So as I mentioned we drove the LeSabre home in a blizzard the night I bought it.

Yet somehow the bias-ply tires & RWD in combination

with New England roads didn't manage to kill me.

Weird.

Yup... it's 11:00pm, April 4th and we've got a full blown Snow Storm starting.

Next morning. Can't sleep, too exicted. I've had the car in my possession

for almost 12 hours now. Time to take off those 1959 Dodge wheel skirts.

Wheel Skirts are off, but I got some of my DNA on the rear quarter.

Ouch! She's a firecracker, managed to cut me pretty good.

Yes, I take pictures of everything.

Later that day I was running important errands, like... ummm...

I needed an Arizona Iced Tea & there is this store on the other

end of the Merrimack Valley that keeps them extra cold so of

course I had to take the Buick since I think the Datsun needs

an oil change... yeah, and the left front on the Infiniti was 1 psi.

low so taking that car was out of the question.

Long story short I rolled the odometer to 54,000 miles.

Dashboard, at night. In my honest opinion this is the nicest instrument

panel on any car EVER, including Duesenbergs & the Camaro concept.

I don't think I've owned a vehicle in the past few years that I have not

photographed in front of this Laundromat. I love old school neon.

Hmmm... high beams are too much, parking lights seem to work better.

Baby got back.

My driveway, XP's Lincoln & "Egg" are visible in the background, the

Super 88 is sticking out of the car port, Christoper & Izabella's T.P.

Cruiser is in front of that while Nick's Ranger Sportside is on the left.

Then there's the 1/4 dissassembled 1997 Cadillac STS, obscured by

XP's white diamond egg, and not one but TWO little 1st generation

Datsun Maximas. 1.5 of them behind the T.P. Cruiser.

Mug Shot.

Side-view Mirror closeup. Gotta love 1950s attention to detail.

Trunk Emblem closeup. I love 1959 emblems. 1960 was the

introduction of the Tri-Shield. I think the 1960 Buick is the

Automotive equivelant of messing with perfection.

Saint Memorial Hospital in Lowell. Had my stiches so I took

the Buick, parked it on the street & threw some quarters in

the meter. Street parking a car like this makes me a bit

nervous though, I should get LowJack for her.

Neat Church, thought it made a good backdrop.

This is the same parking lot where I used to beat the $#it

out of my 1968 Camaro and take videos of burnouts &

redneck drifting. (Drum Hill industrial park)

Tail light & tailfin closeup. See that little Honda Civic Si

running for its life at the mere sight of the Buick?

There was also a New Beetle in that parking lot, it

caught sight of my Buick and peed its pants. Although

I think more than one Prius has soiled itself when my

Buick has driven by. I love to Honk the horn a lot too.

Only at Hybrids & Ricers though.

Out of gas... L-town. Speeding Penguin watched the car while

I pumped my crazy legs and came back with a windshield

washer jug full of 93 octane from the HESS station that was

about 1/2 mile back on that road.

Edited April 7, 200718 yr by Sixty8panther

Where's ur gas cap? Mine is behind the back li. plate.

She looks so much better without the 'cruiser' skirts.

Does your speedo work? If so, how about the Safety Buzzer?

Great pix series.

That LeSabre is going to do more than just cut your finger, useless mortal, if you dare run it out of gas again.

That LeSabre is going to do more than just cut your finger, useless mortal, if you dare run it out of gas again.

Great pics,68!

That is a BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL BEEEEAAAUUUUTIFUULLL car man! Absolutely gorgeous!

Those are some sweet pics and angles dude! If you're running all of these "important errands" maybe you should swing by

Hell, if it's going to Philly, it's coming to Jersey, where it can nose up to a surgery-recovering Invicta and pep-talk it into rolling again.

The picture of the car in front of the laundramat with just the parking lights on would be a good submission for the C&G Member's Rides calendar!

Really great pictures, 68, but please no more bloody ones.

very nice, the brights on pic in front of the neons make it look like something from the stephen king novel...can't think of the name of it now though.

Balthazar:

That was the first imperfection I noticed, the mechanical spedometer

is off big time (10 to 20 mph depending on speed)

And YES, I hope I will be in the area at some point this summer so I

can stop by show off my new toy. GM1 also needs that gentle push

to get him into RDM.

