1973 Buick LeSabre

1973 Buick LeSabre in Top Gear: The Worst Car in the History of the World, Documentary, 2012

Class: Cars, Coupé — Model origin:

Vehicle used by a character or in a car chase

Comments about this vehicle

Author	Message
Sinatra ◊ 2012-11-18 02:57	1973 Buick
carcrasher88 ◊ 2012-11-18 03:00	Electra?
rjluna2 ◊ 2012-11-22 16:40	Curiously, this one has amber/white indicators
Gag Halfrunt ◊ 2012-11-22 16:44	Looks as if the car is registered in the UK but has an unofficial (and unlawful) American style number plate.
electra225 ◊ 2012-11-22 18:07	Why one of the worst ???
Lateef ◊ 2012-11-22 18:15	Because Top Gear
Q-Ball ◊ 2012-11-22 18:59	Clarkson and his team are VERY funny, but they need to realize that big American 70's land barges weren't meant to do autocross and go around the test track. The LeSabre is still a classic, and I hope Clarkson didn't do anything too maniacal to it.
Nightrider ◊ 2012-11-23 09:21	And they still don't know that suspension tuning can make wonders...
CougarTim ◊ 2012-11-24 21:46	How can you hate a car so unapologetic about its shortcomings? It never claims to be anything other than what it is: a big and comfortable cruiser with an engine bigger than the typical London flat and a thirst greater than a drunk Scotsman.
Sandie ◊ 2012-11-24 21:48	I doubt that, I'm sure I could down a pint of petrol more quickly than the Buick.
Andre Malraux ◊ 2012-11-24 21:52	deleted comment
Commander 57 ◊ 2012-11-24 21:52	One of the classiest fronts of its time period.
chicomarx ◊ 2012-11-25 00:37	Yes, another Top Gear Hastily Cobbled Together for a Fast Buck Special. I quite like these Buicks too.
philr ◊ 2012-11-26 10:10	At least, it seemed to handle much better than the Lincoln that Clarkson was driving... I used to have a '74 LeSabre and it handled pretty well for a full size car! And mine didn't have the "Stage1" package or the "Ride and Performance" package that were available on the LeSabre that year. Too bad they don't compare this average family car on the track with an average British family car from the same period! Maybe it's because they didn't find British cars from 1973 that were still running well enough to test them on the track!
chicomarx ◊ 2012-11-26 19:17	PhilR wrote Maybe it's because they didn't find British cars from 1973 that were still running well enough to test them on the track! Zing! UMD 71L Date of Liability 01 04 2013 Date of First Registration 26 01 1993 Year of Manufacture 1973 Cylinder Capacity (cc) 5700cc Fuel Type PETROL Vehicle Status Licence Not Due Vehicle Colour GREEN
dsl ◊ 2012-11-26 21:00	Or because British owners of 70s British cars have realised that TG only want to drop pianos on them, swing them from cranes, fill them full of water until they explode, or other jolly japes. It is an understandable reaction.
caioficetech ◊ 2012-12-07 13:11	Terrible car, doesn't drive properly, terribly made... Cars from the US are made to STAY in the US, the speed limit is 65mph, big lanes (Usually Straight), cheap fuel so you don't care for small cars that are neat to drive on mountain passes. You want a confortable saloon, with loads of space that can drive off the shooping mall as quickly as possible to the 45mph speed limit of the city roads... -- Last edit: 2012-12-07 13:12:07
matt trakker ◊ 2013-02-16 06:09	^Clearly you know nothing about them. Any car on this platform from that generation of GM car can handle well with the addition of Bilstein 1104/0929, the addition of a rear anti-sway bar, and if desired, different springs along with wider low profile tires. It's apples and oranges. Those cars were built as an open-road or boulevard cruiser. They aren't the best ever made, in fact quality control was a joke back then, but how many European and Japanese cars of the same vintage do you see cruising around?
Charger1968 ◊ 2013-05-20 15:09	Clarkson is stupid. The only thing which he can do its drive fast on the track.
kudos ◊ 2014-08-14 20:04
Reg1992 ◊ 2017-08-03 12:41	matt trakker wrote ^Clearly you know nothing about them. Any car on this platform from that generation of GM car can handle well with the addition of Bilstein 1104/0929, the addition of a rear anti-sway bar, and if desired, different springs along with wider low profile tires. It's apples and oranges. Those cars were built as an open-road or boulevard cruiser. They aren't the best ever made, in fact quality control was a joke back then, but how many European and Japanese cars of the same vintage do you see cruising around? In 1973 quality control was not a "joke", it was perfectly fine for the standards of that time. The cars people complained about the quality were some of the compact cars GM tried to make (the Chevette, Citation, Vega, Pinto, etc). The full-size vehicles were mostly fine, though. Big and comfortable, if not maybe fuel-inefficient but otherwise excellent vehicles. Personally I love the Buicks of this vintage. Nothing wrong with them at all. As others pointed out, they just weren't made to drive like a supercar or anything like that.
johnfromstaffs ◊ 2017-08-03 13:13	What's a GM Pinto?
Reg1992 ◊ 2017-08-03 13:14	johnfromstaffs wrote What's a GM Pinto? Whoops
Baube ◊ 2017-08-03 13:18	i guess its about same as a Ford Monza..
johnfromstaffs ◊ 2017-08-03 13:18	Sorry, but I never can resist a leg pull when I get the chance.
the sad biker ◊ 2017-08-03 13:37	I love big old Yankee barges, unfortunately the end of the power wars in 69-70 and the fuel crisis coincided with the stylists developing eyesight problems.
Commander 57 ◊ 2017-08-03 15:07	I have lived with an driven cars from every decade from the 1950's to the present. Our 1970's machines were a 1971 Ford LTD Brougham, a 1973 Dodge Dart Swinger Special and a 1975 Buick LeSabre. All gave good service and had no significant quality control problems. We took care of them and they took care of us. I have found that proper treatment of a car and following the recommended maintenance schedules is much more important than the particular year or make of a vehicle.
CadillacFleetwood75 ◊ 2018-02-15 01:48	Compared (ridiculously) to a modern BMW 5 Series. If they had compared the 5 series to a Buick Regal it would have been a much more fair test. Or if they had compared the old LeSabre to a '73 full size BMW.

1973 Buick LeSabre

1973 Buick LeSabre in Top Gear: The Worst Car in the History of the World, Documentary, 2012

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