Even though Oldsmobile has been gone for more than a decade— doomed in the marketplace, no doubt, by the focus-group-dismaying first three letters in its name— we still celebrate the marque in music to this day. You don’t see many 1965-70 Olds 88s, on the street or otherwise, these days, so this non-cancerous Colorado ’67 four-door hardtop is a good junkyard find.
I wasn’t sure what kind of 88 I was seeing at first— the junkyard lists it as a Delta, but I am often reminded that junkyards get that stuff wrong all the time. However, you can just make out the shadow of “Delta 88” emblems on the rear quarters.
I was hoping that we had a genuine Delmont 88 here, because a ’67 Delmont 88 was the car driven by Edward Kennedy in the infamous Chappaquiddick Incident of 1969. Ted Kennedy likely would have had a real shot at the Presidency in 1972 and (even more so) in 1976, if not for the notoriety that stuck to him after incident, and so the ’67 Olds 88 has some historical significance.
It appears that Kennedy’s Delmont was the less sporty four-door sedan.
From what I understand, red valve covers on an Oldsmobile V8 engine of this era indicate that we’re looking at the potent 425-cubic-inch engine here. This would be a fun engine to rescue and drop into an X-body Olds Omega.
I’m betting that someone will grab these taillights and put them on eBay.
“The Toronado Look!”
Pretty nice car in it’s day. The Delta/Delmont 88s were pretty much on par with the Buick Wildcat/Le Sabre of that time. The Buick Electra 225/Oldsmobile 98 were top of the lines
I grew up riding in the backseat of one of these…even the same color!!! My family made a trip to Myrtle Beach from TN in this car. Lots of fond memories. Miss Oldsmobile as a marque. GM sure did ruin it those last few years. RIP
I bought a 68 Delmont 88 convertible in 1993 with the intention of restoring it. I redid the engine, suspension, brake lines, carb – still needed a lot of work. Then my son was born – and I had more important things to spend my money on – and I sold it.
“Ted Kennedy likely would have had a real shot at the Presidency in 1972 and (even more so) in 1976, if not for the notoriety that stuck to him after incident”
On the other hand, if Ted were not a Kennedy he would (should) have gone to prison for that “incident.” That incident being allowing his one night stand to drown in the car that he had drunkenly ran off the road. It did not help that he walked away from the scene after making no effort to rescue her or call for any kind of help for at least 12 hours. Other than that, hell of a guy…
Cool car, bad history.
Those Kennedys sure could get away with murder
Yeah, but even they paid the piper. Not many happy endings in that clan.
What goes around comes around
Karma f**k, they name is Kennedy.
Good
Yep, another Nixon versus Kennedy presidential race may have put Tricky Dick into permanent psychosis.
Then again…he may have already been there. This is the same guy whose aides greenlit Watergate less than five months from an election that they were going to win in a landslide. The campaign must have had access to polls showing McGovern was getting killed. Why jeopardize that with that stunt?
Because…Nixon was a paranoid freak who surrounded himself with even more paranoid freaks.
By today’s standards the whole Watergate thing seems pretty lame
Well, I guess that most of today’s true abuses of presidential power tend to involve blowing things up, but then again, Nixon was getting his B-52 on with regularity.
But the last potential presidential career ender was the whole Monica Lewinsky thing, and aside from revealing that Bill Clinton was willing to sleep with just about anyone with a pulse who wasn’t named “Hillary Clinton,” it was simple adultery (well, and lying about it under oath). But Nixon was BUGS**T crazy, and his aides were worse, which the whole Watergate thing revealed.
How crazy? At the end, Henry Kissinger had to call the Pentagon and tell them to call him first if they got any out-of-the-blue nuclear launch orders from Nixon.
Some of Nixon’s policies made good sense, but man, was he a freak.
” Bill Clinton was willing to sleep with just about anyone with a pulse who wasn’t named “Hillary Clinton,”
um, can you blame him?
I’d be surprised if the same shenanigans weren’t going on with most political “couples.”
Then again, maybe the Obamas are different. I don’t think I’d mess around on Michelle – she just looks MEAN. And I think she’s in way better shape than POTUS – that guy’s a beanpole.
