This 1976 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Town Sedan may have been the entry-level model for the Delta 88 series, but it was far from being an economy car. And, I’m not talking about it being an economy car as in the 12-mpg that it got. The seller has this one posted here on craigslist in St. Paul, Minnesota and they’re asking $7,950. Here’s the original listing.
1976 was the last year for the seventh-generation Oldsmobile Delta 88s which were offered from the fall of 1970 for the 1971 model year until 1976. The following generation of Delta 88s would be downsized in almost every way other than interior space. There’s something that I love about these giant behemoths (is that redundant?), something that has been taken over by the hulking SUVs of today.
The Town Sedan model was the lowest-priced Delta 88 sedan according to period literature, coming below the Delta 88 Hardtop Sedan, Delta 88 Royale Sedan, and Royale Hardtop Sedan. They also came in a Royale Holiday Coupe and Sedan and a Royale Crown Landau two-door. The 1976 Delta 88s received rectangular headlights and this one looks perfect from what I can tell from looking at the photos. The black wall tires look great on this one, being a base model car. I can’t tell for sure, but it appears that the hood gaps are a little off, let us know your thoughts on the exterior of this big blue beauty.
The interior is also blue and as with the exterior, it looks perfect to me. I don’t see a flaw anywhere, although I always wonder if a steering wheel cover is hiding a damaged steering wheel or protecting a perfect one. The big back seat could hold a dozen of your friends, or more likely and more safely, three of them. NADA seems to be way off on the values of this car as they list this one as being worth around $3,200. We saw a similar car a couple of years ago here on Barn Finds.
The engine is an Olds Rocket 350 cubic-inch V8 which would have had 170 horsepower and 275 lb-ft of torque. The seller says that this car is super clean, has low miles, is accident-free, and has been well-maintained. I have no doubt about any of those claims after looking at the photos. There are no mechanical or electrical issues or interior issues and this would be quite an eye-catcher today. Any thoughts on this big Delta 88 Town Sedan?
If you want to remain incognito, drive one of these into a cruise-in. You’ll be all but invisible.
Depends on the crowd. Not everyone flocks to the Respray Red Camaro or Mustang.
I agree. I think it also depends on what sort of a meet you attend.
Incognito? This thing would stand out like Lady Gaga in a meat dress on the road today!!
I see this as a retirement gift someone gave himself back in the mid 70s. This was a prestige car of its day for the WWII generation who were retiring around that time. He drove it little as he, after all, was retired. Car got passed on in the family upon his passing, to a son or DTR who by that time was also retired. Again, put few miles on her. Now it is being passed on again at the childs passing, but the grandchildren of the original buyer will have nothing to do with it. Too bad, family heirlooms should be treated with more respect. Just a theory, but better than we are told here.
I wonder if this same story will be playing out with the 1960s muscle cars that the Boomer generation is spending a lot of money on. I think there’s a good chance it will.
I would love to drive a car like this if I was in the market for a classic car. Given its originality and condition, $7,950 is a better than reasonable asking price for the car. The only upgrade I’d give the car is a new gauge cluster. I’m not a fan of warning lights for gauges.
Bick, I wonder the same thing. There seems to be no abatement in interest in the Tri-5s or Corvettes etc. Yet, of course, time will win the battle.
Still, we need to “keep-a-going”. Case in point: my wife of 35 years was very kind and generous to buy us tickets to see Paul McCartney in Orlando last Saturday for my “When I’m 64” birthday. I know, I only look 40. It was a great show, and it was inspiring to see a guy nearly 80 years old still performing concerts at the stadium level.
There doesn’t seem to be any quit in that guy. Good on him.
Nothing against your generation. It’s just that the younger generation doesn’t seem to be really into cars. And to the extent they are, we’re usually talking about Uber or EVs.
The Radwood movement is a nice exception, and good to see. But that is 1980s and 1990s cars. Even the younger enthusiasts into cars have never been able to afford 1960s era muscle cars because the Boomers were always more affluent and able to push them out of reach. Gen X was only able to afford them for a very, very short time. Millennials and Gen Zers have never owned one, with some rare exceptions. Hard to really covet something that you don’t have much of a personal connection to.
That depends on which “generation” you’re talking about. I was born in 1973. I like cars from early post WWII era until about the 1990s. The earliest car I got to drive was a 1960 Studebaker Lark VIII 4 door. I actually loved driving it.
Oh sure, if these were affordable you’d buy. I might too! But today, when $38,000 is considered a “second fiddle” price for a 1960s era muscle car, well, I don’t know what your financial situation is, but that’s way too much for most younger people I’d suspect, or at least too much to part with for something they do not have a deep emotional attachment to.
We’ll see. My 69 Cutlass is easier, safer to drive and get parts for than a Model T. Youth today for some reason love 60’s fashion and music. I never listened to my dads big bands or Sinatra.
In the Milsurp gun collecting field everyone thought WWII rifles would drop in value. Nope thru the roof. 20-40 year olds love them. Because of Call of Duty.
So True especially the Mil-Surp market. Mosin-Nagant rifles were $69.99 in early 2000 and a decade later $350+ and today Start at $500+, The Mausers and other WW2 firearms have skyrocketed in value. I’ve seen mint 50’s era cars go for the price of a New Lamborghini
I love it for its originality. A set of Oldsmobile wire wheel covers like those that were optional on this car could jazz it up a bit while maintaining the originality…
Also a set of whitewall tires!
As long as they don’t have *too much* white on the side. I’ve seen white walls that cover much of the side of the tires. I’m like “Sheesh! Isn’t there anything black on the tire?”
Due to an unfortunate set of circumstances around my 1984 Sunbird Turbo, I had to take my (much) older brother’s 1976 Delta 88 Royale coupe to school for a few days. I remember two things: 1) the eyes of the driver in front of me growing wide in her rear view mirror at the sight of the huge Olds on her bumper as she putzed along at 50 mph in the left lane, and 2) the difficulty of parallel parking the massive coupe on the streets around Carnegie Mellon. It was like parallel parking an aircraft carrier.
Thanks CC! Great story and you managed to stay on the topic at hand rather than the witless blather discussion above.
When I was a kid, there was a little old lady who lived around the corner from us. She had an identical 88, but brown. She’d sit in a folding chair in the shade of the garage doors, and I’d see her drive around town.
Fast forward 40 years, and I’d still see her driving this car, and neither of them have changed one bit!
I’d wager that the 88 is one of the best cars GM ever built. It had everything going for it.
Whoever replies to my comments, do me a favour, allow me to reply back. I see that someone replies to my comment, but there’s no way for me to respond! What the?!
To reply to a reply you have to keep replying to your original post.
(Almost sounds like something Kamala would say? :-)
When I replied to Bwana, he replied back. The problem is that when I tried to reply back, there was no “Reply” capability.
You just have to go back to the original post and reply to the original poster (even if it’s not Bill Banter) and your new reply will show up in the thread just like this one does. I’m replying to you by replying to me. It’s just the way BF has things set up.
$3500 seems to be more reasonable for this car.