Brian Earnest
Bill Hitchcock knew the judges missed one little flaw.
It was two summers ago in Lisle, Ill., outside of Chicago and Hitchock was having his stellar 1964 LeSabre sport coupe judged in the Archival Class for all-original cars at the big Buick National Meet. He knew that if the judges looked hard enough, the could find at least one thing that would get him docked a point.
“They have a 400-point scoring system and they put two judges on this car and it got what’s called the Elite Award, which is 385 points or higher,” Hitchcock recalled. “I had to request my score from Nationals and I got it in the mail, and I got 400 out of 400. They couldn’t find anything wrong.
“Well, the one thing that they missed was the oil filter was a NAPA. It wasn’t an AC filter, but it was turned and they couldn’t read the NAPA on it!”
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Given that it batted .1000 in front of eagle-eyed Buick judges, it wouldn’t be a stretch to call Hitchcock’s amazing Buick the best original ’64 LeSabre in existence — and maybe the best of its kind period, restored or not. Somehow, the car has passed through a long string of owners around the country and remained in near-perfect condition. There doesn’t seem to be any particular rhyme or reason for while a big, family cruiser — meant to be a cushy family hauler and daily transportation — would be so pampered its whole life. The LeSabre currently shows just 33,000 miles and change on the clock, and Hitchcock is responsible for about 2,000 of those in the short time he has had it.
“It was owned by collectors from day one,” he chuckles. “That’s the difference with this one. It just never got driven.”
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As thrilled as Hitchcock is to have finally given the LeSabre a permanent home, he actually missed a chance to land it earlier. Somehow, fate just seemed to insist that he and the car hooked up.
“I tell people the car found me,” says. “I live in Milwaukee, and in 2017 we had the Buick Nationals in Milwaukee. And an individual from Indianapolis named Todd Jaworski called me and had two Buicks he wanted to bring up from Indianapolis and he had only one trailer, and he asked me which one of these I wanted to store. I said I got room, I’ll take the LeSabre and store if for you.”
“Well, he took it to the show and he wanted to sell it, but nobody would buy it. So he ended up coming back to my house and we almost made a deal for it, but it wound up falling through, and instead of going back to Indianapolis, he took it up to the Lake Superior Region and put it in a building. Fast froward to 2022 and now the Buick National are bing held in Lyle, Ill., and I’m about call him because I have a big neon sign that fits his ’54 convertible, and the phone rings and it’s him! He asked if I still had the sign and I said yes. I said do you still have the LeSabre and he said yes. So we worked a deal where he brought the car to my house. This car was in my garage twice, it was the only time I had seen it and I bought it!”
Brian Earnest
THE LESABRE LEGACY
The long-running LeSabre nameplate debuted for the 1959 model year as the lowest-priced offering Invicta and Electra series, but by 1961 its status was elevated with the introduction of the bottom-tier Special line. The first-gen LeSabre proved to be extremely popular wherever it was positioned and wound up being Buick’s top seller from 1959 through 1964.
By 1961, GM made the LeSabre slimmer, and sleeker, and the car remained a strong seller. A big redesign was in the way in 1965, but 1964 models still got a mild refresh that included a handsome new stamped grille in front. A narrow bright bodyside molding decorated the back third of the body, with the series signature residing above it, near the fender end.
Standard goodies on the LeSabres included electric windshield wipers; Step-On parking brake; padded instrument panel; directional signals; front and rear armrests; dual sun shades; courtesy lights; dual horns and cloth upholstery. Cloth and vinyl trim was optional. The convertible was trimmed in all-vinyl, with front bucket seats optional. A Custom trim package option included full-length bright bodyside moldings, with a brushed metallic insert.
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Also new for 1964 was the 300-cid V-8 rated at 210 hp. It replaced the old 401-cid “Nailhead” V-8. A 250-hp version with four-barrel carburetion was also optional. A three-speed manual on the tree was standard with a four-speed on the options list. A two-speed Super Turbine 300 automatic transmission could be mated with the two-barrel 300 V-8. A three-speed Super Turbine 400 came with the four-barrel versions and the 401-cid V-8 that was still used in the Estate Wagon.