There is one theory that said Nixon was ordering all the break-ins to see what Kennedy had on him, and another that he ordered them because feared that the DNC had proof of Nixon’s sabotage of the 1968 Vietnam peace talks (which, if proven, would have opened Nixon up to a death-penalty treason charge).
In any case, Joe Kennedy pulled strings to get JFK the Pulitzer for his ghostwritten book, while Nixon (who actually wrote his own book) got nothing. The Kennedys were just as crooked as Nixon, but they were a lot slicker.
Well, all that rum-running money and political connections will make it easier to buy a Pulitzer. Joe Kennedy was a piece of work.
I remember reading “Fatherland,” a dystopian novel set in the early ’60s after the Nazis won World War II, and “President Kennedy” – Joe, not JFK – was having a summit meeting with Hitler. Just splendid.
Senior or Junior? Latter was groomed for the role, until reality intervened.
Senior. The divergent point of history is the failure of D-Day.
When I found out that Ol’ Teddy wanted the Russians help to defeat Reagan so he could run for president. grrr. I wont even own a Kennedy toolbox.
http://www.forbes.com/2009/08/27/ted-kennedy-soviet-union-ronald-reagan-opinions-columnists-peter-robinson.html
That’s what happens when an entire family is born without a moral compass. The man left his girlfriend to die, this does not surprise me at all
Funny how that was kept swept under the rug until after his death. Pretty sure that was treasonous.
@Lie2me
My mother always said it was because she was pregnant.
“The Kennedys were just as crooked as Nixon, but they were a lot slicker.”
Interesting that a post about Ted Kennedy killing his girlfriend quickly got redirected into a post about the evils of Nixon. It looks like the power of the Camelot mythology lives on.
We digress, it happens
Absolutely mind-boggling that someone would have junked this car in this condition. And don’t give me the “too many doors” crap argument.
What a waste…
So, are you out there on Craigslist every day, buying up old cars that no one else seems to want, to prevent them from having this fate?
Was this car even listed on CL?
I see plenty of cars in junkyards where hobbyists never even get a chance to buy it before they get crushed.
Same thing happened during C4C, there were plenty of cars traded that I would have bought for the rebate amount but there wasn’t any rule that the vehicle needed to be for sale first.
In fact, my Diplomat was a C4C “rescue”. But, it was still mostly luck that I ended up with it.
https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2009/10/piston-slap-diplomatic-immunity/
Whether or not this particular car was offered up for sale isn’t relevant. There’s a reason that cars like this end up being scrapped, in that there are more of them around than there are prospective owners. The vast majority of people have no desire to own a collector car, and of those that do, most only have one or two, which means there just aren’t that many homes for cars like this. Add to it that this is a four door sedan, which is probably the least desirable model. What would a nice example of such a car go for? I’d wager somewhere in the mid four figures, in fact there’s a nice looking ’66 Delta 88 sedan for sale on Hemmings right now for $8250. Now look at this car’s condition and tell me it’s worth restoring. It isn’t, which is why it is where it is.
“Whether or not this particular car was offered up for sale isn’t relevant.”
It seems relevant to me. How can someone buy something that was never for sale?
“Now look at this car’s condition and tell me it’s worth restoring.”
Who said anything about restoring? If it sort of runs and is mostly road-worthy (and I don’t know that this was the case here) then you’re good to go after two weekends of work.
If this was on sale where I live, I think it’d never go anywhere near a junkyard. American cars here do tend to have at least some value.
As a young’n I worked as lot boy for a fourth-tier used car lot whose owner purchased a recently new ’67 Delta 88 (Teal in color IIRC) with around 1k miles on the clock that had been totaled – front end mashed up to the wheels and rear end mashed in to the rear axle. He shoved it into what could be euphemistically regarded as his shop (with a hand-hewn oak beam from the late 1800’s overhead for lifting) and got out his cutting torches, welders and sprayers. After about a month of labor he had replaced the front clip, rear end and repainted it a perfectly-matching Teal that passed the sunlight/artificial lighting test. He even shot the trunk with the old GM marbled trunk paint (his dad was a salesman at a local Olds dealer). He sold it to a middle-aged spinster for 90% of MSRP, telling her what a great deal she had made on a nearly-new Oldsmobile. As she happily drove away east on Main street, setting sun in the background, we watched her shiny new purchase in a 10 or 15 degree crab to the left moving off toward downtown.