O.B.

SHe's a cranky old bitch but I love her more than anythinjg except for Sofia.

BTW: Dodgefan just pulled out of my driveway about 20 minutes ago.

He came by for a quick visit tro check out the the B-59.

Edited April 7, 200718 yr by Sixty8panther

Simply AWESOME, Sixty8!

Thanks for sharing those pics with us .

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"We're outta here" ... Steve Azar ... 'I Don't Have To Be Me 'Til Monday'

It looks even better in person, and the gauges are so cool! I was lucky enough to see it today (erm, yetserday0. Congrats again Sixty9! (yes i meant that).

In the first picture, she looks none too pleased to have snow on her eyebrows. In that shot, she reminds me of a Snowy Owl, regal in white, wise and quiet, ever vigilant on her branch, ready to pluck an unsuspecting Camry off the avenue and savagely rip its guts out for a quick meal.

White lends this car an ethereal, heavenly, ghostlike visage... it glides through a sea of modern FWD boxes unfazed, untouched, elevated.

Edited April 8, 200718 yr by ocnblu

Congrats, Sixty8.

I showed these pictures to my father. His father had a '59 LeSabre hardtop in white. It's the car my father learned to drive in. Looking at those pictures brought back some good memories for him.

The story it brought to mind made us both laugh. His friend came running out to the car one day when my father was picking him up. The friend miscalculated around the end of the car when running and caught his nuts on the tip of the tailfin. OUCH!

Experience with products like this truly leave their mark on a person. My father's first purchased car was a '77 Corolla, since this was all he could afford while in Optometry school (second degree by necessity). After learning to drive in a '59 Buick and driving a '77 Corolla, the impression has lasted ever since. He's bought GM ever since, with the exception of one '83 Ford LTD wagon.

In the first picture, she looks none too pleased to have snow on her eyebrows. In that shot, she reminds me of a Snowy Owl, regal in white, wise and quiet, ever vigilant on her branch, ready to pluck an unsuspecting Camry off the avenue and savagely rip its guts out for a quick meal.

White lends this car an ethereal, heavenly, ghostlike visage... it glides through a sea of modern FWD boxes unfazed, untouched, elevated.

((AMEN!!))

That is nice. Those gauges are sweet too. Some other gauges I like are the ones in the 66 Charger but I don't know what they look like all lit up.

Sixty8- gotten used to the seating position in the LeSabre yet? :wink:

In the first picture, she looks none too pleased to have snow on her eyebrows. In that shot, she reminds me of a Snowy Owl, regal in white, wise and quiet, ever vigilant on her branch, ready to pluck an unsuspecting Camry off the avenue and savagely rip its guts out for a quick meal.

White lends this car an ethereal, heavenly, ghostlike visage... it glides through a sea of modern FWD boxes unfazed, untouched, elevated.

That's one fine spot of prose there,Ocn.

Wow...O.B. is Robert Frost reincarnated.

Yellow Dart: That is an awsome story, I can not beleive this is the first time

we are hearing about your dad's/grandfather's '59 Buick. Thanks for sharing

that, I love hearing that kind of stuff.

Nothing I have ever owned, including the '68 Camaro has e ver gotten me

so many complemnts, generated conversation or prompted people to tell me

stories of their owm personal experiences with '59 Buicks or cars in general.

Someday perhaps, if I'm up in your neck of tghe woods your dad can take a

spin in the old battle-axe. I let XP drive the B-59 a couple times, it's fun to

just be a passanger in that car.

Dodgefan: I'm glad you stopped by, thanks for the complements.

Am-Rev 2005: Thanks dude, there is not one dashboard on any motorized

vehicle on this blue planet of our that I like more than the '59 Buicks.

Balthazar: You know, I think it's just a bit more upright than my ideal but

it is not uncomfortable, it's a very proper angle for the seatback, I feel

very at the ready and alert when I drive it. Love those gauges & the firm,

big brake pedal. The lower, wider, longer stance is there almost as much

as it is evident on the Super 88 too.

More photos later today.

Those pics in front of the landromat remind me of your typical vintage 1950's-era ad or painting. Great shots. I gotta figure out how to take good pics like that.

