1987 Buick LeSabre Limited review from North America

Pretty much everything on this car has broken and been replaced, to the point where I think the only original parts on the car are the engine block, main body, and the back seat.(I'm serious, I have a stack of repair records about a foot thick). Most of it came from junkyards so mechanically now it's a 1991 Oldsmobile 88.

It's fast and durable. That about sums it up. It looks big on its own until you park next to a real full size car and see its really about the size of a Ford Contour (slightly wider and with acres more room inside). This car has a malfunctioning computer and a home-made ram air intake so its really fast. With cheap tires its hard to accelerate at full throttle without doing burnouts. Not really a problem when compared to some of the refined (wimpy) cars of today. This thing is solid steel and I think it weighs about 2 tons so its pretty much unstoppable. While it was parked a mustang ran into it at about 35 miles per hour and all I had to do was get a new hood, quarter panel and bumper. ($125 at the junkyard -- try to beat that with today's cars). This is one of the old LeSabres meant to corner and when used to its quirks it can be driven hard. (90 degree right turn 27 miles per hour) the fastest turn I ever made was at 47 miles per hour. A 4-door family sedan shouldn't be able to do that. But, in addition to being a great road car, it is an excellent off road car, although I hardly recommend that anyone drive it like I do. Anyway, I've driven through a forest (not on a road, not on a trail, the front bumper is surprisingly adept at leveling small trees), across a beach, and even through a foot and a half of standing water (feet got a little wet there). The seats are so comfortable I bought another pair and am currently using them in my house as a sofa. The trunk is huge, and when equipped with a luggage rack is capable of hauling anything. I've used it as a tractor, tow trunk, and for a brief rocky period, my home; and the way it takes abuse and continues running with only a minimum of expenses and repairs (so far oil only after 140K), combined with the incredible prices you can sometimes find on these things makes this the best automotive value of all time. It may be rusty, beat up, and leaking oil, but I wouldn't trade it for a new one.