It was usually Buick's lowest-priced model, starting out as a full-size car in 1936 and returning in 1961 (after a two-year hiatus) as a mid-size.

1933 was the first year all GM vehicles were installed with optional vent windows which were initially called “No Draft Individually Controlled Ventilation” later renamed "Ventiplanes" which the patent application was filed on Nov. 28, 1932.

A standard feature offered on all Buicks was a dashboard mounted selector handle that would alter spark timing and allow either low grade or premium fuel to be used.

Starting with 1936, the Buick Special Series 40 model range represented the marque's entry level full-size automobile.

A fastback was offered in Century and 40 Special trim as a four-door touring sedan and two-door business coupe and the 46S sedanette.

[11] The Special continued with minor changes until the prewar body was finally replaced halfway through the 1949 model year.

[2] The movie Small Town Conspiracy features a 1939 Buick Special 8 that the main character of the film John Haleran (Zen Gesner) drives as his official police car.

Halfway into the 1949 model year, the Specials received all-new bodywork to include a dramatically styled grille where nine grille bars also served as bumper guards and extended over the front bumper, and the first fully postwar design for the series.

For 1956 the larger 322 cu in (5.3 L) V8 engine was shared with the rest of the range, although it was replaced by the bigger, 250 hp (186 kW) 364 V8 for 1957.

This year also brought all-new bodywork, as well as a four-door hardtop station wagon called the Buick Riviera Estate.

[19] 1958 brought the most chrome yet and twin headlights, as the car grew longer and wider, albeit on an unchanged chassis.

GM renamed the Buick Special the LeSabre for the 1959 model year, taking the name from the 1951 Le Sabre concept car.

[13] In 1961, the car returned after a short absence of two years, but this time it was on the brand new unibody compact GM Y platform.

In their test that year, Road & Track was impressed with Buick's "practical" new V6, saying it "sounds and performs exactly like the aluminum V8 in most respects."

The two speed "Dual Path Turbine Drive" automatic was a Buick design and shared no common parts with the better known Chevrolet Power-Glide transmission.

It was also employed in other British cars, including the Morgan Plus 8, MG MGB GTV8, Land Rover, and Triumph TR8, as well as retrofits into MGAs and MGBs.

The Special, along with the upscale Skylark, were redesigned for the 1964 model year with separate body-on-frame construction—renamed the A-body—and marketed as an intermediate-sized car.

The Skylark was expanded to a full top-line series that now included two- and four-door sedans, two-door hardtop coupe and convertible, along with a station wagon.

The previous V6 was discontinued and the associated tooling was sold to Kaiser Industries, which used the V6 in its Jeep trucks and sport utility vehicles.

Optional on the Special Deluxe was a 350-cubic-inch V8 using a four-barrel Rochester carburetor that produced 280 hp (210 kW) at 4600 rpm.

A locking steering column with a new, rectangular ignition key became standard on all 1969 GM cars (except Corvair), one year ahead of the Federal requirement.

The Special returned briefly to the GM A platform as an entry level subseries of the Buick Century.