1961 Buick LeSabre Wagon, need help.

New to this forum,

I recently bought a 1961 Buick Wagon on a whim, and i'm not really sure what i've got on my hands. I'm also not sure how long I can keep it on my hands due to an upset wife....

Anyways the car appears to be a time capsule and in really good condition. The car spent most of it's life in Florida before sitting in a pole barn in Michigan. It looks like I can also show through documentation that its a ONE owner car.

I know very little about the car. I believe it has a 364 ci V8, two speed automatic transmission, and it does have the third seat. It has factory seat covers over the front and middle seat, and from what I can tell the original seats underneath are in great shape. The car runs and drives, but i've only driven it on my private drive.

So what do I have here, is it rare, what's it worth? It needs some restoration from sitting for the last twenty to thirty years, but nothing terribly major. I'll post some pictures and i'll try to get some more tomorrow. Thanks for the help in advance.

Nice find!

LeSabre's came with 364, Invicta with 401. Dynaflow automatic was 2 speed, but the Low range was not used in normal driving.

IMO your car should be preserved rather than restored if it is as nice as it looks in the pictures. And if you decide it needs a new home, let me know!

Thanks for the reply John,

I was trying to find some information on the 9 passenger wagons build numbers aswell. I found one site that said 2,423 were built. That number seems awful low, can anybody on here confirm that number?

The car will need a small amount of restoration as some rust has formed on the passenger side roof area just above the doors. I will probably try and get that fixed here soon.

I also found an empty glass bottle under the hood on the drivers side of the car, anybody know what that was used for?

And if anybody can help me determine what this might be worth, please chime in? I really have no idea if I have a 1500 dollar car or a 15000 dollar car on my hands.

Hagerty's car valuation site doesn't have that exact option - the 3rd seat, but for the wagon, in the lowest condition that they list, it's a $5k-$6k car. In researching cars that I own and/or bought/sold, I've found their values on the high side for the low-condition cars. Their condition scale ranges from concours to no-major-damage drivable, so they don't get down into the non-running / parts-car type of conditions.

Hagerty is extrapolating that value from 2 known/recorded 1961 LeSabre sales in 2013 & 2014, and a 1962 and 1963 sale, also from 3-9 months ago. 3 of 4 of those sales were for convertibles, and the other was a 2-door hardtop, so the numbers are higher, but they probably have a pretty good handle on how to escalate / decrement value for different body styles based on popularity and comparable sales for other makes/models.

You can try it yourself at www.hagerty.com under "valuation".

Check out www.hagerty.com They have a valuation tab that you can look up the latest values. Based on that, and considering that it is not a 400 pt trailer queen, it's probably worth between $6100 and $8500. which is between condition 4 and 3. If you bring it up to a BCA 350 - 375 point car, value could go up to anywhere between $11,000 to $16,700. However, you have to remember, that this is a valuation, not an actual "I can sell it at this price" - Sales are what is agreed to between a willing seller and a willing buyer. That could be totally different - positively or negatively.

Go on the website and take a look yourself.

The empty bottle, if it looks like a giant pickle jar, is for windshield washer fluid, I would imagine. Why not post a picture of what you are talking about to let other's chime in. I know the jar is for that on my 1957.

1961 Buicks have a rectangular plastic container for the windshield washer reservoir, mounted at or near the firewall. The glass bottle is for extra windshield washer fluid, to be added to the plastic container when needed. It should be a three-sided glass bottle which slips into a silver-colored holder which is bolted to the inner fender. 2,423 is indeed the production for the three-seat LeSabre wagon. They are rare. They also built 5,628 two-seat LeSabre wagons, which look just like the three-seat wagons except for the rear step on the bumper. I have a set of hinges/braces for the lower tail gate and also a set of tail light lenses (rare, wagon-only item). 1961 Buicks are very good cars and hardly ever give any mechanical trouble if they have been taken care of. Tell your wife that old station wagons are a good investment--better than money in the bank.

Pete Phillips, BCA #7338

Leonard, Texas

Thanks for all the info guys, i'm getting more excited about the car. Hopefully I can hold onto it and enjoy it, at least for a little while. I'm having problems getting the rear door to open up, and the window to go down. The window only goes down about 4 inches and stops, and I can't get the rear tailgate/door to open up at all. Any advice on how these work? Do they open up to the side or fold down? How do they come apart to oil them up?

Wagons also do not have a hi survival rate as they usually used and abused over the years. The auto headlight dimmer is a plus in the wagon, is a neat option for sure. NOW, you need to sit back and really think which you need to get rid of, the Buick or the wife. LOL I would give it a thought detail prior to making any restoration decisions to see what you really have to work with.

Tailgate will not open until the window is all the way down. Window may be stuck on wadded up or misaligned window channel weatherstrip. Take the interior cover off of the lower tailgate to get at it. I'm thinking the 3-seat version has an electric tailgate window?

Pete Phillips

Yes it's an electric switch that operates the rear window. I didn't know the window had to be all the way down to open the rear gate. Maybe that's why the handle won't budge while the window is up, i thought maybe it was just rusted inside the door. The window goes down about 4 inches and then gets stuck, maybe rust in the track or something else. I will have to see if I can get that interior cover off to see what's going on in there.

More pics if possible! Nice wagon..

Tom Mooney

Hi bad-Z28 from San Diego,

I'll echo my3buicks in saying that station wagons did not have a high survival rate in the 60s - probably even less so than the most common variety of the day, known as sedanus fourdoorus. Convertibles, while often built in the lowest numbers of a total production run, are far more common decades later for obvious reasons. This forum is very impartial to wagons of that era for that reason, especially if they were factory-equipped with optional equipment that made them more than just a "utility wagon" -infrequently ordered options such as cornering lights, the third seat, Autronic eye, or an up-level engine option, etc. Basically, think of it as a luxury SUV of today, only much more rare as many folks just check the top model due to carmakers being a lot smarter (and predatory) about grouping options into packages.

You may want to look at your acquisition this way: You are not really the new owner of that '61 wagon. You have become a caretaker of that car and that small piece of automotive history, a small piece that is closer to extinction because the survival rates for those models are relatively low. I'm sure it will be a challenge to find some parts because this is not a Mustang or Camaro where you can repro almost every part. Members like Pete Phillips have or are restoring Buick wagons and they will be of invaluable help to you in not only sourcing parts, but giving advice on how best to preserve parts.

Welcome to the forum and like Tom Mooney says, more pix!!