Text by Patrick Bell.
Greetings to all. Today we are going gander at a gallery of merry Oldsmobiles. I have always liked the medium priced cars. They had most of the features, comfort and power of a luxury car but were not as expensive or pretentious. I have owned several of Oldsmobiles over the years and was employed for a few years at an Oldsmobile/Cadillac dealer in the eighties. ‘You can go as far as you like with me in my merry Oldsmobile’ (from the song ‘In My Merry Oldsmobile’ written by Gus Edwards and Vincent Bryan in 1905). The photos are mostly from the ’60s to the ’70s, though a few on the margins have been chosen too.
Our first one is a ’65 Ninety-Eight Holiday Sports Sedan cruising the beach. The blue over white color combination fits that car very well. In the background is a black over maroon ’63 Ford Thunderbird Landau, black ’60-’63 Chevrolet or GMC longbed with a cabover camper, and a blue ’62 Mercury Monterey 4 door. Beyond there they are too blurry to ID.
A clean looking ’59 Super 88 4 door sedan parked in a well kept neighborhood that appears like it is at the base of a hill or mountain. There is a mailbox on the corner on the left edge and a coupe from the thirties in the driveway.
Here we have another ’59 Super 88, this one a Holiday Sport Sedan with a New York plate used in ’58 and ’59. I see it has blackwall tires, which I find interesting. Looking for low maintenance I suppose.
A ’61 Super 88 Holiday Coupe at a motel in a tropical location. There is no front plate and this one has the standard hub caps with whitewalls.
And another one with the standard hub caps, a ’62 Dynamic 88 Celebrity Sedan with what looks like an Oregon plate. This was the least expensive and most popular full size Oldsmobile for ’62 with 68,467 produced and a base price of $2997. Someone strung their own overhead utility line attached to a pole fashioned from a tree presumably for power for the garage.
In ’64 Oldsmobile introduced a new lower priced line in their full size cars, the Jetstar 88. It lasted through ’66 and was eliminated for the ’67 model year when they did some more renaming. This white Convertible Coupe is a sharp example and is dressed up with wire wheel covers. It was one of four full size convertibles available that year. In the background above the hood I see a couple of Buicks, a black ’63 or ’64 Riviera, and perhaps a white ’62 Electra 225 4 door hardtop. Above the trunk may be a white ’64 Chevrolet Impala Sport Coupe, and the others are too blurry to ID.
400 cubic inch V8, four barrel carburetor, and dual exhaust. That is where they came up with the ‘442’ name. This is a first year ’65 model Holiday Coupe with a California plate and wire wheel covers that was purchased at Pearson Oldsmobile in Sunnyvale. I think it is a safe bet to say this photo was taken in San Francisco. The car to the right is not ringing any bells for me.
It may be early spring in this photo as it looks like the small trees are budding. The owner of this ’67 Cutlass Holiday Coupe is playing it safe and has not removed his snow tires yet. In my opinion the wheel covers look better than the slotted chrome wheels on the front. I can’t make out the license plate or the car in the driveway.
World’s Pool Tournament. Hmm. That may be Mr. World in the first year ’66 Toronado backed in to enable a fast getaway. On the left edge is a black ’66 Mercury Commuter wagon, and the green panel truck looks like a ’60-’63 Chevrolet or GMC. In the right lower corner is a ’61 Rambler Classic Super sedan.
I believe this is the Queen Mary in the background in Long Beach, California. In the foreground is a sharp black over gold ’69 Cutlass S Holiday Coupe with a black over white ’67 Lincoln Continental sedan on the other side of it. On the left edge is a blue ’65 Buick Wildcat 2 door hardtop, perhaps a dark ’63 Mercury Comet, and the green truck with the camper shell looks like a ’64-’66 Chevrolet. The others are too blurry.
I believe this photo belongs to a series taken in a West Germany army base we’ve visited before at CC. In the foreground is a ’70 Cutlass Sports Coupe with Super Stock Wheels and a taped up vent glass. It has been modified, the hood (which does not fit very well) is off a car with the W30 or W31 package, and the front seats are not original as they have built in headrests. Not so fun fact, the piece between the grilles is actually part of the hood and when it was open it served as a very good place to receive a knot on your head. To the right is the rear corner of a ’68 Ford Fairlane or Fairlane 500.
