1969 Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight - Bang. Zoom. To the Moon.

Like many people, I'm intrigued by the prospect of the quick and easy buck and if I can do so buying and "flipping" cars, old ones in particular like this 1969 Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight, what could be better or more fun? 

This golden oldie popped up on Facebook Marketplace recently with an asking price of just $6,850. I whimsically say "just" since that kind of money is certainly nothing to sneeze at but seeing that based on NADA pricing guidelines, this car could be worth upwards of two, if not three -  if not four times that, $6,850 is a reasonable cost of doing business. And simply based on the condition of this car from the pictures I'd venture to guess it would be a pretty good bet I could make some money on it. Let's go! 

I couldn't get my debit card out quick enough as I bolted for the bank while contacting the poster of the ad. 

Alas...I didn't even get a cursory response back - much like Craigslist, common courtesy is many times all but non-existent on Facebook Marketplace what with many of the sellers and buyers having the personality of sea sick pit-bulls. The ad was pulled less than an hour after my inquiry telling me the car was either sold or whomever put it up posted the wrong asking price or realized they had under-priced it. In any event, it hasn't popped back up since. 

The Oldsmobile "Ninety-Eight" was the top of the line Oldsmobile model from 1940 through 1993. Part of Oldsmobile's number series that began in 1939, the "eight" in "Ninety-Eight" was meant to denote an eight-cylinder engine. 

The Oldsmobile "Ninety-Eight" used the same platform or chassis that Cadillac used and Buick used on their top-of-the-line models. The biggest difference between that platform, known as the "C-body" and the "lesser" B or A-body platforms was that it had a longer wheelbase which helped give the cars greater rear leg room. Say what you will about these cars but once you switch-bladed yourself into the back seat you had a very comfortable ride. Getting out was even worse, though. 

GM's rebooted their full size line for 1965 with all new chassis', body shells and bodies and are regarded by many as the finest post-war GM designs. For 1969, the C-body got a bump in wheelbase pushing it out to one-hundred twenty seven inches - wheelbase is the distance between the front and rear axles. Overall length was stretched out to just under two-hundred twenty-five inches making this car among-st the largest automobiles ever made.

All that extra-bulk for no other reason than for - you know, I honestly don't know. Seems to me that GM stopped putting actual engineering innovation into their makes and models in the mid to late 1960's and began relying on styling and gimmicks more than ever.  

Probably best this car was gone. I know I'd feel like Ralph Kramden of the Honeymooners explaining to my wife why I withdrew nearly seven-thousand dollars cash for a fifty-two year old, block long Oldsmobile with the idea of making a quick buck. Especially if I didn't clear it with her first and then got stuck with it; the only offers being ones for significantly less than what I paid for it. Bang, zoom. To the moon. 

The idea of getting stuck with this thing is no fun; these cars have a very narrow appeal that's only getting smaller each year. Gee whiz, even I don't see what the point of owning this car would be. I mean, I used to, I think, but even that's become a little foggy to me now. I have no nostalgic ties to Oldsmobiles like this and as I alluded to in my recent soliloquy about a 1983 Olds Ninety-Eight coupe, the older I've gotten the younger my taste in cars has become. Or simply I've become more appreciative of performance cars and the thrill of "real-driving" and less appreciative of cars that are nothing more than just interesting looking. 

Can't imagine anyone would buy this to use as a daily-driver; this big old Rocket and its single-digit gas mileage would put someone in the poor house. These cars were never meant to be anything more than rolling cocoons so their driving dynamics aren't exactly engaging either. Although, in my humblest of opinions, full-size GM makes and models of this era are better than anything Ford or Chrysler pushed out.  

As a piece of rolling sculpture these cars are interesting although of all of GM's myriad land yachts of yore, I've always been fairly ambivalent towards the big Oldsmobile's. Give me a Buick Electra any day of the week or a Cadillac. 

Which would make this the perfect foil for me to flip and make some money on. If only it was still available and the wife would be ok with it.