Good day CC’ers! While Paul is taking care of CC this week, I still felt compelled to share a vintage image gallery. After all, I like to think some of you await for these and I didn’t feel like breaking the habit, completely. So, it’s time to feature Oldsmobile people in the ’60s and ’70s.
In these images, the usual Oldsmobile suspects; the Cutlasses, a bit of Toronado, and even a Vista Cruiser. Plus, a good deal of rocket power under the hood.
I’m always amazed that photos like the woman getting into her Cutlass at the gas station even exist. Back when you needed to take an often bulky camera with you to take pictures, and every shot cost you money for film, developing, and sometimes flashbulbs, who’d think to take a camera to the gas station? And who’s taking the picture? There’s already a passenger in the front seat, and its a coupe so there isn’t likely a third traveller who hasn’t entered the car yet.
Americans weren’t morbidly obese in the 1960s. Climbing into the back seat of a two-door was not a big deal. And frankly, as an 11 year old in 1969, I often took photos with my small camera that wasn’t “bulky”.
and the doors were huge back then; Super easy to get to that “back seat.”
Not just easy but “super” easy.
I’ll guess that someone had taken 23 pictures on a 24-exposure roll of film, and just wanted to take one last shot of anything before dropping it off at Fotomat to be developed.
Useless pictures at the time, but decades later those are sometimes the most interesting pictures from a roll of film.
That’s a possibility – I remember doing that several times.
I hadn’t noticed initially, but the first picture here is in front of a business called “Photo Service Inc.” – so undoubtedly someone was using up a few extra pictures by taking that shot as well.
Also, that building is still standing – it’s in Des Plaines, Illinois. Current StreetView capture below:
What I hadn’t noticed was that the “Olds” , and the “Chevy” share the same color duo.
Or maybe the photographer back there in the early 1970s was someone like me – even at the time – who just took pictures of nearly anything and everything (and a lot of random strangers) regardless of whether there was a point. In this case, I might have been captivated by the light and how it illuminates sideburn lady as she’s getting into the car. Plus, that’s a sharp-looking Cutlass there at the Gulf station. Those kinds of things always intrigued me and were enough to fire off the camera.
Which kinda explains how I get here today.
Also, interesting the “placement” of the “Olds”. The place where the gas goes in is no where near the pumps. H’mm.
Someone was probably just amazed at that lady’s impressive sideburns.
Ummm, I think “Sideburn Lady” is a dude. 😉
Grandma C. and her 1959 Oldsmobile 98:
Loved the 63 Starfire with the little cutie at the wheel!
That convert is a “stunner”!
My youth in pictures! With the exception of that first Toronado and the 1960 sedan, I think I spent time in or at least knew someone with every one of these cars. And with the 60 I came close with an aunt & uncle who had a 60 Pontiac sedan.
It is interesting how the whitewall/hub cap combo looked relatively normal on the 1961 but looked definitely cheap on the 66 Cutlass.
’66 F85’/Cutlass had 2 wheel cover options. My Dad opted for the nicer “Deluxe” wheel covers on our ’66 F85 Deluxe wagon. The were quite heavy as I recall.
Even the “dog dish” one were heavy in those days. One reason they were “forever” falling off.
Dog dish hub caps always looked cheap to me. I don’t understand classic cars with them unless maybe it’s a Ford Mainline or Plymouth Plaza and someone is being authentic since few stripper models would have had anything more.
The 1961 seems to have trim rings in addition to the dog dishes. Odd to see that in 1961 since it’s more of a pre-full wheel covers thing but there it is.
Yep, trim rings were an option for a few years on Olds 88’s with the dog dishes. Never understood this as they cost about the same as full wheel covers.
I think I spot a ’66 Vista Cruiser behind the ’67 98.
These old photos, particularly those taken in the early sixties, remind me of the DePasto Oldsmobile dealership in Animal House.
I’m not a huge Olds enthusiast but these are great images that bring back many good memories .
More please .
-Nate
For me, the Olds line was either a hit or miss when it comes to looks. Of course, that’s for me personally. Example: I have always and still do love the 1977 to 1984 Olds 98’s. Also love the 1981 to 1987 Cutlass (rear wheel drive 2 door mostly). Love the 1985 to 1994 Regency/98. On the flip side, I like very little from the 60’s. Some of the Toronado’s look really strange to me and the wagon (like one in blue with baby on hood above) never did a thing for me.