On the second row left side is a white over gold ’75-’77 Dodge Coronet or Plymouth Fury, white over blue ’76 Chevrolet Monte Carlo, silver Opel Manta with either a blacked out or missing grille, yellow ’71 or ’72 Dodge Demon 340, tan ’68 Buick Electra 225 Limited 4 door hardtop, red Dodge D-50 or Plymouth Arrow pickup, and a green Opel 1900 wagon. Others I can see are on the left edge a blue post ’67 VW Type 2, the tan one with the hood and trunk open looks like a Plymouth Duster or Dodge Demon/Dart Sport, possibly a white VW Rabbit 4 door just to the left of the center pole, and in the far right back corner is a maroon ’80-’86 Ford F-series.
Going fishing in a ’74 or ’75 Custom Cruiser wagon with a ’74 Cutlass S or Supreme sedan and a ’69 or later International Travelall or pickup on the right edge. It looks like the boat was registered in Ohio.
A street and parking lot scene with a red over white ’77 Delta 88 Royale Coupe in the foreground and a black over green ’79 Cadillac Sedan deVille in front of it. In the lot on the left edge is a white ’78-’80 Cutlass, black ’65 Chevrolet full size, tan VW Type 1, red Chevrolet Vega or Pontiac Astre hatchback, and a white ’80-’84 Omega or Buick Skylark sedan.
Someone just washed their new ’78 Delta 88 sedan that does not have any license plates yet. Next door is a ’72 Pontiac Gand Ville 4 door hardtop with a white wagon down the street that looks like a ’73-’77 Pontiac LeMans but could be a Buick Century, Chevrolet Malibu, or Olds Cutlass. There is little difference from the rear and it is too far away to tell for sure. The trees are bare but the grass is green. It must be winter in a mild climate in a GM neighborhood.
Thanks for riding along and have a great day!
Wow, now this is my baliwick, as you can see, my CV:
Founder of OCA Blue & Gray Chapter
Olds previously owned:
1936 Series F-36 sedan, 1947 78 Dynamic club coupe, 1950 98 sedan, 1956 98 Holiday sedan, 1956 Super 88 convert, 1957 Super 88 convert, 1958 Super 88 Sedan, 1965 Dynamic 88 convert, 1969 Toronado Custom (x 3), 1972 Cutlass S coupe, 1973 Delta 88 sedan, 1974 Delta 88 sedan, 1974 98 LS sedan, 1976 98 LS sedan, 1977 Delta 88 sedan., 1990 98 Regency.
Currently: 1969 Cutlass Holiday Sedan.
Great pictures of great cars!
Love that second to last pic where we get a bonus with the Cadillac Sedan Deville. Love them both, but I’d take the Caddy please.
I find it amazing how you can identify nearly every car in these pictures even if you can only see a tiny bit of it in the blurry background
Thanks, Mike. I have been practicing for a long time.
With my mom confined to a care home and my dad having died several years ago, it’s fallen on me and my siblings to take care of their finances and healthcare, which involved gaining access to their various online accounts. On one of my dad’s bank accounts, one of the security questions is “your first car”. The answer, written on an index card he kept in his desk, was “1950 Oldsmobile four door”. This surprised me, as I’d asked him several times over the years what cars he had before I was born, and he never mentioned anything older than a black ’53 Chevy. That was inline with all of his cars until the late ’70s – basic, low-trimmed cars that were lightly optioned, dog-dish hubcaps and all, including an early-’60s Falcon, a ’68 Bug and a ’76 Chevette. I can’t imagine him owning an Oldsmobile for his first car – he would have been 22 if he bought it new. None of the old photos I have show either the ’50 Olds or the ’53 Chevy.
The 65 442, not sure what you mean by “first year model”. The 442 first came out as a 1964 Cutlass. I owned one new.
4-4-2. 4speed 4barrel 2 dual exhaust. 1964 first year model had 330 cubic in and 4 speed. No option.
You and ravenuer are both correct. I messed up on that one. Thanks for steering me clear.
Picture #9 is from Johnston City, Illinois – a small town in southern Illinois, about 30 mi. from Carbondale.
