1971 to 1973 Centurion and LeSabre - notchback vs flat back. Back glass difference.

It seems that all Centurions had the notch back and some LeSabres had the flat back. Anyone know anything about this? This would be important to know when replacing back glass.



Thanks
Gary

 

Re: 1971 to 1973 Centurion and LeSabre - notchback vs flat back. Back glass differenc

Gary, those '73 Buick illustrations seem incorrect to me.

All 1971 - 1973 LeSabre 2-door hardtops and 1973 Centurion 2-door hardtops used the same rear glass.

All 1971 - 1972 Centurion 2-door hardtops ("Formal Coupe") utilized a different rear glass due to a smaller rear window opening.

To illustrate the difference, here is a '71 LeSabre 2-door hardtop and my '71 Centurion Formal Coupe:









Here's a full side profile shot of the '71 Centurion Formal Coupe; I have not been able to find an equivalent LeSabre image:

 

Re: 1971 to 1973 Centurion and LeSabre - notchback vs flat back. Back glass differenc

The illustrations come from the 1973 Buick sales brochure so probably just specific to 1973 models. I like the formal coupe look a lot. The brochure said it was available in 73 but I have never seen one. It is supposedly the same as the 4 door sedan back glass but I havent looked closely and only recently have I discovered there were two styles of back glass in 73. Are those your cars? They are mint!

 

Re: 1971 to 1973 Centurion and LeSabre - notchback vs flat back. Back glass differenc

Gary, the Centurion Formal Coupe is my car. My Dad bought the car new 44 years ago yesterday, so I have a very long-term interest in the 1971 - 1973 LeSabres and Centurions.

I think that you will find that all '73 LeSabre and Centurion 2-door hardtops utilized the same rear glass, and it is definitely a different rear window from that of the 4-door sedan. The rear window glass was shared with the Oldsmobile Delta 88 and Pontiac Catalina and Bonneville 2-door hardtops.

Again, I believe that those brochure illustrations are not accurate. No Formal Coupe body style was offered in 1973.

Gary, would love to see photos of your '73 LeSabre!

 

Re: 1971 to 1973 Centurion and LeSabre - notchback vs flat back. Back glass differenc

Here is one. Ill see if I can find some more. It's not as mint as yours but Im working on it. Thanks for your interest.

 

Re: 1971 to 1973 Centurion and LeSabre - notchback vs flat back. Back glass differenc

Gary, beautiful car! I love the color, and it's cool to see one without a vinyl roof.

 

Re: 1971 to 1973 Centurion and LeSabre - notchback vs flat back. Back glass differenc

Thanks. It's actually a LeSabre Custom so Im going to customize it some. The factory customs it came with were rear defrost and thats it. So its kinda wierd in that way that whoever ordered it got a custom with basically nothing custom, unless power brakes and power steering were options. I thought that was unique. So you think there was a mistake in the brochure regarding the back glass options on 2 doors?

 

Re: 1971 to 1973 Centurion and LeSabre - notchback vs flat back. Back glass differenc

Gary, yes, those '73 brochure illustrations are NOT correct.

If you look through the remainder of the brochure, you see that only one two-door hardtop body style / rear glass style was offered in 1973 for the LeSabres and Centurions.

The LeSabre Custom gave you a nicer level of interior trim, as well as standard wheel opening moldings, a lower body molding behind the rear wheels, and a slightly nicer rocker panel molding under the doors.

Cars were ordered very differently in 1973 than they are today. Most options -- like the rear defroster -- were ordered separately. The cars were not offered with option "packages" like we see today. Please remember that many of the people who were buying these cars new in 1973 had lived through the Great Depression, and many of the customers were very cost conscious. They picked and chose their options very carefully, so there are many of these cars that were built with few factory options.

Does the car have factory air conditioning?

I see that it does have the protective bodyside moldings, which were an option.

When you say that you intend to "customize" your car, I hope that you mean only that you will add original factory options. You have a beautiful, low mileage example, and, in my view, you will diminish the car's value if you modify the car to something different than could have been ordered from the Buick dealership in 1973. Adding original factory options or authorized Buick accessories is very acceptable, but other modifications will detract from the car.

