(first posted 7/27/2013) Tom Klockau’s post about a ’74 Delta 88 Royale convertible last weekend reminded me of my own photos of a ’71 Delta 88 Royale taken a couple of years ago. It was somebody’s fair-weather driver, and it appeared regularly in the parking lot at work during that summer.
Eagle-eyed readers will remember a couple of photos of this Delta from my recent Cars on Film on Instagram post. Most of these photos were shot with various film cameras, and a couple are from my old Palm Pre–either way, this is one photogenic car!
I love these enormous tail lights, but generally I’m not a huge fan of GM’s 1971-76 full-sizers, which were floaty bloatmobiles. If I had to choose one of them, I’d take a ’71 hardtop coupe from any GM division, although I think the Olds wears the body best.
This Delta looks great in Nordic Blue and Super Stock wheels. Whoever bought it optioned it well.
It came standard with G-Ride (featuring Super Shocks) and Flo-Thru Ventilation, natch. Those GM marketeers could sure slather on the meaningless names. Of course, “G ride” has a whole different meaning today (I must admit that I thought briefly of taking just that kind of G-ride in this car).
However, I’ve never been a big fan of the new-for-1971 wraparound dash. Really, did they have to place the radio behind the steering wheel for maximum inconvenience?
Fortunately, I’m content just to stare at the lovely details of this car. While it could be a pampered survivor, or perhaps was restored several years back, it’s not perfect. Up close, you can see little problems, like chipped paint above the headlight bezel and that some of the trim pieces don’t line up. Of course, here at CC we embrace such imperfections.
Just for good measure, here’s one more photo of the Delta’s delightful tail. I took this one with a Polaroid camera, the kind where you peel off the print from the backing paper. With this Delta, I just kept going back for more–and I’m glad I did, because it didn’t come back the next summer.
Nice find Jim,I’m sure you’re trying to make a full size car fan of me.Another car I don’t see in magazines or shows very often thank you for a great read again
Can someone tell me what about those hash marks located under the rub strip behind the doors?
At first I thought it was part of the venting system, but if memory serves, the Flow-Thru ventilation was exhausted via the trunk lid.
I believe that the hash marks are pure decoration on these. The only functional exterior flow-through ventilation vents are on the deck lid.
Those hash marks are “royale” ID’s.
Great looking first edition of the seventh generation Olds 88. I think the small bumper and the round headlight version is the best of this generation. It looks to be completely stock with nothing messed with. A real nice find.
That original California license plate (a current registration, too, for your 2011 shot) in the B&W photo surrounded by the old dealer frame suggests to me that it hailed from Albertson Olds in Culver City, a suburb of west L.A., right in my backyard growing up. Albertson Olds was one of the biggest Olds dealers in the L.A. region then. Am I correct? Interesting find in the heartland, far removed from its origins, assuming you took this in your home state.
Those wraparound dashes of the era were totally egregious discombobulations, they effectively cut off the passenger from fiddling with the radio or heat/AC controls, never mind the driver having to gyrate through or around the steering wheel. I so preferred the elegant sweep of the horizontally-oriented dashes of the earlier sixties.
Cool! Thanks for filling in the blanks on that license plate surround. I shot this in Indianapolis — it was a long way from home.
The “Del Monte Forest” badge on the grille of this car is one designed to admit a resident to the privately owned community of Pebble Beach, California, near Monterey. A long way from home indeed!
I wondered what that was. Thanks!
Cool, like the RICKENBACKER front license plates we used to have down here for Key Biscayne residents to get on the Rickenbacker causeway without having to pay a toll.
“Totally egregious”. A bit pleonastic, eh wot?
Yeah, you’re right, it was, but somehow it just came to me. Everyone here is so quick with a quip, it’s hard to keep up. I consider myself fairly well-written, but I had to look that one up. A new addition to my vocabulary, thanks!
Seeing that partial license plate frame was like playing Wheel of Fortune, “…R CITY” and “…N OLDS,” I recognized it immediately. BTW, my curiosity got the better of me, I had to look up Albertson Oldsmobile, they still exist at the same location in L.A., but as a Chevrolet dealer now.
“Those wraparound dashes of the era were totally egregious discombobulations, they effectively cut off the passenger from fiddling with the radio or heat/AC controls”. You say that like it’s a bad thing. In my car *I* control the radio AND the HVAC, the passenger keeps their damn hands to themselves. Don’t like my choice of music? Get out and walk. Don’t like how cold/hot it is? Get out and walk.