LOL…the wonders of welding. Around 1979, my family did a trip to southern California and my dad and I did a day in Tijuana. It was there that I experienced a “Tijuana taxi” – an early ’70s GM four door frameless hardtop that appeared to have been welded together in the middle from an Olds Delta 88 and a Buick LeSabre. I do believe the front part was from the Olds and the back part was from the Buick.
Needless to say, I noted a distinct lack of torsional rigidity.
WOW hahahahaha
I was waiting for the ‘twist’ in this story and sure enough.. hahaha
A similar thing happend to my dad. He bought a 1 year old 58 Pontiac 4dr hardtop. A beautiful car in two tone green. He left it out of the garage one night in a pouring rain. It leaked badly and soaked the carpets. When he pulled the carpet up from the rear floor, he discovered a welded seam across the floor pan. He then took a piece of trim off the A pillar and found the top had been welded on. These were obviously not factory welds. Someone had taken two wrecks and made one car. He didn’t keep it long.
Another Olds reference in music to add: from the song “Dr. Bernice” by Cracker…
Baby don’t you ride around with Dr. Bernice/
That ain’t a real Cadillac/
It’s a Delta 88/
Spray-painted black/
With fake leather seats from Juarez/
Wow, 4 doors with no B pillar. Rollover protection, huh, what’s that?
Nothing bad will happen, this is America!
But the body flex was entertaining.
Should have driven the convertible
A proper Oldsmobile! I love the detailing on the lights. American big boy cars, before they became baroque brocade mobiles.
Now: Delta is a trim of the 88? Or a different body style? I know I’ve seen Delta 88 coupes as well. Was the Delmont cheaper because it was a sedan and not a pillarless hardtop?
Were there variations like this for the 98 as well?
I love the 66-67 Toronado. I think it might be my all-time favorite American design. So elegant. In green/navy/maroon especially.
http://images.conceptcarz.com/imgxra/Oldsmobile/66-Olds-Toronado-Hardtop_DV-12-GG_01.jpg
“I love the 66-67 Toronado. I think it might be my all-time favorite American design. So elegant. In green/navy/maroon especially.”
I went nuts over that car when it came out. I had a friend who’s dad was an Oldsmobile salesman and he brought one home and took me and my friend for a ride. I thought I died and went to heaven
Goodness you’re old enough to remember cars of the mid-late 60s! What color was the one you got to ride in!
Also IMO the 68 refresh ruined it with the fish mouth.
It was Burgundy
http://www.2040-cars.com/_content/cars/images/42/302642/001.jpg
Very beauty.
The ’66 Toronado is one of my favorites too, but I have nonstop love for the ’66 Riv. The ’63 gets all the press, but man, do I love the ’66, particularly in black. Look at those lines. Just gorgeous.
http://www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/CC-143-090-800.jpg
GM styling was knocking it way out of the park back then. Even ho-hum models like a four-door family Olds were great looking.
It’s very interesting that the Olds got the FWD drive train, even though it was the same platform/body. Were they that desperate to try FWD?
Oldsmobile usually got new tech/ideas first for a year or two before the other divisions had a crack at it.
Olds wanted the Toronado to be a technical achievement, so they went with the FWD setup, which was basically unheard of back then, particularly in a car that big. Here’s a good video explaining what Olds had on its mind:
The one in that video was converted to RWD and has a 1000-hp motor, but looks absolutely stock. Awesome.
And I love the dashboard and steering wheel – Jetsons all the way.
Oldsmobile and GM’s chief stylist, Bill Mitchell, originally wanted the Toronado to use the smaller A-body (F-85/Cutlass).
They were overruled by Ed Cole, who believed that buyers in the Riviera class were more likely to be more interested in new technology, and therefore more likely to pay for it (and more able to pay for it). The costs could also be spread over three cars – the Riviera, Toronado and upcoming Eldorado.
Buick’s general manager wanted nothing to do with front-wheel-drive, so he was able to keep the rear-wheel-drive format for the Riviera, even though it shared a body with the Toronado and Eldorado.
