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posts about #1956oldsmobile more →
What Was Your First Oldsmobile?
Play It Smart- Put Your Dough On A 1956 Oldsmobile 88
| posts about #1956oldsmobile more → |
What Was Your First Oldsmobile? |
Play It Smart- Put Your Dough On A 1956 Oldsmobile 88 |
05/26/09
It was named Fenchurch and beeped incessantly. I bought it for basically nothing with 45k on the odometer in 1997.
Pros of this: engine was in great shape
Cons of this: everything else was shot to hell. It needed a gas tank and brake lines before it was drivable; later on, the coolant system exploded, the oil pan developed some lovely holes, the suspension broke in half, and the power booster for the brakes failed in traffic. Once the coolant system started to go, the car also beeped incessantly--the sad part of this wasn't the beeping itself, it was that out of my friends, I had the largest car by a big margin, but no one would ride in it so we'd always end up caravan-styling to everything. Lame.
I still miss that car.
05/25/09
Great mileage, slow as molasses, and for some reason the original owner had ordered posi, so it could actually be hucked around on dirt roads. In the sense you can 'huck' anything that weighs 4500 lb around.
05/25/09
It had two-finger steering, which was something like 30 turns lock to lock...going around a corner entailed sticking two fingers on the spoke and cranking around and around. The vinyl seats were sticky in the summer and slippery in the winter, the 8 track sounded like garbage and the power locks worked on some doors sometimes, other doors other times (quality!).
It had great brakes...discs in front that would lock at the drop of a hat...terrible tires, though. Positraction and studded snows made it unstoppable in the snow, no ABS (of course) helped keep it unstoppable in the snow. Spinning the tires on dry pavement made pretty sparks. The thing was a torque-monster, and I would blow away Mustang GT's (this was '88-90) in the first 60ft. This lasted until the 3spd auto (TH350) started slipping badly...too many neutral-drops, I guess.
Getting that thing sideways was always interesting...you had to really plan ahead, as it was ridiculously long (18ft or so) and could take out hedges and mailboxes if not careful. Then again, I was 17...I was invincible.
Oh, and when your car is a combination of faded light metallic blue paint, peeling woodgrain and rust, people actually back off when you drive like an a-hole. God I miss that car!
05/25/09
05/25/09
It never started all that well, mainly because it was the kids' beater car, so if it moved, that was good enough, so she'd crank it for minutes at a time, then, when it did start, she'd keep the accelerator floored for a solid 30 seconds.
At least it had oil pressure built up from three minutes of starter-spinning.
The first time I saw her do this, my head almost exploded, and I knew we were not going to have a life together. So it goes...the woman I married enjoys going to the junkyard with me.
05/25/09
05/24/09
That wagon was the only non-Buick that I ever knew him to own. A lone Oldsmobile in a line of Electras, Regals, Roadmasters, and LeSabres.
05/24/09
Maroon interior. Velour seats. Not exactly a great car.
He traded up to a base '01 Sable wagon and was thrilled. But he was thrilled by the Olds, too, having replaced a white-on-blue Corsica with it.
Whatever.
05/24/09
This may well be the only Oldsmobile I've ever ridden in...
05/24/09
It wasn't a bad car but this was after the 2nd gas crisis and I was embarrassed that it wasn't an efficient four cylinder. I was somewhat insufferable as a teen.
05/24/09
By now you've figured out that it's either a Honda Element or a Volvo 240. Let my avatar help.
05/24/09
It was loaded except for the leather seats and I have a clear memory of that "computer" who would tell you your average mpg or when to do your next oil change... funny as hell how everything was totally inacurrate, specialy the oil change thing wich would be stock for ever on "OIL CHANGE NEEDED" or something like that.
What was great about this car is that there was a guy back then that was a real douchebag and he had a Civic Si with all the stickers and mag wheels and who was dating a really hot chick who happened to live close to me.
So I get to talk to her someday and foud out she lives near me so like a real gentleman I offer her a ride at school whenever our schedules works best. She's agrees and well everything goes fine from that point...couple weeks later we're growing pretty fond of each other and well she actually tells me she prefers my car a lot 'cause the ride's smoother than the Civic of his BF (the douchebag)
So I tell her that it is even more spacier than a Civic (wink wink) and well she gets the message so right after school we go to that "spot" you know, for some hmmm talking.
We do what God made us for and when we get out of that place, what do we see, Mister I-am-a-douchebag-driving-a-riced-up-Civic-Si with another girl in his car. Hilarity ensue, she dumped the douche the next morning and I got a pretty hot brunette goin out with me for a couple of years.
Thanks Oldsmobile!
05/24/09
This calls for moar PBR.
05/24/09
05/24/09
I wonder if that's why one of the local sleazeballs has had two of those (and is currently driving an A-body Ciera he can't sell)?
05/24/09
My aunt also had a fudge brown '79 Cutlass Supreme. Between the the leather interior and the residual effects of hundreds of cigarettes, it smelled like a Vegas VIP lounge (not that I've ever been in one).
05/24/09
No idea where he is these days but he must have been heartbroken about the death of Mr. Olds' company.
05/24/09
My grandparents had an brown '85 Ninety Eight Regency followed by a white '91 Eighty Eight Royale with a red interior. I always thought those were pretty nice cars, as fars as '80s GMs go.
I've never had or driven an Olds, but I'll get my hands on one eventually, whether it's a '60s Cutlass or '80s hunk of junk.
05/24/09
Apparently its most memorable feature was a 4 mile per gallon consumption rate, ostensibly because something was wrong with it. I didn't believe him at first, but after calculating that a 283-powered '65 Studebaker will pull at least 12 mpg in the city, maybe he was right.
05/24/09
05/24/09
Brilliant.
05/24/09
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05/24/09
And yes, a 5-speed/3.4L DOHC International Series would be very tempting.
05/24/09
(Best I could find on Google Images.)
05/24/09
[this is the best photo I have right now. sorry]
05/24/09
I wouldn't mind owning a W-Body as a winter car at some point.. I've test-driven quite a few, but I have yet to find a good one. The most common flaws:
- The base models, which 95% of them are, don't do anything for me at all.
- It's hard to find one in good shape, the more desirable engines (Quad-4, 3.4 DOHC) are not the most reliable in the world, and many I've looked at have had odd electrical problems.
- Most of the cool gadgets and engines are in the earlier models, which also have those STUPID door-mounted seatbelts. In a 4-door, they hover like 3 inches away from me when I have the seat in a comfortable position (really safe there, GM), they get in my face when I look around, and then there's the fact that doors do pop open in crashes sometimes. If I bought one, I would have to figure out a way to safely retrofit non-retarded belts.
05/24/09
05/24/09
05/24/09