(first posted 7/18/2015) I’ve been thinking lately about cars I used to see every day that at some indiscernible point seemed to reach the flashpoint of invisibility overnight. This ’79 iteration of Olds’ first wave of downsized full-sizers is one such car. I remember seeing many of these cars on streets and highways everywhere. In their prime, these Ninety-Eights were the kind of upper middle class-mobiles that would have given our family’s iron oxide-challenged Plymouth Volaré an inferiority complex. In the past five years, though, I’d be hard-pressed to recall spotting more than three or four of these in the wild, in any bodystyle.
The Ninety-Eight appears to have been exempt from the GM corporate engine fiasco of 1977, the first model year for the downsized GM biggies, where unbeknownst to some tens-of-thousands of buyers of other Oldsmobile products, their cars were fitted with Chevy engines instead of with genuine Olds “Rocket” V8’s. According to my research, all 1977 – ’79 Ninety-Eights appear to have had genuine Olds V8 power – it was the Delta 88s, Custom Cruisers, and Omegas that might have been unwitting “Chevmobiles”. For 1977 and ’78, Ninety-Eights were built both at Linden Assembly in New Jersey as well as in Lansing, Michigan, with ’79 production limited exclusively to Lansing.
I’m ashamed to admit that GM’s Sloanian brand hierarchy had me all confused until my late-teens, made more embarrassing as I hail from the city which headquartered Buick for decades. Before you call for the revocation of my CC Card, look at this Ninety-Eight as supporting documentation for my misunderstanding that Olds sat above, and not below, Buick. The rusty bumper notwithstanding, isn’t this a classy-looking machine, especially in black? Those Cadillac-lite, vertical taillamps must certainly have said “money” to much of middle America.
Let’s take the Pepsi Challenge on this one. Show a kid who doesn’t seem to care about cars pictures of decent examples of coupe versions of Olds’ Ninety-Eight and Buick’s Electra 225, and ask them which car looks more expensive. (Don’t forget to show the taillights.) Without being explicitly told the Buick sat upmarket from the related Olds, I’d be willing to bet most kids would say the Olds looks more posh.
In the case of this particular car (which is sitting on those nice American Racing rims, and with aftermarket bumper guards up front the size of Kansas), I had a chance to speak with the owner’s daughter. I was exiting the local, neighborhood grocery store after work when I spotted this car in the parking lot and immediately started taking some photos. I was startled (and busted) mid-click when this nicely dressed lady carrying a couple of grocery bags said, “Hi, there!”
She was actually friendly to the stranger she had discovered photographing her ride. She told me the car was for sale, and that it was her mother’s, who didn’t need it anymore. I remembered when my own father had surrendered his driver’s license in the early 1990’s for his deteriorating eyesight, and I was able to read between the lines that selling this car was probably something of a bittersweet undertaking. She also asked me if I was interested in purchasing it. I might have asked her the price just out of curiosity, but I didn’t want to lead her on to think she might make a sale.
This particular car, as accessorized, struck me as something of a time capsule from, say, 1983, especially with that tinted bug deflector up front. The color, the rims, the bumper guards – this car was a great combination of class and badass, like a UAW retiree rocking a leather jacket, St. Christopher medal, and tinted aviators.
I haven’t seen this car again. I hope this family got a fair price for this car, and that mother and daughter are still in good health. My hope is that whoever bought it recognized they purchased something special that you can’t buy new anymore – a luxurious, 2-door, RWD, V8-powered Oldsmobile with style from here to Lansing.
All photos as taken by the author in Edgewater, Chicago, Illinois.
Daytime shots are from Friday, June 16, 2012, with nighttime shots from Sunday, August 12, 2012.
Nice looking ninety eight. My favorite body style is the 1985 to 1990. Oldsmobile need to come back again and bring a new ninety eight with the vertical taillights again. There is a feeling in Oldsmobile.
The ad used to say, “There’s a special feel in an Oldsmobile.”
Thanks
Mein 1979 olds 98 reg.
Viele Grüße aus Deutschland!
