When it comes to station wagons that offer enjoyment for the entire family no matter where they’re sitting, the Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser with its elevated roof and skylights certainly deserves a shout-out for including the rear occupants as part of a fun travel experience. It’s pretty cool too that Olds thought to provide a pair of sun visors for the second-row passengers! There are some other good points here as well, so if you’ve been considering adding a vintage wagon to your fleet, this 1965 Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser here on Craigslist might be worth checking out. It’s a California car, presently located in San Jose, and it’s still wearing both of its black plates. The seller is hoping for $8,000, but he’s also added OBO, so perhaps he may be open to considering a lesser amount.
Barn Finds reader Rocco B. spotted this one and sent us the tip, so we’d like to express our gratitude for his kindness in doing so! It seemed like a really good idea to create a sky view to help pass the miles for kids on long trips, which just might have eliminated some of the “are we there yet” questions during the period these family haulers were popular.
Some background the seller provides about the Vista Cruiser is that he got it from the original owner, and it’s low mileage for the age, with only 78,000 miles on the odometer. The body is mentioned as very straight, and while the sheet metal looks pretty good overall, it’s not entirely without flaws, as there are at least a couple of small areas where some light rust is starting to peek through, such as on the tailgate and the passenger side quarter panel. However, the exterior seems solid for the most part, and I’m guessing it wouldn’t require an extensive amount of work to get this Olds ready for a fresh coat of paint, should the next owner choose to go that route.
The seller is also upfront in stating that the interior is showing its age, but for being original and having spent nearly six decades fulfilling wagon duties, I wouldn’t expect it to look a whole lot better. One of the nicest features to find in here is the third seat, which actually still looks pretty good, and once both rear rows are folded down there’s a substantial amount of room for hauling back there, which this one’s certainly been no stranger to. Wonder what happened to the missing rear panel covering?
The 330 cubic-inch Jetfire Rocket V8 is stated to be the original engine, which the seller says is running great, and it’s backed with an automatic transmission, which is of the 2-speed variety as a couple of readers have pointed out. If you’re OK with the cosmetics, this 1965 Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser seems like a fun wagon to drive around town and just tinker around with, or perhaps investing some energy into taking the appearance to a higher level might be time well spent. What would you do here?
Posting has been taken down already.
I wonder if my wife will buy me this for Christmas?
Cool wagon. Pretty sure these had a 2-speed automatic (Jetaway) not the 3-speed the write-up states.
Hey Tiger,
I believe you are correct, as the Automobile Catalog site lists the automatic two-speed as one of the available trannys for the ’65 Vista Cruiser:
https://tinyurl.com/y5ktfeb4
The seller had mentioned it was a three-speed automatic, but obviously, that’s not the case, and thank you for clarifying!
It’s interesting how quickly this one sold, as yesterday when I first began writing about it the price was $10k. Then when I completed the post this morning, it had gone down to $8k, and now it’s history. I feel like somebody got a pretty good deal here!
The jet-away was the creeper 4 speed automatic like in the 59 Cadillac and reverse is all the way down on the bottom of the shifter/column. The 2 speed is the power glide, I just wonder if this has a 2 or 4 barrel carburetor and it always bugs me when they don’t say.
The automatic used was a 2 speed super turbine 300 with a switch pitch torque converter. Olds called it a Jetaway but it was used in other division cars. My dad’s 64 jetstar 88 and 67 vista cruiser had the same tranny as this car.
Wow!!! GONE!!! It must have been a good one.
I thought this price was a bargain. The listing was still up when Mike posted this, so it must have just sold or the seller got so many calls that he realized he had it priced way too low.
My 65 dynamic 88 had an original 3 speed auto and a 425
Love that 65 Dynamic 88!! Bought one in 72, drove it 30k and sold it for $600.
wow what cool wagon. you dont see 65s that much. steal at 8k.
This one went fast, so either the seller didn’t know what he had and priced it too low, or was just in a hurry to get rid of it. Either way, somebody got a great deal! This one was a ’65, the one on “That 70’s Show” was a ’69 and they lasted until 1974, so if you can find one, good luck, as most of them were run hard and put away wet, and succumbed to the dreaded “tin worm”!
These were great cars! My family had a ’64 VistaCruiser. Same color and 330 Rocket V8. It made many trips from California to Pennsylvania (where all of my Mom’s family was) when my Dad was stationed overseas in the Marines. When his tour was over, we’d pack up the ‘ole Vista Cruiser and drive back to California as his base was Camp Pendleton. I can’t count how many such trips it made without complaint. My Dad gave it to my Sister when she got married. They sold it a few years later to a friend. The odometer turned over the 3rd time while my Sisters’ friend still had it. Still on the original motor and tranny.