Thanks you two.
My favorite part of the Toronado was the drum speedo that rotated north-south. I have never seen another car with that set up.
How was it possible to offer RWD for Riviera but FWD for Toro/Eldo?
Are you asking this sarcastically? You know so much about GM (and especially Caddy and Olds), that I figured you’d know this already!
Corey – the Riviera had the rotating-drum speedo too, but the execution on the Toronado was definitely cooler.
Riviera:
http://assets.hemmings.com/story_image/466071-1000-0.jpg?rev=2
Toronado:
https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2564/4148040335_502ac8e49e.jpg
@28:
The Toronado’s powertrain design was very cool – it was basically an integrated engine/transmission combo, and it was mounted longitudinally in a subframe. My guess is the Riv used a different subframe. Otherwise, the basic platform was the same between the Riv, Toro and Eldo. But with the longitudinal engine mounting, it probably wasn’t a big trick to make the Riv RWD.
By they way, the used the same engine/transmission unit on GMC motorhomes. Apparently it was quite the beast.
The problem with GM’s side-saddle approach is that you need a pretty wide car to mount it, which is why subsequent longitudinal FWD setups had the transmission in the usual place behind the engine, and ran a parallel shaft up to a front differential or output the axle stubs by the bellhousing.
Yeah the Riv speedo definitely looks more “old man” styling, with larger numbers in a less hip font. I like the ELECTRO CRUISE though. Haven’t seen that one before.
As I have read, GM hyper-tested their FWD drive train over millions of miles, because they weren’t about to see their first FWD experimentation fail. As a result, it ended up being quite strong and over-engineered.
The first Toronado and front-wheel-drive Eldorado weren’t about space efficiency. In those days, front-wheel-drive was exotic to American car buyers. That alone was a selling point.
@Corey
Too much before my time to have had any exposure to it.
@freedMike
Thanks for the reply. I suppose yes if you switch out the subframe, transmission, and add a rear diff, the platform could work. This also means to me it would be possible to craft a RWD Eldorado on the platform.
I’ve heard that about the motorhomes, something to the effect of the overall powertrain was so overengineered it could handle the weight of the motorhome and run reliably. Evdiently it used the 455 and then offered the 403 later.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GMC_motorhome
It helps that the motorhomes were fairly light for their size (aluminum construction).
The Delta 88 was a separate mid range model. In some years there was a Custom trim level for the Delta. The Delmont 88, Dynamic 88 and the Jetstar 88 were the lower range models, depending on the year. The Ninety-Eight was the top end model that had the longer wheelbase. This being a 4dr hardtop would be a Delta 88 Holiday Sedan. Yes Ninety-Eight was spelled out and hyphenated while the models that carried the 88 were numbers.
Thanks. So there were not any variations on the Ninety-Eight name.
There was the Luxury Sedan that was the version that gave you all of the options by checking one box, unique interior fabrics and LS script badge. Which is why much later the top trim of Olds became the LS.
Ah, LS of course.
The Ninety-Eight coupe is fantastic.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/1969_Oldsmobile_Ninety-Eight-3.jpg
I’d love to tune something like this then use that amazingly menacing grill to bully slower traffic out of the fast lane.
You don’t need a menacing grille, the sheer size is enough to scare secretaries in Corollas from cutting you off. I learned that when I switched from my Dodge Dart wagon (brown) to a ’63 Newport that a previous owner had apparently run into a boxcar.
It had a dent in the bumper about 3 inches deep on the passenger side of the license plate recess. The first thing I noticed was small cars on side streets would let me go by and get behind me, rather than pull out in front of me, the opposite of what happened with the Dart.
If you can find somebody with a mid-’60s to mid’70s Big Three full size car and ask, they’ll tell you people in those puny modern cars keep their distance. In my rusty, multi-dented Newport, I had people in Mercedes move over a lane!
I’ve had Corvettes let my rusty gray Horizon pass them, I don’t think that its a matter of size, more so people don’t like being behind rattle-traps.
And remembering the old rule of, “never get in the way of a car with body damage.”
