OK, some of you may have seen my wanted posts looking for 1969 Oldsmobile 98s, mostly for a Luxury Sedan with the center post. My posting is for a close friend and fellow Oldsmobile collector. His passion for 69 98s goes back to his youth when his parents bought a new 69 98 Luxury Sedan in Sable Brown with a black leather/vinyl, "not cloth" interior. Although he was not born until the 1970's, this was the first car he remembered riding in. Funny how some things leave such an impression on us. In March of 1978, a Toyota ran a red light and the big 98 chopped the Toyota right in half, however, the Toyota driver somehow, climbed out of his mess and was ok. The 98 driver of course was fine, just ticked off. The 98, although the front end was a bit bent up, drove home and was parked. My friend's family bought a new Oldsmobile a few weeks later. The 98 just sat in his Father's shop's back lot from March of 1978 until November of 1980. My friend would go to the lot from time to time and sit in the 98 hoping that someday, he would get the car and repair it. In November of 1980, the lot was being repaved and the Olds was sold, unknown to my friend. We do not know who it was sold to, if it was sold for parts or to be repaired. Needless to say, even as a little boy, my friend was not pleased to see his big brown Olds gone. Fast foward years later when my friend got his licence, he knew he wanted another 69 98. He found a 69 98 Convertible at 17 which he still has. He never found another 69 Luxury Sedan until last year, he found a mint all original 69 Luxury Sedan with the same black interior but a different outside color. Close enough so he bought it on the spot. His childhood came right back when he sat in that car for the first time. The same smells, everything! You guys know what I mean. Anyway, over the last few months, we were thinking how great it would be to find his original 98, missing since November 1980, last seen in Montclair New Jersey. Here is the only photo he has of the car taken in April of 1973. There is a 1000 reward if anyone knows where this car is today. He will know his car as he still remembers the vin# and still has the original set of keys. The chance of the car existing is slim to none but it's worth a try. Thank you for reading this.

 

Posting the VIN might help.

Do you have any police friends? Vin's can be searched for at least registered owners.

And the photo doesn't show up?

 

Here is the only photo he has of the brown 98 taken in April of 1973 and here is a photo of his current green 98. The cars are 99% exact except the old car is Sable brown and the new car is Glade green, both with the same black interior. I would love to find this car for him and it's well worth the 1000 finder fee offered.

 

Cool story and good luck in the quest.

 

Sounds to me like it was junked.

Your friend will do better to buy a couple of gallons of brown paint. A mint car should not be hard to paint.

Sometimes you just have to let go...

- Eric

 

I would say it's long gone too. He did let go of the car long ago. Only now he started thinking about the brown 98 since he bought the green 98. As far as painting the green car brown, that will not happen. The green paint is 100% original and in excellent condition so that car is way too nice to mess around with. The green 98 was the car in the 2009 movie "The Lovely Bones". Actress Susan Sarandon who played Grandma Lynn rode in the back of this car in the movie. It's a 40k original mile unrestored show car.

 

The Finders fee for locating the actual car is now up to 1500. A finder fee of 250 is also offered leading to the purchase of a Sable Brown with a Sable brown vinyl top 69 98 Luxury Sedan with the black leather/vinyl, "not cloth" interior. There must be one left out there....

 

You need to post vin number.

 

Vin number shows no car known in the US or Canada. We already looked into just about everything possible. We also ran a plate check, however, the plates expired in 1978, the year the car was parked. If the car is still around, it's been off the road all this time. This is not going to be an "Easy" 1500 to earn. If anyone produces a Sable car, my friend will know right away if it's his car and the 1500 fee will be paid with a smile. There is still a 250 fee offered if anyone can offer us another Sable Brown/Brown top over black leather/Vinyl interior 69 Luxury Sedan as long as we can buy it, which is a pretty nice finders fee.

 

Good luck with the search. Anything is possible. I know, because I found my Dad's old 1981 Honda Goldwing last year after a 24 year "hiatus". After he died in 1990, I gave the bike to his best friend, who ended up selling it only a few months later. I didn't see the bike again until August of 2014, when it showed up on Ebay (confirmed by the VIN, which matched the registration in my Dad's old wallet, which I kept untouched for all these years. I knew it was my Dad's old bike even without that proof, as he put an aftermarket (Vetter) fairing and (K&G) saddlebags on the bike, not to mention a very distinct combination of aftermarket chrome bits from Drag Specialties and JCWhitney. I'd looked off and on for 10 years for a bike similar to Dad's (even found 2 that were very close, but passed on those thankfully), never really expecting to find his actual bike. It is a time machine for me, and I am amazed that it even existed all these years later, let alone that I'd be looking on Ebay at just the right time to notice it (it had never been before been offered for sale on the net). So like I said, anything is possible. Don't give up trying.

Attached is my Dad's old bike (top) and a similar one I almost bought in 2011 (bottom).

 

Not sure if this will help, but saw this at the Olds Nationals a couple years ago, I think it was Springfield Ill.