I’ve always liked the 1977-79 Olds Ninety Eight’s a lot and I prefer them to the 1980-84 design, I consider the 1977-79 Ninety Eight’s to be my second favorite era after the 1965-70 Ninety Eight’s.
I can see where people would be mixed up about whether Buick or Olds was more prestigious. From what I’ve read, trim levels would be just about equal. The tall vertical taillights looked more old-fashioned/conservative/Cadillac-ish, therefore the Olds had to be upstream of the Buick!
Same here. I thought the same thing until sometime in my 20’s (I’m 48.) Regency sounds like such a upper-class name. Or Delta Royale.
This was a hangover of the GM of old. It never actually was a linear path. In price it was C,P,O,B,C. but in realty Chevrolet with OHV, four wheel coil suspension and Torque tube drive was Junior Buick,Pontiac with driveshaft,leaf springs ETC a Junior Cadillac. (mechanicaly) Oldsmobile was both and ultimately THE GM car,(” it can be Caddy, Chevy …..) Having been the test bed for all of GM, The death of Oldsmobile was thr death of GM!
I thought the same thing also. Olds just seemed a little more Cadillac-esque; maybe that was because Buick buyers preferred to fly under the rader, whereas Olds was a little more aspirational?
Around Lansing I would say there are very very few RWD 98s left in regular service. The first generation of the FWD ones are unusual enough to notice, but the second generation are still pretty common.
The RWD 88s aren’t common by any means, but considering that they are 30 years old there are a surprising number still being daily driven. I suspect that they sold a LOT of these in ’84-’85 to folks who wanted a traditional big Olds.
I know they converted the main Lansing plant to the new N bodies in ’85, so I suspect the last of the RWD cars were built elsewhere, but I don’t know for sure.
As to the Buick vs Olds thing by this point the Sloan ladder had gotten pretty rickety, and my gut feeling is that in many cases the Electra sold to people who could afford a Cadillac but didn’t want one, and the 98 went to people who wanted the look of the Caddy without the cost.
It’s interesting to note how well they adapted that basic grill theme to 4 or 5 different body designs between ’76 and ’96.
There are indeed more than average number/percentage of Oldsmobile in Lansing, and ’90s Oldsmobile 98 is still common, older B-Body Oldsmobile still hangs around. In some areas, like Hazel Park, Oak Park, north boundary of Detroit, there are still more than “what I could imagine” number of Chrysler F-Body, and Chevy Monza, Ford Fairmont.
There was a 79 Olds like this locally its gone now same retarded roof treatment but in a parchment colour the car was in quite good order and still LHD, someone must have bought it and taken it away. The only other Olds that model I saw round here was a black four door slowly sinking into a front lawn nearby it disappeared when scrap was at a high along with a very rusty Seville from a couple of streets away.
There are indeed a surprising number of RWD Oldsmobiles on the roads in Lansing, most preserved in pristine condition by retired factory workers, but also a good amount of daily driven beaters. Mostly Delta 88s, but they sold way more new. They littered the streets during my childhood in the ’90s. However, they were mostly clapped-out beaters by the time I came into the world, and to this day, it’s hard for me to see any 1977-1990 B-body as anything but a intimidating old bomb. I remember when there was a rusted-out Delta 88 on every block in the inner city. The 84-85 versions with the Amber rear signals stick out in my mind for some reason.
The distinctive clattering sound of the exhaust leak from the Olds 307 is permanently etched into my mind (they ALL sounded like that after 10+ years), as are the sagging front suspensions and oxidized paint on the hoods. These cars sure did run a looooong time in terrible condition, it wasn’t until the 2007 gas spike that they really died off in huge numbers. I always preferred the more raked roofline of these original 1977-1979 models – the facelifted ones were just a bit too boxy and upright.
And don’t forget the Cash for Clunkers programs, most of the cars I saw in the clunkers yards were of that era.
Cars of this era were not eligible for C4C. The EPA conviently wiped out their data base of the MPG ratings when they did the “corrections” and the MPG was what qualified a vehicle for C4C.
I’m going to say Demo Derbies.
