Cars from the 1980s spent years in the classic wilderness as enthusiasts focused on earlier and later vehicles, which promised superior performance. However, the scene is ever-evolving, and cars like this 1983 Oldsmobile Hurst/Olds 15th Anniversary Edition now generate considerable interest when they hit the market. It is easy to understand in this case, as the vehicle’s overall condition appears to support the seller’s claim that it is a collector-quality classic. They have listed the Olds here on eBay in Clarkston, Michigan. Bidding sits below the reserve at $12,300 with time remaining for interested parties to stake their claim.
Oldsmobile adopted a “toe in the water” approach when it released the original Hurst/Olds in 1968. It is fair to say that it could have sold more than the 515 vehicles it produced that year, but the company was also aware that it didn’t want to poach sales from its 442. It became a permanent part of the model range from 1972 until 1979, before reappearing as a last hurrah in 1983 and 1984. This 1983 example is a stunning survivor, wearing the Black and Silver paint with Red stripes that represented the sole paint combination offered during that model year. Faulting its appearance is seemingly impossible, with the paint shining deeply, the stripes and graphics looking crisp and clean, and the panels as straight as an arrow. Its beauty is more than skin deep, with the underside shots revealing none of the rust or heavy corrosion that often afflicted these classics. Plastic developed a reputation for deterioration due to age and UV exposure, but I see no evidence of this in the supplied shots. The glass is crystal clear, and the 15×7 chrome Super Stock wheels are excellent.
The Malaise Era was a tough time for enthusiasts, with many iconic vehicles bleeding power as legislators demanded fewer nasty byproducts emerging from the exhausts of once potent vehicles. The 1983 Hurst/Olds was no exception, with compliance meaning that its 307ci V8 generated a modest 180hp and 245 ft/lbs of torque. A four-speed THM-200-4R automatic feeds those ponies to a 3.73 limited-slip rear end, with power-assisted steering and brakes as standard fare. The seller states that this classic is numbers-matching and that it has a genuine 80,000 miles showing on its odometer. They don’t mention verifying evidence for the mileage claim, but the car’s condition makes it plausible. It appears that apart from consumables, the only non-original item is the Flowmaster dual exhaust. There is no information supplied regarding the vehicle’s mechanical health, but I see nothing to suggest that the news will be anything but positive.
Hurst/Olds buyers in 1983 could choose from three interior trim combinations. This car’s first owner selected Dark Maple vinyl, adding air conditioning, power windows, a rear defogger, cruise control, a tilt wheel, remote mirrors, and an AM/FM radio/cassette player to guarantee a comfortable motoring experience. It retains the iconic Hurst “Lightning Rod” shifter that gave the model its name, which is actually an achievement worth mentioning. These shifters are quite coveted, making the ’83 Hurst/Olds a favorite amongst thieves who targeted these classics purely to liberate that item. The interior condition is impressive, with no evidence of wear, abuse, or UV damage. It has avoided the common trend where owners add aftermarket gauges and upgraded stereos, helping to cement this car’s survivor status.
Oldsmobile produced a winner when it released the 1983 Hurst/Olds 15th Anniversary Edition. Originally planning to produce 2,500 vehicles, buyer demand saw that tally rise to 3,001. It motivated the company to have one final fling in 1984, setting a new record of 3,500 cars before retiring the badge. This 1983 example is an absolute beauty and appears to be a genuine survivor in exceptional condition. That may help to explain why it has attracted thirteen bids, with scope for that tally to climb as the auction heads to its conclusion. Recent successful sales results suggest that it should comfortably top $20,000 before the hammer falls, but how much would you be prepared to pay for this classic?
Love these cars. A mild 4bbl 350 Rocket 🚀 install once the 307 tires out would mean even more fun while banging those lightening⚡️ rod shifters.
The G body that looks 2nd best to the GN but lacks so much power .
You can play with lighting rods and pretend to be fast but it’s slow as a slug.
Not sure why these have always been overpriced for what they are .
3k units is not rare.
Maybe because 40+ yrs have gone past.
Plenty of GM cars produced with lower production numbers over a few years.
I could spend 20k elsewhere and do better .
These do look great but end of the day the 307 is just garbage .
Interesting thing caught my eye when looking at the eBay ad for this car.
The headlamp bezels and grille inserts on an original 83 H/O are supposed to be completely black. This car has the ones trimmed in chrome that resemble those used in the 1985 and up 442’s so I suspect some possible front end damage in the past or someone wanted to freshen up the front cosmetics and used the incorrect ones.
Also the eBay ad incorrectly states the transmission to be a 700R4. From the underside pictures, it has the correct 200-4R as mentioned in the article above.
The standard gear is the 3.73 but limited slip was optional. I even checked the seller’s website, but no close up picture of the service parts identification label exists to see if it has the G80 option.
And if anyone is wondering what the reserve is, the asking price on their website is $29.5k so that will give you an idea what they’re looking for.
The build quality on this era of GM products was quite simply, atrocious. This era saw huge price increases to the consumer, massive factory closings and shut downs, staggering numbers of repeated layoffs, endless labor actions, countless concessions by the rank and file line teams, big profits for the front offices and low quality junk stacked up on the lots for all of us to consume.
I owned an 83 Olds Cutlass and an 85 Buick Regal and they both suffered terribly with crappy factory transmissions. 2 cars and 5 transmissions between them. I found that contrary to conventional wisdom that tells us all about the benefits of living in a low humidity climate (SoCal low desert area) the heat brought out all of the factory warts derived from greed driven, corner cutting in the worst way such as how all of the interior “bright” and “chrome” trim was actually just cheapo plastic coated aluminum foil that peeled off of door pulls, door and window control buttons, turn signal and tilt wheel stalks, radio and wiper knobs, AC vents, side-view mirror controller stalks, you name it.
Electric seat and power window motors that wore out (with no warranties offered on factory replacements) faster than Kleenex, Oh, and please don’t forget about the poorly designed and built T-Tops that were only guaranteed to leak massive amounts of water and rot your carpets and upholstery (and a lucky lot of us got to watch them bouncing in the road in our rear view mirror because they had a tendency to fly off the top of the car at speed due to failed latch springs that GM knew about but refused to address.
I guess the fact that any of these feces boxes survived this long is amazing in and of itself, but man what a looker this unit certainly is!
Unfortunately, I have to agree. They look beautiful, but are poorly made, and pitifully under powered. The 200R4 could’ve been a reliable transmission, but it takes aftermarket modifications. GM built crap, and still does. For most of my life, I swore I’d never buy a foreign car, but after an ongoing experience with a very expensive Cadillac and GM’s gross incompetence at designing, building, and backing up their grossly overpriced crap boxes, my next purchase will be from a Japanese manufacturer. Or one from South Korea. I value reliability over looks.
FYI: It’s $29,500 on the dealer’s website.
Always had a soft spot for there. Growing up, a friend’s father was a supervisor at a GM facility & his H/O suffered the same fate – T-bar flying off – when my friend ‘borrowed ‘ the car one night.
Most people I know that own these cars put a new drive train in it . Then drive it hard And have a lot of fun.
This car as is , is Werth about $15000. the dealer is going to sit on this one a while .
Ended at $18,100.
Reserve Not Met.