Text by Patrick Bell.
Our gallery today is a nice selection of Oldsmobiles for your viewing pleasure. Overall they were a quality car line with a stable customer base and were very common on the roads of this era. So let’s get underway.
The first image was your father’s Oldsmobile, although that ad campaign (It’s Not Your Father’s Oldsmobile) began over a decade after this 1975 Delta 88 Town Sedan came off the assembly line. This is what the typical Oldsmobile owner was perceived to look like. The ad campaign, along with the introduction of the “New Generation Oldsmobile” in 1988, was aiming to change that perception, but obviously it did not work out. This was the least expensive way into a full size Olds for the year, but as opposed to the 1960’s it was well equipped, with the 350 V8, Turbo Hydra-matic, power steering, brakes, and full wheel covers all standard.
It looks like this 1960 Dynamic 88 Holiday Scenicoupe was driven regularly on dirt roads. The wide whitewalls were almost completely covered by dirt, a headlamp trim ring was missing, and trailing behind was a 1958 Pontiac.
The golf course or driving ranch was the place to be on a breezy day. This couple was standing in front of a 1961 F-85 De Luxe wagon with a 1962 Ford Galaxie 500 Town Victoria parked to the left.
A lady was patiently waiting inside a sharp looking 1962 Ninety-Eight Holiday Sedan. The Ninety-Eight always represented the top of the line Oldsmobile and the name lived for many years. Standard equipment for this year included; 394 cubic inch Skyrocket V8, 4-S Hydra-Matic Drive, Roto-Matic Power Steering, and Pedal-Ease Power Brakes.
The roses were in full bloom on this summer day when a 1965 F-85 Deluxe 4 door sedan was posing for a photo. It was equipped with the 330 cubic inch Jetfire Rocket V8 and looked close to new. In the background from closest to furthest were; a 1958 Chevrolet Biscayne 4 door sedan, 1962 Pontiac, and a 1958-1960 Ford Thunderbird.
Here was another 1965 F-85, this one a Sports Coupe in either Deluxe or Cutlass trim. The sharply dressed gentleman looked pleased with the car.
This one appears to have been in law enforcement duty with the red light on top, dual spot lights, and whip antenna. It did have mail order issue Minnesota license plates, so it likely was a private security guard company car. It was a 1965 Custom Vista-Cruiser, Oldsmobile’s largest wagon with the raised roof and skylight windows. Across the street to the right was a 1964-1966 Chevrolet Chevy-Van or GMC Handi-Van.
The 4-4-2 was introduced in 1964 as a package option available on any F-85 V8 model except station wagons. For 1965 it was modified to any F-85 2 door, and then in 1967 it became its own model. This 1966 model was a Deluxe Holiday Coupe, hence it was lacking the side moldings of the Cutlass trim. That, along with the full wheel covers and blackwall tires, made it a real sleeper.
Oldsmobile’s new flagship model for 1966 was the Toronado. It was a full size sports coupe with front wheel drive, and was unique in the marketplace. This one was out amongst the tulips.
A close to new looking 1970 Delta 88 Holiday Sedan with a vinyl roof (or two-tone) and dual striped whitewalls that were popular in that era. In the left background was a 1967 Chevrolet Chevelle Malibu Sport Coupe, and to the right a 1963 Ford Fairlane 4 door sedan.
Two ladies were deeply involved in a conversation in the front seat of a 1968 Cutlass S Holiday Coupe with a license plate that could have been an Ohio issue. The 1968 models were referred to as the “Youngmobiles” in the sales brochure, so the efforts to change their image had been going on for a while. Across the street was the tail end of a 1967 Chevrolet Impala.
Someone took a picture of their pride and joy, a 1972 Cutlass Supreme Hardtop Coupe. It was equipped with a vinyl roof, W30 style fiberglass hood, bumper guards, and Super Stock Wheels. Behind it looked like a 1972-1976 Ford Courier pickup.
