The listing for this Oldsmobile is titled, “1964 Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight fancy” Fancy huh? OK, I can buy that adjective though it’s not one that I usually employ to describe a luxury car. Impressive and substantial? You bet, let’s check this Ninety-Eight out. It’s located in Carmel, Indiana and is available, here on eBay for a BIN price of $17,000. There is a make an offer option too. Thanks to Larry D for this discovery!
When you have an Olds 98, you’re top drawering it! So what makes a Ninety-Eight a Ninety-Eight and not an Eighty-Eight? It must be ten more of something, right? Well, it’s more like three more of something with its 126″ wheelbase as opposed to the Eighty-Eight’s 123. But there’s more in terms of standard features, powerplants, and general niceties. Also, note the above image, the Eighty-Eight used the GM Fisher Body creased convertible top look, shared with Chevrolet, Pontiac, and Buick, on its two-door Holiday Coupe while the Ninety-Eight went for a more formal, squared-off look such as possessed by our subject car. Oh yeah, and a Ninety-Eight is, in fact, worthy of having the title of “Whammer-jammer” bestowed upon it.
About twenty or thirty years ago this three-owner Olds had a repaint but beyond that, this 49K mile cruiser could be considered a survivor. The mileage is claimed as actual but no documentation is provided – nevertheless, it could pass for a very pampered 57-year-old, 49K mile example. The chrome, trim, paint, panel alignment, all of it is exceedingly excellent. Even the underside is amazingly sound but this is a life-long Arizona domiciled car so that explains some of it. Obviously, a garage has played an important role in this Ninety-Eight’s upkeep and well-being.
The days of having a “Sky Rocket” under your hood are long gone – or at least an Ultra-High Compression mill with such a catchy moniker. Pushing out 345 gross HP, this 394 CI V8 looks to be complete and supports the mileage claim. While operations are not specifically described, the seller states, “Car is a great cruiser“. The automatic transmission in place is a Hydramatic and it’s near the end of its run as the Turbo-Hydramatic 400 was right on the cusp of introduction.
The cloth and vinyl interior just scream 1960’s GM, it’s a beautiful environment and well preserved. This is more evidence of garaging as the Arizona sun would have rendered the seat backrest tops, at the very least, to petrochemical crisps long before now. The instrument panel doesn’t appear to be quite as artistic as some of this era that were employed by luxury manufacturers, but it still proclaims Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight all the way. The seller mentions that the A/C works but it will need to be converted, ostensibly to R-134A refrigerant.
As has been said before, big two-door coupes like this Ninety-Eight will not be making a return to the automotive landscape – they’re over and done. But not to worry, immediately, they’re still out there and many are examples of Lansing’s finest in the form of either a Ninety-Eight or an Eighty-Eight. But they won’t be available forever so if this ’64 Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight Holiday coupe is your thing, here you go!
Very nice! Just needs some vintage “GM” color coordinated lap belts.
The standard GM belts were black. Color coordinated belts were an option.
Let’s say I had 20 to spend….on one hand, there’s that gorgeous martineque blue TA that is almost perfect, then you have something like this, and just wow…honestly, I think I’d take this…won’t see another on the road….there must be a reason God keeps me broke….
Change to narrow white walls. That’s it. Perfect.
I totally agree. Those extra wide whitewalls are not period Correct.
No wonder GM had a lion’s share of the car market during this time. This is one drop dead gorgeous car and whoever gets this will have a very nice set of wheels.
i had one back in the day gray color bucket seats center console what a cruser
I must admit that while I really like the razor sharp ’64 Olds I somehow prefer the 88. To my understanding the 98 is built on the so-called senior C-body shared with Buick Electra/ Caddy, and loosing the 88’s swooshy curve running from its front fender apex to taillight IMO makes the 98 appear a lot bulkier.
Anyone know whether the bits from a ’64 98 actually will interchange with an 88 from the cowl forward – or are those only similar yet not identical…? It should be noted that the Hydramatic this one is equipped with is not the 4spd but the less durable 3spd Roto Hydramatic used by Olds (and short WB Pontiac) ’61-’64.
