12/6/05
Chapter 1 Requiem for LeSabre
The obituary of the late-departed LeSabre starts with:
The "Earl-y" Years 1927-1958
Harley Earl came to Cadillac in 1927 to design the new Lasalle, which had a successful production run until 1940. In 1938 he introduced his first concept car, the Y-Job.
Richard Earl, grandson of Harley Earl maintains the carofthecentury website, a fascinating retrospective graced by excellent commentary and fabulous graphics. It gives insight into designing, engineering, and naming of the 1951 Le Sabre concept car -as well as the Corvette. The Le Sabre dream car was conceived in July 1946, named in 1949 and delivered in July 1951.
The Magellan site reminds us Cadillac was the first to sprout vertical fins. As ad on the Plan59 website illustrates, even stogy Chrysler knew Harley Earl was onto something. The flashy tail fins and curvy bumpers maxed-out about the time of the LeSabre production launch. The chrome-plated dagmars (busty, rubber-tipped bumper protrusions) were so named because they resembled the statuesque torso of a 1950's TV star. Ogle the real thing(s) on a 1951 Life Magazine cover. Those dual chrome things reached their apex in the 54 Buicks -notably on the sexy Skylark. In any case, the busty 51 LeSabre, was not the shape of the first production LeSabres.
The Production LeSabres
The vertical fins of the 51 concept had morphed into bat wings of the XP-75 concept buick ...and thence to the Chev Impala and to the new 59 Buick LeSabre.
The wings disappeared in 1961, but Earl's successors maintained sculpted body work surrounded by massive bumpers through the 1970 model year. For the 1966-1970 period, Buick's B-body styles included LeSabres, Wildcats and Estate Wagons.
For Lesabre, the styling rift came in 1971. Going from curvacious to tubby, broad hoods and trunks predominated. Honorable mention goes to the '87 to '89 Lesabre T-types inspired by the turbo-charged Regal. The 1970 Lesabre and WildCat equipped 455's , however, were the marques' last true muscle cars. The convertible survivors are now coveted collectibles because of performance and miniscule production -plus sculpted contours.
Convertible Production Numbers
'69 LeSabre, Model 45467 =3,620 ..'69 Wildcat Mod 46667 = 2,374
'70 LeSabre, Model 45467 =2,487 .."70 Wildcat Mod 46667 = 1,244
Except for grilles, hoods, and rear bumpers, the '69 and '70 LeSabres/Wildcats are almost identical and share model numbers. Ditto for 69/70 Electras.
"69 Electra Convertible, Model # 48467 = 8,294
"70 Electra Convertible, Model # 48467 = 6,045
Although not nearly representative of survivorship, the 2008 Buick Club of America roster shows:
Seven members own 1969 Lesabre convertibles & 18 own 1969 Wildcats.
Eleven members own 1970 LeSabre convertibles & 19 own 1970 Wildcats.
Fifty-seven members own 1969 Electra convertibles & 72 own 1970 Electras.
When stylish cars were built, Buick built them. Earl's most beautiful production design was not a LeSabre, but a limited-edition '53 Skylark convertible, to be followed later by the more compact and nifty '62 Skylark convertible.
America's greatest auto stylist ...and marketing genius extraordinnaire died in 1969 at age 75. The last convertible LeSabre was marketed in 1975 and the last LeSabre was built in 2005.
After a 46-year production run LeSabre died. R.I.P.
PS
For excellent reads on the life and accomplishments of Harley Earl, see Alan Tay's Feb 13, 2008 article in the Palm Beach Post, and read a 1998 in the Detroit News by Vivian Baulch.
The "Earl-y" Years 1927-1958
Harley Earl came to Cadillac in 1927 to design the new Lasalle, which had a successful production run until 1940. In 1938 he introduced his first concept car, the Y-Job.
Richard Earl, grandson of Harley Earl maintains the carofthecentury website, a fascinating retrospective graced by excellent commentary and fabulous graphics. It gives insight into designing, engineering, and naming of the 1951 Le Sabre concept car -as well as the Corvette. The Le Sabre dream car was conceived in July 1946, named in 1949 and delivered in July 1951.
The Magellan site reminds us Cadillac was the first to sprout vertical fins. As ad on the Plan59 website illustrates, even stogy Chrysler knew Harley Earl was onto something. The flashy tail fins and curvy bumpers maxed-out about the time of the LeSabre production launch. The chrome-plated dagmars (busty, rubber-tipped bumper protrusions) were so named because they resembled the statuesque torso of a 1950's TV star. Ogle the real thing(s) on a 1951 Life Magazine cover. Those dual chrome things reached their apex in the 54 Buicks -notably on the sexy Skylark. In any case, the busty 51 LeSabre, was not the shape of the first production LeSabres.
The Production LeSabres
The vertical fins of the 51 concept had morphed into bat wings of the XP-75 concept buick ...and thence to the Chev Impala and to the new 59 Buick LeSabre.
The wings disappeared in 1961, but Earl's successors maintained sculpted body work surrounded by massive bumpers through the 1970 model year. For the 1966-1970 period, Buick's B-body styles included LeSabres, Wildcats and Estate Wagons.
For Lesabre, the styling rift came in 1971. Going from curvacious to tubby, broad hoods and trunks predominated. Honorable mention goes to the '87 to '89 Lesabre T-types inspired by the turbo-charged Regal. The 1970 Lesabre and WildCat equipped 455's , however, were the marques' last true muscle cars. The convertible survivors are now coveted collectibles because of performance and miniscule production -plus sculpted contours.
Convertible Production Numbers
'69 LeSabre, Model 45467 =3,620 ..'69 Wildcat Mod 46667 = 2,374
'70 LeSabre, Model 45467 =2,487 .."70 Wildcat Mod 46667 = 1,244
Except for grilles, hoods, and rear bumpers, the '69 and '70 LeSabres/Wildcats are almost identical and share model numbers. Ditto for 69/70 Electras.
"69 Electra Convertible, Model # 48467 = 8,294
"70 Electra Convertible, Model # 48467 = 6,045
Although not nearly representative of survivorship, the 2008 Buick Club of America roster shows:
Seven members own 1969 Lesabre convertibles & 18 own 1969 Wildcats.
Eleven members own 1970 LeSabre convertibles & 19 own 1970 Wildcats.
Fifty-seven members own 1969 Electra convertibles & 72 own 1970 Electras.
When stylish cars were built, Buick built them. Earl's most beautiful production design was not a LeSabre, but a limited-edition '53 Skylark convertible, to be followed later by the more compact and nifty '62 Skylark convertible.
America's greatest auto stylist ...and marketing genius extraordinnaire died in 1969 at age 75. The last convertible LeSabre was marketed in 1975 and the last LeSabre was built in 2005.
After a 46-year production run LeSabre died. R.I.P.
PS
For excellent reads on the life and accomplishments of Harley Earl, see Alan Tay's Feb 13, 2008 article in the Palm Beach Post, and read a 1998 in the Detroit News by Vivian Baulch.
