(first posted 9/24/2014) I’ve done my ode to the 1985-90 C-body Olds Ninety-Eight already, but I had to share this find, as it is a real time capsule, exceptionally sharp, and you could buy it right now if you wanted to! Yes folks, this fine luxury sedan is sitting in Cedar Rapids, IA at this very moment, waiting for a caring new owner.
This was the last year for the generation introduced in 1984 as ’85 models. Early C-bodies did have some teething problems (customers as beta testers, a Roger Smith-era specialty), but by about 1987 most of the bugs and glitches had been worked out, and these were fine cars. Comfortable and reliable–and spacious!
Yes, in 1990 you could get steering wheel-mounted radio and temperature controls! Very handy. Automatic climate control, leather-wrapped steering wheel. This one has the digital dash too! All the toys.
And I for one love this car’s squared-off lines, both inside and outside. No melted plastic school of design in this domestic automobile! The navy blue paint and very attractive navy blue leather makes it even better!
And to placate those who would draw the line at rattly wire wheel covers and whitewalls, you have nice clean blackwall tires and the classic “lacy spoke” alloy wheels. So when you take this car through the curves, you will not once have to be concerned about a flying wheel cover sailing off into the woods or off a cliff! That, my friends, is a true luxury.
I really liked the final 1989-90 version of this car, with the alloys, flush headlamps and flush hood ornament, but still with plenty of chrome. And I even kind of like that “Crown Landau” top! Just adds to that hearty American flavor, like some sauteed mushrooms on top of your steak.
Again: Love that navy blue leather. If I got this car I would love to take a nap in the back, or read the paper and sipping a gin and tonic, while someone else was driving. Why does every modern luxury car have to have the pseudo-sport sedan style? I like this classic pleated leather so much better.
One final note: Don’t forget that this car came with the vaunted 3800 V6. Smooth, quiet and reliable. Combined with a smooth ride and comfy leather upholstery, you couldn’t beat a new Regency Brougham back in 1990! And when will you see another one as nice as this one? If I have convinced you of this Oldsmobile’s merits, head on over to this car’s CL page and check it out. I hope whoever gets it keeps it as nice as it is! Tell them Wade sent ya, dontcha know!
Related: 1990 Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight Regency Brougham: Before The Storm
Tom, thanks for this entry. I had a ’90 Olds 88 Royale and I loved that car. It was a great riding, driving car, and it was a great family car when I had two small children.
I miss it everyday.
Thanks
I wonder if it’s got tru-coat?
Beat me to it!
Hmm. I’ve never heard nor seen of that “Crown Landau” Chrysler-style top. Was it a one-year thing?
I’ve never seen an 98 with a landau top that I can remember either. Interesting. And does the window insert have vertical louvers or am I seeing things? I’ve seen plenty of 98’s with vinyl/carriage roofs but they’re usually full-length.
Looks like a very nice car in great shape overall though! These were definitely well-sorted by the end of their run and they’re nice-looking cars.
Brings up another question of mine–did Olds sell more of these Ninety Eights than their less expensive 88 brethren? Or did more of them survive? I definitely see more of them today; at least in my experience the Ninety Eight is probably the most common survivor of the C/H platform cars of this era, or if not a very close second to the Deville. The Lesabre, which seemed the most common when new, is a distant third.
I’m thinking that one may have been dealer-installed. I don’t ever remember seeing one like that.
The early model FWD 98 coupes could be had with a landau top option. I do remember a seeing a few of those. (emphasis on few, as the coupes were rare to begin with)
The H-bodies were cheaper so they outsold the more expensive C-bodies, but the more expensive C-body cars were usually bought by more of the “last time buyers” club type owners, so usually, if a guy in his 60’s bought one of these, they were usually kept in pretty nice shape, which probably explains why you see more of them. The LeSabre got a rep for being a bulletproof used car, so probably lots of them were bought and run into the ground.
It also depends on the area too, I imagine, lots of LeSabres were sold down here in Florida, popular Buick country of course, and still see a good number of square LeSabres on the road, they are getting thinner on the ground, as any 20 plus year old car is prone to do, the other day I saw one of the rarer H-bodies, a stripper first year FWD Bonneville with the plastic wheel covers, too bad it was at night and I didn’t have any camera with me.
You were lucky to see that Bonneville. I have not seen a 1987-1991 Bonneville in any trim lever in years. What happened to them? They sold a lot of them during the run (my favorite was the SSE with the airplane like cockpit) but they are all gone.
