The 1965-1970 version of GM’s full-size B Platform was one of The General’s biggest successes, underpinning nearly 13 million cars. Each of GM’s U.S. auto divisions (except Cadillac) had its own B-Body during that model year, from Chevrolet Biscayne of the proletariat to Luxury Buick Wildcat. Business is only a small step behind Buick GM “Stairway to Success” 1968 was the Oldsmobile Division, and the king of the Olds B-Bodies that year was Delta 88 Custom Holiday Four-Door Hardtop Sedan. Today Junkyard gem was one of those cars, found in a self-service lot in Denver last winter.
The reputational boundary between GM divisions is starting to get a bit blurry in the late 1960s, when car buyers could buy a Chevy Caprice at a sticker price higher than the list price of an Olds Delmont 88 and then option it up for a price higher than a Buick LeSabre. But, after all, your neighbors in 1968 knew that an Oldsmobile had more flash than its Chevy or Pontiac cousins, and that the owner of a Buick could usually an Olds driver.
However, most GM vehicles in 1968 were still equipped with engines made by their own division, back in the good old days. “Chevymobile” lawsuit (at least if they have a V8). That means when you bought an Olds 88 that year, it came with the original V8 rocket engine under its hood. In this caseThe engine is really weird four wings-Powered by a 455 cubic inch (7.5 liter) rocket with 365 horsepower and an incredible amount of inspiration 510 pound-feet. The ’68 Olds Toronado By the way, comes with an even hairier 455, making 400 horses.
Yes, it is total power, not more realistic numbers we’ve been around since the early 1970s, but this is a respectably fast 4,155-pound car for its era. A buyer a 1968 full-size Chevrolet it is possible to get a wild 427 block Large displacement V8 with 425 horses is an option (very expensive), but even Buick 430 couldn’t beat the torque of the Delta 88 (this changed two years later with the introduction of the 510 pound-foot Buick 455).
Naturally, this car required premium gasoline and probably never achieved double-digit fuel economy, but few Oldsmobile shoppers cared about that until Several geopolitical events took place in 1973. If you buy a 1968 Delta 88 with the basic three-wheel manual transmission – yes, you have to pay extra for an automatic transmission even on a machine as nice as this – you can get the 455 engine 310 horsepower running normally. gas.
Speaking of options, this car has a lot of options that can push up its initial cost Good above MSRP of $3,721 (approximately $34,214 in 2024 dollars). The 455 four-barrel was $57 ($524 today), three-speed automatic was $158 ($1,453), power steering was $98 ($901), air conditioning was $411 ($3,779) and… you get the idea.
The original buyer of this car wanted it loadedso it even has optional power windows.
Oldsmobile became very enthusiastic about borrowing names from American fighter planes in the 1950s and 1960s, and the Delta line was inspired by the American fighter’s nickname. F-102 Delta dagger. The cutlery borrows its name from F7U Cutlass naval fighter also, with star fire pay homage to F-94 Starfire. Apparently, Convair, Vought and Lockheed decided not to raise a legal upset about their product names being appropriated by an auto company for their products, perhaps because that auto company is one of the most powerful corporations in the country at the time. In any case, F-102 suffer huge cost overruns during development, the F-94 was obsolete shortly after entering service and the F7U was a dangerous, over-complicated lemon known as “Gutless Glass”. There’s a lot of history in junkyards, if you know where to look!
Speaking of aviation history, the build tag tells us this car was built at GM The original Fairfax Society was in Kansas City. That’s where North American Aviation built the B-25 Mitchell bomber during World War IIsold it to The General in 1945. F-84F Thunder assembled by GM along with the cars there in the early 1950s.
Worth restoring? It wasn’t rusty, but the interior was terrible, and even four-door hardtops of the era were not popular among two-door and convertible enthusiasts.
Oldsmobile for 1968 has something for old And young! 38 years later, Team Oldsmobile got the ax.