I would take this one in a heartbeat, and squirrel it away for nice weather driving. Rare car today in original condition, and sharp colours too.
Great find. Mad Men enters the 1970’s.
Fabulous find. As much as I hate this era of GM B/C body, I have a soft spot for the 71 Delta 88 2 door. My Grandmother Cavanaugh had one of these, in this same color, IIRC. Hers lacked the vinyl roof (yay!) and had standard wheelcovers and blue interior. (She liked blue).
She still had the car up into the late 70s, when it was replaced with one of the later Colonade Cutlass Supreme coupes. I still remember riding in the 88 when I went out to Philly for a visit. She was a teeny little lady who threw that monstrous Oldsmobile around the tight environs of the Philly suburbs with complete abandon. When she punched the gas (which she knew how to do) that car knew what to do as well.
As rare as these wheels are, I never really cared for them. The Pontiac and Buick wheels (and the later Olds wheels) were so much better looking. Also, I don’t think that the pinstripes help this car. Those body sculpting lines are best left without accentuation.
Your grandmother sounds like my great-grandmother Sue who had a ’67 LTD that she drove like she stole. Everybody got out of her way!
You’ve got to admit those wheels are pretty futuristic, but I agree that they aren’t very attractive but then again I always choose the 5 spoke/slot.
JP, the “pinstripes” that you find offensive is really a reflection of the parking lot stripes. Just shiny paint.
Those are actually pin stripes as I own this car now. Still under 80k miles
The radio is in the perfect spot. You rest the heel of your hand on the shift lever and your fingers are at the pushbuttons.
I spent The most time, poring over the 1971 Grand Ville, which seemed more Catalina than Bonneville. My Moms 63 Grand Prix was ften being worked on, transmission issues, at Blauvelt Pontiac. I was 11 and Knew Something was “Cheaper” looking about the Big cars That looked nicer from 50 feet, but close up, they all were very similar. right up to cadillac. Just like if You look close at a Mark IV, you realize its a gussied up Thunderbird, Which itself is a luxified Ford Gran Torino…. Roofs and opera window treatments that raised the percieved Value. Status. Kitchy.
sure would like a red grand ville now , convertible. Although I think I’d want a 1970 Cadillac and that is too close , i’d never settle for the lesser B’s but The Centurion was nicer than the Olds or Pontiac in Quality it appears.
The Mark IV and companion era Thunderbird were not gussied up Torinos they shared more in common with the full size cars of the same years, but were pretty unique. Now the 77-79 T-bird is just a face lifted Torino, while the Mark V continued on as a full size car.
The fact that they were basically LTD’s is bad enough. I stand corrected. I read that online… and I had never considered It a Torino before.
What about the Thunderbird that came before, 67-71? What was that based on…? I just at the time, never thopught IT really was just a lot of smoke and mirrors that seperated our car from a Mark IV
The 1972-76 T-Birds and Marks were based on a lengthened Torino frame,
it had a 4 link rear suspension while the big Ford used 3 link with a track bar.
Roger is correct. The T-Bird and the Marks 72-76 are actually based on the Torino chassis, albeit a lengthed chassis. The front and rear suspensions are basically identical, and share almost all parts. These cars were the only one that used the “Stabul” rear suspension (4-link). I don’t think the body shells were shared though, although they probably had similarites. The 77-79 T-Birds used the 114″ Torino coupe chassis and shared the same body shell (even the dash etc were all shared). The Ford service manuals of this era typically groupe the Torino/Montego/T-Bird/Mark IV, while the Ford/Mercury/Lincoln are grouped together.
That said, the front suspension on the Fullsize cars of this era also share some parts with these “mid-sizers” and the basic design for the front suspension didn’t vary much from the 1965 chassis design. Ford’s Body on frames from the 1965 to the late 70’s were all variations of this chassis.
Were these wheels cast in the same way as Pontiac’s honeycomb wheels? I didn’t know wheels like this were ever offered on Oldsmobiles – I’ve never even seen a photo of these on a B/C-body. They do look good, though.
Me either. My first thought was aftermarket or swap. Don’t think I’ve ever seen them before.
Although my dad had a ’71 88 for a few years when I was a tike, the styling hasn’t worn all that well over the years IMO. Taillights are cool tho.
For me, as I said many times before, Oldsmobiles are all about the SOUND. There’s nothing like that distinctive, raspy, metallic Rocket V8 burble.