I wonder if the dealer who installed that landau top was inspired by Chrysler? The landau top in that 98 Regency reminds me of the one used on the Chrysler Fifth Avenue and 1988-93 Chrysler New Yorker/Dynasty (sold as a Chrysler in Canada instead of Dodge).
Dealer ad-on, these had a vinyl top available, but it was a normal style top that covered the whole roof. I always liked these, the icing on the cake version of these has to be one with the rare “Grande” interior option, which made the pleated center of the seats pigskin suede and the leather was even softer, there was a center storage console included too, I think it was only available 1987-1988.
I always liked the Touring Sedan version too, but I never liked that you lost the center pillar opera lamp.
The Grande was a very cool special trim package. I saw one on eBay a few years back. I’d say it was as luxurious if not more so than a DeVille of that era. Certainly more stylish in any case!
I’d rather have the same year Lincoln Town Car, in the same fine condition this Olds is in.
No cupholders visible. I don’t think my 86 Electra had cupholders either.
I believe that most if not all 1985-1990 park ave had two cupholders – they were spring loaded from the centre arm rests
source 1990 buick park avenue owners manual
Though I think those were added during the cars run, I know the 1987 LeSabre we had didn’t have them, but the 1990 did.
hey carmine not sure if my memory is fading but didn’t the 1985-1990 olds 98 regency have a zipper to close the back storage flaps behind the seats? – im trying to find a pic to no avail
Yes, I think it did.
Yes all the 85-90 C bodies and 86-91 H bodies had a swing away set of cup holders. They were a cheap affair and broke easy. Mostly at where they mounted to the console. The bad news is that that was not able to be repaired BUT you were only out the cost of replacing the cup holder, the console and the cup holder mounting holes were fine and all you did was pop the new one back in.
On my 1997 LeSabre the cup holders feel cheap and easily broken so I have not used them for anything.
I’m pretty sure that bench seat cars did not have cupholders that early. We had an ’88 LeSabre and I specifically remember an incident with a can of soda tipping over all over my feet!!
+1 on the ’88 LeSabre not having any cup holders anywhere. Our ’88 LeSabre Custom had the soft, non-opening fold-down armrest/6th seat setup. That front middle seat was quite unusable, so my parents bought one of those “so 80s/90s” cassette tape/cup holders to sit on the hump in the floor in front of that 6th seat. My ’91 W-Body Regal coupe does, however, have one of those flimsy armrest mounted hideaway cup holders. I’ve broken three of them in the time I’ve had it!
You bring up a good point on the non console versions. I was not even aware that they offered these cars without a console.
This was back in the era where people inexplicably felt the need to have seating capacity for 6 – even if there wasn’t room for 6. It seems that most of them I’ve come across since we moved on from our ’88 have that soft fold down arm rest/6th seat “60/40” setup
My Electra was a T-type with semi bucket seats and I think a console of sorts, but transmission was on steering wheel. I did not usually drink water while driving, waiting till a rest stop. So my recollection of what the 86 Electra had is very fuzzy. Recently, with the SRX, I started using the cup holders to hold a container of water to drink. I used a tall one in the SRX, but got a shorter one for the ATS. My Seville had cup holders front and back, as did the SRX. The ATS has holders in the back too.
Too bad I’m not closer and in need of a new car, this would be perfect!
Back in 2001 when I worked at the little Oldsmobile dealer in Roscommon, we took a 1990 Ninety Eight in on trade. It was white with a dark blue canvas top. The interior was identical to this one. While I was doing the cleanup on it, I had put one of my cassettes in the tape deck to listen to. When I was done, I went to eject the tape, and it wouldn’t come out! Well, that just wouldn’t do! Thankfully, we were kind of slow the next day, so I took an hour and took the dash apart and got the radio out, dismantled the radio, and got my tape back! I got it all put back together and then realized after I was done…I forgot to reconnect the steering wheel buttons! Oops…
On a brighter note, the leather in these was very high quality.
As good as the B-body was, for someone of my height (or the lack thereof), these cars were sooo much easier for me to drive and feel comfortable in, not to mention I could see out of them!
They have so much glass area, the visibility is fantastic.
That must be the most awkward added on vinyl top north of Miami Beach, FL?
A well-preserved car otherwise.
I think that award has to go to this gem currently available on Ebay:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Chevrolet-Caprice-Brougham-Package-1993-chevrolet-caprice-classic-ltz-sedan-4-door-5-7-l-/171466451404?forcerrptr=true&hash=item27ec3269cc&item=171466451404&pt=US_Cars_Trucks
I notice there’s no side or rear view. Probably just as well.