A lady was posing with a 1970 Vista-Cruiser at a highway rest stop. This was the last year where the Vista-Cruiser was the large wagon as the full sized Custom Cruiser was introduced in 1971. In the background was a 1971 Ford Country Squire.
This gentleman appears to have a brand new 1973 Toronado in one of the many shades of green available in the ’70s. It was typically well equipped for this class of car with a vinyl roof, cornering lights, and three stripe tires. But radial tires were not available, they did not make the option list until ’74. In the background was a Chevrolet Advance Design Model 3105 Panel, or its GMC equivalent.
We’re off to the races in a 1970 4-4-2 W30 Holiday Coupe with Sports-Styled Outside Mirrors and Super Stock II wheels. In the background may have been a Mazda RX-3.
To close out today we have a 1977 Ninety-Eight Regency Sedan with a vinyl roof and deluxe wheel covers. A photo search indicates the location was Chicago; I can’t confirm, but the license plate colors do match the ’77 Illinois issue. Wherever the location, it looked like a GM town, as in this fuzzy image there are nine cars I can ID. Of those nine, seven are GM plus the 1974 Plymouth Satellite with the amber headlamp lens on the right edge, and in the far right side background a black 1952-1954 Ford Fordor Sedan.
Thanks for joining us and have a great day!
I think that guy is holding a polo mallett, and the black Vista Cruiser looks like it’s operated by a private ambulance service judging by the signage, and the black color suggests a funeral home.
Those signs look like they come off, and this was probably used by the funeral director as a ‘first call vehicle, possibly with blanking panels. The extra height in the rear would have been welcome on an ambulance run.
Good observation! And yes, in those days many funeral homes also provided ambulance services and did not always have a ‘dedicated’ hearse and separate ambulance. They’d have customers sooner or later!
Yes, very good observations, Robert. Thanks for your comments.
Truly a series of photos after my own heart, having owned many of these great Olds cars, about 12 between 1958 and 1977, including one identical to the 1st pic in pea green. Olds was the best GM division, my favorite by far. I’ve shared many pics before so will forgo that particular self-indulgence at this time.
Chicago was the number one market for Oldsmobile, so I was surrounded by them. The brand appealed to adults, established in their lives. So, it was big with empty nesters, retirees, and buyers wanting to appear established. As a kid, my dad lucked into a well worn 1961 Dynamic 88. It was our family car for a few years until the engine wore out. It was a memorable car and I am still fond of them.
Peak Olds was from 1972-1982, because that was the rise of the Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme, the most popular PLC, and classiest, in the US. Not just another Monte Carlo, or Torino, the Cutlass just had that handsome Olds styling and had that cut-above image. These cars sold by the hundreds of thousands, but somehow still retained a classy appeal the competition couldn’t match until the Chysler Cordoba arrived. Both Olds and Chrysler had that similar generational appeal.
Cookie cutting GM took a toll on Oldsmobile, but most impactful was the end of the PLC boom, replaced by a buyer’s demand for efficient and purposeful rides. By 1985, Olds was just another GM brand, and while it had some life left in it, the sweet spot in the market that Olds mined, had shifted to the Boomer’s new love of Japanese cars.
Not many on the road today.
In Chicago I used to enjoy the radio commercials for the “Gallent Men of Olds!
Drive a young new Oldsmobile.
This has me reliving my childhood – every one of these depicts either a car in my extended family, a car owned by a neighbor or friend or teacher, and for the couple of exceptions, the picture is only off from a year by one that would qualify. I don’t think I had more exposure to any brand of car than Oldsmobile back then.
My dad’s friend John had 1970 Delta 88 Holiday Sedan just like in photo #10.
It had those clear, dimpled seat covers (which is all I can remember about the car).
Photo # 7: 1965 Custom Vista-Cruiser
The sign in the background “Pliam Linoleum” brings back memories.