That’s much more likely. The average C4C trade-in in the Upper Midwest seemed to be the first- or second-gen Explorer, a vehicle not sorely missed. If any Oldses went to the crushers, they were probably mid-90’s Bravadas.
I wonder what demo derbies and Enduro races will end up using when the supply of G-bodies runs out. They’d have to drop the “no OHC” rule at some point in the very near future, sure, but I’d like to see FWD unibody cars too.
Man, I need to get to a LeMons race sometime.
Yes, although those claimed more ’71-’76s. But DD people love them…one reason is they are cheaper than Cadillacs of the same vintage; people have forgotten about the poor Olds and so the price goes low to get a sale. In fact, when I bought my ’75, the runner-up was very likely a demo guy (out of state, coming to get it with a trailer despite it being highly driveable, only interested when the price dropped to a certain level). If it had been a Sedan DeVille, even a Calais, it would haave been too expensive in its condition to garner his interest.
Grand Total of Oldsmobiles taken in for Cash for Clunkers = 7,443 (of 690,114 total vehicles)
2,909 Bravada’s
1,935 Aurora’s
1,157 Silhouette’s
712 Cutlass Supreme’s (1984-1987)
291 Custom Cruiser’s
234 Delta… 88 Royale’s
63 Ninty-Eight’s
40 Toronado’s (1984-1985)
32 Custom Cruiser Wagon’s
31 Cutlass Supreme Classic’s (1988)
9 Cutlass Calais Ciera’s
8 Cutlass Cruiser’s
7 Unlisted Oldsmobile’s
4 Cutlass Cruiser Wagon’s
3 Intrigue’s
2 Eighty-Eight’s
2 98 Regency’s
2 98 Touring’s
2 Cutlass’s (1997-1998)
Ah, the Olds Unlisted… great car, if a bit difficult to call up.
My Favorite 98 is the 72 Regency with the first of the loose pillow seats and the Tiffany clock and key. Formal and low key on the outside, but spectacular on the inside in that uniquely American way. 455 and THM400 to get down the road with ease.” Nobody does it better, makes me feel sad for the rest.”
This example I am less fond of. It just looks to pristine to be turned into the bruiser that it is. Also by 79 there were just gradually taking away what was special and turning it into an old people car. Thanks Joseph, I think a Park Ave might win in these years with the over the top Talisman like velour.
One of my neighbors/friends’ dad drove a ’72 98 Regency sedan when I was growing up – this may be the first Brougham-type interior I ever saw and I was transfixed by this car. It was just so fancy compared to anything I’d seen before. Also recall what was probably the most tail-finny rear treatment of the ’70s that wasn’t a Caddy.
The Talisman-like velour in the Park Ave depended on year – ’75 through ’78 had it (including a long front console in the pre-downsized ones – very rare in Broughams), but the ’79 interior was much more restrained. The ’80 got plusher again. Some of these had actual cast-off steering wheels used in previous-year Cadillacs.
Thanks for the interesting year by year. I have spent time in a 85 Lesabre Collectors Edition that I believe had the 84 Park Avenue interior that was still nice but not like earlier.
Out of curiosity if you remember, what did your friend’s dad with the 72 do for a living. I remember these not as the old people cars they later became, but as the successful man about town cars especially in smaller towns where everyone knows everyone and therefore inappropriate to broadcast one’s wealth. Local bank presidents, senior clergy for example.
I have no idea what my friend’s dad’s occupation was – I do know though that he wasn’t old, looked at most 50. They lived in a modest 1960s split-level house. The 98 was replaced by a ’78 Continental Town Coupe.
The ’72 Regency was a very limited addition Olds to celebrate their 75th anniversary. Later became a regular model.
Bob
These things seemed to be everywhere in north suburban Chicago during the late seventies. There was a big Olds dealership in Libertyville (Weil Olds, which still exists but is now exclusively a Cadillac dealership) and I guess the thing was to have a big luxo boat in your driveway.
My mother actually had three Ninety Eight Regencys during her lifetime: a ’77, a ’78, and the entirely different ’83 Regency Brougham sedan. All in various shades of red. The red got darker as the years progressed.
