This black over red 1975 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Royale Convertible shows just under 59,000 miles on the odometer. Black has to be a rare color for this car or for any mid-70s Olds 88, I don’t know if I’ve seen another one in black, especially a convertible. This example appears nice in the over 140 photos (!) the seller has provided on this Hagerty Auction. It’s located in beautiful, historic Savannah, Georgia, and the current bid price is $4,000. Thanks to PRA4SNW for the tip!
Looking at this nice Olds in uber-popular (today) black exterior paint with a beautiful red interior, it’s hard to believe this car only has bids ringing up to $4,000 so far. I’m not sure if Oldsmobile’s marketing line of: “Today a beautiful Olds convertible. Tomorrow, a collector’s item” is true or not. That being said, some people collect $5 Avon decanters in different vehicle shapes, so I guess not every “collector’s item” has to be priced into the stratosphere.
The seventh-generation Oldsmobile 88 was made for the 1971 through 1976 model years in a variety of body styles, and if you were a middle manager, this lineup was likely on your wish list. Ebony Black is such a formal color, I can’t get over how rare it is to see a black Olds 88 convertible, but maybe it’s just me. I’m not a fan of the dual exhaust tips sticking out of the back, but to each his/her own.
The Cranberry vinyl interior looks great, and this car is loaded as you’d expect in a Delta 88 Royale. We’ve seen 10 1975 Olds 88s here on Barn Finds, and nine of them have been convertibles. As I thought, none of them were black. The back seat also looks perfect, and the seller has included over 40 underside photos (!), and it’s showing some normal surface rust. They say there has been a “rust-through patch” on the rear, but we don’t know where exactly. They also say the convertible top “header” needs repair, there is a stain on the passenger side carpet, and a few other things, so it isn’t perfect, but it looks very nice overall in the photos.
The clean engine is Oldsmobile’s famous 455-cu.in. OHV V8, which by 1975 was rated at 190 horsepower and 350 lb-ft of torque. Backed by a THM-400 sending power to the rear wheels, please check out the photos and let us know how much you’d pay for this black and red Olds Delta 88 Royale convertible.
A well-kept after ton of fun!
NICE!!! Mine was a 71, and didn’t have tilt and cruise, just A/C and a 455 2bbl. And was a more boring color. Will be a lot of fun for the next owner, here’s hoping it finds a good home.
My parents bought a 1972 Delta 88 convertible for me when I was 16 in 1983. I loved that car. Drove it everywhere. I like the black. Mine was battleship gray.
Good looking car. I agree with Scotty about the exhaust; those pipes should be tucked behind the corners of the bumper without chrome extensions not straight out like fence posts. Original owner upgraded to the big bad 455
I didn’t look at the underside pics but I’m seeing a top of $12,000 for this guy.
Wow this brings back memories. We had a family friend when I was a kid growing up with a ’74 Delta 88 2 door in blue. It had the factory towing package. 455 4 barrel dual exhaust etc. Car had very low miles. Don’t let the lower HP and torque numbers fool you this will go down the road effortlessly.
Very nice last year drop top 88 here. Great colors too!!! I agree with Scotty, I don’t ever remember seeing any in this color combination. Very nice.
I have a ’73. This car don’t look all that great to me. Was the engine repainted? The body by the underside? Some of the “bright work” in the interior has a look that says (to me) it’s been in moisture.
It’s not an awful example, but I find it far from glorious.
My mom bought a new 73/350, same colors when I was 16.Me and my friends had contests at the beach.Who could pick up more girls.I wore glasses and ponytail,so I don’t think that’s why I always won.My tongue 😛 only worked when it had to. lol
Great looking Olds. The take rate for the 455 was probably the lowest of the decade. Olds even had a step down 400 option on the 98. The black dash seems out of place but doesn’t detract from the looks. I’d drive it every day it didn’t rain.
You almost couldn’t give these away after the OPEC oil embargo of 1973-74, but back in the day, when big cars still ruled the roost, these were as common as dirt on American roads. This one is a fine daily driver and it looks like it wouldn’t take too much to make it really shine. GLWTS.
The big problem with these, other than single-digit gas mileage, was the awful drivability of these cars as the Band-Aid emission controls required to keep the EPA happy were increasingly unable to allow the cars to run right on a regular basis. Fortunately, a fix exists in the aftermarket, with modern EFI systems to replace the anti-smog carburetor. Uncork the exhaust with some headers and some larger pipes, do some judicious upgrades to the engine to take full advantage of the electronic controls, and you might get the gas mileage into double digits! Maybe not 20 mpg, but the high teens might might be possible, LOL!
I owned a 73 Toronado, had the book, “How to remove your emission controls for better power and mileage” It ran really well after I made the changes, but I only was able to get the fuel economy up to a steady 12. Drivability was great. I doubt that EFI can do much better, my 1996 Ford F250 with the 460 and EFI does around 12.
You need to do more than just add EFI. EFI improves drivability, but the mileage won’t get much better if you don’t fix what else ails these anti-smog motors. it starts with raising the compression ratio, which was lowered to tolerate the lower octane unleaded gas of the period, combined with Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) to quench the burn more quickly, in an attempt to reduce Oxides of Nitrogen (NOx) emissions, which form at high combustion temperatures. Unfortunately, this raises both carbon monoxide (CO) emissions and unburned hydrocarbon (HC) emissions. If you raise combustion temperatures to reduce HC and CO, you also increase NOx emissions. It took the development of three-way catalysts, combined with electronic engine controls to successfully walk this particular tightrope. Innovations that were still ten (10) to fifteen (15) years away in the mid-1970’s, unfortunately. The crude emission controls of the era failed miserably at this, with one-way catalysts and crude carburetor control over the air fuel mixture. Raise the compression ratio and improve breathing in both the intake (port & polish the ports) and exhaust (headers and a low restriction exhaust). to really do the job right.
I think my friend had a ’74. It might have been a ’75 but because of gas prices he was selling it. It was practically new. I so wanted it. All I’d ever had was convertibles. Unfortunately I couldn’t get financing so that’s how I ended up with the 1971 Imperial LeBaron coupe.
Hello, Angel. I somehow knew you’d be chiming in.
As a GM guy, it almost pains me to tell the truth and say you stepped up to the Chrysler land yacht but you did! LOL!
Here now is a ’84 Toronado Caliente convertible conversion. White with burgundy interior. 46k miles and almost spotless. $18k.
I think the conversion was done by a reputable company.
Convertibles just aren’t my cup of tea.
My buddy had a ’75 2 door coupe. His parents bought it for him because they thought that having a bigger car would be safer for him to drive. He could only see out of one eye, so had depth perception problems. He drove that car into everything. I helped him replace the front clip a few times.
But, it was a very cool car – blue with white interior, and a back seat that was like a couch. Great for drive-ins – I would grab it from him for date nights.
I has the same issue with depth perception, not because I was blind in one eye, but because I had crossed eyes that weren’t fixed in time and my brain never learned to fuse the image from each eye to form a three-dimensional image. If my eyes got a conduct grade on their report card, it would be a “D”, because they “did not work and play well with others”, LOL! My doctor told me that if I didn’t use one eye at a time, I would see double and the brain doesn’t like that! Think of Clarence the cross-eyed lion, LOL! I learned to compensate for it, but parallel parking took extra effort to master!
Wow, what a beauty! Would love to own this girl. I got the dough, just don’t have the space. sigh!
Speaking of dough, can’t believe it’s only at $6k and in such great condition!