I bought this Fremont car clear back in 1987 near Fresno, CA, but it has taken until now to get it to the point where I can drive it. The paint (lacquer in the original color of cameo white) was done back in 1993, as was the black interior and convertible top, but then the car sat until I retired from the USCG in 2000, finished a restoration on a '71 Corvette (owned since 1978) in 2003, and then finished restoring a '68 Lansing 4-4-2 convertible (provincial white with black interior and top) my parents bought "new" (it had been a demo for a year) in March 1969, a car that won Best-In-Class (13C) at the Reno OCA Nationals in 2011. I bought the '69 because my sister was supposed to get the '68, but she gave it up and I sort of "inherited" it, which I consider a real stroke of luck!

The '69 is nicely optioned, with buckets, the somewhat rare front seat shoulder belts (a real hassle to use, by the way), console with THM, rallye pac, AM-FM stereo radio, factory cruise control, A/C, disc brakes, rear view mirror map light, and SSI wheels (LY code) for those disc brakes. I added the power antenna, installed a dealer accessory passenger side mirror, changed the Y73 "hood paint stripe" option to the W42 "hood special painting" option, changed the bucket seat backs to '68 and installed a reclining passenger bucket seat, and changed the 3.23 open differential to a 3.23 limited slip. The car originally had a remote driver side mirror but I used a standard mirror for the driver side so it would match the passenger side. But, I do know now from comments at this site that there are '69 A-body Oldsmobiles out there with a remote mirror on the driver side and a passenger side mirror that doesn't match the remote mirror, because the passenger side mirror was a dealer accessory and not an option.

The car has a little over 98K original miles on it. I didn't do nearly as thorough a restoration on this car as I did the '68 - I just don't have it in me to go to that extent again - but most ofl the parts on the drivetrain are original casting numbers with casting dates consistent with the build date of the car, and the engine and transmission are original to the car. Maybe someday someone can do a real first-class restoration on it, but it won't be me!

It's neat to see the '68 and '69 side-by-side. They are both the same color combination but the provincial white of '68 isn't nearly as white as the cameo white of '69.

Pics below!

Randy C.

 

Nicely done Randy, beautiful car.

 

Very sharp, great story!

 

That is one nice car. You really did a great job on it.

 

I can't imagine what else you would need to do to it, it looks great!! Nice Job!

 

Wow, that is a great looking car. I like the duel gate set-up, and of course the color. Did it come with the sport steering wheel

 

Unfortunately, it's a standard automatic console, not a dual-gate set-up. And yes, that's the steering wheel it came with. I like it better than the '68 deluxe steering wheel but the wheel on my '69 suffers from "sweating" out the sticky stuff. I have to clean it thoroughly about every 4-5 months to remove the sticky stuff.

Still have some minor issues to iron out with it but it surely will make a good Sunday driver!

Randy C.

 

My steering wheel has the same problem with the wheel part and the vinyl parts also. Your radio is it a fm stereo or mono...most of those cars came with AM only the FM option was for people with an insight into the future

 

The radio is AM-FM stereo - has the multiplex box installed above the glove box. Personally, I like the AM-FM in those years without the stereo - same sound out of the front and rear speakers. No matter how you slice it with these convertibles, when the top is down, you can't hear the rear speaker at all. At least with the AM-FM non-stereo radio, you can still get all of the sound out of the front speaker! My '68 has the AM-FM non-stereo radio so I don't have to deal with losing half the sound with it when the top is down!

Randy C.

 

Very nice looking car. Nice to see another Classic Olds Washington State survivor!

 

Great job! Whose paint was used on the engine?

 

I used SupercarsUnlimited bronze engine paint for the '69, as well as for my '68 (www.supercarsunlimited.com for their on-line catalog). It wasn't a function for me of if it was better than what the other suppliers offer, but more so a function of Supercars being so close to me - they are in Beaverton OR. I can place an order with them today and it's here on the FEDEX or UPS truck tomorrow. The color does look pretty good (and authentic), in my opinion. Supercars deals in nothing but Oldsmobile and that helps sell me as well on what Supercars has to offer.

Randy C.

 

Awesome car, bet your smiling even in your sleep...

 

Thanks for the paint information, Randy.

Looks Great!