1969 Olds Delta 88 from Internet, similar to mine
I apologize to our readers for writing these COAL entries out of sequence – I typically just wait for the urge to hit me regarding one of these vehicles I’ve been fortunate enough to own over the years. I got an Olds urge this weekend – so allow me to reminisce a little about the second car I ever owned as a 17 year old from circa 1973 to 74 – a “pea-soup” green 1969 Olds Delta 88.
First a little background; my previous car, a 1964 Ford Fairlane 500 four-door sedan (COAL coming), had abruptly met a street light abutment one night in an empty mall parking lot. How does one drive into a light abutment in an empty parking lot, you ask? Basically by tuning your radio when you should have been watching the road. Youth…
The Ford was well pranged, so it was time to look for something new. Neither of my parents drove – I was the sole car owner/driver in the family, so my father said he’d help out with the cost. That was fortunate since my part-time wage from the local Borden Burger just barely paid for gas and insurance. We decided our joint budget would max out at $1000.
About two blocks up from our house was a small AMC dealership; they typically had 10-12 cars on their used lot. As a small dealership, the owner was also a salesman, and yes, he wore a loud sports jacket, white shoes, and seemed perpetually grouchy, even when trying to sell us a car. Of the 12 cars, we quickly focused in on two.
Sunbeam Alpine Fastback from Internet
Gen 1 Plymouth Barracuda
I gravitated to a 1970 Sunbeam Alpine Fastback (Rapier). I didn’t know a lot about that car, but knew Sunbeam made the Alpine and Tiger – legitimate sports cars. And the Fastback had a jaunty look – like a 3/4th scale first gen Plymouth Barracuda – notable since the Rootes Group was then part of Chrysler.
1969 Delta 88 from Internet exactly like mine except for the vinyl roof
My father, on the other hand, went right to a clean 1969 Olds Delta 88. To him, that was a “real car” – big, luxurious, powerful, one that made a statement about the owner – in a way only someone who had experienced the Great Depression could understand.
They were both the same price – $895, and in decent condition, though the Olds had high miles – around 98K. The Sunbeam came with a 1.7 litre four cylinder and had a four speed manual transmission, so it would be thrifty with gas – a key consideration in the early 70’s. The Olds on the other hand, had the Division’s largest engine – a 455 cubic inch V8 behemoth – here in low compression 2bbl form.
We had a long discussion that night, and while I preferred the Sunbeam, I knew that having my older parents climb into and out of a small 2-door coupe was going to be an issue. I also implicitly knew the Sunbeam would be more fragile than the Olds, and I didn’t have much money for repairs.
So the next day, we walked back up and offered $800 for the Delta 88 – the owner couldn’t get his pen out fast enough to draw up the sales contract.
When I think back on that car, four things come to mind;
1) While I liked the car, I hated the color. I believe it was called “Meadow Green”, but it was more “pea-soup” green. It seemed like half of all Oldsmobiles in the late sixties came in that color. To add insult to injury, the interior was also green…
2) That 455 was a real gem. It wasn’t a revver, but it had earth-mover torque. The low compression made it very smooth and it mated perfectly to the THM 400 transmission. While mileage wasn’t great, it was dead reliable – the only thing I had to replace was a water pump at about the 110K mark.
3) The accelerator pedal was huge. Prior to getting my driver’s license, I rode in a lot of buses. The gas pedal of the Olds was at least as big as the one on a GM Old Look bus. I wear a size 12 shoe, and my foot didn’t cover the whole pedal. Additionally, the interior was cavernous – at least in comparison to the Fairlane. Six people fit comfortably – with more than enough elbow room. Hence the nickname, the Green Bus…
4) Lastly, your parents are sometimes right. Dad nailed that one. Later, I did some research on the Sunbeam and found it had all the typical maladies of a British car of that era: rust, dodgy electrics, and poor build quality. It would have likely been a money pit.
1969 Delta 88 from Internet
Truth be told, the Olds was probably too much car for a 17 year old – but it went about its business competently for the year and a half I owned it, ferrying me to school and Borden Burger, and my parents to the supermarket and Sunday brunch.
I owned mostly sportier models for the next 25 years or so until my father passed. Up until those last days, when we talked cars, it was very clear which one had impressed him the most – he would always say; “That Olds Delta 88, now that was a REAL car”…
My mom had a 69 Delta 88 in that green with dark green roof from about 1970 to 1982…spent a lot of time sitting on the green vinyl back seat, sweating because my dad didn’t like (and still doesn’t like) A/C.