Weil Olds advertised incessantly on the radio for years. I can still hear their jingle, “Weil Olds in Libertyville, a beautiful place in the country!”
In movie “Ordinary People”, filmed in North Shore burbs, Mary Tyler Moore’s character “Mrs. Jarrett” drives a new 1980 Olds 98. Perfect car casting!
If the movie took place today, the mother in story would be in a Lexus RX.
GM did a very good job downsizing their full size cars for 1977. Unfortunately, IMHO, the 1980 restyle didn’t turn out as well.
If I had to choose between the 77-79 Electra and Ninety Eight, I would have to go with the Electra. Even though these 2 cars share door panels, I think Buick hit the target with the full width tail lamps (especially on the 78 and 79 models, where they wrapped around the corners) and the headlight / grill design. Interior wise, the dash board of the Buick was very elegant and more symmetrical then the dashboard in the Oldsmobile.
It’s interesting to note that there were more high end versions of these cars out on the streets then the base models. You hardly ever saw the base Ninety Eight or the base Electra 225.
Agree. The Buick had those great tailfins too, and all the curvature, to me it is Jaguar-esque.
I saw this Hess & Eisenhardt convertible conversion parked on the street a few years back however have never seen it since. The workmanship was top quality and appeared as if it had rolled of a General Motors assembly line. I understand these cars were very expensive after the modifications by H & E.
I saw the Cadillac Le Cabriolet convertibles by Hess & Eisenhardt back when they were used cars, very professionally done. Always thought an Olds 98 would have been wonderful, the photo confirms it. With more rectangular, sunken taillights, ’65-style lower trim, it could have made a great Starfire!
Wow, that looks fantastic! I’ve never seen one before, but it works really well.
Also interesting that nearly every car in that photo is a GM product…
I’m with you, Chris. That is one sharp-looking car.
I have attached a front photo for those interested. This car was an outstanding knockout. The photos don’t do it justice.
On Corydon in Winnipeg? Neat.
Thanks for the compliments! Great photos too. I still have this car and have had it for sixteen years next month. I purchased it in Feb/2000 in Phoenix, AZ, brought it back to Winnipeg, MB for summer use only. When I retired to Penticton, BC ten years ago, it remained my summer driver. I would then take it back down to Mesa, AZ for the winter. As of two years ago, I stopped making the 1500 mile trip back and forth and it now resides permanently in AZ. It still gets lots of attention.
Hello how are you a I saw pictures of your oldsmobile convertible 98 and it realy looks super nice would like to know if you would ever sell I’m interested if so please give me a call at 512-210-6380. Thank you and have a great day
Hello how are you I was just wondering if you still owned the convertible oldsmobile 98. Can you give me a call at 512-210-6380
I would like to locate the owner of this 1979 Oldsmobile ninety eight convertible if anyone could help me I would really appreciate it. Thank you so much and have a blessed day. 512-210-6380
The “Cadillac-lite vertical taillamps” were much better executed on the pre-downsized ’76 Ninety Eight, as was the entire exterior IMO. I find the ’74-75 Olds 88/98 coupes to be so graceful for such a big car. I’ll never forget my summer-camp roommate, whos family owned a late-’60s 88, awed at the appearance of a ’76 Delta 88 coupe I pointed out, asking him if his parents’ car looked like that one since I didn’t know the model year yet. No he told me, it was a much older one. A few minutes later, he asked me to point out that car because he wanted another look. “That’s the most beautiful car I’ve ever seen”, he said wistfully. It was the only time I ever heard him talk about cars.
The brochures for the ’77 Olds are the last you’ll see references to the Rocket V8 in. The ’78 brochures removed all references to Olds or Rocket engines and instead had a warning that Oldmobile may substitute engines and other parts from other GM divisions or suppliers without warning.
