Not Mine, but if I had a place to keep it, it would be mine. I always liked that year.



http://cincinnati.craigslist.org/cto/3667337563.html

 

The last year for the BIG G.M. cars, '76 is not my favorite year, but the price seems reasonable. My FIL lives in Florence Ky, maybe he could go get it for me.

 

It's a gorgeous looking car Scott, and it is a really nice price. What year is your favorite. 73 and 76 are mine.

 

I like the front ends of the '71-'72 best. Those curvy bumpers do something for me. Or any of the '71-'76 coupes look great with those huge quarters!

 

I always thought it kind of sad that Olds stopped putting the word "Rocket" on the air cleaner decal, so it just says "Oldsmobile 455". It was the same with the '75 Delta 88 with a 455 I owned back in the '90s. Why did they do that? Wasn't it still a "Rocket" V-8?

 

I believe it was because not all engines going into Olds cars were Oldsmobile production. Starting in 1973 Olds had cars that were equipped with Chev/Buick engines simply due to insufficient Olds engine production.

So, if you had a Delta or Cutlass with a Chev 350 and you paint it gold, does that morph it into an Oldsmobile 'Rocket'??

 

I don't think this was true for V-8 engines until after 1976 with the exception of the Pontiac 400, which was offered as an option on the full-size Oldsmobiles in 1974. The Chevy-for-Olds engine fiasco that got GM in trouble occurred in 1977, and it was, as you say, due to Olds' inability to keep up with demand as its sales were passing the 1 million per year mark at that time for the first time.

Besides, if Olds was putting in a non-Olds engine, then why take only the word "Rocket" off of the air cleaner but leave the word "Oldsmobile" there? I mean, to my eyes, both of the phrases "Oldsmobile Rocket 455" and "Oldsmobile 455" imply to me that I'm looking at an Oldsmobile-made engine.

 

It's a good question and open for discussion. How about this?
Oldsmobile was synonymous with 'rocket power' aka Olds production engines. Since 1973 though Olds had allowed the base 6 engines to be Chev produced and later the Chev 305 and 350 were also allowed into Olds bodies. I have no idea of the number of cars that were built that way, but it's moot. Suffice to say that's when you can no longer say that Olds is 'rocket powered'? You only put the Oldsmobile (brand) on the air cleaner to show it was authorized by Olds to be there.

Your turn.

 

I don't buy it.

The Olds name on an engine means more than "ok, you can put that engine in an Oldsmobile."

I think it was possibly more of a marketing retreat due to the ever-growing push at that time for greater fuel efficiency and cleaner emissions. Higher gas prices, for that era, were in full swing by the mid-70s, GM's new, more fuel-efficient, downsized offerings were in the pipeline for 1977, and Olds had to get from here to there.

The horsepower race was over by then, and engines were being detuned left and right to meet emissions requirements, which is why, correct me if I'm wrong, people don't want the later-year 455s to rebuild, they want the earlier, late '60s to very-early '70s versions. High horsepower, "Rocket" power was no longer a selling point and might actually have been seen as a drawback as it implied poorer gas mileage.

So as I say, I bet it was a marketing thing, not a who-manufactured-the-engine thing.

 

Well, hmmmm....how bout this??? Since the industry basically is planning years in advance with design and technology it's possible that GM saw branding of ANY engine as detrimental to the overall incorporation of generic engines. The 80's saw the implementation of the 301, 305, 307 in the various divisions and the writing was on the wall. Ever notice that looking at anything past 1978 there's no decal on the air cleaner?

I think that by 1988 the V6 engines no longer carried brand identifications and were used interchangeably on the various platforms designed for their use. I know that the 3800 Series I, II and III were interchangeable with all the brands - Olds, Chev, Pontiac and Buick could all be built with the same engine. Can you see the cost savings of standardization for engine production?

All ^^ and this: not having to produce an engine decal saved printing money and weight

 

Of course, but it also took away individuality for the various brands. That's one less thing to brag about, and engines were at one time certainly one of the best things about a car a brand could brag about.

But GM recognized this issue as soon as the Chevy/Olds engine fiasco happened and started putting a disclaimer on the window sticker or somewhere like that on every car it made with words like "Oldsmobile automobiles may contain engines built by any of the GM divisions" or something similar.

 

LOL, that's so much like the ingredient labels on some food: May contain pork or beef or other animal by-products in undisclosed amounts.

I think we both agree on the same issues and generally wish the brands had been kept more definitive to the people who supported them. sigh...

Pretty much beat this one to death now huh?

 

maybe so Allan, NONE the Less, it was STILL a great discussion and certainly would keep most "parking lot hub-bubs at Car Shows going for hours!" "It's all good..." (Sure made me think about some things!)
Thanks!

 

Not at all! We can talk about this forever!

This also reminds me of other types of disclaimers you see on window stickers nowadays. When I bought a 2005 Ford Freestyle, I laughed out loud when I saw on the window sticker the phrase "this automobile contains 80% U.S. or Canadian content." Depending on how you read that, it could mean that this Ford, as iconic an American brand as there has ever been, contained ZERO parts made in the U.S.!

 

That sure looks to be a heck of a buy for somebody!! (Engine bay looks CLEAN and that interior sure was taken care of!) Anyone near there that's checked it out? Or could? GLAD it's not closer to me, I think it would "follow me home!!!"

 

It's about 30 miles from me. I know if I go look at, it would follow me home.

 

I'm with you Allan, '76 is the best, of course I'm a bit biased

Packrat, I also agree that the super quarters on the coupes are killer. One giant piece of sheet metal and yet there's so much design in those curves and body lines.

This looks like an overall nice car but I think they look so plain without the body side mouldings and vinyl top. Regardless, it's a nice original car and I hope it finds its way into a good home.

 

I printed the ad...VERY Tempted to call... I find that it is so "Unique" sans those body side mouldings and the Vinyl Top that it actually is somehow maybe a bit more "tempting" to me?? ("I can resist anything but Temptation! )

 

Go for it!!! Bring it to a good home!!

 

THANKS! This sort of encouragement I DON'T need!! I'll let you know if I work up the nerve to call! LOL!

 

Just Do it. I bet you can get it a lot cheaper too.

 

Hee hee hee. You know what John? I think you should go for it too! Think of it this way. No need for a hotel with a luxo barge that big. Plenty of spare room to sac out in the back seat when you get tired. Think of it as a glamorized hotel and comfy chair on wheels....

Not helping you much with this am I?

Just for kicks and giggles though? If you're thinking about it and a road trip might be a nice stress reliever? Take the trip and see if the car is as well represented in person as it looks in the picture. Take some more pics while you're there and let us know?

SHOTGUN!!! (I only wish)

 

THANKS GUYS! (and Allan!) Hey, you know what one i really DID want to buy but MISSED was a NICE Triple Black '75 Ninety-Eight Sedan off Ebay just this week; NO reserve and it went to a new home apparently for less than 5 Grand! It looked showroom; but the '75 Grille turns me off, but beyond that, a Triple Black Beauty in one of these "Rolling Cathedrals" are you kidding me?! LOL! I was so MAD I missed out on that!! Surely, some of you guys saw it too; or know the car I talking about... "The One That Got Away!!" BUT I JUST realized what you all will say; PERFECT REASON to go BUY this one!! LOL! (to soothe my sorrows, right?! LOL!) wow! what an affliction!! MAYBE I'll call on it tonight!? I'll let you all know....