The typical family car from the Baby Boom era was a station wagon or a four-door sedan because you had to haul so many kids.
It was called the Baby Boom for a reason.
This 1969 Buick LeSabre 400 isn’t a typical family car because it only has two doors and it’s a higher-end Buick.
Jerry Sutherland
Those aren’t the things a family was looking for back in ’69, but this car was bought for Gordon Ivanochko and his mother as a daily driver.
Gordon was 16 when he became the most popular kid in high school thanks to this large Buick. He admitted he could squeeze eight kids in the LeSabre, and the passengers coughed up money for gas and beer. Gordon described it this way: “I supplied the car and they supplied the beer”.
He worked on the farm to earn the car, so Gordon had a solid sense of what it took to buy a car like this back in 1969. It came with a 350 Buick engine, so it was practical and fancy at the same time.
The LeSabre has had a repaint and the interior is new, but it’s basically the same car it was fifty-six years ago. The secret is in where it lived because it came from a dry Saskatchewan climate so there was very little rust on the car.
The front bumper has a minor ding in it thanks to a collision with a road sign back in Gordon’s youth—but it’s barely noticeable. There’s a slight wrinkle in the hood too, but Gordon wants to drive the Buick at this point, so he’s willing to live with a slight imperfection.
The car came with whitewalls from the factory, but Gordon tracked down some new redlines to fit the era of late 60s. He upgraded a few other things like adding dual exhausts and some other things that made the Buick a little better than factory.
The Buick has basically been on the road constantly apart from a two-year hibernation, but Gordon did start it over that storage period. It has 114,000 documented miles on it now, but it still runs like a watch and pulls down 17 miles per gallon with ease.
Gordon runs it a comfortable 70 miles per hour and the LeSabre handles that speed like a champ because a comfortable ride was always a Buick trademark. He took a 600-mile road trip and his 15-year-old grandson was behind the wheel for part of the run.
The car also was a Grade 8 graduation ride for his grandson, so the Buick has a fourth-generation fan in the family. The connection goes back to the day it rolled off the showroom floor, so this Buick is now a family heirloom.
There’s always a succession plan with cars like this because as Gordon explained, “It stays in the family. It’s priceless”.
That means Gordon’s son is next in line—that’s how it works with a family car.
Jerry Sutherland
By: Jerry Sutherland
Jerry Sutherland is a veteran automotive writer with a primary focus on the collector car hobby. His work has been published in many outlets and publications, including the National Post, Calgary Herald, Edmonton Journal, Ottawa Citizen, Montreal Gazette, Saskatoon StarPhoenix, Regina Leader-Post, Vancouver Sun and The Truth About Cars. He is also a regular contributor to Auto Roundup Publications.
CLICK HERE to Follow us on Pinterest
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE NEWSLETTER
CLICK HERE to Like us on Facebook
CLICK HERE to Follow us on Twitter
