Recently I happened to be around a familiar classic –well, familiar to me at least. And was witness to another example of the all-too-common neglect; a classic car owner who keeps a car with no intention or ability to restore it, with said car simply proceeding to crumble further down south. And I got to photograph a sister classic (probably same owner), albeit a bit more common than the Omega.
This 1978 Oldsmobile Omega was captured and posted here as part of my “CCs in Israel” series in 2021. Back then I thought this was a restoration project in its infancy, as the car had those gold wheels, and the interior wasn’t half-bad. Not anymore:
No explanation necessary as to the missing parts or the rust that’s clearly visible behind them. But it seems it’s worse still if you look higher:
I wonder if I come and visit this Omega in three years’ time, will there still be a car left? Maybe the interior:
I’m all for patriotism but the US flag is probably not there to cover immaculate seats, if you follow. And this green interior has me thinking the exterior blue was originally a different color — as horrid as Seventies taste could be, I feel the combination of these colors is too much of a mismatch. Or maybe it’s just the door card that’s from another Omega? Maybe.
A look at the back, and I’d better not add any words — except look at the other CC that’s parked in front of the Omega:
This 1989 GMC Vandura is, much like the Oldsmobile, getting on a bit since I photographed and uploaded it in the linked post above. Seeing these together makes me realize they probably belong to the same owner.
The GMC looks much better than the Omega (despite it being a working vehicle) — but not all that well. Certainly, worse than when I first encountered it. It’s eleven years younger than the Oldsmobile but still around 35 years old.
I should make a note to return here in a few years, to see if anything is left of these two. I’ll leave you with a photo of them together:
Wow, that Omega is pretty sad. Does it have current registration?
It pulls at my heart a bit, because I had a 76 Omega for a short time in high school around 88/89. Mine also was worse for wear, but not this bad. It was in Vermont, so the body was quite rusty, but the interior was actually really good, and it was “brougham” version with velour bucket seats. Its main problems were that the rear leaf springs sagged significantly and the gas tank had a rust hole about 1/4 of the way up, so you could only have about 5 gallons in it. It had the 260 V8. Seriously gutless, but smooth. I bought it from my math teacher for $50. Seriously, he was a little nuts. I drove it for the winter, then drove it to Florida for spring break and sold it there for $200. I have good memories of that car!
I hope the Isreali Omega keeps on keepin on!
So you drove a rusty New England car to Florida and sold it for 4x what you paid for it? Sounds backwards! Did you then buy a $200 rust-free car in Florida, drive it home, and sell it for $800?
That might have been smarter! I flew home. The profit paid for the plane ticket.
Wow, that Omega is pretty sad. Does it have current registration?
Can’t tell from the MOT’s records – this happens if it’s a very old car, where for some reason they don’t include all info.
Quick Question:
I was under the impression it was a desert atmosphere in Israel. Maybe some rust right along the Mediterranean Sea.
Could it be the Omega spend a few winters in the Northeast USA before arriving in the Promised Land?
Indeed – down near the coastline it’s pretty humid, think Florida near the ocean. So cars do rust if they spend most of their lives there. Inland it’s a different story – the south is very much like AZ, the north is like Northern Cali.
Wow – what a grizzled survivor! My favorite aspect of these photos is the steering wheel Club… as if this car would be a likely target for theft. I think you captured this car at its peak moment of beaterdom.
My heart does break for this car a bit, particularly since it’s a rare Omega, and I haven’t seen one in any condition in decades. But it’s far enough beyond the point of restoration, I figure it’s best to just enjoy it as it is.
Incidentally, Yohai, I was thinking of you recently. In one of your posts last year you mentioned jachnun (in the context of an 1960s Chevy pickup advertising a roadside jachnun stand). It sounded interesting to me at the time, and just a few weeks ago I drove up to an Israeli supermarket about an hour away from here and bought frozen jachnun. We made it last week – absolutely terrific. I can’t imagine how good the fresh roadside jachnun is, but the frozen-and-slowly-heated kind was outstanding too. So thanks for the post back then… I never would have heard of it without you.
Well, personally I can’t stand Jachnun – too dry and condensed for my taste, but I get the appeal…
BTW, here’s an inside info (from a guy I know who used to have a roadside stand that sold Jachnun); most of these roadside stands sell heated frozen Jachnun, just like the one you bought at the supermarket. Of course, they advertise it as “fresh” and people driving by, let their stomachs go to their heads…
Funny about the roadside stands selling frozen jachnun – I can definitely see that being the case. It’s not for everyone; one of our daughters didn’t like it because it was so dense, but I like dense food, so for me it was great.
So happy to hear from you!
Thanks, there still IS a war going on. Where I live it’s not as noticeable, but very unfortunate.
No safety inspec there?
I’d imagine there’s money involved maintaing its MOT license (if there is one, which I’m not sure).
Sad to see this poor bedraggled thing .
-Nate
I was thinking of you the other day. Yohai. It’s so good to hear from you again, and to know that you are safe.
I am facinated by the Israeli plates having so much on them, they look so ‘busy’ to Australian eyes. Whereas our plates have six large alphanumeric characters with a much smaller state/territory name plus or minus a slogan of sorts, your plates seem to have seven numbers and eight letters all the same size – so much information to pack onto such a small plate.
And the Omega: I agree, it looks like its on its last legs. The missing panels beneath the windshield and rear window is unusual – like somebody took them off to get at the rust underneath, then perhaps found more than they bargained for.
Thanks for the kind words.
As for the plates – the plates in this post are “collective vehicle” type (which is actually written on them, hence the info is overwhelming. Of course, there’s also the registration number itself). If you look at, say, new vehicle plates, you’ll see they’re much simpler and include mostly the number:
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/cars-of-a-lifetime/coal-2023-mazda-cx-5-2-0-executive-the-all-round-man/
Thanks Yohai. Although I could recognise the letters, I have no knowledge of modern Hebrew. I thought they weren’t the usual plates I’d seen in your posts before, but didn’t go back and check. G-d bless you and yours.
I remember a girl from high school that had a 1975 Omega Salon (Brougham?). It was a blue two door with a white vinyl roof.
I recall driving her home one night in that car. It drove really nicely. But, as we were getting onto a highway ramp, she told me to floor it and let it run out.
That 260 was, as previously mentioned, very slow. But it was so smooth! The automatic didn’t “shift” gears as much as it just “exchanged “ one for the next one!
She sold out the following week after her uncle found that the trans needed an overhaul.
Great article.
Well the CC effect strikes again; this older Omega (posted on one of my FB groups) is also in Israel and appears to be in a better condition. They were, at the time, the best selling GM X bodies there, so it’s not surprising some did survive.