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Rough Start: It’s Mostly Buick, Has Some Pontiac And A Lot Of Corporate, But Do You Really Care?


Rough Start: It’s Mostly Buick, Has Some Pontiac And A Lot Of Corporate, But Do You Really Care?

Yes, folks, BangShift’s resident cheap-ass is back to surfing Craigslist for cars that with a total investment of $5000 just might be worth the work. Today’s surfing has taken me to the Tri-Citites area of Washington State, where after a few minutes of searching I’ve turned up this 1979 Buick LeSabre coupe for sale. If there is one thing that I can’t pass up, it’s a good B-body coupe, and this one has plenty to make it worthwhile.

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On the surface it looks like most late-70s Buicks. The body looks presentable enough, the interior is stock and could use a cleaning, and other than the 1980s era Z28 wheels, there isn’t much to make one think that this wasn’t anything more than Uncle Herbert’s old Buick that nobody wants anymore. But apparently Herb was busy in the garage, because under hood lies a Pontiac 400ci V8 with some goodies from Edelbrock and Holley attached. There isn’t much else written about any other modifications, so this could simply be a hot engine in an otherwise stock car or this could be one hell of a sleeper…with the price sitting at $1300, I tend to believe the former. But that isn’t a bad thing, as a good Pontiac mill is more than capable of waking up the otherwise sleepy Buick. While a good look-over is needed to figure out what exactly is needed, it goes without saying that a serious interior cleaning and detailing should be in the works and a new wheel/tire package is desperately needed…maybe some cop Caprice steelies with some Buick hubcaps to pull the sleeper look, though I’d personally go for a set of good 15×8 mags. It’s not like a LeSabre is normally looked at as a “performance car”, even nowadays.

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With an asking price of $1300, there will be plenty left over in the budget to bring this B-body up to par with very little work involved. And rare for a Rough Start, paint isn’t even on the list of things to change…the cream/copper two-tone look is so funky that it should be kept!

CLICK HERE to see the Craigslist ad for the LeSabre!

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9 thoughts on “Rough Start: It’s Mostly Buick, Has Some Pontiac And A Lot Of Corporate, But Do You Really Care?

  1. Nick D.

    I once spotted one of these LeSabres, a sedan instead of a coupe, for $1200 with a swapped-in 454 Chevy. I kick myself for not going to look at that thing. Even if it had been a pile, it probably would’ve been worth it just to do donuts and burnouts everywhere.

  2. ANGRYJOE

    I am a big fan of 70’s land boats and the browner the better. My first car was a tan-ish 78 Delta 88 and I loved it. This thing would be a perfect car to have some fun with on a budget…These are comfy, and ride well…it wont carve corners without serious work but for a good, fun driver…it is perfect.

  3. JoeSnow

    After the great downsizing of the late 70’s, a lot of formerly full sized cars were in the same weight class as cars that were formerly considered mid-sized. Yanking a motor from a V8 Camaro or Firebird and dropping into one of these cars would be like resurrecting the muscle car era from the grave with the advantage that your VIN would probably say you only had a 305 Chevy or 307 Oldsmobile (or some other low output 6 or 8 cylinder engine) under the hood so you wouldn’t find yourself in your insurance company’s high risk pool.

  4. aircooled

    Car was probably originally equipped with a Pontiac 301 like my parents’ ’79 LeSabre Limited sedan was.

  5. Tedly

    You’re right about those wheels, they just don’t fit. Way too much space in the rear wheel wells especially. Swap the wheels, drop it down a couple of inches, tint the windows, clean the scuzz off the upholstery and it would look so much better.

  6. derbydad276

    rebuild the A/C and cruise control systems throw it on a set of 17 or 18 inch Cragar Bonneville series wheels with some 245/50 tires lower it a couple inches re stitch the front seat
    it would make a great Power Tour car

  7. Doug merchen

    Come to South Dakota. I have a 84 caprice 2 dr that I put 9 c1 rear end and front brakes on just waiting for an ls swap or what ever.

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