This is a most beautiful car. I love the white on it, and I'm not a fan of white in general.

More Photos:

My daughter Sofia certainly is enjoying herself in the B-59.

I sat her down on the seat and gave her s box of crayons

so she could color her Tom & Jerry coloring book. This car

will become a summer-time daily driver for me so a few

crayon lines on the door panels won't make me freak out.

My buddy Robin, he's the crazy German I mention once in a while.

Super nice guy, helped me work on the car quite a bit already.

He's obsessed with UNIMOGs I'm trying to convince him to buy one.

My B-59 next to XP715's 1967 Cadillac "Razorback" Eldorado

at University of Massachusetts, Lowell. His Cadillac is one of the

FWD cars that I do not despise. The 429 still pulls like a freight

train. Fun stuff, we drove around all over the place that night, he

in his 40 year old Cadillac & me in my 48 year old Buick.

Next to the "EGG" (XP's Riviera).

He's been talking about a Boattail Riviera for as long as I've known him.

Interesting how this is a shot of 37 years of styling evolution. Both cars

are Buick 2 door sedans. I wish my LeSabre was "white diamond".

Another shot of the car at the cleaners.

East Gate Plaza

Many more to come later....

Edited April 11, 200718 yr by Sixty8panther

Sly- you must've noticed how close the seat bottom is to the floor- I've not been in another car where my legs are so nearly horizontal. I have no problem with it- it's part of the B-59 charm. But it was a bit of an engineering overlap: the 'old school' of a flat front floorpan and the 'new school' of a very low roofline.

Oooohhhh... I find it to be quite comfortable, visibility is good esp. considering the sheer size

of the nose and winged rear end. Considering the car's weight it handles very well.

I love the lower, longer, wider look of the late 1950s & early 1960s.

Visibility is excellent because the pillars are 1/3rd the size of modern pillars and of course the A-Pillar is at the least obstructive angle for visibility... yet somehow the pillars manage to be stronger. Progress, doncha know. Another big safety factor- you know where all 4 corners of the car are at all times.

Hood is not much longer than modern big cars, tho of course it's wider.

Does your girl have the full fan guard that closes off the space between the radiator and the cross-brace, or just the 3" wide bracket to the radiator?

Ur lucky, your tailfins are big thereofre enabling you to see the back edge of the car. Mine is the razor back style...i have to stretch to see the fins... but it is such a reliefe to not have to guesstimate how far you can backup.

Awesome pictures, Sixty8! Sure hope I can see this Buick in person someday .

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That might be possible this sumemer, KF. Keep your fingers crossed.

68, I think your current sig is a keeper. What a great pic!

That might be possible this sumemer, KF. Keep your fingers crossed.

*grins*

AWESOME!

C'mon SUMMER!

*pauses*

Course, I guess we have to get to SPRING first, don't we?

Aye.

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"She became the envy of my dreams" ... Kenny Rogers ... 'Scarlet Fever'

Here goes, more photos of the LeSabre.

Sofia in her "little tikes" police car.

The 1959 Buick with the Infiniti.

From the attic window.

This 1968 LeSabre 4 door hardtop has been for sale

for about two years, the guy is nice enough but he's

asking more than I payed for my B-59. The car has

more rust in the rear quarters & fenders than the

deck of the Titanic. Amazing how much different the

two cars look, even though they're only one decade

appart and the same make & model.

Driving around at night in Boston is always fun, esp. in a 1959 Buick.

That's the Prudential Center on the right.

Bowling Alley just outside of Fenway.

Bedford Motel & Endicot Estate

More shots of Boston at night... this is right by the common.

My car just ate Christine for lunch.

I snuck into the Lenox Hotel and ran up 12 flights of

stairs to get this shot, too bad they do not have an

observation deck on the 50th story of the Prudential

tower any more because that would be a very

interesting use of a telephoto lens.

Bentley of Boston

I love the Continental GT because it's a modern day

hardtop in the vein of an exotic muscle-car but I

think considering it costs about $160,000 more than

I payed for my 1959 Buick.

Coca Cola Bottling Plant

Another shot of the dash @ night.

This is a reflexion of my car in the side of the Handcock Tower.

