While eighth generation Oldsmobile 88s are getting a bit thin on the ground it is still possible to spot the occasional single example out and about still earning its keep. But two in a single parking lot? I found this pair parked outside a public library. A rather unusual sight here since about the mid 1990s.
The blue car is a 1983-1984 Delta 88 that obviously passed through the GSL Chev City dealership in Calgary at some point in its lifetime. I have always thought their logo is quite clever with the bow-tie used as the T in city.
The grey one is also a Delta 88 model from the same 1983-1984 era. Perhaps one of our readers can narrow it down a bit more (update as per the comments below they are both 1984 models). Unlike the blue example it has sunburned paint but has managed to retain its wire wheel hubcaps. The front license plate is a sign of long term ownership here as Alberta dropped the requirement for one in 1991.
Tom Klockau has a nice in-depth write up on the coupes if you prefer your Oldsmobiles with a couple less doors.
If you haven’t had your fill of 1980s GM goodness yet there was also a Pontiac Sunbird hanging out next the Delta 88. Again it retains a front license plate indicating someone has spent a good number of years behind the wheel of this little J-body. Sharp eyed readers will spy a white Cutlass in the background as well. This library parking lot could almost exist in Oregon!
Back in the 6th grade my good friend Simon’s family traded in their 1970’s Chevy Nova for a brand new burgundy 1984 Delta 88. What a beautiful car! I haven’t thought about Simon in years…thanks for posting this!
Both Deltas are 1984 models. Olds was still changing grille inserts annually on most of its cars at this time.
I agree, having stared at the grill of my parents 84 for 12 years, and spending time behind the wheel with the anemic 307.
I’d drive one still, but swap out the damn near worthless 307 for something with more pep, even a 305 is peppier than a 307 is.
I loved spending time out in the Rocky Mountain/Great Plains area because cars from this era, including these specific Oldsmobiles, are far more common than in the northeast. It was fun to see such a wide variety of cars! 🙂 Where I live it is very rare to see anything from before about 2000, and extremely rare to see anything before 1990.
That library parking lot is in a time warp with all those pre-1990s cars perched in or around it. Like Back To The Future.
This was our first reliable car living in the US in the early 90s. It ended the life of an early model Nissan Altima and suffered only a broken turn signal. It helped me understand why people clung to the “bigger is better” philosophy even that close to the millenium.
Somewhere down the line I’m going to pick one up and restore it to factory. Probably cream/cream if I can find one.
The first actual car was a Shelby Charger seemingly made entirely of rubber. Nothing on it worked. The Olds was a significant upgrade for us Polish immigrants. We didn’t get iron like that bac in the bloc.
My dad had a 1983 Delta 88 just like the one in the third photo as a company car. The tail lights on the 1983 models were all red and had three thin rectangular patterns outlined on them in chrome. I remember that there was a yellow button in the glove compartment for the power trunk opener and a small green light right above the large drawer-style ashtray to indicate its location at night. The spare tire was rather haphazardly bolted down in the trunk; there was no wheel well for it. The rear windows actually opened!
Spotted the electric cable to plug that Sunbird in on cold nights… Likely a pump that kept the coolant warm and radiated a little heat out under the hood to keep the battery warm…. Must be a lot of cars up there in the frozen North with that accessory.
Better known as a block heater. Almost every car here has one. Helps starting at -40 temperatures.
And I thought it was another version of the lectric leopard 😉
LOL!
The L series front license plate is a tip off the car has been on the road a long time. I imagine the owner is a senior and the Olds has been serving him or her very well over the years.
There is a couple of similar generation Delta 88s in St. Albert and I’ve seen the odd one in Edmonton. Good maintenance and limited use has helped preserve these cars. But its also worth mentioning they were well engineered.
These were very common sights in Racine Wisconsin up until ten years ago, I used to see tons of them on family trips. Above all else they miraculously seemed to cope with rust there better than most 80s cars, including other B bodies oddly (my Grandpas Caprice didn’t fare so well).
I never cared for them, personally. Oldsmobile styling never coped properly with downsizing or the sheer look the way Chevy or Buick did, the 77-79 simply looked like a slightly scaled down 76 model, sans the curves, and by the time this redesign was launched in 1980 Oldsmobile seemed to be all in on emulating the original Cadillac Seville, but this time instead of directly scaling down big car, they scaled up a small(er) car with similarly unflattering results. The 80-81 Cutlass pulled it off alright, since the proportions were pretty close to the Seville, but these Bs look blocky and ungainly with the large headlight bezels and wraparound turn signals, and the taillights just looked bad once they started making the top halves amber(not against amber in back, just this execution). These were the transition point between Oldsmobile having the most popular model and becoming your father’s Oldsmobile.