 

Re: 1971 to 1973 Centurion and LeSabre - notchback vs flat back. Back glass differenc

dont worry Im not going to put carpet on the dash and bling it out.. haha. I feel the same way.
I am going to put a tilt column and I like the centurion steering wheel better. Tell me please. On a Centurion steering wheel horn button where it says Buick. On miine and my old 73 Centurion the Buick letters were just flat screened on but it seems in some pics I see of 71 and 72 it is a raised letters that say Buick on the horn button thing. Can you confirm that?

Id like to experiment with dog dish caps and wheel widening. But I wont do anything that cant be reversed. Ive put duals on it a while back. Ive already changed the two barrel to a quadrajet from a 70 Buick. Ive put an aluminum radiator in it. I put speakers in the package tray ( i did juse the existing openeings though). I want to add a RH side view mirror to match the LH. I like the Dog dish from the skylarks better than the full size so I will put those if they fit. I dont like aftermarket stuff so not to worry there.

No it does not have factory air. It was from Detroit and went in grandpas garage in 75 and didnt come out again until about 2004 when I bought it. So no air. It also had Ziebart done to it sometime in 73 when the original owner bought it.

Id like a chrome brake pedal that came on some Centurions Ive seen. I have a chrome gas pedal came factory on my car.

Thats about it. Oh Im going to keep the factory AM radio which I love but Im going to modifiy it to accept a signal from a mp3 player and use the radio volume and tone controls. That is a must for me. I had to replace the factory washer pump with an electric one. I want to add wiper delay somehow.

So there will be mods but I will maintain the spirit and Buickness of the car as much as possible.

 

Re: 1971 to 1973 Centurion and LeSabre - notchback vs flat back. Back glass differenc

Gary, the items you're talking about all sound great to me.

The steering wheel you're referring to was used on Centurions, Electra 225's, and Rivieras. I believe that you are correct about the raised BUICK lettering; I cannot confirm from my car since my car has the unusual rim blower steering wheel option (discontinued early in '71) that was a completely different design.

Please keep us posted on your progress.

 

Re: 1971 to 1973 Centurion and LeSabre - notchback vs flat back. Back glass differenc

I think I heard somewhere that the '71-'72 Formal Couple rear window treatment was accomplished with overlying pieces on top of the LeSabre window, then the vinyl top over the assembly, with corresponding occlusive interior trim. Hence, Lesabre and Centurion use the same actual piece of glass.

 

Re: 1971 to 1973 Centurion and LeSabre - notchback vs flat back. Back glass differenc

There was a fiberglass plug that went into the rear window opening to create a smaller window area for the Centurion Formal Coupe. The glass was actually unique to the Formal Coupe and was not shared with the LeSabre.

 

Re: 1971 to 1973 Centurion and LeSabre - notchback vs flat back. Back glass differenc

Adam, thanks for clarifying this!

 

Re: 1971 to 1973 Centurion and LeSabre - notchback vs flat back. Back glass differenc

Ok so is it final, have we concluded with absolute certainty the 1973 2 door lesabres and centurions had only one back glass style and the sales brochure is misprinted?

 

Re: 1971 to 1973 Centurion and LeSabre - notchback vs flat back. Back glass differenc

I would like to see a picture of your rim blower steering wheel that came with your 71. What other years and models if anything was that wheel put on?

 

Re: 1971 to 1973 Centurion and LeSabre - notchback vs flat back. Back glass differenc

Its possible that artwork was not complete or may have been early artwork because if you look at the front bumper in the artwork it does not stick way out like it actually does on the 73. That may be because the artwork is early which would explain why it shows a bodystyle that was never produced, or it may be because the protuding front bumper was unattractive and was therefore minimized in the sales literature. I dont know.

 

Re: 1971 to 1973 Centurion and LeSabre - notchback vs flat back. Back glass differenc

here are a few more now with the new cooper cobra 235/70/15 and Skylark caps. Im looking for some stainless steel caps as well for Lesabre. I think they came out in 75 Im not sure. Im also looking for a way to adjust ride height up 2 or 3 inches in the rear and 1 to 2 inches in the front.

I'd love to see what your steering wheel looks like if you have any shots of it.

 

Re: 1971 to 1973 Centurion and LeSabre - notchback vs flat back. Back glass differenc

Gary, thank you for the additional photos of your car. Again, it appears to be an excellent example.

Regarding the rim blower steering wheel, I do not have a photo, but I would say that it's a less attractive design than the standard Centurion, Electra 225, and Riviera steering wheel. See below from the 1971 literature: