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39 Years Ago Today, June 17,1985 I picked up my new 1985 Oldsmobile Calais Supreme from Sam White Oldsmobile in Houston Texas.
Today it has over 159,000 miles of comfortable dependable driving.
The wheels have been changed due to tire availability. The outside rearview mirrors have been repainted due to the clear coat peeling, otherwise the paint is as it left the factory.
Roll up windows and a manual trans. That would have been a 'reasonably priced' Oldsmobile in '85. Mind saying how much you paid for it?
I was in college around that time and bought my first new car - an '86 Mustang GT. Paid somewhere around $14k, if I remember right, and that was a relative bargain. When I was shopping I looked at the 442's and GN's but you weren't getting anywhere near those for under $20k. Plus, you got your transmission one way - automatic. So, the Mustang was the way to go. V8, manual trans, rear wheel drive. Wasn't as fast as the GN's but could pretty handily outrun the 442's of the day and those crappy turbo 4-cylinder Dodges. It was the '80's!
The Iron Duke has about the most awesome name for an engine that isn't awesome. Apparently they drive all the post office trucks and have for the whole service like of those Grummans.
Edit: Apparently the Iron Duke got subbed out by a newer engine later in production. Also, the engine was designed for utility and longevity, so I will amend comment to "an engine that is not an awesomely powerful engine."
June 17th, 2024, 03:36 AM
