even with the famous designer of the 1920s, Harry Miller. Later, the company also made all sorts of bells and whistles to increase the capacity of serial units. They were put, in particular, on the so-called 401th Jiem engine (401 cubic inches, or 6.6 liters, of working volume). The standard engine in the early 1960s developed approximately 280 hp, and with the Offenhauser kit - up to 345 hp True, the “horses” were considered according to the SAE standard, but even that was a lot!
A handsome man with a volume of 6.6 liters, and even with the tuning kit Offenhauser. A handsome man with a volume of 6.6 liters, and even with the tuning kit Offenhauser. Related Materials
10 engines that turned the world up Just in the 1960s, the United States began a fashion for forced modifications of serial cars, the so-called muscle cars. Factory "muscular" differed not only in more powerful engines, but also in a different finish. And the purchased kits made it possible to turn an ordinary, even relatively inexpensive car into something like that. At the same time, the Americans did not change either the suspension, or the brake, or the steering! Madness of the brave …
That is the essence of the character of this Buick. He pressed a little sharper - and the huge "eight", persistently pushing the lazy gearbox, tears the stern into a skid. But even on a straight line, and not at high speed, you constantly involuntarily yank the steering wheel to make sure that the red steering wheel has at least some connection with something there, under the body. But in the parking lot, you can twist the steering wheel with just one finger, even if it has a long red nail. With such a steering wheel and such a suspension, it is indecent to talk about cornering behavior.
This Buick is not an athlete. Rather, a sportsman, and not so harmoniously developed. The same thing happened with other "athletes", not only with the Americans, although with them - especially often.
MAN AND ENGINE
Fred Offenhauser, nicknamed Offy (1888-1973; pictured left) is a Los Angeles native, son of a German. In 1913, he joined Harry Miller, a designer of racing cars. Together, they made a motor with which Miller won the race in Indianapolis. In gratitude, the driver called the engine the name of a talented mechanic. After the bankruptcy of Miller’s company in 1933, Offenhauser bought part of the equipment and continued to create motors that made many American racing cars famous. In 1946, Offenhauser sold the business, but the brand still exists. |
Not cloying?
The appeal of real American cars (those that are “wider than the street”) is hard to deny. Irony, sarcasm, and sometimes irritation are just evidence that they do not leave indifferent. Well, we admit, there is magnetism in them!
I remember with what huge eyes the boys of the 1960s watched a picture of Stanley Kramer "This crazy, crazy, crazy, crazy world" - the same age as this red Buick. For young fanatics not spoiled by the variety of the Soviet fleet and other information, this film was almost an encyclopedia of American cars - unusual, different, but always interesting.
The front back, reclining “with a turn”, is a typical American design. The front back, reclining “with a turn”, is a typical American design. |
The rear passengers have their windows and, of course, ashtrays. The rear passengers have their windows and, of course, ashtrays. |
Europe’s usual cars across the ocean were perceived quite differently - as a symbol of luxury and detachment from the problems of ordinary people. For example, in the Fellini films of the 1960s, especially in Sweet Life, American cars, sometimes difficult to fit in narrow European streets, played the role of sweets - very sweet, sometimes up to cloying. And since the “Americans” of those years from the point of view of the European understanding of the car are strange products, the forced engine makes this road “cruiser” even more unusual, and therefore attractive.
Buick LeSabre Buick LeSabre
