Sure, you can restore this 1962 Oldsmobile Starfire two-door. But look at the patina first and ask yourself whether some time with a buffing wheel in the hands of an expert might not be worth a try. Not into patina? Then you’ve got a great canvas to start on. This one can be found in Sapulpa, Oklahoma, sitting in a garage, where it has been for some number of years. If you want a look, it’s here on ebay until Monday evening. The price? $3,300, but the reserve is not met at that number, and no wonder. This is a compelling ride.
Why park this car? There’s some bumper damage. Was this one of those impulsive decisions, maybe the result of a hasty parking job that curled the chrome piece? This Starfire sits under 80,000 original miles, with an engine that turns. Thus we might rule out mechanical causes for the car’s hiatus. The engine is listed as a 394. That’s 6.5 liters of displacement for you metric types, and is called “Ultra High Compression” by the seller, perhaps using the cue of the faded breather cover sticker. This mill was the four-barrel version of what was available also as a lesser-powered two-barrel. The high performance version produced 345 horsepower, so no slouch despite the size of the car itself, which is over 4300 pounds.
You might buy this Starfire for its monster engine, or you might buy it for its unique good looks. The accent scallop in the body sides, themselves accentuated with chrome strips, the half-moon shape of the taillights—you could go on inventorying the cool factor of this Starfire for a long, long time. That styling is carried over to the interior, which features a full console with a tachometer built in, and fat pleated seats with ribbing running up and down. Of course, that interior needs some attention to be someplace you’d be proud to sit. Part of this will be the installation of a new headliner, per the seller.
What don’t we know? Whether this car will need more than some Marvel’s Mystery Oil and patience to get running again. But unless the price goes way out of range, I’d call this Olds the coolest ride I’ve seen in a while. Sure, it’s not a typical muscle car—big engine in a small body package. But if you had to choose between cruising this very red-all-over 213-inch long sedan and riding in (another) GTO, I’m betting you’d give this unique and handsome car a chance to show you what it could do.
Asking a bit much out of the buffing wheel, but this car right here, is the perfect candidate for what I’d call, a “light restoration”, if interest prevails, that is. This is the best you could hope to find. Complete, no big holes, easily restored, and hopefully on the cheap because of its lack of needs, BUT, with only 8 bids, interest is clearly limited. Many folks today just don’t see the big picture here, and $3grand is peanuts. Maybe couple grand to make it sharp and drivable again, for $5grand, you’d have THE nicest car from the early 60s. Great find for someone that can appreciate what this car was and can be again.
I agree with what Howard said above. These are beautiful cars. In my personal experience with red GM lacquer, if thats the original paint, is it dies and fades quick. If your careful with compound and a buffing wheel and dont burn through the paint I think you may be able to get a half way decent shine out of it. Its hard to tell looking at pics, but thats what I would do first. Oldsmobile V8s are very robust and can take a lot of abuse, again I know this from personal experience…. I think this can be brought around for not a lot of money, let the cylinders soak in Marvel Mystery oil and see what happens.
My dad bought a brand new 62 Starfire right off the showroom floor at J.M. Taylor Olds dealer in South Gate, CA. He owned a transmission shop in L.A. and it was on a Saturday. We waited for it while they were prepping it. Black with blue interior. One week after he had it he took the engine out bored it out.040 and fitted it with a set of John’s Racing Pistons 11 to 1. Man that 394 4 bbl burned the tires off. With the Slim Jim 4 speed Trans (no the model 10 was one of the first 4 speed automatics it launched hard….worked well for a couple of months then he had to rebuild it. I wish we still had it today it was a great n exciting car. My mom drove a clean 56 Olds 88 two door as well.
When I was 6 or 7, a friend of my dad’s stopped by the house driving one of these. Same color, but it had a four speed. He took me for the fastest ride I had been on yet. At one point, I looked at the speedometer and saw we were doing 60 in a 35 (something my dad would never do). I remember being a little scared, but it was the start of my lifelong love of floor shifted vehicles.
‘62 Starfires were not available from the factory with a 4 speed, or any manual transmission. Roto Hydramatic was standard equipment. I have owned 3 and still have one.
Remember, this year has the dreaded transmission, hard to check out if not driving.
You must mean that “Slim Jim” Roto-Hydramatic transmission that plague that era Pontiacs as well.
Yep.
Says sold for $4100.
My brother had a similar car in the early 70’s. Beautiful, but terrible gas mileage.
I had a slim jim in a 63 Cadillac S&S 3 way hearse and never had a problem with it. I towed with that coach and the trans held up well.