Inside, the LeSabres were tough to beat. Leg and headroom were spacious, and the seats were soft and inviting — worthy of a high-end 1960s “cocktail cruiser.” passengers were met with ample brightwork, lots of room and living room chair comfort. The huge instrument panel was clean and uncluttered, with two large round gauges serving a variety of functions, all set back under a padded dash surround.
Buyers could order their ’64 LeSabre as a four-door hardtop or sedan, two-door sport coupe or two-door convertible. The two station wagons were technically grouped in their own series and were trimmed as LeSabres and equipped with the Wildcat’s chassis and power trains. The LeSabre four-door sedan was by far the most popular of all Buicks for 1964 with 56,729 produced. Hitchcock’s car was one of 24,177 sport coupes built for the model year and would have carried a base price of $ 3,061 before any of the accessory boxes were checked.
Hitchcock’s LeSabre still carries its original 300-cid V-8 mated to an automatic transmission. “It’s the Wildcat 355. It’s 355 ft.-lbs. of torque and 250 hp,” he notes.
“Then it has the Super Turbine transmission; power steering; power brakes; power windows; power seats; power antenna; power seats; power antenna; vacuum-operated trunk; console; bucket seats; tinted glass in the front; no air – for a California car that seems unusual. And it’s still got the original floor mats!”
Buyers and GM brass all seemed to remain fond of the LeSabre through many generations. The name first appeared in 1959 and held down the fort as Buick’s lynch-pin mid-level full-size do-everything machine. Buick never really deviated from the formula of a plush, full-size, rear-drive heavyweight available in multiple body sizes that appeal to a wide-range of buyers (at least those not looking for a compact economy car). The LeSabre finally bowed out in 2005 after a run of 46 consecutive years.
Brian Earnest
33,000 MILES … AND COUNTING
Hitchcock inevitably has to retell the ownership history of his ’64 when show-goers stop and take the time to understand how pristine and unusual his big Buick hardtop is. He is still a little incredulous himself at how the car has sailed so cleanly through so many garages without a scratch.
“The very first guy was in Los Angeles. He bought it and I think he tried to fake it as a Wildcat to his wife because it’s got all the cool stuff [like a Wildcat],” he says. “It’s got power windows, the bucket seats, all that…As near as I can tell, he owned the car for 29 years, and then he sold it to a guy on the East Coast who is kind of famous, named Captain Jim Brown. He took it from California on a trailer to Virginia where he lived. And he wound up with first places in National Antique Automobile Club of America [shows], and then he got up in years and he sold it in 1999 with 29,000 miles on it. At that point I lost some of the history on it. It resurfaced in Carlisle and Hershey, out in Pennsylvania, and then it disappeared for a while and it wound up in a Raleigh auction, where [the last owner] bought it.”
“The guy I bought it from had it 6 years and put 109 miles on it. But everybody that owned this car has treated it as a show car — until me! I’m the guy who has taken it from trailer queen to highway driver. It’s got 33,000 miles on it now.”
Even for the most discerning eyeballs, it would be hard to find a flaw on Hitchcock’s baby. It simply looks like a brand new car from bumper to bumper, inside and out. He doesn’t blame people who seem skeptical when they see the LeSabre for the first time and find out the car has never really been touched, other than cleaning and routine maintenance.
“If you look close at the paint, it’s not perfect!” he laughs. “It’s factory paint. They weren’t perfect. But the thing is it’s never really been out in the sun.”
Brian Earnest
The only thing Hitchcock says he’s done to the Buick is swap out the deteriorating bias-ply tires for some radials so he can safely drive it. For all its wonderful “time capsule” qualities, he says he bought the full-size coupe to drive and enjoy, not just admire.
“This is just what I call a turn-key car. You just get in it and go,” he says. “With the bias tires it drifted all over the road. With the radials it’s straight and true. It shifts flawlessly. I’ve never driven it above 75 mph, I like to keep it at 60, 65 … It’s got that annoying speed alert buzzer when you go too fast. But it drives beautifully. It doesn’t sway much… It’s got a little bit of a heavy-duty suspension to it.”
“So yes, I’m going to continue driving it. It’s just a really nice car, and I’m going to enjoy it.”
Brian Earnest
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