1951 GM Buick LeSabre Concept.

Posted by: @chris

Posted by: @jack-dodds

Hints of the '58 Buick in the front.

"Hints"  of about 30 different cars!  Think about any 1951 production vehicle, then study this Buick. 

You'll see future Cadillac front & rear bumper treatments, Buick & Desoto taillights, Chrysler & Cadillac fins, Lincoln Continental wheelcovers, Corvette & Oldsmobile for sure, heck, even Torando trunk mounted taillights! Buick side trim, GM egg-crate grill, even the name "La Sabre"  would eventually be used, etc., etc.,  ....just spectacular! 

And I didn't mention any of the mechanical achievements.

Again, this was designed in the late 1940's; this makes even a Tucker look dated! 

Your comments Chris, NAILED IT!  

I've always kicked myself for not buying the 1:24 diecast of this inspirational car.  

@david-green Hi David, following-on from our earlier discussion about the side grilles of the Le Sabre, I found in a book on Earl, an image of the original clay mock-up which the text dates as being 1949 (as seen on the blackboard) and which curiously does have the side grilles at this early stage. Another photograph depicts it with two tone paint work.  I would be interested to know the actual design history with all clay images and alterations.

Few of my pictures. Le Sabre was in DIA special exhibition several years ago and at Detroit Concours in 2022.

@charles-rockett 

From what I gathered from articles online, the LeSabre was modeled in 1949, introduced in 1951 as a running concept car, and then restyled in 1953 to its current configuration for the 1953 GM Motorama.  You can see how it was restyled in these pics:

@pete-rovero Many thanks Pete for this clarification of the '53 update and interesting photographs and thanks also to @chav for more crisp images to add to David's original post.