I always thought the Chev engines in Oldsmobile cars was something for papers to report on slow news days. It only mattered to the lawyers that got rich from the class action suit–most consumers had no ideal what engine was in their car. I love it when customers ask me for parts for their 60’s or 70’s Olds V8 and proudly announce “Its a rocket V8” like they got something special. Sometimes I tell them the “rocket” sticker was even on 2bbl 350cid engines.
Oldsmobile’s mistake was not stating in their brochures (which Buick did) that some engines would be from Chevrolets.
Keep in mind that this wasn’t the first time by a long shot. The 1961 Pontiac Tempest used a Buick V8. The 1966-up Olds F85 used a Chevy 250 six. The 1968-up Buick Special/Skylark used the Chevy 250 six. The 1970-up Pontiac Firebird and Tempest/LeMans used the Chevy 250 six. The 1971 Pontiac Ventura used a variety of Chevy engines. etc…….there’s probably more.
In none of these cases was the divisional origin of these various engines stated in the brochures.
I don’t really know what Oldsmobile’s customers expected from the mid-size cars, but I think full sized customers may have expected a Rocket V8 after reading the 1977 brochure. The brochure clearly states that the Rocket V8 were redesigned to be smaller and more efficient. It does not say that other GM engines might be used. The 1978 brochure does say other engines will be used. As I recall Oldsmobile lost the court case.
And of course, the whole concept of each division having its own engines was pretty archaic, even in 1979.
One time I had a customer with a four door Cutlass, about a 1983 model, the ones with the rear windows fixed in place. He was ticked pink with the get up and go of his “Rocket V-8.” I didn’t have the heart to tell him it was a Chevy 305, which was better than the 307 anyway.
Each division having its own engine is very handy when one division bombed the design, while Ford has to keep using Essex for an extended time period, it was rather smart for GM to use several V8s in case of few of them doesn’t work out.
not to forget the Pontiac v8s in GMC pickups late 1950s
More examples began to appear in the mid ’70s: most of the B-O-P X-bodies and H-bodies were built on the same assembly lines and used the same mix of engines (like the Ventura we recently saw here with a Buick 350); the Pontiac Astre used the same engine as the Vega; I believe that the Olds 260 was available in the ’76 Pontiac LeMans; the Seville used an Olds 350, albeit in a version not available elsewhere.
But 1977 was when the dam really broke open. Examples of this prior to the mid ’70s had been few and far between, and most pre-1977 examples had involved small cars (compacts or subcompacts) or small engines (sixes). ’77 was the year it went mainstream. Buick now used the Olds 403, since it no longer built any engine of its own larger than 350 cubic inches; Pontiac no longer built its own 350s, and had to get them from other divisions; Chevy 305s and 350s began popping up all over the place. By the early ’80s, engines like the Iron Duke and 2.8L V6 were essentially corporate in usage.
As others have noted, this was probably inevitable. Other domestic manufacturers hadn’t had divisional engines for years, and with each brand now expected to sell engines of several types and sizes, it just wasn’t feasible for each GM division to produce all of its own engines without any sharing between brands.
Customers certainly did care. This happened when it was still quite common to order the exact car that you wanted. So when someone paid extra to step up to a “Rocket 350” in their Cutlas and then found out that the engine was a lowly Chevy unit many were quite angry.
The disclaimer that engines were provided by various GM divisions was a result of the lawsuit, it didn’t come until then.
I’d probably be more pissed off discovering the transmission behind my Chevy 350-powered Delta 88 was a THM200 (metric) trans!
Full size car customers still had brand loyalty, and were inclined to believe that a Chevy was ‘low grade’ product to look down on. Even if your BOP car has same frame, etc!
While I miss the divisional engines, it was unfeasable with EPA regs, etc, by the late 70’s, and time to go.
Our family had a black 78 Regency very similar to this one, with of course a red interior. My father really liked that car, but as was his tradition, every 2-3 years he traded it on a white 81 Regency (both 4 doors, no vinyl roofs). Back then, I used to ride on the front arm rest, between my parents, so I could see out the windshield. No car seats back then! I used to love the hood ornament.