 

Reward is up to $2000 for anyone who produces this exact car. The finders fee for producing a twin to the original car is now up to 300.

 

Good luck w/ your search. The man sounds determined. However even with the finders fee raised to 100K I doubt results will turn up.

 

I think there is a better chance of winning the lottery than the finders fee. However I do admire you for trying.

 

I know it. Chances are slim to zero in finding this car but geez there must be at least one other dark brown on black 69 98 left somewhere.... I went on the "Historic Aerials" website the other night and put in the address where the car was parked from 1978 to 1980 and sure enough, when I clicked on 1979, you could see the top of the building with cars in the parking lot and sure enough, you can see the brown 98 sitting in the corner of the lot. I showed it to my friend and he flipped! When I clicked on 1981, you can see a new paved parking lot with new white lines and a missing 98. Bummer to see that image. That site is wild. You can find areas all the way back to 1931. The latest date I found was 2013. How was that done way back then?

 

I am still looking for this car and I had a very interesting email from a guy who used to work in Montclair NJ during the late 1970s early 80s where the car was last seen and he actually remembers seeing the car parked right out front of my friend's dads office almost everyday. He remembers the 98 well because at the time, he was driving a 70 Olds Toronado in the same Sable Brown color. He even told me the correct street so I know he is not just playing games. It's really neat that someone here was in the same town at the time and remembers seeing the car on his way to work each day. I guess You just never know. Finder's fee for producing and leading me to buy back this exact car is now up to 2500. Produce another Sable Brown on black leather interior 69 98 Luxury Sedan just like this car and you will get a 500 fee. Somebody find me that car or one just like it!

 

Herbie. Country Classic Cars in Staunton Ill. Has one listed for sale for $7950! Car has 9 Photos online. Looks pretty good accept has Spun Aluminum Hub Caps ,but some of the originals are in the Trunk. Best of luck. Oops ,I overlooked the black interior, but they still make SEM in black . Well I guess I won't get the money,"Close" only counts in Horseshoes. Good luck, this one is listed at www.oldcaronline.com .
Larry

 

I know, that car has been online for over a year now but it's the Holiday hardtop model which is very different than the Luxury Sedan with the center post. Plus, that car is copper gold, not Sable brown. Close but also very different. Again, thank you for looking into it.

 

Herbie ,sorry I missed the L.S. When reading your post.I am familiar with the difference in the Luxury Sedan and the Holiday Sedan.We sold many of both in the mid seventies to early '80's, and I will keep my eyes open for one in my area. Larry

 

I did a little math, and your finder's fee, based on the dates of the above postings, is increasing at a fairly linear rate of about $12.50 per day. Based on this, you would reach a finder's fee of $20,000 exactly 1400 days after the day you posted your most recent increase. That translates to December 13, 2019. If you still haven't found the car by then, let us know as I figure $20,000 would be enough for us to simply build you one.

 

LOL

- Eric

 

The point of this is what you pointed out towards the beginning of this thread. This car simply does not exist any more. It was damaged in 1978 and sat damaged and undriven for two years before it disappeared. We don't know where it disappeared TO. It might have gone straight to a junkyard as the guy who owned the shop it was taking up space in got tired of looking at it and got tired of no one buying it. This was back when a '69 Olds 98 was simply an 11-year-old used car, and no one thought about preserving them for posterity, especially collision-damaged ones.

Finding this car is not a matter of raising the finder's fee to whatever level is necessary for whoever knows where it is to finally come forward or to get people to look harder. I think people on this site would be glad to tell Herbie where the car is for no money at all just to see an old car and its former owner reunited.

The car was last known to be registered in 1978 and does not turn up in any vehicle searches, such as they are. This tells you something.

 

Might have? I'd bet money it was crushed within weeks, possibly days.


Not exactly.
It was far worse than an eleven year old car.
It was a 10mpg car in an era of skyrocketing gasoline prices, skyrocketing inflation, and a devastated economy.
People couldn't crush these things fast enough. Anyone with money drove something small and Japanese or European. Folks in the middle bought crappy new American s__tboxes. Only the poor could be reliably found driving fullsize cars of this era at that time, because they could be gotten so cheaply.

But I think we've borne enough bad news already in this thread...

- Eric

 

It might be time to quit holding your breath and come up with a plan B. If you cant find this one, perhaps you can just find one like it with no detail to color of interior or exterior. I bet your friend would be almost as happy just having a similar car.

 

Guys, we know there is a 99% chance the car is long gone. This is why I also offered a fee to anyone who can produce another 98, same model in the exact same color. Also, we did find another 98 almost exact to the missing car including the exact same black interior. The cars are twins in every way except for color. The only difference is the new car is dark green and not dark brown. I posted a photo of both the green and brown car at the start of this post. No, we are not going to repaint the green car brown because it's an all original car including the paint and it's still in almost showroom condition with only 40k miles. Yes, he loves the green car, he says it even smells just the the brown car did. There must be at least a few sable brown 98s left somewhere and this is the best place to start right? We all love Oldsmobiles!