Always like these big Oldsmobiles and I recall those huge accelerator pedals that would be right at home on a transit bus. The only thing I didn’t care for are the wheel covers. Quite plain and cheap looking.
My Aunt had a 1982 Delta 88 4 door.. Huge sedan.. I too noticed for years the size of the accellorator compared to her tiny size 7 foot in stilletos.. But, she drove that car like it was an Escort or Chevette.. She had to sit on a pillow the size of the yellow pages just to see over the steering wheel..
I owned a ’70 98 as a winter beater here in Mn. for several years. Paid $250 for it in ’79 & drove it almost 100,000 miles. Ice cold a/c. Great car in Forest green.
The car I most associate with an uncle of mine was a 1969 Delta 88, virtually identical to the green one pictured at the top of this post. He married for the first time in his early forties and bought the car to drive on a cross-country honeymoon trip. His was a high-trim model, with a gorgeous brocade upholstery and just about every option, including power windows, locks and seats, none of which was all that common back then. It proved to be a well-built, reliable car that he kept for nine years, ultimately trading it for a 1978 Delta 88, which, though one of the vaunted downsized B bodies, was in every way a lesser car with disappointing reliability.
Ironically, he too traded in a Fairlane for the 1969 Olds, although his was an unfortunately styled 1965 model rather than the 1964 model owned by the author.
My uncle had one of these as well; it was in this shade of green with the black vinyl top. It replaced a ’65 Olds and, if I remember correctly, was the first vehicle with factory A/C that anyone in our family owned. The irony was that my uncle lived in southwestern Michigan where vehicular A/C was something that one could easily do without as it was not really hot, at least compared with the steamy Ohio River valley where I lived. My uncle drove the ’69 Olds for several years and it was then replaced with some variety of Buick. In turn the Buick was replaced by a Cadillac, a vehicle that my uncle had talked about owning for as long as I can remember. Of course by the time he purchased his Sedan de Ville it was after the downsizing and he was disappointed by the vehicle.
Love my girl !! 91 olds S/W
Please forgive me for the dirty letters on the tires. Lol
Back in 1968 my parents decided it was time to replace our venerable 1959 Dynamic 88. It had been purchased from an elderly neighbor several years earlier. While reliable, it was beginning to show its age. My parents and I went to the local Olds dealer, where dad promptly fell in love with a red 68 442 demo. It was sharp & fast. Mom wasn’t having it. So they ordered a new 69 Delta 88. I got to pick the color, Glade Green, the car was stripped. No AC, radio, carpet ,vinyl upholstery. The only options were a 455, trailer package and disc brakes. It and a 1967 Sunbeam Alpine became my first two cars. My folks were British and I loved British cars, but it spent more time being repaired than on the road. The 88 however was dead reliable and for a large car surprisingly fast. It could bury its 120mph speedometer with ease. Over the years I’ve another 5 Deltas, all V8 cars, but that 69 was my favorite. I will own another if possible.
I really like this car. Old-school cool. Goes about it’s business with smoothness and doesn’t need to brag about its strength. It even has a friendly face like it was okay to have in those days. I even like the green. I wish it was mine. Classic “Man” car.
+1
Did these all come with 455s? Presumably, the “Action-Line” 6 was only for lesser Oldsmobiles.
Love this car – peak GM. Don’t seem that popular with the Classic Car crowd. I see more large Chrysler’s, for example, at car shows.
The standard engine was a 350 2bbl Jonathan, next up was this low compression 455 that I had, then another 455 with a 4bbl. The ultra W33 hipo 455 was also an option but not many left the factory in a Delta 88.
I drove one that we bought from a deceased neighbor in 1989. Super solid and reliable. @ door hardtop and green with a black vinyl roof. It had the touchiest power brakes I’ve ever seen. From the start of braking power to all four wheels locking up was about 2 inches of travel and about 2 lbs of force. Threw my dad into the windshield once accidentally. Spilled his bud into his lap. He yelled at me so loud the car next to us looked over to see if I was being murdered.