When my father ordered the 81 (the 78 was off the lot), he added the fiber optic exterior light detecting system, which included front fender indicators of the turn signal, high and low beam headlamps. Above the rear window on the inside trim was a similar indicator for the tail lamps. I used to love watching them work, I remember they cost about $32 to the price of the 81, which was about $11,000 at the time. I think I still have the window sticker somewhere. The 81 soldiered on for many years, until one of the brake lines failed and my mother lost faith in the car. Oh, the other thing that the 81 had that the 78 did not, a bad OD transmission that would kick in at 45, the 81 would chug back and forth at that speed, drove my father crazy!
Regarding the so called ladder:
In 1910 Oldsmobile’s price range was $3000 to $6000
Cadillac $1600 to $3000
Buick $1150 to $1750
1928:
Oldsmobile $900 to $1250
Cadillac $3300 to $5000
Buick $1200 to $2000
1952:
Olds $2000 to $3000
Cadillac $3200 to $5000
Buick $1800 to $3500
GM President Alfred Sloan’s “Car for every purpose and purpose” price ladder didn’t come into focus until the early 1930’s and still had minor price overlap of makes adjacent in the structure, the price gap was to be avoided. Buick got away with a bit of interloping with the Special, mostly because of Harlow Curtiss. LaSalle eventually was rendered superfluous by Roadmasters and Cadillac 61, so there were adjustments but in general the step-structure worked very well.
Recall that dealers with dual franchises usually carried Chevy-Olds or Pontiac-Buick, Olds-Cadillac, even Pontiac-Cadillac, rarely Chevy-Cadillac, always a price segment separation but rarely an unbridgeable one, except the latter.
The price step structure started to breakdown once Sloan’s power waned.
By 1930 Sloan had been President of GM for some time and the full companion car assortment was in place. So this is the price structure for 1930:
Chevy $500 to $700
Pontiac (companion to Oakland) $750 to $900
Oakland $1050 to $1200
Oldsmobile $900 to $1850
Viking (olds companion) $1700 to $1850
Marquette (Buick companion) $1000 to $1100
Buick $1250 to $2100
LaSalle $2400 to $3800
Cadillac $3200 – $4850 (V8) to $7350 (V16)
Viking and Marquette are only in production 1 year. Oakland is replaced by Pontiac after 1931. So this leaves the Olds/Buick overlap. The following is for 1932:
Chevy $500 to $650
Pontiac $700 to $1100
Olds $900 to $1100
Buick $950 to $2050
Lasalle $2400 to $2800
cadillac $2800 to $6000
It has white walls. Perhaps you mean really wide white walls.
this is just the sort of car they should still make. small block V8, BOF, not huge (really, it’s not…it’s the styling that was intended to make you think it is bigger ) but not small either. glides down the road and you relax in comfort. all the modern emphasis on handling just makes the ride firm and unless you are flinging it around right angle corners at 50 (which you just don’t do in normal driving ) your “sports sedan ” doesn’t corner any better than one of these.
I agree but either the actual market or some consultant’s surveys dont… And as for the handling, have found emergency maneuvers not to be very scary. Not even in my big ’75. I hear that might not be the case if I’d bought a Continental of similar vintage, but the big GM cars just seem to handle fairly decently as a matter of course.
Great to see a coupe. I do still see ’77-’84 98s about, but the majority are ’80-’84s and are sedans. When I was very young (as recounted before) my mother was friendly with a much older woman who was a surgeon’s wife in southeast Florida where we then lived. She drove a grey 98 Regency sedan from this final RWD generation; he may well have, too.
As the owner of both an Electra (’77 225) and 98 (’75 Regency), I would say the two cars are more similar thaan different. My sense has always been that Buicks were a bit more popular on the east coast and may have carried slightly more old money cachet, while the Olds were a little more Midwestern. The Electra brings to mind a lawyer from Bronxville, the 98 a doctor from Edina, or maybe just Lou Grant. But that was more as a whole brand than Electra vs. 98, I think. Both C-body models in their top trim (Regency and Limited Park Avenue) seemed designed for people who wanted substance and comfort without Cadillac flash. Both entry level models (by then, LS and 225) were marketed as the way to break into luxury, the CLS of their day.
