The perfect one would be in that Canary/Oldsmobile Yellow, white top, white/cream seats. I know many of them had that color combination.

I am in the process of negotiating on one right now.

Does not have to be mint, just basically clean and ready to drive.
Check out picture attached for a prime example of the color I'm looking for.

Thanks!!

Mike
847-409-8489

 

Like the one in Spiderman? Good luck in your search!

 

That is a nice color combo!

 

Plenty of nice 2 doors and convertibles.
I'm pondering the one in the picture.
90K , mechanically pretty good. Body needs a bit of work
The want $5,000
I'm seeing others going for 3k-4k in decent shape all around, but nobody has this exact interior / exterior I want, this one does.

 

$5,000 for a 90,000 mile car that needs work is insane for one of those.

In that condition, I'd expect $1,000-$1,500.

Don't get taken - these cars are NOT popular or desirable now, and do NOT command high prices.

- Eric

 

Here's one on ebay right now. Four-door sedan, not hardtop, but it is claimed to run and drive well. Just needs TLC, as what 40-year-old doesn't. Green in color. 350 V-8.

The current bid ($1500) is certainly more in line with what these are worth. No reserve. The car is in North Carolina.


http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...SS%3AUS%3A3160

 

Nice find Jaunty......That is a good example.
I'm a super fan of Sam Raimi, the producer of EVIL DEAD / SPIDERMAN....ETC.
He uses his 73 delta in all his movies. He has the yellow/white hardtop/cream interior/brown dash. Many 2 doors exist, the 4 door is a tougher find....but cars like the one you just showed me give me faith!!!!

 

I'm with ya Eric, at the same time 4 doors seem to be more rare than the convertible and 2 door, which is why finding the existing ones is getting harder and harder!

 

In the end, we could not get an agreement done. Mechanically, the car was sound. Just needed 1500 in body work, which would put me at 6500.

I offered him 3,500 as is, he denied the offer, said he had 3,000 into the car mechanically in the last 2 years.

Just wasn't meant to be.

 

He's suffering from failing-to-recognize-sunk-cost syndrome, a condition that afflicts many sellers of old cars into which they've put a little money. Eventually he'll realize that no one cares what he has into the car and that it's irrelevant as far as value. Rather, it's the market that determines value, and that car in that condition is not worth his asking price. If he persists in his asking price long enough, you can eventually buy the car from his heirs.

 

You said it!

 

I actually won the car for $1,600 and am ecstatic about it. The plan is to board a Greyhound bus tomorrow morning in Durham armed with a PF24 and some tools and gently drive it back after getting the oil changed.

This ought to be exciting as I've never gone Greyhound before. The 225 mile return trip in this 40-year-old Delta will hopefully be as uneventful as my previous 600-mile trek in a $200 '73 Bonneville sedan a few years back!

Having a GPS would be nice since backroads and small towns will be the route I take.

 

Wow, cool as all get-out!

Please keep us posted. Take photos when you get there and along the way.

From the photos in that auction, it looks to be in pretty good shape, and he describes it as running and driving well.

I've got a '73 Custom Cruiser which has lots in common with your car, although mine has the 455. But nonetheless, maybe we can compare notes.

Congratulations on saving another one of these!

 

This car sits in a rural AL field rotting away: in a custody battle with me (the "former" owner) and my ex-friend (the landowner). The roof is too far rusted at this point but it was "almost" what you are looking for other than the roof color. *sigh*

FYI, here's the production figures on the '73 Deltas according to my 'cyclopedia:

Base:
4-door town sedan: 42,476
4-door hardtop: 27,986
2-door hardtop: 27,096*

Royale:
4-door town sedan: 42,672
4-door hardtop: 49,145
2-door hardtop: 27,096*
convertible: 7,088


*one of these numbers is likely a typo

 

Jaunty, I appreciate your support! I lurk here a lot more than I post and have admired your wagon for some time now. The '73 Oldsmobile and '73 Pontiac are my favorite station wagons and are on my dream-car list.