Had one of these once. Back right after highschool.. of all the cars I have driven it was the least hassle and for a long time it was interestingly the ‘funnest’.
that dirt brown paint job, that twin size seat in the back.
but the best part was for a 500$ car in 1994 it was solid. oh it had hundreds of dents.. I have no ideas what the previous owner did but damn.
the best part .. was how people AVOIDED driving next to me, or parking anywhere near me. all I can guess is when your in a land-yaht with every panel dented in and a bent front bumper people assumed you were the worst driver on earth and gave me a wide berth.
They definitely don’t want to catch whatever it is you’ve got
Nor do they want to smell it, older cars can be really smelly when you’re behind them.
But then again I say this after being behind a Mustang II, those always kinda stink.
Beautiful car. They don’t make’em like they used to.
Good. I like that I can make it to 100,000 miles without catastrophic failure.
That wasn’t the case with 1960s GM full size cars. They could ping your wallet to death in the 80k-120k range (unless you could wrench), but high production volumes and GM interchangeability made parts cheap and plentiful. That was the era of “A GM car will still run – badly – long after the ‘better’ cars have been junked for being too expensive to fix”.
Shocked to see that front end undamaged – particularly the vulnerable pointed ends on either side.
Seeing the notable lack of rust on the body in a car destined for the crusher make me want to cry. Joys of car ownership in the Great Lakes salt-using states.
My parents had a 1967 Delmont 88 Holiday sedan when I was young. (The Delmont was the least expensive version of the full-size Oldsmobile.)
I don’t recall any problem with dings or dents to the front. That bumper and fender “points” were actually solid and tough. Weight savings weren’t a priority when this car was designed.
Agreed ;
This seems a serious waste .
Nice to see some one is stripping it though .
-Nate
This brings back memories. My parents had 1967 Delmont 88 Holiday sedan when I was young. They bought it from an elderly neighbor, who rarely drove it (and never drove it in the rain or snow). They bought it in June 1972, and it had only 19,000 miles on the odometer.
That was one tough car, and a much more substantial car than their 1965 Chevrolet Bel Air wagon. In those days, when you moved up from a Chevrolet to an Oldsmobile, you really did get a better car.
If that was a runner you could sell it in a second in Sweden. They love full sized four door hardtop American Cars.
Man, I love me a big Oldsmobile!
Though I prefer the 71-76 88. This one’s a bit too weird for me.
My memory of this beast is sad.
One of the senate members of the Board of Governors at our university drove up the steep hill of the main drag about 9:30 am in March 1967. The sun was directly in his eyes, so he missed the sign and rails announcing the two foot wide, ten foot long, four foot deep trench.
Well, at least the brand new Olds stopped with only the right front wheel hanging down in the abyss, quickly followed by one highly teed-off Important Person jumping up and down in acute distress looking at it.
Spotting dozens of young men in the immediate vicinity walking to classes, after announcing who HE WAS, he attempted to harangue the gathering mob into lifting the 88 out of the trench. As the right side of the chassis was on the ground, nobody volunteered.
After attending my lecture I walked back to my residence hall, and the beige whale was still there. Oh well. Using young person’s logic, we all agreed that at least it prevented other unfortunates from repeating the error while it remained beached.
What yard is this in? I desperately need about 3 items from it for my 67 Ninety Eight Convertible
It’s the LKQ Pick Your Part in Denver, but they do not– I REPEAT, DO NOT– pull or ship parts. They probably don’t even answer the phone. You will need to find someone in the Denver area to go get the parts for you.
Which is why Row 52 exists. https://row52.com/ Find a “parts puller” in the area and strike a deal to have them retrieve and send you the parts.
My parents bought a 1966 Delta 88 brand new. It was fire engine red with a bordello red interior and had the 425 with four barrel. It would spin the tires as long as you kept your foot down. Big, fast, comfortable cars. I think in ’67 the Delta name was replaced by Delmont.
Sorry to correct you Ronnie, but it was a Dynamic 88, and it had a two barrel carb. Never the less, it could still get up and go for a two ton car.
TTAC is a great forum. Everything is not of interest to me of course, but I find 2 or 3 pieces a wk of great interest.
Eg., today the ‘67 Olds Delta 88 story, pix, & video.