Aww, Jeez.
This car, sans the dealer add-on vinyl top has some merits. But, I really couldn’t see them at the time. My dad’s company issued cars had been well equipped Olds Delta 88s from the late ’60s into the 1980’s. When the second round of downsizing came, the company switched to the Ninety-Eight, I guess to get a car with a little more presence, and assure the guys driving them that there was some hope of a decent highway experience. The fleet still had plenty of RWD B body 88s, and they didn’t want the guys avoiding the new car.
My dad took me to a University of Nebraska football game in the Ninety-Eight one time, so I got a few hours of experience. It was just unmemorable, and didn’t strike me as special or upscale the way the B 88s did.
These cars may have sold, but they also helped sell a lot of Grand Marquises and Town Cars, and probably a few M-Body Chrysler Fifth Avenues.
Agree with Dave B’s last paragraph.
I wasn’t that much of a GM or TC fan….until BOP “downsized” in 1986.
I’ve owned a ’95 Grand Marquis, an ’81 and ’87 TC….and finally, a 2005 Town Car! It’s like preserving a dying breed of animal.
Nice looking car which I never paid attention to in 1990, or 1989, or 1988, you get the picture. Apparently quite rare as a brief search of the bay Area turned up only a 62 and 65 Ninety-Eight. Same for any large Buick. No doubt because this region became Import heaven by the late 70’s that any large American car is rare out here. Come to think of it maybe I didn’t pay attention to them was because there were none to pay attention to.
Ohhhhh. I want this car (don’t love the landau top though….) but I’d want it to drive, and I’d wear it out in no time. Look at all that natural light and empty space inside the cabin. You just can’t get that in a new car nowadays.
I had an ’86. Nice car but GM hadn’t worked out the reliability kinks yet. A ’90 ought to be okay.
What Landau really is: A university town in the Rhineland-Palatinate. Luxury open carriages were once built there.
Can’t believe it took me until now to look it up. German place-names haven’t been as popular for American car models. I have this general impression that few folks get romantic thinking about Germany. “We’ll always have Berlin” just doesn’t cut it. This is not to say it’s a bad place to visit, but in PR terms France & Italy win.
Love the car!
Love the references to “Fargo!”
Thanks for a great article!
Thanks! Fargo is definitely in my top 10 favorite movies. It might even be in the top five.
It’s simply amazing how a popular movie can make what would otherwise have been an utterly forgettable car memorable. Fargo did for Cutlass Cieras what The Blues Brothers did for mid-seventies Dodge Monacos to the point where I’d love to have a ‘burnt umber’ Ciera because of the movie, alone.
Thomas, do my eyes deceive me or is that a factory audio EQ under the dash? I’ve never seen one installed.
Yes that is a Delco radio with an EQ. Those radios were surprisingly powerful radios for the era. the center of each EQ button was lighted and the buttons were nice.
I’m impressed at how well-optioned this car is. I love that vinyl roof with the louvered quarter windows. Much more attractive than the standard one.
Where is Pancakes House?
Nice cars those H/C -bodies. But one thing I would love to see is an old car comparision or test with GM B/D RWD against H/C FWD. Who had the most comfortable ride? Which was the quietest? Most equipment? And so on. Reliability?
Well-optioned indeed! I thought my faux TS was pretty heavily optioned from the factory, what with its DIC, CD player, and other goodies – but this one takes the cake. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one of these with a digital gauge cluster in person.
That being said, the colors and the vinyl roof leave something to be desired, IMHO. I think I’d actually prefer the pinkish Rosewood Metallic color of my former 98 over this blue – a thought which surprises even me.
Why couldn’t the tan-on-tan one (from your second post of the day) been in this nice of shape? Now *there* was a color combination!
Whiplash Alert! Look at those front seats, how low the seatback is. Can’t count how many times I’ve been behind someone in one of these GM models and noticed that the driver’s shoulders are well above the top of the seat, and the head restraint is in the fully-down position and the only thing it will restrain is the driver or passenger’s lower neck, or worse, the space between their shoulders. Like the pics here, nobody ever adjust the restraints to where they should be to protect in the rear end collision, and it would probably look strange if they did.
What was GM thinking.
Saving costs by using less material on the seatbacks, probably.
Uh…that the driver was supposed to adjust the headrest to their needs? I remember the top the seat on my LaSabre Limited came right to my shoulders, and I’m not short, so I only had to raise the headrest a little.
