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For most of us the roots run deep. What's your story??
Mine, our family always had Olds & Pontiacs. Always Cutlass's or Grand Prix's. My grandmother drove a floor shift auto SX w/ red lines. LOL We had a '64 the dog knocked out of park & drove down a hill into a tree. (the dog was OK no air bags involved) The last family car was a '76 T-Top Salon in light blue w/ a dark blue 1/2 top. (Absolutely beautiful) A few 442's had come & gone over the years. Currently have a '72 W30 & looking for the right '72 convertible pace car.
Between my parents cars, my cars & my friends pace car that was current in '72 (yes I'm old) my love for the brand only continued to this day.
While I love the look of a 70 Chevelle, I have always marched to the beat of a different drummer. Everybody have Chevy stuff, I don’t really care for the “Chevy is better” mentality.
While my dad was never a year head, he did have some classy cars in his youth. He owned lots of tri 5 Chevys, several Buick Gran Sports, and a few 455 powered vista cruisers. Just grew up with the big torque engines in stylish cars.
after WWII my dad went to work for an olds,pontiac and caddy dealership.he was there till 1966 when he went out on his own and built his own shop.we always had one of the 3 for cars,he was more partial to pontiacs.one day about 75 or so a guy came into the shop and handed my dad the keys and title for a 67 vista cruiser and said he didn't need it anymore and gave it to us.my brother drove it for a year or 2 til he got a 66 gto it then sat for a year or so til i got my license.it was the first car i could legally drive.been a fan ever since.
Two year old '59 Biscayne 2 door with the anemic 2 bbl 283 and PG trans was my first car. Later, a friend took me for a ride in his new '63 Galaxie with 4 speed 406 and the torque of that big engine convinced me that a "super torque" Ford was the way to go. Looking at the new offerings in 1964, Pontiac, Dodge, Ford, Mercury, discovered I could get an entry level Merc at a lesser price than a Galaxie and it was trimmed out better than the Galaxie. Ordered the Merc Monterey with radio, 4 speed and P-code 330 HP 390. Fast forward to 1967, the Merc was gone to a new owner and I was casually looking for a 427 powered Comet or Fairlane when a friend told me about this "special" 1967 442 at a nearby Olds dealer so went to see it. A beautiful post car in Tahoe Turquoise with black vinyl top and interior, W-30 and 4 speed. A short test drive and I was hooked. Still have it and getting ready to do a frame off restoration. Have had several other Oldsmobiles along the way, 1964 Cutlass, '66 442, '67 442 vert, '69 W-30, and another '69 442.
I think I’ve told this story before, but the short version is my Dad just kept my ‘66 98. I bought it from him for cheap before I went to UCLA (when “I Love LA” was new!). As he put it, “being without a car in LA is like being anywhere else without legs”. As stuff on the 98 needed replacing, I started visiting the self service junkyards there and enjoyed exploring & learning.
I had so much fun with the convertible, eventually I came across the ‘66 Starfire in need of a mild restoration. It was a CA car, great trim, a little typical rust in rear quarters and behind the rear window, but otherwise solid. Plus I already had a bunch of parts on hand from the convertible to rebuild it.
Why Olds? They’re a little different from Fords & Chevies, but not too exotic just yet. Powerful, but not necessarily in-yer-face loud. Fast enough by the standards of their day. Not too bad today either. Designed & built to be maintained, not replaced. Safe, reliable, upgradeable. But these days, mostly just fun: fun for older people remembering, fun for little kids who just don’t see these cars on the road much anymore. Also fun when everyone else is sitting in traffic & I’m just cruising in my old car.
Grew up in an Olds family. Dad's first car was a '65 442. He had countless Oldsmobiles throughout his lifetime, Mom had a 71(?) Cutlass that they both talked often about. Grandpa (Moms Dad) had a 70 442 W30 that was more or less urban legend, even to this day when you find someone who was around back then. Not quite Black Ghost level, but it was THE car back in the day.
My first car was a '78 Delta 88, however I'd become a Mopar guy since..though had often said if I had to venture off it'd be for another Olds due to the family history. Well, my current '69 442 kinda fell into my lap and it's kinda cool to see everything come full circle.
This is pretty simple. When I was about 10 I started to take notice of cars, by the time I was 13 I was really interested,
When my Grandfather would come to visit he would proudly pull up in his 1957 Olds Super Rocket 88 2 door two tone beige and white,
the thing I remember most is how taken I was with that 3 piece rear window !! and the amount of interior chrome. When we would visit my Grandpa I would sneak off to his garage when nobody was watching and go sit in the Olds. My parents generic mundane Chevys would pale in comparison to Grandpa's Olds !!
I said some day I'm going to own a Olds. Now that being said My Olds kind of fell in to my lap I was not looking for it when it appeared
I missed my Grandpa's 57 by one year (mine is a 56) but I couldn't pass it up it is what it is and I'm happy.
In 1985 when I was looking for a new car, there was not much that I really liked. On my way to work one morning, I saw a new Oldsmobile Calais parked in a driveway.
seeing it everyday for several days, I had to go to the dealer for a closer look. I liked what I was seeing. I made my list of wants, and went back for the 1985 Calais that I still have today.
June 5th, 2023, 07:03 PM