I once owned a loaded 1967 Oldsmobile Delta 88 4DR HT with white vinyl interior, air, floor operated radio channel selector, and radio telephone. I suppose he used it to call clients.
Roof – dark brown vinyl top. Body – cream or a light yellow. We called it: “not a yellow Rolls, but a yellow Olds”.
It was a low mileage, for a demonstrator (21,000 miles) bought in Sept 1967 from Ross Meyers GM, a dealer in Toronto, Ontario, CDA. Ross ordered the car special and drove it himself. He loved the car and he liked me. I paid $2,100 and my ‘64 Plymouth.
The TTAC writer is right, the 454 would leave two strips of rubber (posi rearend) on dry pavement for about 100 feet. I was 20 and liked a big car. My father always drove Buicks; but had ‘68 Olds 98 4DT HT at the time.
The Plymouth was a dark blue Savoy Suburban 4DR SW with slant-6 truck version engine. I bought it from Crown Assets (CDN Government “Army Surplus”). It was a former Department of Fisheries (Gov of CDA) vehicle – rubber matts, small hubcaps, metal dash, bench seats, hand crank window in tailgate and no radio. It did have oversized tires and 4 spd on the floor with possi rearend. It was basic “government issue” with heavy duty all around. I paid $400 at for the car at a government auction. The Plymouth had 60,000 miles on it when I bought it in early 1966 and 110 miles on it when I traded it in, perfect body though, no rust, no dents – new paint. I typical government fashion, they had the engine redone just before it was declared surplus.
Pictures of all three cars mentioned here are in my collection, will send them in to TTAC when I get them scanned.
Today I manufacture fibreglass traffic signs. I also build a few specialty fibreglass body parts for the hot rod industry – mainly Mercury trucks.
At present, I am working on the plans for fitting a ‘95 Olds Aurora L47 Northstar in the new Ford Licensed “all-steel body” ‘40 Ford Coupe. Major hurdle is fitting the L47 longitudinally alternative trans (preferrable 4 or 5-speed) and rear wheel drive ( I have a nice 9 inch Ford with posi) using Purpose built FE and Frame.
During my driving career, I owned 122 cars, trucks, tracked military vehicles and one farm tractor. I own 17 right now, some licnsed, others drivers but not license, others in stages of reconstruction and still others basket cases.
Incidentally, I am not a car dealer, more of a collector.
Hope I haven’t bored you.
Regards,
H-OCarriage
I chuckle that Olds still used the 88 and 98 designations in to the 80’s and 90’s.
“Yes, I’d like to look at the new ’89 Oldsmobile?”
“Okay, here is the new Oldsmobile 88”
“But what about the ’89?”
“It’s, right here, the ’89 88.”
“What about the ’89 89?”
“We have ’88 88’s, ’89 88’s, ’88 98’s, and ’89 98’s.”
“So you have 88 88’s?”
“We have 98 88’s; 88 ’89’s and 10 ’88’s.”
“Can I have a look at the Cutlass’s?”
Not a “Gutless Cutlass”, surely….
Not a “Gutless Cutlass” surely…
Sorry about the repeat!!
This is completely messed up…
Almost anywhere else in the world this car would have been fixed up (assuming anything really needs fixing, which I doubt)and put back on the road. Even if it wasn’t financially viable there would still be enough appreciation and interested by people to save it. Heck, there have been thousands of US sedans (yes, 4 door ones too…) brought back from being rusty wrecks much worse than this one and returned to the road in all their glory. Yes, google ‘Whangamata Beach Hop’ if you don’t think anybody could possibly use the word “glory” to describe their continued existence.
If these cars are going to survive, they need to be gotten the hell out of the United States to people who will appreciate them properly.
100% in agreement. It’s a damned shame what happened to this car.
For the love of God salvage that engine. The Olds 425 was an asskicker of a motor and they are getting scarce. Get that engine and stick it in a corner of the garage and I promise to take it off your hands.
Nick I have a 67 olds delta convertible w 425 hi compression super rocket for sale if you’re interested
Plz help. I need a cowl id tag and title (if possible) for a 67 Delta 88 Custom. 4dr hdtp with a/c. Being a novice i didn’t see the cowl tag with vin was missing till it was too late. Any help much appreciated.