The J-car is a fun sight, I always wondered how people driving late model Firebirds/Trans Ams felt when Pontiac affixed this virtual clone of the distinctive 77-78 Firebird nose to these penalty boxes.
I agree with you about these. I thought the 77-79 versions were the best of any of that generation’s B bodies but these were the worst. It was the combination of the full round wheel openings on an angular car and the way the front and rear ends drooped so noticeably. It looked like a toy plastic car that melted a little.
A agree that the ’77-79s were nicer looking than the 80-85’s, but for me the Chevrolet was the best looking overall. As a former owner of a ’85 Delta 88, I can say it wasn’t the best looking car, but I though for the times it was nicer than a lot of other cars out there. I though the area behind the rear door with where the C-pillar meets the quarter panel awkward looking. But they were trying to raise the trunk for improved aerodynamics. The LeSabre of this vintage, which shared some sheet metal with the Delta 88, was nicer looking overall IMO.
That’s it! The round wheelarches was a key change to these I couldn’t quite put my finger on. I actually think they accentuate the droopiness of the ends. The 80 Lesabre looked better because they retained the original squared openings.
Just to reiterate, I can’t say anything bad about these beyond the styling. They noticeably outlasted just about any other domestic or foreign car of the 80-85 time period around here. The fact that there are two of them randomly adjacent in a parking lot in 2017 is testament to that.
The Cutlass [Supreme after ’82] 4 door sedan was built and sold until 1987. Was the only 4 door A/G body available that year.
Last RWD Bonneville was ’86. Buick and Chevy ended Regal/Malibu sedans in ’83.
A solid, middle American car for solid, middle Americans. These hit the sweet spot for those looking for something a bit more upscale than Impala/Caprice. Pleasant design, but they could never get the tailights quite right. Good performer in ’77-’78 with the 403 V8. Unfortunately, starting in ’78 many had the 350 diesel, as deadly a sin as GM ever had. A favorite uncle, a crusty WWII vet who bought nothing but Olds since before the war, jettisoned his ’79 Delta 88 diesel after one year, never to return. Bought a Lincoln Town car, which provided reliable service until his death.
Nice! Always loved the B-Bodys from GM. When I think of a US made car this comes first in my mind.
An impressive find. Even in Lansing those have become pretty rare. The first generation of the FWD replacements have mostly disappeared as well. The ’92-’99 versions are still all over the place.
The American Family Car. And probably one of the last series not considered an Old Man Car. Despite my antipathy for eQjet 307 powerplants, I like these final RWD Oldsmobiles a lot. Like the last box Caprices they just shout solidity, continuity with the past, and predictability.
These would likely be Canadian emission cars, so no E-Qjet. We didn’t get those in Canada until 1988. My ’85 Delta 88 had a 307, mechanical Q-jet, and no ECM. The lock-up on the TH200-4R was a controlled by a vacuum switch. It was a my daily driver until for many years. It was retired in 2007 due to structural rust. The 307 drove it self to the scrap yard without a hiccup.
both are ’84s; the same grille greets me in the driveway every morning but mine is bolted to a 2-door body and a stronger de-smogged and rebuilt 403 lives behind it while the anemic OE 307 lives in a dark corner in the garage (where it belongs)
Theres 2 more B-Body Delta 88s that live within a couple of miles of me but they are both sedans and appear to still be in possession of their original owners. Along with the G-Bodys, there are the last of the great classic GMs and they have always been strong, durable cars; its not uncommon to see 307 Olds’ with more than 300K on them
christ you think these would be deep fried by the road salt by now
Some amazed not rusted away, but garages and car washes are great inventions, 😉
“garages and car washes are great inventions”
As are elderly owners who go decades seldom taking a car out in the kinds of weather that brings out the salt. 🙂
These were everywhere back in the day. Solid Oldsmobile reliability. My friend’s dad had one, an ’82 Royale Brougham sedan in that light greenish/bluish color with matching pillow interior. One day he let us take it to the mall in Connecticut. I was driving, and I got pulled over by a trooper. $100 ticket – I was going 80 in a 55 zone! I didn’t realize it as that rolling couch was so quiet and comfortable. Her dad had that car forever, until it had at least 250k miles and finally wouldn’t pass inspection without a ton of work so he junked it.
These two take me back! Back in my early college days in the late 1980s, two of my friends and I all parked in the same lot as we commuted to school. Since most of the cars were beater Toyotas, VWs and the like, our big American sedans really stood out. We called our parking area Battleship Row and it consisted of Paul’s mid-80s powder blue Caprice, my 2-tone grey ’78 Coupe de Ville, and John’s maroon ’84 Delta 88. Loved that Delta!