wmachine

I'm keeping a registry, of sorts, of Oldsmobile "big cars" with factory 4-speeds. Looking for all that are still in existance today.
Big body 4-speeds were available only from '64-'66.
In '64 only in a Jetstar 88 with the 330.
In '65-'66 in all but the '98 and Toronado.

Slim pickins'!

OLDZGUY

I worked at an Olds Dealership in Illinois in 1965 and we had a Delta 88 4 door Hardtop with Bench Seat, 425 upgrade Engine and 4 speed......sleeper it was.
Ocean Mist Green in & out. I've always wondered if it was still around.
I last saw it in the '80s.

Oldsmaniac

There is still one known 65 4dr. B body with the 4speed on the list of known cars.....am not sure if it is the same one you remember and Im not sure if it is a Delta but most likely the only one left in existance and maybe the only one produced.

Kennybill

I have a 1966 Dynamic 88 convertible that is on my list of cars to do, if I live long enough! I have been looking for a stick-shift set-up for a few years to make it into a 4-speed car. Later, Ken

jhoppeolds

I currently own 2 factory 4-speed B-bodies. The Jetstar 1 was my daily driver for many years in the early 1980s and was put in storage when it developed a bad piston knock when cold. Very rusty and very rough (pretty much was this way when I was driving it on a daily basis). I've kept it intact due to its rarity but it really needs a rebody. Has 3.42 posi rear axle (only one I've ever found in a B-body), aluminum bolt-on hub caps and a few other options. Also has power brakes with the rivetted-on rear spacer on the booster to clear the clutch linkage. The '66 Delta 4-door hardtop I bought out of Hemmings Motor News sometime in the early 1980s from the original owner. Truly bizarre car. Has a/c, Starfire engine with dual exhaust, convertible frame, heavy duty 15" wheels and a 2.94 posi rear axle. This car also has power brakes. The original owner wanted the heavy duty stuff for towing his boat and told me he pretty much ordered the 4-speed on the spur of the moment! He also told me he wanted the 2.94 rear gear so the car would have a high top speed! I also have most of a 4-speed conversion I got out of a '65 Dynamic 2-door hardtop that was rusting away in a northern Wisconsin salvage yard. This car had 3.23 posi, 4-bbl. single exhaust engine, power steering and manual brakes and not much else. I believe the carcass is still there (at least it was 4 years ago) but probably not restorable.

Oldsmaniac

Very interesting....got any pictures?....I am still trying to find out if there is another 66 Delta 2door {like mine} with a 4spd. My car is also equipped with the Sfire engine, bench seat, but no posi.

petritl

This post is very old but I will input my car as well as a few others.

My car is a 1965 Starfire convertible with a factory 4spd, I was at the Olds national meet in Dearborn for a brief time on Friday afternoon if you blinked you may have missed me. After many years of sitting the unproven car ran flawlessly throughout the 825 mile round trip adventure. Since purchasing the car I have met the original owner. This car was bought new in La Rose, IL.
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There is a 1965 Starfire convertible with a factory 4spd in Davenport getting a frame off restoration. The car was bought from the original owners , the car was complete including the window sticker.

There is a restored 1965 Starfire convertible with a factory 4spd in Ohio. I believe it may be for sale in the "Journey with Olds" mag.

I have recently located another 1965 Starfire conv. with a 4spd. The car is stored in a shed and has been sitting for quite some time. I am planning a trip up to see it in person to verify it is a factory 4spd car.

A friend in AZ has a 1966 Starfire coupe with a factory 4spd.


Tad

Run to Rund

A friend in MN has a 66 Dynamic 88 with Muncie 4 speed. 2 bbl 425, no radio as I recall.

schlitzguzzler

I am the third owner of a 1965 4speed Starfire
no air, crank windows, bucket seats, console with tach, power brakes, power steering, vacuum trunk release, custom deluxe wheel covers,2.73QA open rear.
Protecto plates shows original owner to be a gentleman in Albion Iowa.

66 Olznut

Here's one that was at our zone show last year, '65 Delta 88 4 speed MorroBayOldsShow119.jpg MorroBayOldsShow118.jpg MorroBayOldsShow117.jpg

Allan R

I've never seen B Bodies with a 4 speed (manual) after the 60's. Is this just because I'm not looking hard enough, or they just stopped making them that way? I'd be really surprised to see anything after 1969 B Body with a stick. Anyone else?

aliensatemybuick

I have heard of (and seen pictures of) a number of B-bodies through 1970 with a "3 on the tree", but never a '71 or later car, and I'd be surprised if such a beast exists.

That '65 Delta makes my knees weak. I understand that the original (and still current) owner special ordered the car; he added some very cool options to it (boxed frame, 3.42 posi rear, "custom-deluxe" (woodgrain) wheel, and the bolt-on magnesium wheels to name a few). Even the color combo is amazing. A truly improbable car...God bless the oddballs who custom-ordered such cars, so that we may marvel over them so many years later.

Run to Rund

Check out the wide brake and clutch pedals, like would be used with a AT.

rustyold66

Didn't notice the steering wheel the first time - too transfixed on the 4-speed! Nice, though. Cool wheels, as well!

wmachine

Been a while since I cought up on this thread!

Tad- Nice S/F! PM sent to you.

Schlitzguzzler- Nice! PM sent to you.

Rund to Rund- Joe, I think the pic is a bit of an illusion. The brake and clutch pedals are narrower than the the auto brake pad. But they are wider than A-body pads. Also, I need to get contact info from you for your friend in MN!

Alan R- As I said in the opening post, 4-speeds in Olds B-bodies were only available '64-'66.

And 1971 was the last year for the manual trans for Olds B-bodies, and it was a column shift 3-speed.

