A full 20-piece orchestra provides the fanfare for this introduction to the complete 1960 Buick line: LeSabre, Invicta, and Electra.
Like many brands in the USA, Buick no longer offers a traditional passenger car. The entire product line consists of crossover SUVs. But in 1960, GM’s oldest division was offering extravagantly styled, luxuriously equipped full-sized sedans with a number of distinctive operating features. One was the Dynaflow automatic transmission with its lack of perceptible gear shifts (see our Dynaflow feature here). Another was the novel starter switch built into the throttle mechanism. The driver simply turned on the ignition swith and pressed on the throttle pedal to engage the starter. Actually, 1960 was the final year for this signature feature.
In this original Buick spot, a full 20-piece jazz orchestra provides a dramatic fanfare for an introduction to all three models for 1960: the base-model LeSabre, the mid-priced Invicta, and the flagship Electra. Here, the Dynaflow has been rebranded as Turbine Drive, and there are no technical details. Rather, the focus is on Buick’s remarkable exterior look for ’60 and glamorous interior appointments. GM’s Flying Wing aka flat top four-door hardtop body style of ’59-’60 is also treated to generous camera time. (Read more on the Flying Wing theme here.) As the announcer declares, “This is Buick 1960!” Video below.
The `59 was the sublime high point of styling. For `60, they fixed what was not broken.
Actually, I believe they did fix what was wrong with the ‘59… they replaced the canted headlamps with more refined horizontal headlamps. Absolutely gorgeous!
In those beautiful pods
I thought I’d seen the Flying Wing somewhere before – it was on the Corvair, which I think was a great looking car.
In June of 1965 I spotted a black ’60 Buick Le Sabre 2dr ht on a GM dealer’s lot and just had to have it. With dad co-signing my first loan I got the car of my dreams. Within two years it went through two transmissions. If it did not start one the second try, you were screwed because the engine was flooded. And on our honeymoon trip the fuel gauge quit and the aluminum timing chain cover failed and it was pumping coolant into the oil pan. Managed to roll down a hill into a Chevy dealership in Minot and got it fixed. It ended up being crushed by a big dozer and buried. So sad. Years later I passed up a ’60 convertible project but it turned out the mechanics were fine in that car. One lemon can sure ruin it for ya.