I remember when linoleum was on every kitchen and den floor. My Dad put it in the kitchen and 5 years later was cussing when he tired to get it up but had used too much glue. Me, my Dad, and my two brothers took turns chiseling that stuff off the floor. Ended up pulling the 12″ square floor tiles that were underneath as well.
I would imagine all this glue and original tile had asbestos and we were clueless.
While I drive small cars for their gas mileage, handling, and ability to scoot around monsters on the road I am really a big car guy at heart. I have always loved the Olds 98. Why settle for a Cutlass when you can have a 98. This was true even when 16 I loved to drive my father’s 1970 Olds 98. Alas came the mid-80s and on where Pontiac, Olds, and Buick began to lose their way and were nothing special and unique anymore. My 2004 LeSabre isn’t a 1970 98 but it as close as one can get. Way better to drive the 225 miles to Reno than the wife’s 2018 Mazda 3 this afternoon.
Very enjoyable post. The ’70 Holiday Sedan is a looker. And those ’65 F-85s are the dress versions of the car I cut my teeth on. Learned to drive a manual (3/tree of course), experienced the joys of a balky linkage and how to cure them, Spent hours doting on the interior/exterior (for what that was worth), gained the satisfaction of blowing out the carbon with a high-speed run on the hwy, etc. I loved that car. Very enjoyable post. Thanks, guys.
Even though Buick supposedly sat above Oldsmobile on the Sloan ladder, there were plenty of people who thought that an Oldsmobile was better. From 1949 to the end in 1990, the Rocket V-8 had a lot more cachet than any engine installed in a Buick.
The last Oldsmobile Pop owned was an 80-82 Ninety-Eight Regency Coupe. After the GM engine randomization scandal of the late 1970s, he made sure that his new Oldsmobile did indeed have a genuine Rocket V-8.
I have heard people claim that Pontiac was at the top of that ladder, just below Cadillac. That’s incorrect of course, but I always considered Oldsmobile the top of the pecking order right below the Cad. Buick just seemed to my distant view to be – just there, good but of lesser appeal than Chev or Olds.
You were correct part of the time. Through most of the ’50s, Olds prices were slightly above Buick for equivalent models. Olds was also closely related to Caddy in engines and transmissions, while Buick went its own way.
Before the ’50s, Buick had a parallel ladder outside the other divisions, spanning from the middle of Pontiac to the lower end of Cadillac.
My Dad was an Olds lifer, pretty much a new one every other year (’50 88, ’53 98, ’55 Super 88, ’57 Fiesta wagon, ’59 88, ’63 Starfire, ’66 Toro, all paid for with cash.) After his death in 1970 Mom kept the faith with a ’72 Delta 88, a third-gen Omega and an ’89 Delta 88. I only owned a single Olds, a 1974 Delta 88 Royale convert, production something like 3700 cars.
Patrick, I love these vintage photos and your commentary – both are excellent.
The 1965 Vista Cruiser with the red light on top (I still can’t figure out just what kind of organization that car belonged to) has an unusual license plate, that I’m glad you noted. Minnesota license plates in those days where usually geo-coded – through a combination of congressional districts (the first character) and the deputy registrar’s office where the plate was issued (second character). However, car owners could alternatively write to the State DMV and received plates through the mail, in which case there was no geo-coding, like the example shown.
I’m not sure if people did this to avoid showing where they were from, or to save 50¢, because mail-issue plates were that much cheaper since the deputy registrars charged a 50¢ fee. Anyway, that was a quirk of Minnesota plates… I think that quirk disappeared in 1974.
Thank you for your kind words, Eric. Rich keeps me challenged with his photo gathering abilities and I think we both enjoy (I know I do) putting together these features.
IMO the early 60s Olds were much leaner looking and conveyed performance and by the late 60s Olds had morphed into Buick with a bloated luxury look. They made hay for sure with the Cutlass in the 70s into the 80s but the full size cars became another face in the crowd.
I’m sure their product planners would argue that they had to chase the brougham sales but I would argue stay true to your roots for long term success. And shame on GM senior management for allowing BOP to persue the same market.
