This 1975 Olds Delta 88 Royale convertible is one of 7,181 produced for the model year. While the aftermarket wheels aren’t necessarily my favorite, I do like this shade of blue, which reminds me of a Blue Razz Blow-Pop – and which also looks great with that white interior. (Remember white interiors?) I love that these fellows were actually out enjoying this car during rush hour, with the top down, no less.
As seen under the Wells Street L Tracks.
Downtown, The Loop, Chicago, Illinois.
Wednesday, October 9, 2013.
Hands down, in my opinion, probably one of the best looking GM convertibles ever produced.
Outstanding photo.
Beautiful photography, as usual.
If it weren’t for the (ugly) aftermarket wheels, it would be easy to mistake this for a period advertisement for the car.
Well and the occupants of the car. I don’t recall any ad from that time having two guys in the car (let alone two black guys…). Typical car ads of those times had one guy, a couple, or a nuclear family. The only ad I can remember with multiple men are the “business” ads for Electras and Cadillacs, with professional looking types out for an office lunch or a boardroom of execs.
Is this the model driven by the scoundrel in the 1976 film “Car Wash?” At the end of the day, he arrives to pick up the office clerk he asked out earlier; she realizes too late that his interest in her was only as a date for his friend, not himself.
I will refrain comment on the “ghetto” rims and tires; but a lovely car otherwise.
These big Olds & Buicks were very smooth, pleasant driving cars; their power steering, brakes, transmissions, engines and suspensions still feel current and modern even 40 years later.
I’ve been tempted to start a CC feature called “Will it Donk?” While not my cup of tea, either, I see the huge dub trend as just another expression of ‘Every Car is a Canvas.’ I did some stuff to my cars when I was younger that I cringe at today, but at the time, it was popular and (we thought it) looked cool. Remember ‘Dixie’ horns, anybody? (c: (always wanted one, glad I could never afford it now!)
Oh, come on!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQxMh8KZoqM
At least that modification is removable and doesn’t cause any damage. I’d be worried about the transmission, rear axle, and suspension with a donk…
I had 20 inch dubs on my 2002 Deville. They ate CV joints like they were wings on wing night.
Unsprung weight is the mortal enemy of CV joints.
Remember when youths installed racing slicks (“fats”) on the rear of mini pickups, Novas, & Mustangs? Same kind of silly, but there are worse things for young people to get involved in than modding cars.
I like the ‘I wanna be a dragster’ look on those vintage vehicles. It really brings out the feisty pugnacious look that some of them had. The look just made sense with the lines of those cars.
I think the disconnect I have with Donks is I’m very much a form follows function guy at my core – there must be some purpose, real or perceived that justifies the application of something non-factory. Big n littles with slicks out back served a real purpose. I just don’t get what donks are supposed to represent, they literally do the exact opposite of what makes a car drivable – they brake worse, they handle worse, they accelerate worse, they get worse mileage, and despite the ride height they can’t even go off road since the tires have 1″ of sidewall. To say they look worse is the only subjective part of the argument, but come on, have people really lost their sense of symmetry? Big n littles actually enhanced the proportions of many old cars back in the day since the cokebottle shape got accentuated.
Maybe I’m a philistine and am just missing the deeper meaning of them, but I don’t think any real artist would say a delta 88 with mass produced wheels is anything even close to expressionist art.
Kids used to do much worse back in the old days. They butchered up cars like mad, cutting the body for fender openings, jacking up the suspension in crude ways, ripping out front suspensions in exchange for solid front axles, tearing off trim, swapping engines of all sorts…..I could go on and on.
At least the folks with donks for the most part seem to appreciate the actual car, except for the wheels, and that is easily undone. It’s keeping a lot of old cars alive, and I’ve even come to appreciate the look, somewhat. There’s a surreal quality to them…like something from a vivid dream or a hallucinogen. I mean these cars are a bit surreal to start with, and the dubs just amplify it. And this great shot really conveys that quality, at least for me.