However, I think along with Pontiac, that the Olds line usually had a very nice interior. As far back as I can recall, I’ve only owned one Olds. It was a 1981 or 1982 98 Regency sedan with the diesel. We traded it in at the dealership I was working at and I purchased it for a few hundred bucks. What a fun car.
I became a car nut in 1955, when I was age 4. Dad took the family car shopping. Not sure where we were living, Air Force family.
I remember a dealership with autos on an upper level parking garage. Dad bought a new 1955 Olds ’98’ two door hardtop, turquoise & white. I will always remember, At the dealership parking garage, I saw a new turquoise & white Starfire conv. I remember that image to this day.
At age four, brat that I was was, I had to have the Starfire conv. A few weeks later, Dad bought the color matching 1955 Starfire conv. for Mom.
Netherlands; early ’70s. A time when big US cars were still bought here, plenty, by affluent people with an extraordinary taste and a bit of flair. In case you were well-off and had more than 3 children to carry, a well equipped Vista-Cruiser was a very respectable choice.
To us, Dutch, the Cutlass seemed Huge in comparison to European cars.
One of our neighbours, a somewhat stiff-upperlipped interior-designer, bought such a mighty Vista-Cruiser in ’72. His son and I were besties, so I happened to spent lots of rides under those fascinitating green domes on our way to golf-courses, horse-stables and yacht-harbours. Admirable V8, automatic and comfort; I loved it.
The problem with big cars in small countries will always be parking. Made even harder when you like a Gin-Tonic to-much. I can’t even count how many times this guy managed to wreck the outer edges of his Vista-Cruiser and it’s vulnerable Di-Noc.
It always got repaired; a man of reputation. At least untill his company went bust, some years after.
Used to trading in every two years, but now broke, he got stuck with this one. This would be his eternal ride from then on.
They had to move to a way cheaper neighbourhood where this loyal Cutlass served him well into the early nineties. The bright green metallic and the green domes faded, so did the, or-what-was-left-of-it, Di-Noc (you couldn’t tell it from corrosion; that was good, probably).
Like it’s owner it looked run down, but whenever he drove by, there was always that mighty V8 roar that made you stare and gaze into a long forgotten past, spent on Golf, horses, yachts and Gin-Tonics.
Love this comment 🙂
This inspired me to look up the basic dimensions of a 1972 Vista Cruiser and to compare them to, say, a 1972 Volvo 145 (which I imagine would have been a lot easier to acquire and manage in the Netherlands in 1972). The Vista Cruiser was indeed mighty.
Length (Olds vs. Volvo) = 218″ vs. 183″
Width = 77″ vs. 68″
Height = 59″ vs. 57″
Weight = 4286 lb vs. 2867 lb
Plus that Olds had rear drum brakes vs. the Volvo’s discs all around. Not that I guess that was an issue given there are a lot of mountains in the Netherlands. So the extra ton of weight probably didn’t matter much.
Maybe more to the point, and speaking from person experience, the turning radius of that Volvo would be much smaller than the Olds. Regardless of the number of gin and tonics consumed. 🙂
Still, there’s much to be said for Think Different. Kudos to your neighbors for choosing the path less taken (in the Netherlands).
“NOT” a lot of mountains … or at least long downhill roads … in the Netherlands…is what I meant to say.
Thanks & yes, these US car buyers were rather flamboyant!
There were a few notible Grey Importers in Holland specialized in either GM or Ford (Dodge Darts were assembled locally).
They ordered almost all cars fully loaded and sold from stock. These (prime GM!) cars had little competition back then: the Dollar was cheap. A V8 with automatic, power steering – windows and AC, all for the price of a MB 230, Volvo or big Opel. I think their succes mainly had to do with the ‘standard’ AT, reliability and impressive looks (Prime GM!).
Chevelles, Malibu’s, Impala’s (6 cil.) and Caprices (V8) were most common. The odd, flamboyant, Olds, Buick or Caddy sure caused strong opinions among local residents.
