After 1975, the only new convertible you could buy that was made by General Motors was a Cadillac. And that would go away the next year. Of course, the convertible would find new success down the road, but that’s another story, for another time. This 1975 Olds Delta 88 Royale is one of those last hurrah cars and has been maintained beautifully over the decades with less than 30,000 miles. Located in Flushing, Michigan, this drop-top wonder is available here on Hagerty for $40,000. Our thanks go to Keith Bisson for this impeccable tip.
GM ramped up its accident rollover protection measures in 1973 with the redesign of its mid-size cars. The “Colonnade” platform eliminated true hardtops and convertibles. So, it was not surprising that ragtops would be cut altogether by the end of 1976. Buyers were aware that the full-size convertible was all but done in 1975, so they scooped up 21,038 Delta 88 Royale drop-tops in ‘75 compared to only 3,716 in ‘74. As a single-owner car, this red beauty was bought new for its potential collectability.
We’re told that everything associated with this survivor is as from the factory, except for consumables like fluids and tires. It was ordered with minimal frills such as power windows so fewer things would go wrong with age. Under the hood is a 350 cubic inch (4-barrel carb) and a Turbo-Hydramatic transmission. It’s always been kept in the garage and usually only brought out for shows. It was undercoated right away to help keep rust away, which worked.
This Olds looks and runs like it has emerged from a time capsule. Though not needed now, a new set of brakes in the box are in the trunk for whenever that day comes. The listing for this Delta is several months old, suggesting the asking price is too high. But it seems like it is the next best thing to a new car and what does 40 grand get you these days? Put the top down and ride in style like it’s 1975 all over again (would that be such a bad thing?).
My sources show 7181 Delta 88 Royale convertibles built for 1975. 21,038 appears to be the number of Delta 88 Royale Town Sedans built (one source indicates 23,465).
those convertible figures are more realistic. Convertibles only appeal to a certain niche, so 7,000 would seem about right..
Beautiful. I’d have to take a shower before getting in this. Even if I just had one. Skin oil just loves to cozy up to white interior.
Get some AMMO interior cleaner and some of there Titan 12 degreaser. I use it on my 81 Camaro, and it has taken the previous owners baked on oil stains right off. I pretty much only use AMMO products to clean my car. A little pricey but totally worth it.
Had an identical one with same colors but mine was a 400 IIRC, in the early 80’s. It was my daily driver, super clean but had over 80K miles. Always turned heads. Wanted to add the wire hubcaps but lived in an apartment and GM wire caps were a hot item for theft at the time. Those would be the first thing to add to this one and ditch the mud flaps. Prices are rising on these big GM convertible’s so a low mileage, one owner car like this may bring the asking price. Sold mine in ‘85 and bought a new Fiero with V6 and 4-speed. Figured the Olds would be collectible one day but didn’t have the budget or space to keep it, sadly.
The original owner did like the wire wheel cover for that year, so he didn’t order them. As a cost savings, the 14” and 15” wheel shared the same spokes. That left the 15” cover with a wide outside band. I think it reminded him of cost savings initiatives that he was not a fan of.
*did not like the wire wheel cover
Here’s another perfectly-preserved ’75 Olds convertible, spotted in…
Switzerland, of all places!
Imagine my surprise to see this big boat in the Alps, literally minutes from some of the most amazing mountain passes in the world.
Wow. Look at the condition of that Olds. I remember that Pea Green from GM. Looks like it has ’69 Olds wheel covers on it too. And in Switzerland too? Wow.
This is very nice. Great color combo. I’m kind of surprised it has a 350 in it. I had a chance to drive a very low mileage ’74 Delta 88 2 door many many years ago. It had the factory tow package. 455 4 barrel THM 400, and a posi rear, don’t remember the ratio ( sorry Stan). But even for 1974 emissions choked standards it moved along very well.
These are great driving cars. Very nice find.
Driveinstile w that powertrain, any gearset was get up and go. Must’ve put a big smile on your mug. 😃
Dr Olds delivers again, all the way to the Alps 🏔
It did Stan. It pulled very nicely for such a large car.
Great looking Olds. Kinda surprised to see the manual window regulators. Most would prefer power but winding down the glass ain’t that big a deal. Classic red and white will turn heads. I’d love this for my summer driver and parade vehicle. Those veterans and senior citizens could step right in and out of this.
I bought a 75 Delta convertible in 79. White with red interior. All options including dual power seats and fuel economy reminder but it was a 350. It had been a Miss American parade car and had 11K on the clock. Great car to drive but sold it to buy an 86 Mustang GT Convertible. The Olds went to someone from CT who bought it site unseen for full asking price.
That’s a lot of money for a car that doesn’t even have power windows!
This one brings back some funny memories.
My friend had a 2 door coupe, blue with the white interior. Plenty of room in the back, so used to grab it from him for dates.
He could only see out of one eye, and his parents thought that he should have a big car, for safety. He used to drive that car into everything! We replaced the nose a couple of times with whatever we could find at the junkyard. One time, it sported a maroon nose and fender from a ’73 or ’74 88. Nothing mated up quite right, but he didn’t care.
There have been a handful of these come up for sale in the past year in nice shape with low miles, all with 455s and they are all in the mid $20k range, and my neighbor has the identical car with 455 and 25k miles also with a FMV around $25k. So I don’t know where the seller is getting $40k for a 350 car with 30k miles, anyone can ask any price for anything, but askin ain’t gettin.
75 convertibles in this condition are bringing the money. Personally, I detest power options. They are heavy. This car is heavy enough. And as the listing says, it was ordered that way to minimize future problems. Chrissakes you can’t adjust a seat or roll up a window. Ridiculous. Beautiful car here, but I’m out at $30,000.
To quote Jay Leno: “This was back when cars were made outta STEEL!” The 350 is a bit small to be hauling around over two tons of “road-hugging weight”, but a trip to your local automotive machine shop could turn that stock-block 350 into a 383 in short order, which would help matters a bit, or a crate motor is always an option if you don’t care about a numbers matching drivetrain. It would be a shame to mess with this car’s originality, though, so I’d probably limit any mods to bolt-on parts, while retaining the stock parts for any future owners who would want to return this bad boy to bone stock condition.
Given the awful drivability of “Malaise Era” iron due to the primitive emission controls of the time, I might consider some form of EFI, just to eliminate the hesitation, stalling and Dieseling that these cars were infamous for at the time. Other than that, I’d keep it stock and just drive it!
I almost bought one of these. It was a time of gas shortages and everyone was selling their boats to by Toyotas. I ended up with the ’71 Chrysler LeBaron coupe instead of the Olds convertible.