I just love unmolested vehicles and this one happens to be my favorite year and color. I see whitewalls in its future but everything else is fine as-is. It's kind of neat that this car has a clock despite its otherwise low option-content.

Besides maintenance, finding the build sheet and fixing the clock will be the first order of business provided I make it home in one piece.

 

I wouldn't tear the car apart looking for it, but I would look in easy to get at places like under the seats or behind the rear seatback. But build sheets have often been reported found taped to the top of the gas tank, and I certainly wouldn't go through the hassle of dropping a gas tank if the only purpose was to see if a build sheet was there.

From the car's VIN given in the auction, it was assembled in Linden, New Jersey, which is actually a good thing when it comes to finding build sheets because it means it might actually be there somewhere. Lansing-built cars apparently do not normally have build sheets as that plant had a more strict policy about not leaving them in the car, but this attitude was more lax at the other plants, and many non-Lansing car owners do find build sheets.

I couldn't agree more, though, about whitewalls. While cars of today generally look fine without them, cars of that era scream for them.

 

Seeing the "E" in the VIN was a bonus to me since I have somewhat of a build sheet obsession and these things have the GMAD style sheets which are so informative.

I won't be much more invasive unless the carpet is retaining moisture. Interior plastic is too brittle to be playing with in these cars as you probably well know

 

The prior owner of my wagon, who was actually the original purchaser, did find what is apparently the "broadcast card" for the car. It's a Lansing-built car, so no build sheet would be expected. Still, this is pretty cool. Those penciled-in markings were put there by the original owner who was apparently trying to match the codes to various options. He also did a calculation, on the lower right, of the total weight of the car.

You can see in the upper left the "production date" of 4/03, which I presume is April 4, 1973. I don't know where in the car this was found.





While I'm at it, I also have the original window sticker. It apparently got damp at one point, which is why that purple ink ran a bit. The writing at the lower right is apparently his and shows what discount he got from the dealership and the final price he paid, which was apparently $5,000 even.

From the options list, you can see that the car was apparently equipped for towing (heavy-duty radiator, air shocks). I know the family did take vacations in it, and they apparently towed a trailer, although no hitch was on the car when I bought it. He also got an engine block heater, which must have been an unusual option. I mean, Charleston, West Virginia gets cold, but not THAT cold. There's no sign of it on the car now.

The original air shocks are still on the car, but they don't hold air. I tried replacing the air lines, but the problem is in at least one of the shocks itself. Maybe one day I'll get them replaced, but they work fine as regular shock absorbers now and I don't plan to tow a trailer, so I'm in no hurry.

 

Jaunty, that's some incredible documentation on your wagon -- thanks for posting it! I have found the "heavier papered" Lansing broadcast cars on several Oldsmobiles of this era but I think only one "green-print original" like what you have. Does the AM radio still live in your dash? I wonder what makes a "heavy duty wheel" a heavy duty wheel on these cars. I'd love to see a side-by-side comparison between one of these and a standard wheel. I have a build sheet out of a '76 Cutlass Supreme 455 that also had this called out. (The car had standard wheelcovers).

I have a '73 Bonneville in the same shade as your wagon (code 81). Pontiac calls it "Mesa Tan".

Anyway, I got my Delta home in one piece but not without incident. I guess I'll start a thread over in the appropriate section. The trip home was awful so there are few pictures...sadly the most interesting one was that of a crossdressing he-she at the Greensboro bus station!

 

Let us know when you start that thread.

In the meantime...eek! I'm almost afraid to ask. What happened?

 

Was it taken before or after you realized?

- Eric

 

I'll never tell!

 

I have a 73 Delta 88 convertible for sale. Good shape for a 40YO car, a good starting point. I started to return it to like new with my boys, they went to college and I lost interest. I have most bright work. Im on the SW side of Chicago...Bob