This Olds sure brings back memories for some of us! It looks huge, but the tenth generation 98 was actually downsized and lightened. They are about a foot shorter than the previous generation and about 800 pounds lighter. It was Olds last real luxury car. This one is listed on craigslist in Amesburry, Massachusetts and they want $6,475 for it. It looks like the dealer has very few cars, but this one really looks nice in the pictures. There’s 70,000 miles showing and it’s said to be a one owner car and always garaged.
Remember how American luxury car used to look? This one is loaded with every luxury feature it appears, but they didn’t have cup holders back then.
The outside looks immaculate in the pictures. They even added the anti door ding strips. Too bad about the hole in the trunk for the antenna. This Olds looks like what you would expect to see on a car lot on 1980.
Coming from the rust belt, could this really be rust free? Could this be as nice as it appears in the pictures? On this coast ,an average car this age might be worth $2,500 as basic transportation. How much more could it be worth if it really is in pristine condition? There’s probably a pretty small number of us who would consider this a collector’s item and a nice car to own. Do you think there’s any chance the new owner will appreciate it? Perhaps it will just be a nice looking car bought cheap for transportation. Or will it end up being slammed and bagged with big wheels as a low rider?
I think that type of CB antenna attaches without holes.
The lack of cup holders may be a blessing. Those things only encourage your riders to bring cups full of liquid that can stain the upholstery. I prefer four doors on a formal sedan like this one, but the condition of this car is hard to pass buy. Those seats sure look comfy.
Nice car! We need some pictures of the underside to substatiate that it is rust-free. I hope its as nice underneath as it is on the shiny side!
if there is no rust this would make a nice driver. there are a lot of land yachts/float boats for sale right now. to bad, for me, most of them are automatics. great find
I had one of these ,its a great car. Plenty of power and rides like a dream .
Love these cars. To someone like me this is a collector vehicle. I appreciate its ride comfort and excellent styling. Not to mention the big block 493 under the hood. I own an 81 98 Regency
GM build quality was horrific in 1978. At 70K miles, this car is at the end of its useful life. Also looks to have taken a hit at some point left front. Pass.
She’s hardly at the end of her useful life. My grandparents had a 1978 Olds Ninety-Eight Regency sedan. She had 231,000 miles, when Grandpa sold her. Proof that these were well-built vehicles – and with proper maintenance – can serve their owners for many years, and many miles!! Too bad this one doesn’t wear the optional cornering lamps. Always a nice touch.
Needs a set of the Custom Chrome styled wheels. Make these really pop. These wire wheel covers always liked like a Jiffy Pop container ready to explode. There were some decent wire wheel covers in the sixties but by this time they became exaggerated and ridiculous. Besides, there was usually a box to check with a nice styled steel or cast aluminum wheel. Oh yeah, it was the seventies and for the masses it was all about landau tops and spokes.
this was when GM was putting the same engine in all their brands and mislabeling it as a branded engine; chevy 350 labelled Olds rocket power etc.. Many of these cars received extended engine warranties because of the lawsuits.
GM was having a problem meeting California emissions. The Olds 350 was able to meet the California requirements and was used in most carlines sold there. That caused a shortage of Olds 350’s for the rest of the country. The Chevy 350 was used in Olds in other states because of it’s availability. The Chevy 350 was not a 2nd rate engine by any means. It has a solid reputation of it’s own.
If this car is as clean underneath as it looks cosmetically, this isn’t a bad price. I live down the street from a classic car dealer called mjc classic cars. If you look on their website they have several b-bodies from the 70’s and 80’s, none with an asking price below 11k. These are all really low mileage original cars though, my favorite being the 77 Pontiac safari wagon for13k. I guess there is a growing market for these cars, I know I like them and it’s always nice to see them in good original condition and not on 24’s.
I was an auto mechanic in the late 70’s through to the early 00’s and I can tell you from experience that all the GM rear wheel drive cars and trucks were excellent well designed and easy to work on. Yes they were choked down with emissions but once they were off warranty there was lots of ways to get gasmilage and power back up. If our modern cars were built this simple today I’d still be in the trade working on them. The cars today are filled with unnecessary gadits and complex electronics that make them far more difficult to repair and far more expensive too. I miss the days of working on these cars.
I had a 1977 Caprice and the build quality was pretty solid…they really got cheap and chintzy in the 80’s.
As a 1978 RWD platform, this car is the legacy of all the things GM did well for decades. If this example was put together well, it will make a nice driver car for many more miles. Tune the engine for more power and you’re golden.
Growing up my dad had 5 car lots so at one point or another I pretty much got to ride in just about every make / model. I still remember to this day I’d always like it when we would take an Olds regency 98 home. It was and still is what I consider their epitome of comfort, even more so than the cadi’s ( interior wise at least )