Our own Renaissance Man and Jack of all trades, Todd Fitch, showed us a triple-black Imperial a few days ago here on Barn Finds, and here’s another giant, triple-black luxury car from the early 1970s from the other side of the tracks, or from the other side of Michigan. This 1974 Oldsmobile 98 is posted here on craigslist in Tacoma, Washington and they’re asking $10,500. Here is the original listing.
The ninth-generation Olds 98, or Ninety-Eight, was made for the model years 1971 through 1976 and this appears to be a “regular” 98, if there is such a thing. It’s not a Regency, which is a higher trim level but it’s hard to think of this car as being a base-level car. The seller says that this is their summer cruiser when they get a chance to drive this 19.5-foot-long car.
I don’t blame them for only driving it a couple of times a year, I can’t imagine it gets much more than nine MPG on a good day. I’m kidding about not driving a vehicle because of its MPG, of course, collector vehicles are exempt for me as far as gas mileage goes. Who cares, life is short enough without having to worry about that. I don’t see a flaw on the exterior of this car, do you? Now that I mention that, is the right rear bumper filler material messed up?
The interior does have some issues, the brocade fabric on the driver’s side is torn and it almost looks faded to me. If this car is from Tacoma, that may be a good sign as far as it being solid, and it’s not exactly Phoenix there so the dash doesn’t appear to be cracked. The back seat is big enough for the Walendas and the trunk is also huge. The seller says there is no rust on this car, and the trunk photo reportedly shows the sound-deadener material flaking off.
The engine is Oldsmobile’s 455-cu.in. OHV V8, which by 1974 had 210 horsepower and 350 lb-ft of torque. It sends that power through a three-speed Turbo-Hydramatic transmission to the rear wheels. It has a new carb, new battery, new master cylinder, and new tires and it sure looks great to me for $10k. Have any of you owned a ninth-gen Olds 98?
Dat be A HUGE car!
Nice car with thedrive by windows and a 455 engine
Black on black with missing A/C
Get the A/C back together and working, put dual exhaust on, preserve and enjoy!
🎵 Come and ride 🎶with me Lucille 🎵in this gorgeous 🎶 OLDSMOBILE! 🎶. The issues with this black beauty seem few are not at a RANSOM 😉 price! Considering this was the last big 98 before sad downsizing, though 88 remained full size for 2 🤔 more years. The 98 Regencys OTT luxury rivaled Cadillac. IMO, one of the reasons for the demise of OLDSMOBILE was the word OLD in the name at a time when the Youth movement was exploding. In 69, OLDSMOBILE adds referred to YOUNGMOBILES and Not your father’s Oldsmobile. One auto exec once stated You can sell an old man a young mans car, but you can’t sell a young man an OLD man’s car. This 98 seems to be a bon marche as a great example of an era never to be seen again 🙄.
Oops! My mistake. The big 98 didn’t really shrink until IMO disastrous 85 Ninety Eight, although 77 downsizing was still a luxurious automobile.
yea lets rip out the a/c. who needs that in a black car? anyone? asking 10k on top of that. the interior should have at least a vacuum. Good luck.
You certainly need to be deep pockets Danny to keep fuel in this for sure. Or have your passengers giving something up. She’s a beautiful car.
I had a 69 Pontiac Safari wagon with the 455 and it would not pass a gas station!
All those tires outside yearly? Never seen that
Nice car, but not for the price they are asking. Pretty ambitious of them. I had a baby blue 76 Sedan Deville with a 500, and it was as long as this. Gave it to my neighbor after the crash of 07. I lost everything, walked away from my business, and moved back to Naples. Had to move back where the money is, because there certainly isn’t any money in Tallahassee..
I believe that it’s an LS model. My old employer had a base 98 without A/C and I remember the interior being different than this. Personally I can’t imagine buying a 98 without A/C but that’s what he wanted. It had no vinyl roof, power windows or seat or tilt steering wheel. It had blackwall tires and an AM only radio.
This is a base 98 sedan, one of 4395 built, making it the least common 98. The Luxury Sedan and Regency models each sold over 20,000 units.
It has A/C; the compressor & hoses are gone.
Agreed: run proper dual exhaust & drive it
For that much, I can have a 2007 Lincoln Town Car, 100 times the car. I have owned numerous Oldsmobiles and they were great, but to actually drive this thing, you will need a gasoline tanker truck to follow you.
Fortunately, in 2021, I found a beautiful low mileage Town Car Signature Limited for $7,000 and my Grand Marquis (after much haggling). The last generation of Town Cars were recently referred to in an article as the American ROLLS-ROYCE. Driving is like a barkalounger on wheels. Better grab a Town Car soon, as prices are going up!
I owned a ’72 98 , lots more power then, full height tail lights. I got 25mph highway driving if I kept my foot out of the 4bbls , these were highway geared and in 72 there wasn’t much pollution crap on them. One of my favorite cars I ever owned.