The Ninety-Eight (aka 98) was Oldsmobile’s biggest and most luxurious car for more than 50 years (1949 to 1999). In 1970 alone, it was 225 inches long (124 in the wheelbase alone) and weighed nearly 4,400 pounds. The seller’s Regency Elite from 1970 is a driver-quality car that’s said to be reliable but could use some TLC. Located in Bethlehem, New Hampshire, this green/green/green classic is available here on Facebook Marketplace for $4,000. Another bigger-than-life tip brought to us by Bruce M!
If you wanted a big luxury GM car and Cadillac wasn’t on your radar screen, there were other deserving choices. The Pontic Bonneville, Buick Electra, and the Oldsmobile 98 were in the same playing zone. The sixth generation of the 98 was built from 1965 to 1970, so the seller’s car was from that last batch. Oldsmobile produced 634,000 vehicles in 1970 of which 96,000 carried Ninety-Eight badging, so the big cars were still in demand. Of those, more than 34,000 copies came as 4-door hardtops, noted as either “Holiday” or “Luxury” editions.
We’re not given any history on this unit and it may only have 63,000 miles. While under the seller’s watch, this likely survivor has been driven weekly but only when the weather was nice (no rain or snow, we assume). It’s far from being in showroom condition and the seller makes a good point of making that clear. The paint looks faded, and the carpeting may need replacing, though the upholstery seems okay.
Under the hood should be a reliable 455 cubic inch V8 paired with a TH-400 transmission. The Olds has a current NH inspection, so it may be up to being a daily driver if that is your goal (but why?). The owner is a mechanic, so that should be a plus in the car’s favor. If you have a diesel truck to unload, the seller may be up to talking a trade.
When I saw this on Fast Finds I thought for sure Scotty Gilbertson was going to write this up for sure. But Im gald you wrote this up Russ. Scotty and I both have had one of these in our lives. This looks like a Holiday ( hardtop) sedan like our family had, not the more expensive Luxury Sedan. This Ninety Eight is very solid compared to how ours unfortunately rusted away. Even the fender skirts on this one didnt rust out. Ours was reef turquoise with a black vinyl top and black interior. Same patern as this one except we didnt have power windows like this one has. The 455 is one healthy motor that will pull these boats along with a lot of authority. Like I’ve said before, the bigest gas pedal installed in any passenger car was hooked up to this Rocket 455.
This was a nice find and brought back a lot of memories. Thank you for writing it up Russ. The only thing I would correct is, the Ninety Eight had a 126 inch wheelbase for the 4 door not 124.
Son of a ,,,, BFs did it again. Some may remember the auto paint supply company I worked for in the 70s, that supplied the paint for Excalibur cars, the manager, his name was Frank, had this exact car. I read Olds sold almost 100,000 Ninety Eights that year, so a lot of “Franks” in the country. Once when the pickup was down, I had to use this car for deliveries, and very similar to what my old man would have. These cars cost between $4500 and $5000 new, so manager material for sure. “Frank” was no fool, he knew what to drive. They were some of the best GM cars made.
In the early 90s, I was the service manager at a large Chevrolet dealership. Our parts manager had this same car, only a 72 model. We also owned the Hyundai dealership across the street from the Chevy store. One day, as the parts manager was leaving for lunch he was broadsided by a couple driving their new Hyundai off the lot for the first time. The Hyundai was a total loss. The Olds’ left rear fender skirt was torn loose and would not longer latch or fit right. These cars were tanks!
The Olds’ was an Oklahoma car with no rust. It was a shame, but it wasn’t worth restoring. I bought it from him, took the 455 and 400 THM trans and put them in a 1982 Caprice wagon, replacing the tired 350 diesel. I retained the engine oil cooler and dual 975 cca batteries (NO problem starting, even in sub zero weather!). Really made a nice driver/tow vehicle out of the wagon.
One side note – when I put the 455 in, I decided to put in a HEI distributor along with new wires. I spent a couple of hours trying to start it before realizing the Olds’ distributor was driven off the passenger side of the cam and the dist. rotated counter clockwise. After reinstalling the plug wires to the correct firing order it ran perfectly!
cool ride. another fairly priced classic that need minor tlc. seller should have posted more pics especially under the hood
nice car, nice price.
Gentle reminder, Russ. The Regency name didn’t come into play until mid-’72 and Regency Elite didn’t come until 1991.
In the early 80s, I bought a ’70 98 4-door hardtop with this same interior for $225 from a family who had too many cars. I needed a year around beater to keep my ’72 Caprice out of snow. I believe it had the 455 ci/ 385 hp V8.
After putting close to 100k miles on it with the major expense being a $350 Turbo 400 transmission rebuild, I sold it for $350 to some old guy who had ideas to start an Olds museum. By this time, there were holes in the trunk from Mn. winters and visible near rust through in other areas.
At this time, GM had just come out with their FWD Celebrity, etc. cars. They were no match for my 98 with radial snow tires in a snow storm or winter for that matter.
This was a great car and probably my smartest car buy in terms of money spent.
Gentle reminder, Russ. The Regency name didn’t come into play until mid-’72 and Regency Elite didn’t come until 1991.
In the early 80s, I bought a ’70 98 4-door hardtop with this same interior for $225 from a family who had too many cars. I needed a year around beater to keep my ’72 Caprice out of snow. I believe it had the 455 ci/ 385 hp V8.
After putting close to 100k miles on it with the major expense being a $350 Turbo 400 transmission rebuild, By the time I sold it for $350 to some old guy who had ideas to start an Olds museum, there were holes in the trunk from Mn.
At this time, GM had just come out with their FWD Celebrity, etc. cars. They were no match for my 98 with radial snow tires in a snow storm or winter for that matter.
This was a great car and probably my smartest car buy in terms of money spent.