Even with the Oldsmobile Delta 88 getting a significant size reduction for 1977, the car still had an attractive look on the outside and this was back in the good old days when automakers still attached importance to offering a stylish 2-Door model for most of their lineups. In plain stock form, the eighth-generation Delta 88 coupe had appealing lines, but if you were one of the 2,401 fortunate buyers who got to drive the Pace Car version home the attention-getting factor went through the roof. These cars don’t seem to show up for sale all that often nowadays, so if you’ve been in the market for something Indy-related this one would definitely be worth checking out. This 1977 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Pace Car is located in Lugoff, South Carolina, and can be spotted here on eBay, where bidding has reached $15,300 so far with not a whole lot of time left before the gavel drops.
Ticking the options of W43 and 44 on the ’77 Delta 88 cost less than a thousand dollars and got the buyer everything you’re seeing outside here, including all the decals plus a special silver and black paint treatment. More goodies were an aluminum hood, body-color mirrors, red sport wheels, and raised white letter tires. The seller admits that this is a love-it-or-hate-it exterior appearance, but I’d fall into the love category here, which is just amplified by the fact that this newly-styled Olds was such an unusual choice to pace the racetrack for the event’s 61st year. This one spent its early years in Texas and stayed there until 2006, with still less than 50k miles traveled so far. There’s said to have never been any rust and no accidents, but it did undergo a repaint in 2010 followed by re-striping using reproduction materials. The vinyl top is stated as original.
All the Pace Car editions were equipped with Oldsmobile’s 403 V8 engine which had a horsepower rating of 185, not exactly mindboggling performance but this was the malaise era, with the speedometer not registering past 85 MPH! A Turbo Hydramatic 350 automatic takes care of shifting, with the seller stating that the car still runs and drives great. He does mention that there’s a small drip from the front seal, but the motor doesn’t actually burn any oil. We also get a list of maintenance that has been performed under the seller’s ownership, which includes an extensive tune-up in 2006, a carburetor rebuild in 2010, and a new A/C compressor in 2017, along with several additional repairs made through the years.
Most of the interior is original and still looking really good to be way past the 4-decade mark. That’s one of my all-time favorite GM steering wheels, and I like how it’s black when most of the other components inside are Firethorn Red. I miss the days when car makers could still fabricate a cool steering wheel without having to incorporate an airbag into the design but also understand the safety risks of not having one. With the car’s low mileage and obvious care, this one seems like a great bet if you’re envisioning a Delta 88 Pace Car in your garage. What are your thoughts here?
I really like this. With the new paint, I would have left the decals off (for now), and diplay them in the trunk at shows – because they are on the window sticker. No mistaking that Oldsmobile font!
We had an Oldsmobile dealership forever, by the house when I was growing up. This, along with the 442’s and later Quad 4 equipped cars were always something that would attract buyers. After 2004 when Olds went away, the dealer became a nissan franchise. That went out of business in a few years. Then a HyunKia dealership. In 2010 that went under too. Now it sits empty.
I don’t understand how us “old guys” made it through, without having that bomb in the steering wheel, sitting a few feet away from our faces, ready to go off.
You probably avoided a serious accident! Statistically, traffic fatalities were much higher back then. Cars have gotten significantly safer.
I noticed it has an AM-FM CB Delco radio. Can’t see if it also has a power seat and trunk release.
Nice car especially with the repaint.
Glwts
I never knew these existed until today. I saw one when I was younger and thought to myself, “why would someone put pace car stickers on a Delta 88, what a moron.”
Me neither
That’s the same color scheme that was used in 1978 as well.that year it was the corvette.my brother in law bought one back in 2003.had only 25 miles on it.but a delta 88 for a pace car?
I worked at a Oldsmobile dealer in Pasadena California that got one of these in. The owner glanced at it and said get all that lettering and crap off that car, it will never sell.
As an Oldsmobile Dealer in 1977, we got one of these in and after 6 months of it sitting on the showroom floor with no takers, we repainted it Solid Silver.
Better yet should have removed the decals would had been better & had em in the trunk. Thats what a dealership did that had one and it didnt sell during the model year. Once they were off it, it sold quick. Just was too much money for me at the time a college student. Sure wanted it.
Great lines on these 2 door coupes from the General. Love the front end on these Oldsmobiles.
I had a beater 79 88 with a 350 olds.It was a great car.Typical couple of rocker arm bridges and arms I replaced to get rid of the ticking.The model r4 a/c compressors sucked too compared to the bullet proof a6.I like the body style but I always wondered who and why would you want to drive a car with all that stupid lettering on it the commemerative editions have imo.Take the lettering off and it’s a nice car.Glwts.