The convertible displays one of my all time favorite rear end / taillight designs. So neat how it tied the horizontal with the vertical.
I saw a ’59 at the Barrett / Jackson auction a few years back. I sighted that straight line of chrome from the top of the fin to the top of the head lights. It seemed like a mile long!
Approximately, a decade before I started car spotting. Many of these large, somewhat generic-looking Detroit Iron examples of the early to mid-60s, weren’t looking so good within a few years. And those still on the road, were doing their part polluting. A couple reasons, why I warmed to smaller cars as a little kid, circa mid ’70s.
Seldom seen brand here GMs range topped out at Pontiac/Cheviac sorry, but local enthusiasts seem to be finding them now, Napier petrol heads breakfast last round had one and I know where another hides,
The ’61 Dynamic 88 Holiday Coupe strikes me as attractive like no other Oldsmobile. Has been my Olds favorite for decades and it is one of the very, very few cars for which, when bored, I will search on line. Clean lines – blunt at the front and fades away to a crisp point at the rear with big round tail lights. It just looks right and this is a coupe too with the famous bubble top (not another Chevrolet!). Just makes it so much better. And on this one a contrasting color for the top – sublime! Driver looks like a Chicago guy from ’61 – maybe Dick Biondi’s older brother.
Comment about the poverty caps and trim rings: they look fine too and Oldsmobile seems to have taken the trouble to have painted the wheels body color on most. I’ve even seen white 88 with red interior and red wheels though that may have been done by the owner and not the factory. Full whitewalls were correct on a ’61 Olds.
My aunt purchased one of these new, same model, same body style, in medium blue without a contrasting roof color. It also had the dog dishes with trim rings plus the whitewalls. it was a striking car, glorious to ride in.
She kept it long enough that I was able to drive it in the late.60s after I got my license.
Might as well mention the 65 4-4-2!
What are those hideous buck teeth bumper guards on the 69? Next to the boy with the cap? Were those factory or had someone ODed on the J C Whitney catalogue?
Definitely not factory, could be JC Whitney or equivalent. Given this car has New York plates, maybe it was driven into the big city and parallel parked on the mean streets.
Last pic is a 68 Hurst Olds, very cool. Owner has my style today lol
Our neighbor in the house I was raised in was an Olds mechanic. When I was a kid in the 80s he had a nice blue ’74 4 door 98 and a beat up red ’72 Cutlass that was a salvage turned work car. Everytime I see an Olds, especially from that era, I think of him. My Dad was an OTR truck driver and not a car guy so I learned a lot about cars in our neighbor’s driveway. Miss them both, they sure could cloud the basements with smoke and drain a bottle of brandy.
And yes, that Toranado is ugly. I’ll take a Rivera.
Oldsmobile was the only car my dad would buy because he used love the reliability of them my first. Memory was a 1965 ls sedan in Lucerne mist blue. And I can remember him bringing the dial past 120.mph
I used to carry a cheap camera. I worked in a burger joint and then a wrecking yard out of high school. I have an entire album still of me and different things, including many at the yard wit the stacks of cars, us taking them apart. I loved fotomat. I would drop a roll off each week or so, fun times…
Does anyone know where I can get two 1968 442’s restored? They both need some tender loving care and I am looking for someone local who will appreciate what they have and be patient as they are restored to their original beauty. Thanks.
We had a few Oldsmobile’s in my family. My aunt had a 1961 Super 88 Fiesta, my cousin had a 1967 Vista Cruiser, my uncle a 1968 Ninety Eight and my 2nd cousin had a 1963 Ninety Eight. I owned a 1980 Delta 88 and a 1981 Cutlass Supreme. I worked for an Oldsmobile dealership when I was a teenager in the 70’s. Loved them all!
I was five years old in Holland when my alky air force dad totaled our red 66 Ford country squire station wagon.They had a heck of a time trying to get it on the tow trailer.Two years later in England my dad bought a dark blue 2dr Volvo station wagon stick shift.My mom hated it.Dont think she ever learned how to drive it.All that aside,my brother had a nice 2dr 67 Olds Cutlass with SS cragars.He let me use it for my graveyard shift job.Liked to drive it with auto, center console 400ci.Very quick and fun Olds.
Chuck,
What’s local? Where are you located?