In case you were wondering about the odd opening photo here, it’s because the photos were long and narrow and it was either a question of putting some sort of border on this one to fit the format or cutting the two ends of the car off and this rare 1976 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Crown Royale Landau deserves better than that. This one is listed here on eBay in beautiful Pueblo, Colorado and the bid price is $8,100 but the reserve isn’t met yet. There is also a $12,500 buy-it-now price if you just have to have it now.
I love this thing, this is about as rare of a special edition as it gets and I’m a big fan of special editions, and Oldsmobiles, and big cars, and 1970s cars. The whole package here is beautiful, in my humble opinion. Some other folks may think that it’s the equivalent of white shoes and a white belt and it’s certainly from that era but that’s what I like about it.
The seventh-generation Olds 88 was made from 1971 to 1976 and they were the last of the really big Oldsmobiles before GM downsized most of their full-sized cars, lopping off almost a foot in length and several hundred pounds in order to give owners an easier time at the gas pump back when gas was a whopping $0.60 a gallon. That’s the 2021 equivalent of about $3 today so it’s remained fairly consistent unless you’re in California or Chicago or a few other big cities where it’s crazy expensive right now. I can’t imagine driving a ’76 Olds 88 and paying $5+ a gallon, ouch.
The rare Crown Royale Landau was a two-door with the previously-seen stainless steel band across the padded vinyl landau top and even as fancy as they were, you can see that this one doesn’t have power windows. It does have power seats and the interior looks perfect in the photos. Speaking of photos, these are all over the board so hopefully you can decipher them and try to beat the current bidders if any of you are interested in this gem.
The seller says that this car has had just one owner since it was new which is pretty incredible. There are just over 72,000 miles on this time capsule and I wasn’t able to find any real production numbers on the Crown Royale Brougham but I can’t imagine that there are many of them still out there. The seller mentions that 4,300 were made. I have never seen one in person, have any of you? As you already knew, the trunk is huge and it looks almost perfect.
The engine is a 350 cubic-inch V8 which would have had around 170 horsepower and 275 lb-ft of torque. The seller says that the 350 engine has 375 hp but they may be thinking back to the 1970 Olds 455 or something else, this one should have half that much power. Still, it’ll get moving and keep up with modern traffic with no problem, although I’d hate to drive this one in bumper-to-bumper traffic or risk having too many door dings. It’s an original jewel box and it needs to be enjoyed yet preserved at the same time if that’s even possible. Have any of you heard of this model?
I once took my brother’s 1976 Delta 88 Royale coupe to college for a week while he replaced the head gasket on my Sunbird. Parallel parking was definitely a chore. I can’t imagine trying it with the blanked-out C-pillars on this car!
On the way back to school, I encountered a slow-moving car in the left lane of the parkway. I was young and stupid, so I thought nothing of tailgating it. I was effectively driving a battering ram, after all. I was close enough that I could see the driver’s eyes look to the rearview mirror and get very large at the sight of the gigantic Oldsmobile crawling up her trunk. She quickly changed lanes and the big, white Olds lumbered past her.
There is no doubt that this is a vehicle that has been well maintained and is in great shape. But does absolutely nothing for me, it’s about as boring as you can get. I miss Oldsmobile, they built some great machines, but this car is run of the mill mid-seventies barge. It has a boat like ride, limited power, vague steering, and poor gas mileage. A childhood friend of mine parent’s had 2 of these exactly the same, it was really strange. Nice car but no thank you.
The “72 88 I had was factory equipped with the rear sway bar and it cornered flatter and better and was more predictable than the “72 Cutlass Supreme I had after that, and I loved that Supreme. That 88 got 19mpg on the road and once, at night in the fog got 22. It was strong too, I ran with a Caddy for many miles at 90-95 on the way back to MO from the Indy 500 one year. It was big, but I would drive one like it again. Great road car.
I seriously doubt you know much about what you are talking about. I owned one of these cars in blue and white. It would get up and Go! Ride was like a cloud-smooooth! Mine was fully loaded. The only thing I can agree with you about is gas mileage. Poor for sure. I would take another one like it against any car being built today. I wish I had mine, but somebody stole it.
Crown Royale?
I’ll drink to that.
There was a previous eBay listing a couple of months ago:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/363542427088?nma=true&si=oam6cALrfOKQ5TOoz6kiM23HdRY%253D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557
Since they have come down in price significantly ($5,000), perhaps a low-ball offer might be considered by the seller?
Love that car, but no power windows!
The power for the windows was supplied by you! Most cars built back then had the crank windows. I am surprised this one is better optioned. Mine had power windows, seats (both sides), trunk release (option back then), local/distance antenna, tilt wheel, cruise. A tank for sure, but it was VERY comfortable!
Nothing to fault here. These are scarce and seldom seen when new. The condition of the color-coordinated wheel covers tells me this was treated with TLC–not a blemish seen. IMHO, the $12,500. doesn’t sound that bad for what you’re getting. I had a Fleetwood of the same vintage, so I’m very familiar with the cloud-like ride. Back in the day, these were what you hit the freeway in! A true 6 passenger coupe!