I remember not really liking these cars when they were new. I didn’t find the styling attractive and they were so common. My father had one for a very short time (maybe a month) as a company car before he left that job. Neighbors across the street had a 70 Delta 88 4 door hardtop (in green, of course) so I saw it all the time. Dad’s was at least gold instead of green. Truthfully, I was never really able to tell the 69-70 apart from one another.
Now I really like this car. The styling was muscular, and for the first time in a long time was more attractive than anything at a Pontiac dealer. I think today the Olds would be my pick of the 1969-70 B body cars, because of a combination of its good looks and its bulletproof mechanicals.
My sister had one of these as her first car from about 1975 to 1976, just as my Dad was getting ready to trade in his 1970 Ninety-Eight (with very low miles). Funny thing is that when my sister bought her six-year-old car with 75,000 miles we thought of it as on its last legs, and today it wouldn’t faze me to drive a 2014 vehicle with that many miles.
These were in what I consider the first phase of the cheapening of GM cars (particularly the interior materials), but were still rather nicely done. The biggest change from ‘69 to ‘70 was to the hood and front fascia, to a two-piece design. Apparently Olds got many complaints from dealer mechanics who hit their heads on the piece that separates the two grilles on the ‘69s.
“The biggest change from ‘69 to ‘70 was to the hood and front fascia”
Wow, I had never noticed that!
I had a brother in law, Korean war vet who stepped up to the plate and married my sister who at the time was a struggling single mom trying to raise 4 kids.
He went from slinging pizzas to landing a facilities maintenance job at Hewlett Packard in Cupertino CA and, the hard working guy that he was, was able to buy a house and eventually a gold ’69 Delta 88 from HP. It was about 2 or 3 years old and was part of their executive fleet.
Man, was he proud of it. 455, brocade interior, it was a really nice car and big enough to cart the family around.
Sadly the hood started rusting as many GM cars of that era did..and by the early 80s both he and the car were no more.
3 packs a day of Benson & Hedges 100s eventually caught up with him, but for awhile he was living the dream many of his generation aspired to.
My grandmother had a Cutlass Supreme two-door hardtop in the same bilious shade of green. Her family owned an Olds dealership, so she could have had her choice of colors, but that was her choice. Maybe she thought the wire wheel style hubcaps were sporty.
I have a 67 Delta 88 Oldsmobile with an original 425 Super Rocket and it only has 64,000 original miles on it. Body is still solid without any dents or dings, paint is just faded which shouldn’t be an issue for a serious buyer. Name is Louis Butler and contact info is (504) 413-8773 asking $7,500 which is a very descent price.
Ive had. Lots of 0lds 98s back then.Could not kill those motors. Put hot plugs in them Git 20 plus mpg..
I can’t wait to hear what car replaced the 98. You have a nice comfortable way of writing that makes us want to read more. Did you have to drive your parents around for the rest of their lives?
I always hated the dashboards on the 69-70 full size Oldsmobile’s. To me, the drivers side was very odd, as the 4 squares that house the various gages, speedometer, clock, and idiot lights, didn’t line up with the steering wheel. To me, there should of been a padded division between the second and third square, instead of just the space with the Olds emblem.
Looking at that odd design while driving would of drove me crazy.
But then they wouldn’t have been able to have the cool lighting effect behind the Olds emblem when the high-beams were engaged!
When I was in third grade, in 1971, I met my first girlfriend. Jackie was her name. I was smitten with her,and her parents drove a 1969 Delta 88. Medium gold color with a white top. I paid a lot of attention to cars and their styling as a young kid. My dad said once he thought when I was 5 he remembered me being able to tell him exactly what kind of car and to some degree what year they were. That being said, I remembered the 69 Olds because it looked different than other full size American cars. Of course, I was a Chevy kid because my grandpa always drove them. This article just brought back memories of third grade because of my first girlfriends parents car. How funny is that?
Great post, Jim. Your father was wise – even disguised as a cool fastback coupe, a Sunbeam is still a Sunbeam. Shoddy and gutless. The Olds would have been my choice too.
I think I remember you and that car! That was back when I was driving a ’68 Buick Elektra Convertible. Those were the days of land yachts, it was more like aiming your car rather than steering it.
I had my mother’s Olds Delta 88 Royale. It was a two-door hardtop convertible. The colour was leaf green. I drove it for a number of years and then got a good price for it. It has now been beautifully restored. With the 455 cubic inch engine it could pass everything on the highway but the gas station!