Unfortunately, you can’t hear it in pictures..
Yes, these are “Super Stock IV” Polycast wheels just like the Pontiac Honeycombs. They are very very rare and delicate: you don’t want to curb one of these guys. The trim rings are even harder to find. I love them and a set will go on my car even though I think they were only available in ’71 (and possibly ’72).
Go to oldcarbrochures.com and find the ’71 Olds full-sized brochure. Those wheels are pictured in them.
Jim, I’m definitely with you on the radio placement, as a matter of fact I hate the whole dashboard. The driver and passenger sides of the dash look like they were from two different cars melted together. Besides the interior, I do really like these cars, especially the earlier ones without the 5mph bumpers.
Hey Jim-
Here’s MY baby 🙂 .
Sweet!
Wow, what a beautiful car. I think this is the best looking ’71-’76 GM car produced. In ’71, the Royale is the one to have: standard 455 and much nicer interior appointments. This is the only year the Royale slats were mounted on the rear quarter panel and man do they look sharp there.
The pretty blue color, white vinyl top & especially the white interior own me.
I love the speedometer & tall vertical telltale lights mounted above it on either side of the fuel gauge. The high beam indicator is a tall blue rectangle that says “HIGH”. I do NOT like the design of the two control pods. The bezels are chrome plated plastic with matte black paint covering everything but the edges. The matte paint rubs off in places…then the plating goes too. The ’71 & ’72 models had decent woodgrain overlays but the ’73s faded terribly: the woodgrain became a gritty brown dull and the lettering was no better. Cheapskates.
The “plating” that you refer to is actually “hot stamping”. GM used this technique on all of its cars to make the dashboards look flashy, but the stuff wasn’t very durable. I always felt that GM did this, especially in areas of high wear, to make buyers fall out of love with their cars in a year or two. In the design world, we referred to the fake tree and hot stamped chrome as being fabricated from materials known as “boguseen”. I hated that crap.
Although not the car featured in the video this generation of 88 is what I think of when I hear Cathy Matea sing “455 Rocket”.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQZV6q00sUc
Mr. Smith had an Oldsmobile, baby blue with wirewheels…
…said she leaked when it would rain, sounded like an aero plane…
My Dad had a 455 Olds. Good memories.
I liked the song, but in the background the image was of a 1960 Olds which only came with a 394 at best. The 455 came later. Nerdy kinda comment, I know. What else is going on?
Yeah that chaffed my hide too. But that song!
“Even the cop asked me; “Ma’am what’d you have in that thing?”
The video ends with everyone sitting in a cutaway Buick. Oops!
‘cuz an Older shouldn’t be cut up.
I nearly bought a triple white convertible Olds like this about a year ago, but with Australian fuel prices and the inability to fit it in any garage it stayed on the lot. Sigh….
Gosh, owned one just like it. Same year, same body style. White with blue interior and blue top.
What can I say? I love it.
Loaded too, seriously loaded, I can’t see the interior, but I imagine that there is Comfortron and all the power compliments. Super Stock IV’s, cornering lamps, thermometer, very nice.
The Olds looked the least bloated among the 1971 GM full sizers
That crease on the lower bodyside is probably why. It made the car look leaner, more lithe than its siblings.
This Olds still looks good!
This song has been posted before so it is a bit redundant and the featured car is pretty far removed from the Olds of the 1950s but anyway…..https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gbfnh1oVTk0
Enjoy
I preferred the Buick Centurion to the Olds 88’s odd front end
1972 Buick Centurion photographed in Dollard Des Ormeaux, Quebec, Canada at Auto classique Jukebox Burgers 2011.
Beautiful car, I love the slim stainless covered A pillars, GM styling at its best.
We all have much varied views on cars and their styling. Often reflected by the era in which we grew up, and started to appreciate design. These came out just before I started to really study car styling. The 1977 downsized B bodies were about to happen.
On this account, I was never a big fan of the ’71 to ’76 b bodies. I thought they were bloated and over styled, GM wide. I do think they did a fantastic job as icons representing the last of the dying breed of wastefully bigger, and space inefficient cars.
I did like the earlier incarnation of the 1971-76 b bodies (mainly from 1971-72 or ’73 when it comes to Pontiac) due to the smaller bumpers and them having a sportier look, for 1971-72 I liked the Oldsmobile/Buick b-bodies the best and for 1973 I liked the Pontiac the best.