My first car a 1961 Pontiac Bonneville convertible had that transmission. It was a used car,so when it needed repairing, I went to a junkyard and found another one.
Amen to that I had a’62 and the tranny went bad. I took it to a local shop and they lost money on me for sure. A good friend had the’62 Starfire and wisely converted it to a 4 speed. Super smart move. A real head turner he made so much money when he sold it.
This is one of the best looking Oldsmobiles ever made. Inside and out there’s a lot there that makes these cars fantastic works of art. It’s hard for me to accept that the Golden Age of American cars has come and gone. I’m sure we all thought the best was yet to come. It’s so sad that’s not the case. As far as that bumper damage goes, it’s easy to forget that back then, all the cars were the size of this Starfire, and that made maneuvering in close quarters was a bit more challenging. It’s also worth mentioning, that many of these big beautiful machines were piloted by women that couldn’t even see over the steering wheel, so that said, it’s expected that there will be some body damage. Besides, that could be repaired to like new condition pretty quickly. I would also say that a price of $3,300 is a great price for what this car can be once again. I’ve never been a GM fan, in fact if GM didn’t build cars they could be selling baked goods. That said, there were some great looking cars that came out of the 5 brands GM owned. Every one knows under the nicely shaped sheet metal, GM mechanicals were pretty weak. Ford and Chrysler were the better built cars, and they both brought new automotive engineering to the industry, many went on to be automotive standards still in use today. It was the Chrysler Corporation that gave us the first transistor radios installed in their iconic Imperials. And it was Ford that introduced the two-way tailgates on wagons, and the first double-sided keys that could be inserted either way. Of all the GM brands, in my opinion it was Pontiac that was the best looking, and had the reputation for performance. Most Oldsmobiles looked like big box cars. And to be fair Chevrolet had some stellar years of good looking cars. One of my favorites was the 58 Impalas. I also like the 57s, 61s and the 65s. As far as Cadillacs, the 65 and 66 are good looking, and the 75 Sevilles definitely had it, but for the most part Cadillacs were just too over the top to take seriously. GM was always the biggest, but that sure didn’t make them the best. But this Starfire, is clearly one of the best looking Oldsmobiles ever made. The rest of the model years may have had some good looks, but from a Disney character perspective. I do like the 58s, and 59s, but from a fantasy land view. I love cars, all American cars have something about them I can find attractive, and if I do find that one little thing about one of them, I’m hooked for life. Thanks for posting this beautiful Starfire, it brought back some great memories.
For a non-GM fan, you have listed quite a few that you do like. It’s a good thing we don’t all think the same and have the identical tastes. If we did, there would only need to be one car manufacturer.
Be prepared to feed it premium fuel- and lots of it!
$4100. took it. Someone got a great deal.
It sold for $4,100. From what I see with some TLC this can be a presentable fun driver. Well bought.
Owned one for many years, excellent condition from the start.
Ive had Siatas, Jaguars, Volvos, etc….THIS was one of my favorite time machines…hands down…
Someone got a good deal…Sweet ride and with a heavy cleaning and some wrenching, on the road.
I bought it. Thanks to the Barn Finds team for the post, I would have missed it. My initial thoughts are just to get her back on the road, reliable and presentable, in time for Hot Rod Power Tour and take it from there. Paint, trans, all the risks you take in buying a project car sight-unseen!
Bill, GM never used the Roto-Hydramatic “Slim Jim” in any Cadillac. Cadillac used the “Dual Coupling” Hydramatic, a full 4 speed. Entirely different unit in every way. The “Dual Coupling design came after the Dual Range Hydramatic, in 1955-56. The Roto-Hydramatic was only used in 1961-1964.
Very true. I have never heard nor read where the “Slim Jim” was used in ANY Cadillac.
I think it was a good purchase at $4100. Needs some elbow grease and a few $$ to get her back on the road. Nice straight car. 👌
It’s frustrating to see quite a few cars listed on this site AFTER they have already sold.
What John Frazier said. That was a very good deal. I am a professional detailer. Give me 8 hours and I could restore that GM Magic Mirror lacquer. A careful bath with no stupid pressure washer. Just let it dry. Then clay bar with plenty of lube. Then polish first, yes, polish, to return some oil to the paint before using aggressive compound. The rear bumper not so much. I have driven two of these wonderful cars. Looks low option with no a/c or power windows. The interiors in these cars were spectacular. I grew up in Pontiacs in the 1950s and 1960s, but love Oldsmobiles and have owned three. I just hope nobody resto mods this car from a better time in our country.