Neverteless this one makes real sharp cruiser material and was obviously cared for from day 1 – a great unusual find that I’d most certainly have a closer look at if I saw it at a car show 👍
GM switched to the TH 400 on many of the ‘big’ cars in 64 (Cad Ser.62 & 75 still used the old 4spd Hydro). There’s no dash photo in the listing so the quadrant is not visible, but I KNOW that 64 Wildcats, Electras and deVilles used the TH 400, and I believe that the 98s did as well. The Roto Hydro was never used on the BIG cars anyway. The ‘small’ Pontiacs and Oldses used it, but the Star Chiefs/Bonnevilles and 98s did not. Perhaps a 64 98 owner can confirm.
Oldsmobile didn’t use a 4 speed Hydramatic in any car after 1960.
There is an image of the underside included, it’s definitely not a Turbo-400.
JO
If you take a look at pic #5 in the ad you can clearly see the ‘mushroom’ shape of the Roto Hydramatic oil pan; in contrast to the square shape of the 4spd Hydramatic’s pan.
Being GM’s technological spearhead division Oldsmobile phased in the Roto ’61 as a cheaper and lighter construction than the complex 4spd Hydramatic. To justify the development costs of this new transmission Pontiac was to team up with Olds, due to PMD’s much higher sales volumes – hence it was installed in Cats + GPs
I own one of of these. Been in my family since new. Been in indoor storage for 30 years. Sad to say I don’t know a lot about it BUT the transmissions in these cars were unusual. I had a hard time finding a guy to rebuild mine 20 years ago or so. I forget, back then when I was shopping for the rebuild, that most trans guys were NOT fans of the factory trans in the car an called it an interesting name that i am not sure sure exactly what they referred to it as BUT I think it had the word “butter” in it. Nobody wanted to rebuild it. Uniquely, R for reverse is all the way to the right on the gear selector itself. I guess it was more like a power glide than anything. Definitely not a 400TH. Mine has been in storage for more than 30 years with 58K miles on it. 4 door version, hardtop, still have plastic on the seats! And yes it (I think all 64 98’s that were loaded up) had the switch on the floor for the WonderBar Radio. Then again, the radio in the dash looks a LITTLE bit different than mine (maybe). Coolest feature on mine is the Automatic High Beam Headlight Dimmer which this car does not have. Need to get mine out one of these days!
Thomas, thanks for chiming in with your experience – I really like the ’64 Olds design however the transmission in those has scared me off. GM called it Roto Hydramatic 375 however it usually goes under the nick Slim Jim due to its smaller dimensions compared to the 4spd Hydramatic it replaced. As you mention it has ‘R’ at right but so do the 4spd Hydramatic and early PG so that was way more common than people think nowadays.
I happen to own OE brochures for both the ’64 Olds+ Pontiac and IMO they both did a questionable job (intentionally…?) by consistently presenting the Roto as a Hydramatic – probably to convince customers they’d receive the same reputable transmission used prior to ’61. They are notorious for leaking due to their high operating pressures and not very smooth shift characteristics.
With that said I know of owners (very few though) who still have well-behaving Rotos in their rides, one of them a ’63 421 GP so you may be lucky! It’s definately time for you to get your 98 back on the road!😁
Why is this hardtop called a ‘convertible’ on the eBay ad?
Drop dead gorgeous. Any other comment is unnecessary as far as I am concerned. If one is a GM fan of that era, this is it!
It has single exhaust it is 330 horsepower. I had a convertible version of this. Never had a problem with the transmission. Did break a torque converter. Drove it well over 100k miles.
Full size coupe.
Big block.
A hint of fins.
Very reasonable ask.
What’s not to love?
Had a 72′ ninety-eight , and now I want one again. Unfortunately they go for a bit more now. So loved it
AC needs a recharge should be up there with ran when parked! The reason this car looks so good is because GM cribbed the Lincoln look. Lee Iacocca commented on this, saying Ford didn’t Lincolnize Mercury back then, but that they should have! (When discussing the new ’69 Marquis look) which WAS Lincolnesque.
Beautiful car. I can’t tell if it has the Wonderbar radio with the floor switch.
Beautiful looking car. 1964 has always been my favourite year for Oldsmobile, next up the 1962 Olds.