There MAY have been another company doing the customization, but mine was done, at factory, by Hurst Performance Group. It was all visual, no mechanical enhancement.
Say what you want, I think she’s a beauty!
Nice color combination. The stainless steel (or aluminum?) bar over the roof reminds me of a Thunderbird Town Landau of later 70s vintage. I imagine it would be very hard to switch lanes to the right with no windows for the back seat! I imagine rear seat passengers wouldn’t like the inability to see out very well. That said, it’s an interesting car. Not a model I had ever heard of.
If you correctly adjust your side-view mirrors you eliminate any blind spot. Follow the directions in the link below (it may seem odd to begin with, but you do not ever need to do “shoulder checks” ever again with this method). I have not had to do any shoulder checks since I started adjusting my side-view mirrors to eliminate blind spots more than 30 years ago. I have never had any “close calls” or angry driver honk at me for almost colliding with their vehicles. This is what they should be teaching in Drivers’ Ed.
https://scripts.mit.edu/~birge/blog/how-to-correctly-set-your-cars-sideview-mirrors/
If you drive properly, you use all your mirrors. Proper adjustment is the key. I drove buses, trucks, and vans my working days. You learn to and depend on your mirrors. I owned one of these ’76 Delta Royale with the Y-61 package for over 10 years. No problem changing lanes, backing up, ect. Lovely car! Somebody wanted it more than I did and stole it.
No power windows, No tilt steering wheel, No 455 motor. In 1976 I would’ve spent a couple of thousands more and purchased a 76 Ninety Eight Regency or LS coupe fully loaded. Just my opinion coming from an old school American luxury car guy.
$2000 in 1976 is equivalent to $9500 in 2021 that’s a lot more money and would have priced many out of the market
@ Keith D.,……@ least I would’ve opted for the 455 & tilt steering.
I saw on another site that the Crown Royale was built by Hurst and came with a 455 engine.
Even without the options you would have checked the box for, one of, if not the one big selling point was, they were modified at factory by Hurst Performance. There were only 4362 units built. The power equipment, tilt and large engine were extra bucks and they tried to get as many sales as possible. I had a blue/white vinyl top, loaded out ’76 just like this. I bought it as a demonstrator in Feb 1977 and drove it 10 years. Put over 200k on it. Still would have it but someone stole it 11 years ago. Probably wanted the 455.
Had a 76 Crown Royale Convertible in my 20’s. Royal Blue with a white top and interior. It was a boat and I loved it.
Cowboy Cadillac!
“I have never seen one in person, have any of you?”
Not that I know of but these weren’t especially memorable cars.
Being that there were only 4362 units of these built divided into however many Olds dealerships there were, may well explain why you, and many others around in the day, didn’t see them. I owned one. Loved it!
My buddy had one of these as his first car in the late 70’s. He was blind in one eye and his parents thought having a big car would be “safer”. That guy hit everything in sight (or out of sight, for him), including a fire hydrant while driving. We raided the local junkyards and there was no more front end sheetmetal left to buy after he was done with that car.
He bought a Cavalier after that and never had another accident.
It made a great Drive-In car with that couch-like back seat! I would borrow it from him for date nights.
I have seen the convertible version more often the 2-door coupe version, although examples of both styles are incredibly rare. Gorgeous car!!! Glenn in Brooklyn.
Glenn, You probably seen mine cruising up and down 86th street. I had the blue with a white top. I loved that car. I filled up that trunk with speakers and amps. I’m actually trying to find this car but with the 455 power windows, and tilt. It’s like looking for a needle in a haystack. I would buy this one but the color I’m not a fan of. I found a silver one with blue interior loaded but lost out on the bid. Now the new owner wants to sell it to me for almost triple. But no memories are worth overpriced cars.
I have seen, something like 12 of these great cars! I owned and drove one from February 1977- early 1988 or so. Mine was blue where this one is red. Mine was loaded. Pwr driver and passenger seat, windows, door locks, local/distance power antenna, trunk release, 455 4 bbl. Gas mileage left a lot to be desired. Riding? Like on a cloud. Handling, not bad for a non sports car. Performance, not a barn burner, but got the job done very well. According to an email I got from Oldsmobile Customer Assistance Center in 2005, there were 4360 units of the Y61 package built. Considering how many Olds dealerships were in business at the time, that is why a lot of folks never saw one. Someone wanted it worse than me, and stole it.
In Holland we pay more than $ 8 a gallon😫
Auction update: this was a no sale, then it went through another auction cycle without selling and is currently on eBay with an unmet opening bid price of $8,000 at which point the reserve won’t even be met. The same $12,500 buy-it-now price is listed.
I seem to remember Oldsmobile putting a steel band on an 88 before ’76. Some anniversary edition.
Does anyone know where this car ended up? This is the exact car my dad had in high school and would love to try and buy it for him
This article gets the name wrong. The car is a Royale Crown Landau. Not Crown Royale Landau.
“special editions” were popular in the 70’s. I had a 1977 Dodge Royal Monaco brougham diplomat edition. It had the padded top and a brushed steel roof band that reduced the rear passenger window down to opera window size.