The Super 88 will be in Norway in about a month.

Meantime these two gorgeous beauties share the

driveway. Hard to beleive they're only five years

appart, their styling is nothing alike.

I love this juxtaposition.

Spedometer shot. No I was ot really doing 120, it's WAY off.

I was probably going about 75mph. She felt rock solid too.

Finally, a shot of the 364 with a 2bbl.

Needs to be detailed. I will be posting some decent photos of

the interior soon too... that needs a once-over as well.

Oh man ... absolute LOVE those pics, Sixty8 .

I especially like the pic with the 2 LeSabres next to each other, 10 years apart. He he.

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Neat pics Sly.

Also, a word of warning from my father. Don't let the speedometer touch the end - it jumps down to 0 and gets stuck there. They had to take the whole dash apart to fix it.

I can see how that might happen seeing it is a big rotating drum but it

has not happened to me yet, not that I plan on drivig it like a jackass.

How do you fix something like that?

I would imagine if you take appart the dash & instrumet cluster and manually reset the

spedo drum by rotating it into place you would be all set. Easier said than done, right?

My father said the dealer fixed it under warranty and he was none too happy about it. As soon as he saw it, he knew that it was that way because they had gone over 120. It was just a matter of getting in there and unsticking the drum from whatever it was caught on after going all the way around. Taking that dash apart is not easy though.

Yes, that's right. 120 mph. Before 1977, Canada used Imperial too.

I was joking with XP about how my '59 LeSabre was a McLoughlin Buick since the

spedo is off by so much it almost seems it's in KM/HR. At 100 mph on the

spedometer the car was actually only going about 70mph which means that in

Kilometers it would translate to 110 or so.

On the way back from NH the other day I let XP drive the battleship & he eded up

being the first one to bury the needle at 120. Granted we were going about 80mph

maybe 90mph. At 100 on the spedo we were in the middle lane on Rt.3 & people

were passing us in the fast lane.

I was joking with XP about how my '59 LeSabre was a McLoughlin Buick since the

spedo is off by so much it almost seems it's in KM/HR. At 100 mph on the

spedometer the car was actually only going about 70mph which means that in

Kilometers it would translate to 110 or so.

On the way back from NH the other day I let XP drive the battleship & he eded up

being the first one to bury the needle at 120. Granted we were going about 80mph

maybe 90mph. At 100 on the spedo we were in the middle lane on Rt.3 & people

were passing us in the fast lane.

So, do you think the tires are a different size than the car was calibrated for, or is it just off because it's old?

How do you adjust for something like that on a car that doesn't have a computer?

I'm certain there's a way to adjust it mechanically.

Computers never make life easier. I love old cars

for this reason, there's always a simple and logical

way to fix a problem. There is something to be

said for a car you can work on, a car you can take

appart and put back together with your own two

hands. A car that has more metal in just the frame

than is found in an entire 2007 m.y. car.

I'm certain there's a way to adjust it mechanically.

Computers never make life easier. I love old cars

for this reason, there's always a simple and logical

way to fix a problem. There is something to be

said for a car you can work on, a car you can take

appart and put back together with your own two

hands. A car that has more metal in just the frame

than is found in an entire 2007 m.y. car.

hey sixty8, you think somewhere along the line someone changed your rear end gears? thatd defintley screw up your speedo... if so, you can correct it with a new speedo gear, obviously youd need to find exactly what gear youd need, but an example is like this

And like you said, old cars are so much better to work on... its so much easier for a guy to work on his car in his driveway on a computerless car

There are shops that specialize in calibrating speedos, call around.

I'm amazed at how small (short) that engine compartment is - that rad support is WAY back from the front of the car.

Amen! I love looking at an virtually empty space under the hood...it makes life so much more easy

Yup... the radiator support really is about 14" further back than you'd expect.

It's all good, the motor beig set back as far as it is makes for an exact 50/50

weight distribution just like a BMW M3 or a Corvette.

FYI: There's about two dozen new pics. posted on Page 2 of this thread as

of this morning, some photos of the car all over Boston including next to

Fenway on Opening day and and side by side with the Super 88.

Edited April 17, 200718 yr by Sixty8panther