I agree with your assessment–while it’s not really my thing either, the donk trend has kept untold numbers of big 70’s and 80’s sedans not only alive, but cherished and appreciated. Those were the kind of cars that would have otherwise been driven into the ground and then derbied or junked; instead many have a new lease on life. And the modifications can be undone relatively easily.
As to the actual photo, beautiful as usual. And the Olds B- and C-bodies did manage a definite grace all through the 70’s, even after these big bumpers were afflicted on them!
How could I forget to mention all those butchered, naked VW Käfers, which one still sees occasionally? They always look worse than Ferdinand’s original, though undoubtedly the engine is cooled better that way.
The difference is cars from the 20s and 30s all looked the same(like today), so one could see the point of cutting them up to individualize in the true hot rodder days, and they actually were one of a kind when done, for better or worse. If nothing else at least those took some talent and skill, or at least served as the medium for attaining the skill, tools and discipline for their owners.
Donks like this are totally different, I can’t remember the last time I saw a 75 Olds convertible in any form and here’s the last one, now sporting chrome versions of wheels that would look too big on a wagon train for zero functional benefit whatsoever. It’s gimmicky and conformist, wow how original, you’ve expressed yourself the same exact way every other brazen young social misfit did, whoopie. Perfect representation of the devolution of society, do the least amount of work possible to get noticed.
You’re showing a bias. Believe me, if you had been a kid in the 20s or 30s, you wouldn’t say that (about all the cars looking alike). That’s even well before my time, but although some brands from the same year or so can be a bit tough to tell apart, design was changing quite rapidly, and it’s quite easy to tell cars from what year they were, give or take one or two.
Anyway, although those cars did get cut up like mad for hot rods and such, ironically I wasn’t thinking about them when I wrote this. I was thinking about all the butchered-up cars from the 50s and 60s.
You wouldn’t believe what kids did with cars back then; anything went, in (inevitably crude) efforts to create something different, or to look like something they saw in a magazine or car show.
Most of these abominations didn’t survive; one had to have lived through the times to have seen them. Crude, half-baked attempts to create custom and hot versions of common and cheap older cars.
Don’t get me wrong; I’m not down on them for doing so. The cars were dirt cheap, and many kids wanted to drive something unique. It was the cool thing to do, to make something of your car. But the damage was permanent, mostly.
I’ll give you an example: it was common to see C1 and C2 Corvettes with giant open fender wells cut out to make room for big fat ugly tires, and not uncommonly, a solid rear axle (and even front) in order to make it more drag-worthy. Of course, often it was just for looks, not actual serious racing. Because of their value now, I’ve read about the heroic efforts folks have made to restore the monsters.
Much worse than a set of wheels, by a long shot.
I wasn’t trying to hide my bias, we all have differing tastes and I know mine isn’t unanimously approved of either. What I disagree with is the notion that Donks are somehow better. I think the fate is better than demolition derby and crushing, no doubt, but speaking from experience there are indeed quite often permanent alterations made to the chassis to lift them and clear the wheels and tires, even if it’s not noticeable from the outside. Here in Chicago (where this one happens to be) the ones I’ve seen are usually sporting a repaint with questionable quality, and judging by a Caprice I found at the junkyard, copious amounts of bondo to cover up the rot the bodies have from this climate, therefore the cars tend to be on their last legs and scrapped soon after suffering this kind of embarrassment in their twilight years.
That’s not to say this Olds is like that(it looks quite good in the pictures) but it’s the exception to the rule, a rare Donk done right. The same applies to the old customs though. Yes there were a dozen horribly executed POSs for every one well done showcar or genuine fast racecar, but there were those good ones. The key thing I take exception to is when those 50s-60s cars were hacked up in such manners you describe they were what? 10 years old, 20 maybe in the 70s? They were just late model used cars, the equivalent today to someone donking a C5 Corvette, it could be ugly and stupid but it wouldn’t be considered the act of desecration it would be today to do customize a C1 or C2 in 2015. And that’s the thing with Donks like this, a 75 olds is 40 years old, are not just late model used cars anymore and are increasingly rare. If the owner of this one has all the stock parts and wheels garaged up somewhere and didn’t cut it up to make these wheels and tires fit, I applaud him for it, but my experience makes me pessimistic.