It’s a good looking car, the best of that body bunch. It looks modern for that time. Those wheels are awesome. I believe the styling part (of the wheels) is that resin/poly cast material bonded to a steel wheel underneath.
Apparently Dodge stole almost the entire front of the car for the 1973 Polara.
Two years later, when ChryCorp’s all-new full-sized cars appeared in 1974, the Dodge’s front end treatment bore a striking resemblance to that of the ‘72 Buick.
Winner of the award for biggest dash with the smallest speedo.
I just swooned – both for this big Olds’ beautiful lines and details, and your splendid photography of them.
Great to see this post and the comments–I have a soft spot for the ’71 full-sized Olds as we had a ’71 Ninety Eight. Seeing the detail shots around the headlights really brings back memories, as I used to wash our car and and can still recall all the styling flourishes. I also remember the instrument panel, which was a bit odd with the controls canting toward the driver. One thing I used to think was really funny was the very deep set speedometer-it almost seemed to be down in a tunnel. My parents replaced the ’71 98 with a ’75, and the instrument panel on that one was flatter and somehow looked richer–plus I think it was easier to use.
Seeing the badge for access to ultra-exclusive Pebble Beach is really interesting–if it is original to the car it would recall a time when a loaded Olds was still considered a nice and appropriate upscale ride. This car certainly would have been striking back in the day.
Six character blue plate cars (1969-1978-ish) are becoming increasingly rare here in California. Between the ubiquitous white plates we’ve had since 1983 and a combination of the original (1963-69) and re-booted (2015-present) black plates, a blue California license plate really stands out now.
Mmm, 1982 for the white plates. That plate was optional otherwise you got a blue plate. My 1986 Mazda 626 had a blue plate with the numbers 1PED911 and I still have the front plate.
I just purchased this car and it still looks great minor a few blemishes from weather and place that it was being stored. Under 80k miles too. Big block still purrs great.
My 2 Sales Managers each had a ’69 version of this 88, with the W-33 engine option. IF this one has that engine as well, you can become a candidate for “WHIPLASH”: torque monsters!!! I drove one of the ’69s once: IMPRESSIVE, gas sucking FUN!!! 🙂 BTW as a retired Industrial Designer I find this version of these GM monster mobiles the most attractive! DFO
Perfect wheels! How is the car now Jason?
I’d suggest that the positioning of the radio in that wraparound dash was intentional – to keep prying passengers from trying to adjust the volume or change the station. The Cutlass was similar to that too, but less pronounced.
Great angles in these shots!
No one mentioned the additions to the front bumper which make it look more like a ’72. I don’t believe I’ve seen another one like it.
These were imo the best looking of all full-size GM B and C bodies in the ’71 to ’76 era. The ’71 pre-safety bumper front and rear ends were super stylish, and way too many compromises to body design and quality were made over the following 5 years.
I drove daily a ’73 Delta with that dash design and the radio placement was fine. It was quite functional for the driver, who should be “the decider” when it comes to station selection in any event!
At the time, a few years after ’71, I was flabbergasted at the blatant copying of GM design by Dodge in ’73 and ’74, and also by Chrysler who copied the ’71 Olds tailights on the ’72 Newport. Those copied fronts and rears did look good on the Mopars though, for all the good it did for their sales, which never come anywhere close to GM’s.
Couple of points:
-The wheels are called “Super Stock IV polycast” , they were an Olds option from 71-72, but the style was made by Motor Wheel and was available in other sized and bolt circles as an aftermarket wheel.
-The Olds probably had one of the best interiors of the 71-76 GM B/C’s, my personal favorite.
– the 71-76 B/C bodies were far from “floaty boatmobiles”, the chassis was GM’s first attempt at collaborative design, the chassis was comprised of the best of each division Buick brakes, Oldsmobile body mounts, Chevrolet axles, etc..it worked great, and these cars drive like a much smaller car, responsive and nimble for their size. (watch this video of an 88 being hustled around a racetrack:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jI9lhA9dlEw) One could also argue the design philosophy was the beginning of the end for GM, soon all their cars would be differentiated by nothing more than trim.
pressed “send too quick!
This car does have optional bumper strips which were standard in 72, but the real way to tell if it’s a 71 bumper is check the mounting. 71 had solid mounts, but in 72 each GM division used a different energy absorbing front bumper mounting system in order to prepare for the 1973 mandate.. Pontiac used rubber pucks, others used shock absorbers or a different method. In the end, oil filled absorbers won the inter division “contest”.
I like it