Another contrast is the 98 always seemed to be the boxiest of GM’s 3 big sedan designs, while the Buick was always the swoopiest and curviest, even in ’71-’76 form the Electra looks more lithe than the 98. I like them both.
My favorite 98s will (probably) always be the final gen (91+), but these ones look great too. If only the ’91s had a 2-door…
I owned a 1977 Oldsmobile 98 LS 4 door sedan, GM blue with light blue interior. It remains my all time favorite car. I liked everything about the car, the drive, the ride, the looks, just everything about it. I found the car to have good lines, style, excellent seats, a smooth ride, an overall fine package. The car was comfortable, had good visibility all around, was easy to enter and exit, and was a great highway cruiser. The car was quiet and pleasant without being too soft, and I far preferred the overall handling and performance (as far as big domestic luxury cars from the era go) to the Cadillac Brougham I owned later. I had a heavy commute for a few years and it never let me down. It moved through the city with authority, but the highway was its home. It was the finest road trip ride I’ve ever owned. It was a pleasure to spend all day behind the wheel of that car.
I bought it in 1984 with 83,000 miles, drove it to over 200,000 and then gave it to my father, an Oldsmobile man to the core, who drove it around for several years before passing it along to another old guy who drove it for a few years more before finally parking it. To this day, I respect the car and the incredible service it delivered. For me, this was GM’s finest hour. I’ll always be an Oldsmobile man, even after GM let us down so badly, and I still own a couple of Oldsmobiles. If GM would tool up and make a brand new 1977 Olds 98, I’d mortgage the farm to buy another one.
I have many fond memories of the car, but two really stand out after all these years. One is remembering my dad smiling from behind the wheel, how good he looked and how happy he was driving the 98 around town. The other is of Friday mornings during my commuting days, crusing up old US #1, listening to Morning Edition with host “Colonel Bob” Edwards and his weekly conversations with Red Barber, the Ol’ Redhead himself. Their segment usually came up as I passed through a rural and beautiful section of the trip. Driving the 98, I was sitting in the catbird seat.
Great post. Every Oldsmobile I’ve owned has given great service — the 350s and 455s seemed to just run forever…….and nothing sounds as sweet to me as an Olds V8.
Yesterday while watching a local parade I was talking to my family and my back was to the parade for a minute. I heard this deep sound/rumble coming from one of the cars behind me and instantly knew what it was. A beautiful gold 1970 Cutlass Supreme convertible with the Rocket 350. The most distinctive and satisfying sounding engine EVER!
Excellent, JBrougham,
Long live Olds 98, Morning Edition, Bob Edwards, and Red Barber’s Florida Camelias!
There are, likely, few who share this combination of interests. Please accept my application for membership in this obscure club!
CC effect, or pretty close…
Last evening, after reading this post, I saw a mint 1980-85, all black, 98 sedan. I have not seen one in ages, let alone one so pristine. It passed me while I was waiting to turn onto a main road. I couldn’t catch up…but I then saw it again traveling the opposite way 3 hours later.
To me, the GM hierarchy was always from bottom to top Chevy, Pontiac, (Olds & Buick – tie), Cadillac. I truly feel that Olds and Buick were a tie on the hierarchy, and it was a matter of personal preference as to which brand you went for. If we analyze the situation with specific models, Olds had the Toronado, Buick had the Riviera and Cadillac the Eldorado. In 1979 the base price for the Toronado and Riviera were IDENTICAL! (Of course the Caddy was several thousands more.) Chevy and Pontiac weren’t even offered an E-body. Pontiac had the Bonneville/Catalina which was closest to and a small step up from the Caprice/Impala. The Buick Lesabre and Delta 88 were very comparable and could go either way as a stripper or loaded but always seemed just a notch nicer than the Chevy/Pontiacs, and the 98/Electras were usually loaded, almost at Cadillac deVille levels but for the buyer that didn’t want the pretentiousness of the Cadillac crest.
