Ever since I spotted that ’64 Cutlass a few weeks ago, I’ve been haunted (or taunted) by a flock of early-’60s Oldsmobiles. I can’t help but think that some automotive God is beckoning me to come home–and any day now, I might succumb to my longing for some Lansing goodies.
The latest incident involved this 1963 Ninety-Eight Six-Window Hardtop. For a few years now, there have been a few You Tube videos of a similar if more decrepit ’63 Ninety Eight storming across random farmlands: There’s the lump of the”cold lamp” 394. The doe-eyed stateliness. The crisp fenders. And the knowledge that post-1964 Oldsmobiles would start to have more in common with their General Motors relatives. Oddities like the Roto-Hydramatic would become cost-inefficient foibles of the past.
The only Oldsmobile I ever purchased was a Generic Motors H-Body; that said, I feel like something of a fraud. I’ve never run my hand through an illogical shift quadrant, nor have I twisted my wrists with the overboosted power steering of the cars that made Oldsmobile great. Then there’s the 220-plus inches of length (where will I park it?), and the drum brakes at every corner (how will I stop that?). And let’s not forget the prodigious fuel consumption.
The rationalization of living with and feeding such a beast, even as a second car, becomes very daunting. Maybe I’ll find a smaller and slightly more efficient Dynamic Eighty-Eight? A compromise Cutlass? Granted, the value of run-of-the-mill Oldsmobile sedans lags among most GM classics. Still, I shouldn’t feel like it’s now or never. Plus, there’s profound guilt surrounding “cheating”on my steady stream of Mercedes sedans over the past five years.
The bridge between dreams and reality, over the river of longing and loyalty, is a hard one to cross. You’d think I’m agonizing about choosing a spouse or a dog at the pound, not over a vehicle–but sometimes, the magic of metal and motor can be so entrancing.
Reminds me of Richard Dreyfuss chasing Suzanne Somers and her Thunderbird in American Graffiti.
Laurence, you must do this. Everybody should experience a REAL Oldsmobile.
But that brings up another conundrum: The REAL Buick experience (well, the Dynaflow/Nailhead experience). For the same price a COMPLETELY different drivetrain experience.
I know that I’ll stick with my Oldsmoloyalty. But Buicks are equally intriguing.
You cannot go wrong either way. The Buicks of that era have somehow completely eluded my sphere of experience. I had a lot of seat time in various 1959-74 Oldsmobiles as a kid
Tough call. A “C” body Electra would be fun – Twin Turbine Dynaflow silky smooth like butter flowing and the nailhead 401; the 394 Olds with the (thank God for C body Oldsmobiles and Pontiac Bonnevilles) four speed Hydra-Matic like the Caddies . . . . hmm tough call.
I had understood that Olds 98s from 61-64 got the Roto also, and not the older Jetaway/Super HydraMatic. I had thought that the only two cars offering the old-style 4 speed HydraMatic were the Cadillac and the Bonneville. Lesser Pontiacs and all Oldsmobiles supposedly got the 3 speed Roto HydraMatic. I could, however, be wrong on this. The only GM car in this age range I ever owned was a 63 Caddy.
JP is correct, you got a Roto-Hydramatic (5 or 10) in all Automatic equipped ’63 Oldsmobiles. Catalinas and Grand Prixs used the Roto-10 also. Cadillac and Star Chief/Bonnevilles kept the circa ’56 Jet-Away Hydramatic. So in reality all C bodies in ’63 had different driveline feels.
A nice 64 Electra 225 sedan in black, that would have the sweet combo of a Nailhead and a Turbo 400.
Great photography! You really caught the feel of the East Bay in your backgrounds.
A 98 six-window, nothing less will do! Well, the coupe is mighty nice too…
There’s been a ’63 Ninety Eight two door hardtop on sale off and on in Santa Rosa for $4,500. It’s currently off right now, but it hasn’t sold in months, so I doubt things have changed.
Who knows… who knows….
Succumb to the madness that is classic car ownership.
Just do it. I know it’s not the Olds slogan, but “once driven, never forgotten.”