StarGeneral

Man, what a sweet Delta 88! Makes me jealous. I want to convert mine to 4 speed...I also had the idea to put a tach in where the clock belongs, I had no idea that was actually possible. Is that a factory option?

Eddie Hansen

Awesome I do love a full size and a 4 speed

rocketraider

Andres, that's an aftermarket tach but as you see is doable. The factory tach for those cars was mounted on the console- see the pic of the 65 convert interior though that one really looks more like the vacuum gauge to me.

The 4-speed conversion is also doable if you can find the parts to do it. You have only two years to get four-speed parts from, and as 1965-70 big car stickshift production was something like 3% of total production each year, you get the idea.

But you're a resourceful guy, so I don't doubt for a minute you'd find the stuff to convert it if you put your mind to it.

I would like to see a 71 88 with 3-speed. It was discontinued mid-year due to low orders and emissions certifications, so who knows if any were even built.

wmachine

Glenn, I think I know "who knows". The 1971 production-by-option report at the GMHC should reveal if and how may were made. I'll add that to my growing "look it up" list.

Oldsmaniac

1966 Delta 88 4spd

stan 65 cutlass

that 1st car, the starfire convertible has the same looking console as my cutlass fourspeed, did they use the same one or is it a larger version of the f85 console

Diego

This is a very cool thread!

sammy

X2... I did not know they made 4 speed B body Oldsmobiles....very cool!

wmachine

Oldsmaniac

Would love to see this thread expand with pictures of other 4spd B bodies! As for me I found mine in a local classifieds in 1983. No hype in the ad just "For sale 1966 Delta 2dr, PS, 4spd 2dr $1400.00" Car was about 40 miles away and one look I knew I had to have it. Story was original owner passed and his widow could not drive stick so she sold it. Guy had no clue about the car at all. Inspection had expired, car had some hidden problems. I offered 700 and the deal was made!

droldsmorland

Slightly off subject but I have pictures of a 74 Full size Chevy wagon with factory SS 454 4 speed stick options. Its a COPO car. Now thats odd.

11971four4two

Four speed parade float!
Bon Voyage

aliensatemybuick

Pretty sure there are part number differences; supposedly there are differences in how the console is shaped at the bottom, to account for difference in the floor contours of B vs A body cars. Length of the consoles are the same.

Centurion

Great topic here! I love the 1965 (especially) and 1966 GM B-Body 2-door hardtops, which I have long believed to be the pinnacle of GM styling excellence. As some of the GM designers of the era have written, these cars have shape and style from every angle.

I'm crazy about that '65 Delta 88 2-door hardtop, and my dream collection would include 4-speed versions of the Delta 88, Jetstar I, and Starfire 2-door hardtops, as well as 4-speed Pontiac 2 + 2, Grand Prix, and Buick Wildcat.

rocketraider

I'd like to see that. Chevy discontinued stickshift in their V8 big cars with the 1972 model year, so COPO would have been the only way to get something like that built. I'd imagine either a highly placed dealer or an exec ordered it and it was cash up front before they'd do it. You have to wonder about the warranty too because of the emissions certs.

66400

In 1973 you could get the big Malibu wagon with a 454, 4spd and SS package.

Henry

Diego

I don't think that's COPO - that's regular production. :twocents:

rocketraider

I wondered if it was a Malibu wagon too b/c I knew the combo was available in those, but Morland specifically said "74 full-size" which to me is a clamshell wagon- Townsman/Brookwood/Kingswood. 'Course a 73-77 GM midsize wagon is bigger than any full-size car produced in the last twenty years.

All the info I have says V8-stick was discontinued in the full-size Chevy in 1972. 3-speed stick was still available with the six thru 1973 and was listed early in 1974, but Chevrolet records say no 1974s were built. So a 454 4-speed big wagon would have to have been a COPO or someone had a lot of pull with Chevrolet Division.

But, with GM, and especially with Chrysler in those years, I have learned to never say never.

wmachine

droldsmorland

COPO. I saw the paperwork. It was at a large car show in Calif in the late eighties (1987?). An era before we could reproduce all the fake crap. Original owner. He was a GM zone rep out west. The console looks “off” he told me what they pirated it out of but I don’t remember. He said it’s the only one built? It took me an hour to dig these photos out. Two corrections its a 73 not 74 and its off the Chevelle line not the Estate. Old memory....bliss! Told you its off topic but just neet to see these odd *****.

wmachine

wmachine

mmurphy77

1973 was the ONLY year you could get the 'SS' package on a wagon. The 'SS' package, 454 and 4-speed were all available as RPOs on the Chevelle and Chevelle wagons, no COPO necessary.

aliensatemybuick

Pretty sure that car (one one very much like it) was featured in "Chevy Super-Sports, 1961-1976", by Terry V. Boyce, which I remember owning back in the 80s.

I just googled "1973 Malibu SS wagon", and according to this site, "four-speed manuals could be ordered for the 454 and the stouter of the two 350s".

http://hooniverse.com/2010/05/09/obs...elle-ss-wagon/

I saw a discussion on THIS site that sounds liek the very car you've described:

http://www.chevytalk.org/fusionbb/sh...hp?tid/120439/

droldsmorland

"which I remember owning back in the 80s".

Were you that zone rep I spoke with at the Sacramento Rod & Custom show at Sac fairgrounds back in 86-87ish. That would be a blast from the past and Hi how the hall are ya! When he (or you) said the “only one like it" I believed it back then, not so much now but we weren’t real concerned about that back then. I remember many 60-70 cars were still on the used car lots then. Either way certainly a rarity as I've never seen another. Wish I could remember what the COPO paperwork said. That would give clue as to what made it a COPO and not RPO. Maybe how it was setup/optioned above the normal SS wasnt available through normal channels IE bucket seats verses bench???