I knew someone when I first started to volunteer on the USS Hornet. He was the head engineer/director at the time. A retired Navy Commander whose last posting was CHENG on the USS Ranger before she was laid up. Pete was an Oldsmobile fanatic and at one time had 50 of them in his backyard in San Diego. A noted expert in the 1957 Oldsmobile the best car in the world according to him. Could be a bit abrasive when I met him but I had no issues with him even though I was a Ford man. He mellowed in his later 60s. Last talked with him in June before he went into the hospital for scheduled back surgery and unfortunately didn’t leave the surgical room alive in August. Lots of talk in the Olds circles back in August.
That 1960 in the 2nd pic brings back bad memories. My farmer neighbor had one of those, and one day when they went to town, we thought it would be a good Idea to practice power slides on the farm lane and donuts out in the corn field in their 60 olds. it was going great until we got her stuck out in the field. Being 2 skinny little kids, we couldn’t push it so when they came home, there was the car buried in the corm and needless to say our we got old Walters belt across our butts.
My parents bought a ‘61 Dynamic 88. It was their first new car in my life, and they still had it when I got my licence in 1966.. They were very conservative with money, so it was the bottom of the line, even to the point of installing the radio from their previous car, a 57 Plymouth.
Even back in “65”, calling that “F85”, tudor sedan a “sport coupe” would a been a stretch.
I remember seeing a lot of these back in the day and they were highly thought of. My dad seriously considered buying a ’69 Delta 88 Custom, as well as a ’69 Chrysler Newport, but then thought better of it and we ended up with a ’69 Chevy station wagon.
They were a step up from, and a bit more luxurious than Pontiac, but still kind of sporty, which Buicks really were not. They seemed so very middle middle-class. I never really saw very many Oldsmobiles on TV or the movies. Mannix drove a customized Toronado one during one season of his show, but then down-graded to a compact Dodge Dart convertible.
Donald Sutherland and Mary Tyler Moore drove an early ‘80s Delta 88 and Ninety-Eight respectively in the movie, “Ordinary People.” Henry Fonda and Katherine Hepburn had ’70-something Delta 88 in the movie, “On Golden Pond.” Leftover footage from the movie showing the car driving through the New England countryside was repurposed into the opening credits of the Bob Newhart sitcom, “Newhart,” where there were occasional jokes made about Bob owning an Oldsmobile.
When I look at the ’65 Vista Cruiser with my European eyes, I think it was this vehicle (and the corresponding sedans) that served as the stylistic inspiration for the Opel Rekord C from 1966 to 1971.
There are so many stylistic similarities: from the hood with the “kinked line” in the middle, to the grille with its horizontal accent line, to the bumpers that extend upwards at the sides, to the conical shape of the hubcaps.
Even the overall proportions, especially the ratio of “upper” to “lower,” seem to be almost identical.
Great work, GM! You truly were the “style masters” at that time.
I’m loving these pictures as they bring back so many memories .
I remember the ’64s as being light and sharp looking, still think so .
All the details in the comments are greatly appreciated, in my area in the 1960’s an Old was considered “a defrocked Cadillac, same car for less money” .
-Nate
The car in the lead shot reminds of the one a co-worker had. It was a hand me down from his high school teacher circa 1992 and was referred to as the “mighty V7” due to a persistent misfire on one cylinder, but it was a free car and got him to work.
The 72 Cutlass Supreme coupe reminds me of my grandfather’s car, since he had the same body style and color but in a more sedate form befitting a lawyer in his 60s. At the time my Grandmother had a Cutlass sedan, probably a 73 since it was the 6 window Colonnade style.
My father never had an Oldsmobile, our big sedan in the 70s was a Volvo.
Some nice Olds Shots.
Love that ’62 98.
Regarding the 70 Vista Cruiser, Was that a factory color option Red/White? Seems an odd choice if so.