1960 Invicta : automatic transmission leak (in France)

[Frederic Mardon]

Hello,

I'm trying to help a friend who owns a 1960 Buick Invicta. He's the third owner of the car which is in original condition (never restored, with 128000 documented kilometers - yes, car was sold new in France and never left the town). As you can guess, French mechanics are far from being experts in automatic transmissions ... Since the owner doesn't speak english, I'm putting here his issue (I also apologize for my typos). The automatic transmission is severely leaking, as you can see on the picture: the leak is so important that we could easily capture a drop with his digital camera. The leak is at what we have been told is the torque ball.

The owner opened the end of the torque ball. A french supplier gave him a gasket to install, but we found no gasket to replace. See image below:

So, the first question that raised: does the torque ball act as a seal for the transmission fluid? Because of the leak, the owner already used more than 2 gallons of fluid.

A sale guy in Canada (Quebec in fact), after confirming with a GM specialist, says that it is the Torque ball that is faulty, so the owner ordered one.

The questions are:

- have you already seen such leak, and what was the diagnosis?

- have we been correctly guided, and could/can the torque ball be the root cause of the leak?

- any other idea? (don't know: leak would be coming from deep inside the transmission?)

Thanking all of you for your help,

Frédéric

[amipromo]

Frederic:

I am located in Switzerland and have several '59 Buicks. This problem is well known for me. You need to replace the outer torque ball retainer (with rubber seal), the seal against the propeller shaft and it's O-ring plus the two squared rubber rings at the inner and outer torque ball retainers. The torque ball itself needs no replacement normally.

If you need parts: I have all in stock here in Switzerland.

Good luck!

Martin

[Guest 70 Electra]

I am not able to offer advice on the leak problem, but was very intrigued to hear of a 60 Invicta that was sold new in France. Are you and your friend aware that the real vehicle in the true story of the "French Connection" was a 1960 Buick Invicta from France?

I'm curious if the French export cars were US-built or Canadian-built. The Canadian cars can be identified by the unique VIN numbers and a hybrid interior that resembles Electra seating, with Invicta door panels. Can you tell us more about your friend's car?

Both the French Connection car and the unique interiors of Canadian cars are discussed in more detail on my website, www.the1960buick.com

Good luck with fixing your leak.

[Centurion]

Greg, your question regarding the origin of 1960 Buicks delivered new to Europe is quite interesting. My understanding has been that General Motors assembled small numbers of Buicks at an assembly plant in Belgium during this time period. The cars were assembled from knocked-down kits shipped from North America.

At the Buick Centennial, I met and talked with some Dutch enthusiasts who shipped two 1958 Buicks over from The Netherlands. One of these was a beautiful Century 2-door Riviera that had been assembled in Belgium. A friend of mine has also heard from the owner of a 1959 LeSabre sedan in the UK, assembled new in Belgium and equipped with a factory installed sunroof. I will be quite interested to learn more regarding the origin of this 1960 Invicta.

[Guest invicta592]

A friend of mine owned a 53 Riviera which was a French built one (or so he said). KPH speedo instead of MPH.

[amipromo]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">My understanding has been that General Motors assembled small numbers of Buicks at an assembly plant in Belgium during this time period. The cars were assembled from knocked-down kits shipped from North America.</div></div>

Brian

In 1959 and 60 all the new Buicks that came to Switzerland were assembled in the Flint assembly plant. But in 59 only the models 4439, 4467, and 4739 were imported by GM dealers. That's a big difference to the Chevys: There was a small assembly plants for this models here.

Martin

[Frederic Mardon]

Hello everyone,

First of all, many thanks for your interest about my post. That's very appreciated!

I'll try to answer my best to all the questions.

History of the car: it was sold new in Grenoble, by the Majestic garage, which still exists, and sells now Opel cars (still GM). The first owner was a baroness, who drove only US cars, and each time her car reached around 60 to 70000 kilometers, she bought a new one. Then there was a 2nd owner, who kept the car only a few months, because when arriving at work with this gigantic V8 boat, his boss got mad and wanted to fire him (jalousy ...). Then, the third owner kept it during 32 years, and loved that car (he used to drive it in german highways when going back to family's home at 100 mph and more very frequently: the only car that was able to compete in speed with late Mercedes and BMWs). Now, the current owner is the 4th (and not the third as I said before). The car was registered in May 1960.

Interior: it looks like a US made model. Here is a pic of the interior:

Now, a pic of the car:

As you can see, it is a 4-door hardtop, equipped with power seat, power windows, power brakes, power steering, speed limit buzzer, radio, power antenna, automatic transmission and of course, a 200 kph speedo (or 220, I don't remember). Car is 100% complete, even with the jack. Just missing white wall tyres (sorry, I don't know what items were optional, since my own car is a 1958 Imperial).

The Citroën DS parked aside the Buick looks pretty small, and I must say that the Buick attracted an incredible crowd around it. People were amazed when seeing it length, and ederly ladies and gentlemen remembered the good old days of the fifties and sixties, when people from the high society used to drive US cars as a sign of refinement, here in France. It was "chic".

Transmission leak: many thanks amipromo. That's a great help. I'll contact you by PM. I'll most likely will request some pics of the parts you are referring to, in order to help my friend.

Have I answered all the questions? If not, let me know!

Again, many thanks,

Frédéric