My parents had a 79 when I started driving in 82. I went do due a tune up on it and found out something very odd. It had a 301 Pontiac in it. And let me tell you ….. it was a beast!.
I had a ’78 88 4-door to use year around while I kept my ’84 Cutlass Brougham garaged in the winter. Had a ton of receipts for work done before. Loaded for a 88. Found doors from a California Buick and replaced other body parts along the way. Took it to Earl Scheib for a cheap repaint (had 7 colors) . Went to get it and they’d gone out of business and my car was locked inside! They had a shop in St. Paul so I got my car back! Drove it for 2 more years and sold it. Never let me down in Mn. winters.
Yours truly designed the 78 88 from behind the walls of the Worlds Largest walled Prison. Jackson Penitentiary. The downsized Oldsmobiles with my curb appeal were the most popular ever designed. After my designs ran their course at General Motors Oldsmobile fell off it’s Rocket.
See those diagonal braces under the hood? In an frontal accident, do those ever let loose from the firewall and impale a guy?? Maybe I’ve watched too many movies.
Sharp car! The parents had Olds Cutlasses as I was growing up.
The braces do three things.
Initially they were put there in the early 70’s when the cars were really BIG, they helped reduce front clip shake, it was cheaper than reinforcing the front of the frame. They were kinda flimsy and don’t recall ever seeing one in the boneyards that went thru the firewall area (but I do recall seeing a few where they were removed before the crash.
The hood hinges also have notches in them that catch a pin on the back of the hinge to insure the hood buckles up. Notice the slight upward bend in the middle of the rods? That is so in a front crash, they bulge upward and hit the hood bottom near the rear, pushing it up to help insure that it buckles, catches the pins, and does not knife into the windshield.
They also help prevent shake of the front clip. Because things were built looser then to insure a front crush zone, there was more slop in the front clip mountings. They were used mainly on RWD ‘B’ bodies, but were revised when the new bodies came out in ’91, becoming shorter, more of them, and mounted in a truss-like structure.
So, now you know you are safe in an old car!
JetFire88- Thanks for that detailed info!
I always felt safe in the ‘rent’s Cutlasses, even when I was approaching 90 mph. :)
We never had a pace car version but we had a Cutlass Supreme and a Cutlass Salon. Both were good cars and I think they’d have kept them longer if not for the Wisconsin rust issues.
Have a good one.
~Lothar
Good info. I did not know this.
That’s really good info jetfire88, I never knew any of this, thank you for sharing with us!
Needs the 442 Dr. Olds 455 treatment to make this decent car a winner, I think Joe is in Oldsmobile heaven but someone wrote those secrets down I think on a episode of Power Nation !
I think these also had aluminum trunk lids and hoods on them
Great driving great cars. Had a 98 coupe. Loved that car. Going to get another when I get more garage space. Pleasure to drive I prefer it over my “modern cars”.
I was the rustproof guy at a very busy Olds dealership in 1977 and worked on the one we got in. Super comfortable and had Goodyear GT radials, now long out of production. Love Oldsmobile. I wish Kia and the rest of Asian junk would go out of business. But with today’s brain washed people, that won’t happen.
I haven’t seen one of these since the mid 80s when one passed through the wrecking yard I ran. The car came out of a police impound and was spotless. I wanted to pull the car from inventory but as our business went we had a standing order for a 403 in perfect running drop in condition and sadly that car more than filled the bill. For me this Era might have been slow but these cars had wonderfully comfortable interiors and at the time it was…Hip to be square….. I wonder how many others still exist?
Good luck trying to find a buyer. The 403 was a ticking time bomb. Siamese cylinders in the 1970’s was not an if it will destroy itself. But a when it will destroy itself.
Yep the 403…a motor thats worth its weight in scrap!
Not correct. Yes, Siamese and had windowed main webs but still a sturdy engine. I built one for my 79 H/O with ported W-31 heads and cam, with headers ran 12’s in quarter and ran it hard for many years without issue. 502 big block chevys have Siamese cylinders without issues as well. Some of the early 403’s did not have the windowed main webs.
I had one of these. Bought it from my sister. It actually paced at Peoria Speedway in Peoria Illinois at one time for several years before she bought it. It had the electric moonroof. The factory AM/FM 8Track/CB Radio.
I never saw one with the vinyl top before this one.
Wish I could afford this one.
Mine was a lot of fun for the era.
SOLD for $17,250.