The place was called the Cue Club – you can see the sign on the left-side of the building. It was part of (or perhaps a predecessor to) another establishment called Jansco’s Show Bar. It was opened in the 1950s by George Jansco, who quickly became a promoter of pool tournaments. Jansco’s “World’s Pool Tournament” was a real thing. Despite its out-of-the-way location, this was apparently one of the biggest pool tournaments in the US in the mid 1960s, with $20,000 in prizes, and it was even televised a few times. My guess is that it’s Mr. Jansco’s Toronado there.
Mr Jansco himself passed away in 1969. The bar was later sold, though the building burned down in 1996. The bar continued to operate in a new building at the same location until about 10 years ago. The site now contains a furniture store.
Here’s a link to the Google StreetView of the site (I’m assuming that the Cue Club and the Show Bar were on the same site, but I’m not positive about that):
https://maps.app.goo.gl/4Cy2tnaYGpJV5Bjc6
Wow, cool story. Ever since I found that photo I wondered what the “World’s Pool Tournament” was all about, considering the out-of-the-way surroundings. A neat reminder that a lot of events that now move millions (or more) had far simpler beginnings.
Glad I could help solve the mystery! From what I read, in the mid 1960s, the biggest US pool tournaments were in Las Vegas and Johnston City, IL. Hard to imagine.
Great story, Eric. Thanks for posting it.
Here’s my 62 Starfire
Hello Mark, images have to be in Jpeg format and measure not more than 1800 pixels wide/lenght in order to upload properly.
I’ll add one more here – a bit blurry since it’s from a home movie. This was taken at a carnival in 1971, and that’s my sister (age 4) in the boat. Behind the boat is our dad’s 1970 Oldsmobile Rallye 350 – not a car that was seen too often even back then. It was an odd car for a family guy to buy. Dad kept it until 1976.
That is a neat photo. Your sister (presuming she is the one on the right) is dressed to match the family car. And you are correct, the Rallye 350 was a rare one.
Somehow I hadn’t noticed that – but yes, she’s dressed to match the car! I bet that was intentional.
Still have 62 88
I came home from the hospital in May 1961 in my mom’s ’59 Ninety Eight convertible. The car was traded in for a 64 Cutlass convertible in the fall of 1963, so it is mysterious to me, since I certainly can’t recall anything from when I was 2 years old, why to this day that grille evokes her to me. I can hardly look at it without crying.
Regarding the picture with the ’70 Cutlass Sports Coupe:
“On the second row left side is a white over gold ’75-’77 Dodge Coronet or Plymouth Fury, white over blue ’76 Chevrolet Monte Carlo, silver Opel Manta with either a blacked out or missing grille, … ”
That doesn’t look like a Manta to me. I would qualify it as a Honda Accord. Or – less – probably – as a Fiat 124 Coupé.
To be honest, I don’t think the photo was shot in Germany either:
The gold Coronet/Fury has a blue license plate. The license plates of the US soldiers stationed in West Germany had green license plates. First with silver, later with white writing. It’s a pity we cant see the other llicense plates more clearly.
Further on, the style of the pavement in the foreground doesn’t seem particularly German to me either. The “Krauts” used / use much smaller paving slabs. Similar applies to the design of the windows of the building in the background.
Okay – you could argue that they built with US materials or to US standards. However, I know from visits to such facilities* in southern Germany that most of what not was directly used for military purposes usually corresponded to German specifications (at least visually).
* After the US-forces had withdrawn, those areas were freely accessible to the public.
I have to correct myself on one point:
The license plates for members of the US forces initially were green with black lettering. Later on, there were green plates with white or silver lettering.
Oldsmobile cars have really grown on me, not a common sight here in the UK. Based on the photographs I’ve seen I’ll go for a ’69 Cutlass 4 door sedan in white with a blue or green interior.
How ’bout my ’69 4 dr hardtop, 95% original, green with green interior and white top: It just happens to be for sale! lol
Beautiful, so much more balanced than the two door and yes that pale green really suits the car.somebody will be lucky to snag this. I’ve just blown my wedge on a very low mileage T230 Celica so Mrs Stuchbery and Barclays bank will not approve.