Definitely one that’s not often seen anymore. I’ve only seen one that I can think of in recent years, sitting on 22″ rims but otherwise remarkably original. I’ve also only seen two 88’s of the same vintage. Nice find, definitely kind of a time warp with the deflector and aluminum ARs, and hopefully it went to a good home.
Olds was supposed to be ‘expiremental’ versus Buick being ‘conservative’ in the “Mid-Price class”.
But, many former Impala owners traded in for Cutlasses or Regals in the 70s/80s.
I learned to drive on a ’79 Ninety-Eight LS 4-door, which was my Mom’s car. It was a fantastic family workhorse, and represented the best of what an American sedan could be. Our Olds could also easily smoke the tires, as it was equipped with the 403. Great memories…
I am driving a 1977 Oldsmobile 98 Regency as a daily driver. It is a great allround performer and even by modern standards a great car which only lacks modern safety stuff like airbags, which i don´t really mind. One funny thing is that even it is big, it handles turning and parking better than newer cars with front or AWD. The turning diameter is even smaller than the Volvo V70 of my dad.
Because I am living in Germany, the car is converted to meet german safety checks and standards.
Here is an older picture of my car with dutch license plates. Notice the caddy like lights.
I used to own a “79 Olds 98 Regency Coupe. It was midnight blue with a tan leather interior. It was strangely optioned. It had cruise control and of course A/C PWs. It had a 2-way power seat on the driver’s side only. No tilt wheel I sold it in 1986 for 2500.00.with 80,000 miles. I bought a brand new Chevy caprice classic A real piece of junk. The A/C worked good for the first 2 years and then no one could get it to work well. The tranny went bad at 47,000 miles. It was rebuilt but the car had no power. I miss my ’79 98!
Reply with comments please.
I don’t know about price, but in the 50’s, the Olds V8 + Hydramatic gave a very different experience from the Buick Dynaflow. Perhaps why they tried to make Olds the import fighter in the 90’s.
My dad got a promotion to management in 1964 and bought a new Olds 98. Our previous car was a ’60 Ford sedan (not sure if Fairlane, Galaxie or what). From then on, until I graduated from high school, he had a 69 Olds 98 and then a 73 Buick Electra 225. That Buick was what I learned to drive on. In 1976, the year I graduated high school, he got a VP job and bought a 76 Eldorado. So, kind of the classic mid-century automobile as social mobility story.
I wonder what this variant of them said to Europeans…!
(And yeah, BugFlector FTW)
Back in my dealer days, when the boxy old F series was still around, there was a customer that bought one brand new, with all the toys. Had a bug deflector installed elsewhere. Truck kept coming in for a/c blower inop. Techs would bring it in, could never find an issue, and send it back out with no problem found. Finally, a service writer bothered to ask when does the symptom occur? Only when driving over 65 mph. But get this, the blower motor would be running fine. No obstructions in the ductwork. A total head-scratcher. Truck was on the verge of lemon law buyback. We had the regional service engineer come in. About the same time, there were evidently similar issues around the country. Ford started some wind tunnel testing on similar F series. Turns out, with a certain height of bug deflector installed, at about 65 mph or so, a low-pressure area would form at the cowl where the inlet was for outside air to the HVAC system. No matter how fast the blower motor spun, there was no way to overcome the vacuum created at the inlet. Soon after a TSB came out about bug deflectors and blower motors. Every time I see a bug deflector, it brings me back to 1995 and my days as shop foreman, dealing with a seemingly never-ending flow of weird complaints.
Hah! Love it. I guessed where this story was going between the 3rd and 4th sentence.
You’re not the only one who assumed that Olds was above Buick in the Sloan heirarchy. Growing up in Chicago, my neighbors had a 1971 Olds Ninety Eight, silver over black brocade interior with lots of wood trim inside, with a Rocket 455. Compare pics of the contemporary Deville & Electra, and most would reach the same conclusion.
Crossups like this happened elsewhere on the Sloan Ladder, too—when the ’77 Caprice Classic came out, probably more than at least the one article made pointed remarks along the lines of it being easily mistakable and equippable as a Cad.