Oh, and mine came from Paddleford.
P.S. Some of your images look like screen captures from old TV shows — I can’t think of a greater compliment than that!
Is that last picture at 59th and Telegraph? Except for the Integra in the background and the white plates, that could have been taken in 1964!
Bingo!
Looks like for a moment, you were going to chase that 98 “C” body up to the Caldecott Tunnel. That example is one clean 98. Yes, please!!
Yet another sad, likely terminal, case of Car Stalker Syndrome…….
When you say your only Olds was an H-body, did you mean the 1975-80 Starfire?
FWD 1990 Eighty Eight. The Starfire would have been intriguing, but equally a non-Oldsmobile, I don’t even know if the runt 260 “Rocket” was available in them.
And it technically wasn’t my only Oldsmobile, just the only one I’ve bought.
Gotcha. I was only thinking Starfire because I’m pretty sure it and the Monza, Sunbird, and Skyhawk were also known as H-bodies during their run.
According to the Standard Catalog of Oldsmobile, the 260 wasn’t offered in the Starfire, but the Chevy 305 was optional in 1978 and 79.
I must say the slightly yellowish photography is very retro looking, almost like vintage photograph of the Oldsmobile taken when it was new. Very nice!
Instagram.
Photoshop, actually. Note the photos aren’t square format.
Clearly this is Photoshop. I would suggest toning down the yellow and use the grain noise filter. Also you could the texture filter, maybe the soft focus.
An interesting effect could be had using a black line, blurred to the max, decrease the opacity to darken mode, and make the photo appear to have been folded and creased. The joy of photoshop is playing around.
There’s some guy in western WA who’s been advertising enough older Oldsmobiles on Craigslist that I think he must have gotten in too deep. There’s a 1953 or so 88 2-door sedan with a three-speed tranny; a full custom 2-door hardtop of about that vintage; a 1960 4-door sedan, a 1964 (or so) big 4-door sedan; and in the pics of those cars one sees yet one or two others that aren’t being advertised. Sorry to be so imprecise about the cars – it’s a month or so since I looked at the ads last.
It’s way too easy to get hooked on old cars – I’ve gotten to the point where I’m mainly limited by my inability to put up with leaving a nice old car outside – that’s fine for the daily driver Accord but it wouldn’t do for a fin car or an old Rocket-engined three-speed sedan. My pickup and my RX7 get the two inside spaces.
If it makes you feel any better, I live in Lansing, and haven’t ever managed to own one. A couple of years ago somebody was parking this ’66 in my girlfriend’s neighborhood. It made a nice match for my Chrysler. Of the full size models, I could go for any of the ’65-’70s, but first choice would probably be a 68 or 72 Cutlass.
That Chrysler is beautiful!
What a beauty! I was almost equally smitten with a ’66 Ninety Eight at a local vintage car dealer. I especially liked the aqua/aqua color combination.
My favorite feature in Oldsmobiles for 1965-66 is that “Cyclops” after all of those ribbon speedos. That one is gorgeous too, and doesn’t have a Vinyl Top, rare for them as the 60’s went on.
“Ever since I spotted that ’64 Cutlass a few weeks ago, I’ve been haunted (or taunted) by a flock of early-’60s Oldsmobiles. I can’t help but think that some automotive God is beckoning me to come home–and any day now, I might succumb to my longing for some Lansing goodies.”
Peter Gabriel:
When illusion spin her net
I’m never where I want to be.
And liberty she pirouettes
When I think that I am free.
Watched by empty silhouettes
Who close their eyes but still can see
No one taught them etiquette
I was shown another me.
Today I don’t need a replacement;
I’ll tell them what the smile on my face meant
My heart it’s goin’, boom-boom-boom..
“Hey” I said “You can keep my things –
They’ve come to take me home.”
Welcome to Lansing…of another dimension
I just bought one of these Ninety-Eight hardtops- I love Oldsmobiles- I’ve got three now. This one is a 1962, one-family owned since new.
WHOA. Is that mid-century masterpiece your home too? You’re living my dream!
Mine too. Palm Springs?