” And that’s the thing with Donks like this, a 75 olds is 40 years old, are not just late model used cars anymore and are increasingly rare. ”
100% in agreement. This is what truly upsets me about Donks.
+ 1. A car (ANY car) that has managed to survive for 40 years doesn’t deserve this kind of treatment. If it’s in a good condition, keep it that way and drive it as often as you can. If it’s beyond repair, put an end to its misery and scrap it. But doing this to a fine 1975 Olds convertible in 2015 is the moral and practical equivalent of cutting out the fender skirts of a Citroen DS in a feeble attempt to have it look like a street machine (it did happen in France in the 1980s when used DSs could be bought dirt cheap, but it would be unjustifiable today).
yeah…
header pipes with glass packs out the side, just before the rear wheels
ladder bars
traction bars
extended shackles on the rear leaf springs
mirror tinted windows
really ugly poorly done hood scoops
rear tires too wide to fit inside the fenders
super skinny front tires
solid engine mounts
removed heater core
roll bars and roll cages
welded chain steering wheels
oversized gas pedal shaped like a bare foot
gear shift knob shaped like a naked lady
dual antenna CB radio
crushed velvet interior
yosemite sam “back off” mud flaps
I’m loving everything BUT the DONK. (Badonkadonk on the other hand.)
Lose those tires and rims and you got a nice car.
At least as far as “personalizing” a car goes it is easy for the next owner to undo.
True, at least all one has to do is ditch the clown shoes/wagon wheels and you have a real clean rag top.
“… aren’t necessarily my favorite…” is a distinct understatement.
When Hot Wheels first came out, the mimicked some of the wilder hot rods and show cars of the day.
Eventually Mattel realized that a) kids like exaggeration and b) little plastic wheels are a cheap and easy thing to exaggerate.
Now the real cars are mimicking the Hot Wheels.
That’s my theory ans I’m sticking to it. Oh, and get off of my lawn!
Thank you Mr. Dennis for your great photography. Looking at your pictures we can feel the pulse of a great city like Chicago and the old cars you find really interact with the architecture. Great art captures the imagination, and mine is filled with what fun a drive around Chicago would be in a great old Olds. Thanks
+1
The car is beautiful! Except for the dubs/donks.
Wonder what that would do to the speedometer or odometer readings…
The car is 40, doesn’t matter by that point. If I’m looking at a car older than say 15 or 20 years, the overall condition and signs of lacking maintenance are more important.
Stunning photograph; good work and thanks.
I think these ’75s had either 350 or 455ci; the 350 would be ok for a cruiser like this.
These, when new, were weekend country club cars for the upper middle class. Some thought of the 1975 Oldsmobiles as collectible cars when new; as the final convertibles they were hoarded, protected, cherished.. .. .. . . in the manner that the ’76 Eldorado convertibles would be soon.
I remember seeing the Olds versions mostly in red (with white interior), maroon or white.
Two weaknesses I know of with these cars: 1) the most forward bar of the “scissors” top, where it attaches to the windshield header, was prone to bending damage due to the less than ideal mechanism and poor maintenance; 2) water would get into the trunk from the back of the top/convertible top storage area.
I saw a white one of these in Portland around se56th and Center Monday. Didn’t grab my phone in time.
As far as those things the car is rolling are concerned they are an all too very common look. Absolutely nothing original about them and now relegated to a simple copy cat theme. The car itself is gorgeous and made more so by the striking blue. Luckily, as most have commented the ship can be saved when the rims are given the deep six.
Its not even that. The shapes of them have no real flow, or direction. They just don’t make any particular statement, they don’t catch the eye. Coke bottle mags on the other hand just really seem to ‘pop’ on certain vehicles the way that deep steelies and half moons do on others. Its all a matter of opinion, of course. But on many modern wheels, especially the out of proportion ‘dubs’, I just don’t think theres any real substance that makes that style relevant.
