1976 Oldsmobile 98 - Kajagoogoo

The market for classic cars has cooled considerably since the post-Covid high-water mark for anything that isn't the creme de la creme, so I'm taken back by the $14,000 ask for this 1976 Oldsmobile 98 that popped up on Facebook Marketplace recently. Back in 2022, this very nice but flawed 98 would have commanded twenty-grand; not saying it would have sold for that, but it would have been priced higher than what it's priced at now. Are we to believe at fourteen thousand this well bought? 

Quick Google search tells us this is not unreasonably priced but the biggest bucks are for cars that are in showroom condtion. Just 29,000 miles on this one's fifty-year old ticker, though, and it has an interior that looks like it hasn't been sat in since the days of Kajagoogoo. Poster of the ad claims there's no rust on the body but there's surface rust on the frame which isn't surprising considering we live in northern Ohio. Best is, it's got a bad starter and look at those rear filler panels. Details are scarce on whether the air blows cold, accessories work, etc. Seriously? Fourteen-thousand dollars? This is the kind of car you brag to your neighbors you got on the cheap. If they're not car people, they may think you got gipped at $7,500; imagine what they think if they found out you paid $14,000. 

If you're of a certain, ahem, vintage and you're into cars, you may have a soft spot for these land yachts that were ubiquitous years ago but have all but disappeared. I love 'em, my wife thinks they're old far cars. Well, dear, if the golf shoe fits. In a day and age of do-everything great SUV's and crossovers, these cars don't make any sense, but back then, if you wanted to show off you had it or wanted to make it seem you did, you drove something like this. No one bought them for their ability to corner or go from point A to point B as quickly as possible nor where they marketed as such. 

These days, the only people who have these cars are my age or older and they love these cars for what they are and understand what they aren't. You don't see "young people" showing up to classic car shows with these things either. Wait, hold on. You don't see "young people" at car shows at all. Incidentally, car shows are one of the few activities my wife and I can participate in and feel confident we're not the oldest people there. 

The Oldsmobile 98 was the top-of-the-line Oldsmobile sold from 1940 to 1942 and 1949 through 1996. Years ago, Oldsmobile sold their cars in series; series 60, 70, 80, 90. The first digit was for the series, the second was for the number of cylinders it had. Hence, "98". All "98's" had eight-cylinder engines until 1981 when a Buick V-6 was optional. From 1985 through the end of the model's run in 1996, all "98's" or "Ninety Eights" as they were referred to from 1991 to 1996, had six-cylinder engines. Us purists were like, they should be "96's" then. 

That means our big boy here has a V-8 and a mighty fine one although there were no pictures of it in the Facebook ad which is a little disconcerting. Us car wonks perusing Marketplace like to see engines. Poster of the ad claims this has the original engine which would be Oldsmobile's 455 cubic inch monster that had been around since 1968 in various guises. By '76, the old stump puller had been detuned and defanged considerably to improve gas mileage and improve emissions. Still, she'd have some decent torque although this probably has a lazy final drive ratio. All stuff, along with the rear filler panels, that can be fixed. 

This being a "Regency" means it has the tufted, "loose-pillow" interior Oldsmobile first introduced in 1972 to commemorate Oldsmobile's 75th-anniversary. It sold so well, Oldsmobile kept it around in one form or another through the 98's run through 1996. I'm not a fan of this interior. It looks great, but it's not as comfortable as it would appear to be. Especially for the driver. 

In my Jay Leno garage, I'd have a 1970's General Motors C- or B-body two-door or two. Or three or four. This 98 is a "C-body" and shares its chassis with the Buick Electra and Cadillac deVille. Can't say this one would make it since it's a pillared coupe rather than a hard top. The hard tops coupes were phased out in 1974 although, interestingly, the hard top four-doors remained in production through 1976. 

1976 was the last year for these dreadnaughts as GM downsized their big boys in 1977. While far superior transportation conveyances, in my humblest of opinions, none of them have the charm or elan of anything they replaced, though.