Back in the early '80's when I worked as a porter in the kitchen at South Nassau Communities Hospital in Oceanside, New York (now Mount Sinai South Nassau), a likeable wannabee hot shot I worked with named Billy sometimes drove to work in his father's 1983, black on red, Buick Electra Park Avenue. Seems kind of odd now that a kid of such means had such a menial job, but his dad wanted to him have a "dirty job" before becoming a desk jockey. I, naturally, was enamored with the car and told him so. He thanked me for the complement and said, "if you think this is nice, my mother's (Olds) 98 is even nicer". Based on the leather thrones in this '83 "98", seems Billy was right. Billy and I then went on a drive in the big Buick and beat the tar out the poor thing.
Wow, this is some setup, I want to stick my face in that soft leather and if I could, I'd eat it. Wasn't Oldsmobile slotted below Buick on the GM totem pole? You could say that the Buick Electra was nicer than a Cadillac back then too. Hmm, seems there may have been some interdivisional rivalries going on back then that helped to blur GM brand identity beyond recognition. Gosh, ya think?
Anyway, General Motors made some luxurious looking interiors in the 1980's. Problem was, as they aged, the injection molded plastic dash and door trim dried out and cracked. That fading and cracking made the acres of plastic wood grain trim appear to be as cheap as it was.
That's why to see the interior on this 98 in the shape it's in after all these years is astonishing. This car popped up on Marketplace recently and despite it having too many doors and a paint color only a Lawrence Welk diehard would sign up for, the interior sucked me in like Billy's father's Buick Electra did years ago.
Asking price was $10,000 which seemed fairly steep for a 42-year-old GM "C-body" four-door, but I can't find it anymore. Seems someone gobbled it up and is now sitting in the lap of luxury in those luscious leather thrones. I'm kind of jealous.
This came with a freshly rebuilt Oldsmobile "Rocket 350" V-8 engine from a 1970 Oldsmobile Cutlass; I'll take their word for it as there were no pictures of it. Engine came with a new Holley four-barrel, short throw headers and straight pipes. Billy's old man's Buick never sounded like this would. Hey, Billy, stab it and steer!
The Olds 350 would be a marked improvement over whatever powered this originally and although probably no screaming muscle car, would get up to highway pace more than amply. Trust me on that one. My 1982 Buick Riviera had the 148-horsepower, Oldsmobile 307 V-8 and passing semi-trucks had to be planned weeks if not months in advance.
Curious as to why they went with an Oldsmobile engine. Originality is meaningless on a car like this, brand loyalty running less than skin deep too, especially for a 42-year-old "orphan". Perhaps this was originally powered by an Olds "350 Diesel" and the install was easier? Who knows.
Car came with a rebuilt Turbo 400 transmission although the 200R4 it came from the factory with is still in the car. I'd be concerned the 200R4 couldn't handle the Olds 350's torque after a while, especially the way I'd drive it; nice to have a backup! Fuel economy of the Turbo 400 and the Olds 350 would be terrible, not that it would be anything to write home about with the 200R4.
The "98" was Oldsmobile's range-topper from 1952 through 1996 although, if you want to split hairs, it was only until 1991. From 1992 to 1996, in an attempt to "hippen" Oldsmobile's brand image, the Olds "98" became the Olds "Ninety-Eight". The short lived but wonderful Aurora replaced the Ninety-Eight at the top of the Olds heap in 1995 although, and this must have been awkward to explain, Oldsmobile sold both in 1995 and 1996.
Our '83 here is part of the last run of "real" '98's that Oldsmobile debuted in 1977. Yes, I say with tongue firmly in cheek. The '77's were downsized but they still had much of the same fluffy ethos the 98 had going back to 1952. That ethos so strong, apparently, that it eventually permeated the Oldsmobile brand to such a degree that even the Aurora couldn't shift the public's paradigm that Oldsmobiles meant, literally and figuratively, "old". GM pulled the plug on Oldsmobile after the 2004 model year.
Last I knew of Billy, he was working as the top dog desk jockey in the kitchen of a large hospital in the Bronx. I have no idea what he drives.
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