Just remembered I saw this car’s slightly older sibling in Richmond last year:
Reminds me of that episode of The Munsters when Herman was wearing magic bullet slippers.
Ballet slippers. Stupid spell checker.
Although I could do without the wheels, I do like the car.
Found this on Ontario KIJIJI. 16000 miles…16000 Can. Its a 75.
The Dubs are usually sure sign of this ride being on it’s last owner in the Chicago area(If it hasn’t been scrapped by now, Photo is from 2013).
At least it had a few more days in the sun.
The car looks sound, and these final Delta 88 convertibles are popular with collectors. So this car could still be around. Swapping those wheels for stock wheels and wheel covers wouldn’t too hard.
Do that, and the car looks better than 80 percent of the 1975 full-size GM convertibles offered for sale at the various Carlisle events.
Judging by the dozen or so classics of this ilk I’ve stumbled across at the North Ave. U Pull It in Chicago the last few years, I’m inclined to say it’s 50/50
You’re probably close. This isn’t a Fad, Donks have been around a good long time. The ones built in the 90s have all disappeared.
It looks sound because these are only built for looks. Safety, and Performance are so low on the list it’s not funny.
Every suspension component and sometimes even the frame itself is stressed well beyond it’s limits.
It’s very rare to see one of these live long enough to see a second set of tires much less an owner that returns them to stock.
One of my favorite GM colors of ’75, along with the sky blue tone.
I’d get a ’75 Caprice droptop out of all the 71-75 big tanks, same color, IMHO. 2nd is the 88.
Also, Olds still had 350 or 455 V8’s for the 75-76 big cars. Their 260 was for Cutlass and Omega.
These were fairly popular when new. If I recall correctly, production was over 20,000 units for the model year, which was impressive, considering that 1975 was a recession year and big car sales still had not recovered from the effects of the first fuel crunch.
Buick also had their own (unique to Buick) 350 and 455 engines for their version of this drop top body. A Buick 455 was a torque monster!
Unlike the Olds engines, the Buicks didn’t ping & overheat so easily and burn valves.
Sincere thanks, everyone, regarding the photo. You know the nice weather is finally here in Chicago when the classic cars start appearing regularly (even though this photo is from October 2013). I can think of a hundred fates for this car that are worse than having wheels and tires that aren’t to my particular aesthetic (though it’s still a look I respect). It’s a clean, beautiful, classic Oldsmobile in a great color, being enjoyed by someone who clearly appreciates it.
I love the donk style when it’s well done. There are a lot of cheapo, poor attempts, but it’s a 21st-century variation of customizing/hot-rodding.
I’m keeping my 1973 Delta 88 droptop completely stock. She needs a lot, but she’ll feel and ride like she should.
These 75 88 convertibles were relatively popular as the Buick and Pontiac versions only sold in the 3 – 4k range. Never understood why. To my own personal taste, they are my least favorite of the final GM convertibles. But I still like them!
You see this look alot here in the Houston area: otherwise original full sizers from the 60’s and 70’s with seriously tasteless wheels. While I think it is a visual crime, I don’t really have a problem with any easily reversible mod as long as they take care of the car and keep the original wheels/hubcaps with the car when they sell it.
OK, the wheels were too big. But by enlarging the wheel opening and lowering a car by a few inches: suddenly, the car shrunk, it looked smaller.
Yeah but now the car is hacked, which is the key defense for Donk apologists. still looks pretty terrible, albeit slightly more symmetrical.
My ’72 Delta rag still sports the stock hubcaps and whitewalls, and that’s how it’s staying- unless I find a set of factory-style Rally IIs in a 5×5 bolt pattern.
Well, I like the model and the colors.
As for the dubs, bad taste is bad taste, whatever decade car you want to ruin and uglify, it still sucks. Plus, a lot of these aren’t just on big wheels. I’ve seen the interiors of these cars after the donkey crowd gets hold of them. Speakers installed above the front door armrests. TV sets installed behind the headrests. I could go on. This is just as much of an indignity to these cars as derbying. I wish they would find something less nice to ruin.