That is a very nice car, but other than the wheels (one of my favorites) and the color, I much prefer my ’95. The H bodies were great, but the proportions have always seemed a little off to me on the first gen FWD C bodies. The bigger rear door glass and more formal roof line just doesnt’ work for me on the downsized body.
In case anyone else is interested in the ’78 Electra in the background here is that listing.
http://quadcities.craigslist.org/ctd/4658023406.html
Thank goodness I just had a baby. My wife would kill me if I came home with that beauty. I’m guessing with those plain wheel covers it has the Buick 350 V8.
Wow! That Electra that this fellow also has is pretty darn nice….love the interior
With all the Fargo love here on CC, I think I really need to do a post on “The Cars of Fargo,” or some such! 🙂
wow as an owner of a 1990 Buick Electra Park Ave Ultra with an astroroof- this one looks very nice
anyone know what these were priced at in comparison to a equivalent Park Avenue/Electra?
some features that the 98 has that are lacking on the 1985-1990 Park Ave
a) steering wheel controls for the radio
b) leather steering wheel – only available on the Ultra (I think)
c) zippered storage on the seat backs – someone help me out on this one
d) calculator option
e) talking reminder option
I do have a 1990 Edmunds price guide so:
Park Avenue Ultra – $27825 + shipping
98 Regency Sedan – $19995 + shipping
98 Regency Brougham -$21595 + shipping
Touring Sedan – $26795 + shipping
Base Electra Limited $20225
Park Avenue $21750
T-type 23025
Options are extra too.
hmmm so the buick is about $200 more…I think the Olds wins…better features by far
I’m not sure how much different the features are, but the Buick’s don’t seem to offer steering wheel controls, not even in the early 90’s. But then the Olds steering wheel controls appear to be part of a package, or are standard, but maybe a convenience package. Both Buick and Olds have option packages. Buick offered the radio that this Olds has. My ATS has three adjustments for the tone of the audio system (surround sound) via the nav screen.
The Buicks did seem to have the better digital dash cluster and you could get the full analog cluster on any H/C Buick car regardless of “Touring” options, Oldsmobile did the same later, but initially the full analog cluster was Touring Sedan only.
Buick didn’t add steering wheel radio controls until well into the 3rd or so year of the 1991 style C-body, Buick also didn’t add a trip computer to the Park Avenue until the 1997 generation of Park Avenue. Where Oldsmobile offered it all the way though.
That was a big difference between the 95 Riviera and the Aurora. The oil monitor system gradually got added to most (if not all) of GM lineup. Navigation replaces much of the trip computer functions. What I did like about the Aurora’s trip/info system was that you could display oil pressure.
One side of me appreciates these cars for their honest, simple Volvo like styling. The other side of me views them as the beginning of the end of GM with their blatant badge engineered styling finally striking at the top of the GM food chain.
The crazy thing is that they really aren’t even badge engineered, nearly none of the exterior sheetmetal between an 98 and a Electra/Park Avenue is interchangeable, hell, even the hoods don’t even open the same way, the Buick had the unique clamshell style hood while the 98 had a regular style hood.
the branded hood insulation is a nice touch- I found a pic of the zippered 98 seats below…lots of little details are different from each car….GM certainly tried to differentiate the cars
one thing I found annoying was the lack of pull straps being attached to the headliner….would make the car perfect
Now hopefully me posting here tonight won’t get me called a F***** like last time, but here goes…
1) That hideous vinyl roof! I’ve never seen anything so tacky on an Oldsmobile, especially in the Midwest.
2) I think the place is a bit optimistic at $2995. For $5995 I’d take the Lucerne with high mileage.
3) Their ’54 Chevy looks eerily similar to Perry’s ’51 post. (The dimensions are even similar to the Lucerne’s???!).
Wow!!! That is a good looking car. And in a great color. A really, clean, well-cared for, great looking car. I definitely like the looks of it, and based on it’s appearance, find the price to be reasonable. I don’t care what some of you detractors say about that landau top, it works just fine for me. It makes the car look a little less plain than if it lacked it. I am seriously diggin’ that a lot.
hey everyone here is a pic of the zippered back…nifty little feature
My ATS has similar pockets, as did the SRX, but without zippers.
Send me ur number
How can I buy this
…and then I saw this is a rerun from 2014…
The plastic wood HVAC registers are an interesting touch. Was plastic wood not meant to create the impression that wood was being used?