This 1980 Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight Regency sedan isn’t perfect, as you can see. The bumper filler material has seen better days and is AWOL in areas, and there’s missing door trim on both sides. Those cosmetic glitches can always be fixed, and if you’re a child of the 80s, this car may bring back memories, good or bad. The seller has it posted here on craigslist in Denver, Colorado, and they’re asking $5,300. Here is the original listing, and thanks to Mike F. for the tip!
I still can’t believe 1980 was 45 years ago, and I hate to say this, but it seems like yesterday. Goofing around too much in high school and graduating very much without “honors”, being in rock bands, driving an old rusty Dodge van, trying to avoid college by parking and washing cars, cleaning buildings, etc. Ahhh… Wait, after reading that, why would I want to relive that era? Well, because it was 1980, that’s why. I didn’t wake up with a backache every day, not all humans were looking at their phones 18 hours a day, and things just seemed simpler.
Even luxury cars were simple, from America and every other country. There’s no backup camera on this car. You learned how to by-God backup your own vehicle by something we called looking at your mirrors, and also with practice. A touchscreen flowing across the dashboard? Ha, maybe a CB radio or FM stations added to the AM radio, but this was the analog era. The 10th-generation Olds Ninety-Eight (spelled out with a hyphen in this era) was made from 1977 through 1984, and don’t get me started on 1984…
The bumper filler material and missing door trim in a couple of spots are the biggest things I see on the exterior that need help. The interior looks great overall, with some loss of padding on the driver’s seat that can be fixed by any good upholstery shop. The Dark Claret velour seats look nice otherwise, and they go well with the Dark Claret paint. The back seat should have enough room for almost anyone, even a recently graduated, tall, lanky “rock star wannabee” 17-year-old who graduated a year early, despite goofing off the last couple of years of high school.
Denver is known for snow, but I didn’t expect to see surface rust under the hood. This is Oldsmobile’s 307-cu.in. OHV V8, new for 1980. It had 150 horsepower and 245 lb-ft of torque when new and sent power through a THM-350 automatic to the rear wheels, as was often the case in 1980, although the times, they were a’changin’. The seller says this one works great, and even the AC works (!), but the fuel system needs to be drained due to old gas being in there for too long. This car was just over $12,000 new (window sticker in the photo gallery), which is just over $47,000 today. What are your memories of 1980, if you were around back then?
Overall really nice Ninety Eight, ( or is it Ninety-Eight…… 98…… ) ok, we know…..
I personally prefer the 1980 to ’84 models over the ’77 to ’79 ones. I like the more squared off formal roof line, but even more importantly, Oldsmobile out FENDER SKIRTS back on them……. As they should…
One thing I didn’t know is that Oldsmobile went to the THM 350 with the 1980 model. All the predecessors going back to the mid sixties had the THM 400. I know they were doing all they could to sqeeze more MPG out of their full sized models and apparently it takes a little less energy to spin a THM 350 than a 400. Great write up Scotty, and I’m glad you wrote this one up.
Gone
Spending all my hard-earned money at the arcade, riding my 10-speed where I wanted to go (a few years off from being old enough to drive), rocking out to the tunes on 98 KZEW blasting from the transistor radio clipped to my handlebars. These are just a few of my memories of 1980. Thx for asking.
I was a middle-aged man in 1980, driving a 1946 Ford Super Deluxe Tudor flathead V-8 with Columbia Overdrive, unlike you high school kids of that time who are in your youthful 60s now. Hate to have to TELL you this, but in another two and three decades, you will know some of the “fine points” of ageing — that the stiffness and aches are consistant so you ignore them, mostly. And that the music you have loved since your early years, nobody plays or cares about any longer, and you have only your phonograph records (in my case, 78 rpm) to fall back on. You will find, unless you are unusually talented at these things, that four-year-olds operate electronic gadgets so sophisticated that you cannot begin to imagine how to use them. My reliable 1949 four-tube portable radio is no longer practical to keep in fresh batteries (though it still works when I bother to), and the transistor pocket radio I bought in 1961, I still daily use. But people as old as age 30 who see me listening to it, ask me, “What is that devise you have, Pop?”. And when I tell them that it is a radio, they enquire, “Where can I get one?”. I guess their gradchildren will have to invent a time-machine for them! Then they can go into any Zenith radio shop and get one.(smile)
Hear, hear, Harrison! You were a bit older than I in 1980 (I turned 30 that year), yet I appreciate your points nonetheless. As for that ’46 Ford you were driving, I’d prefer it any day to the featured car–seriously!
I have seen ads for Radio Shack on Facebook and they STILL SELL BATTERY OPERATED PORTABLE RADIOS..!!!! E MY EVEN A SMALL HANDHELD AM / FM with antenna. I remember mine fondly. I Am 74 years old. In 1980 I got married !!! Still married to her today !!!
These always make me smile. Beautiful cars and as mentioned, the 1980 refresh made them look lower and longer. I was in my second year of college and turning burgers at the Big Mac factory dreaming one day of working around cars.
1980, on marriage #2 ( first one died) on my 3rd house and spending every waking hour building and running my pro-rally Scirocco. And running a couple of Goodyear stores! Very hectic and fun times for me. I don’t know why I never realized that there was a 307 Oldsmobile engine. (Why not just use the Chevy?) If I owned the car, I would install a,455 Olds engine and 700R4 transmission. THEN IT WOULD BE A PROPER OLDSMOBILE!
Bought a 79 Olds 98 Regency for the wife. Pale yellow with a padded half vinyl roof. Was a 2 door, didn’t see many 2 door 98’s back then. Had a 403/400. Ran great but was thirsty. It did have this loose pillow type upholstery. Super comfortable. The 5′ tall wife just felt dwarfed by it. Sold it and got her a low mileage TR7. Found out why it was low mileage. Yikes!
I was in my early 30’s in 1980, working tour boats on the St. Lawrence River.
Still driving my ‘71 Nova , 3 speed Muncie floor shift , 307 V8 , positraction , bucket seats and Lucas fog lamps mounted on front bumper.
I had visions of keeping that car forever until my wife ran it into a very large oak tree. The dash buckled and that was the end of both of them.
Sorry for your loss.
I brought a 81 Custom Cruiser, but I wanted a 98 2 dr! Thinking about my family being comfortable! Great car! That 98 was it for me!