- #1971 buick centurion convertible driver#
- #1971 buick centurion convertible manual#
- #1971 buick centurion convertible full#
While 1971 Buicks were available with engines up to a 4-bbl 455 big block, ours made do with the 350 2-bbl V8, the smallest engine Buick sold in their full-sized line that year.
#1971 buick centurion convertible manual#
The only option it did have was air conditioning: Otherwise, it was crank windows, manual locks, and a single non-powered, non-split front bench seat. Our LeSabre was not very well equipped, unusual for a Buick.
#1971 buick centurion convertible driver#
I would guess that we were putting 5000+ miles per year on it for a while, which is pretty heavy usage for a non-daily driver classic car. And then we drove it and drove it some more. Luckily, the Buick rewarded our faith with an incident-free trip. Pretty trusting of us for a 15-year-old car with literally no mechanical going over (not even checking the tire pressure). The first thing my brother and I did when we got the car was to go on a road trip to Indiana to get some fireworks (which are illegal in Ohio). All that was missing was Crockett and Tubbs, and some nose candy in the trunk.Īndy (standing) and I washing the Buick in the summer of 1988 The dead presidents were exchanged for the title and car.
#1971 buick centurion convertible full#
The actual transaction went down almost like a drug deal: My mom met the owner in the parking lot of a Bob Evans, literally with a briefcase full of cash. The LeSabre we found was just about flawless, and being 15 years old was at the bottom of its depreciation curve and therefore nicely fit our budget. I was hoping to find a GM intermediate and not a full-size, but being in higher demand decent examples of intermediates were out of our price range. With our renewed focus, we soon located a 1971 Buick LeSabre convertible in Bamboo Cream with a Sandalwood vinyl interior. Actually, this is still good advice for anyone getting started in the hobby: 60’s GM cars are generally of good quality, easy to repair, and most importantly, abundant, which makes them cheap to acquire and get parts for. To get the kind of reliability we wanted pretty much meant a mid- to late-60’s GM car. Another realization was that we wanted to spend more time driving and showing than wrenching, so no basketcases. After test-driving a few convertibles and greatly enjoying the experience, a ragtop quickly moved to the top of our requirements list.
However, we soon started to dial in our focus. I recall looking at everything from Corvairs to Corvettes, from 50’s lead sleds to 70’s luxo barges. I don’t think we knew exactly what we looking for, given that we were all over the place in our searches. Armed only with newspaper classified ads in this pre-internet era, Andy and I began our search. While the budget Mom gave us to work with (about $2,000) doesn’t seem like much, back in the mid 80’s many of the cars we now consider to be classics were just used cars. Maybe she realized that it would be a good family bonding activity between Dad, my brother Andy, and me (which it was). Yes, I am talking about the same Mom who wanted the appliance car featured in my last COAL. But a surprising ally came in the form of my mother, who seemed to encourage this purchase as well (or at least not discourage it). I figured my Dad would be fairly receptive, given the healthy dose of friendly competition between him and his brothers. So around my junior or senior year of high school (1985), I started lobbying my parents to get an older car. Once I got my driver’s license, I really wanted a different driving experience than was otherwise available with contemporary cars (realizing that the mid-’80s was pretty much the nadir of engine power). After several trips to Hershey and countless car shows, this became an increasingly obvious hole (to me, anyway) in our family motor pool. Most of my Dad’s brothers owned at least one, if not several. This photo, like all the pictures in this article, are of the actual car.Īs I have mentioned in my previous COALs, my extended family is crazy about classic cars.
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