I'm in love with this '64 Olds 98 Sports Cpe, going up for auction, at Meacums tomorrow. Q:was this vinyl roof added at the factory or dealer installed???
http://www.mecum.com/auctions/lot_de...&startRow=1141

http://www.mecum.com/auctions/FL0114...d=010714151839

If this is a factory option, considering adding it to my 98 project. Maybe only on the "Sports Coupes"???
Stunning automobile.

JT

 

Neither of those links works, at least for me.

Edit: as of this moment, the mecum site isn't loading at all.

 

I don't see pictures of '64 98s with vinyl roofs in the '64 Olds brochure, and the dealer specs book makes no mention of a vinyl roof being an option on '64 98s or any '64 Olds. I've never seen, that I recall, a '64 98 with a vinyl roof.

 

I would be quite surprised if a vinyl roof were not available from the factory on the 1964 Ninety Eight. Given the availability of this roof treatment on other high-line GM cars that year, I strongly suspect that it was offered.

I know with certainty, for example, that the vinyl roof was offered on the 1964 Pontiac Grand Prix and 1964 Buick Electra 225, with the Electra 225 probably being the 98's most direct intra-GM competitor.

I feel quite confident in stating that I have seen 1964 model year Starfires, Ninety Eights, Buick Wildcats, and Cadillac DeVilles -- all wearing factory-installed vinyl roofs. I'll admit, though, that I could be wrong!

 

OK, thanks. Let's try this:

 

One more, copied from the Meacum's Auction page:

 

Saw a 1962 Jetfire at the NAOC national meet in Elmira last year with a vinyl top (owner mentioned it was a rare option); see no reason why such an option would not be offered on other Olds models of the era (and later). So I agree with Centurion.

 

Added an album to my file.
https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...8+project.html

 

Those Ninety Eight Sports Coupes were really something, especially the '63s with those gorgeous tailights.

 

As I said, the '64 Olds dealer specs book, which is supposed to list all options available on all cars that year, makes no mention of a vinyl roof on any model.

The '65 specs book does mention a vinyl roof available on the 98, but it specifically mentions that it was only available on the highest end four-door Luxury Sedan, not on a coupe or any other 98.

I looked at the '62 F-85 brochure (no specs book available), and there is a picture of a Cutlass coupe with a vinyl roof.






The '64 Buick brochure does show examples of both the Wildcat and the Skylark with vinyl roofs.


I'm not saying that not showing a vinyl-roofed example means that it wasn't offered as the brochures didn't necessarily include every last option that might be available. But the dealer specs book is a different story. That's supposed to have everything available.


Perhaps this Mecum 98 had one installed after-market, perhaps by the dealer?

 

Here in Texas it was common in the '60's and '70's to repair hail damaged cars by adding a vinyl roof covering.

Henry

 

I believe the car in the picture, has a white "painted" roof, as I have seen this combo before. Unsure, weather or not it was mentioned in the small car line-up brochures.
Hail damage cover up???? does not surprise me one bit. Also read somewhere that either Smoky Unick or Roger Penske installed one on their Trans-Am Camaro, to hide the waves/ripples from acid dipping the body

Thanks for all the insight. That 98 sells at Meacum today. Truly needs to come with this fella. Stunning automobile.

JT

 

I'd have to dig deep into stuff that may be packed away to be absolutely sure, but I recall vinyl roof cover being available on the 1964 88 coupes. Not sure on Ninety Eights. 88 sedans could have two-tone on the roof and could have easily used the same division mouldings for vinyl roof as for a painted roof.

No matter how many you see with it, vinyl roof cover was never available factory installed on a 63-66 Starfire.

The Ninety Eight in question has a pair of Starfire crests on the sail panels so I would say its vinyl roof cover is not a factory installation.

 

Nope. No vinyl tops in '64. Lots of ways a vinyl top could get on a '64, the the factory wasn't one of them.
The '88s and '98s could be had with two-tone, though.

 

Looking closer at the 62 Cutlass page above, you can see the vinyl roof cover seams. So yes, that is a vinyl roof car. Also mentions "white vinyl 'sport top' available at extra cost".

Yup. Vinyl roof cover. A styling gimmick that offset metal finishing costs on every car it was slapped on. Some cars wear it well, others were obviously never meant to have one. But in the 60s and 70s the big three would slap a vinyl roof cover on anything. Even station wagons and pickups.

 

Very popular, too. Big visual impact, far from a subtle option. That vinyl roof grt you noticed. Especially some of the wild Mopar ones they had.

 

I never believed those who insisted SS1s could not be had on Cutlii in 1968, and at least for now, I am unconvinced that vinyl roofs could not have been had on Ninety Eights in 1964. Any one have an order form for the Ninety-Eight series in '64?

 

http://wildaboutcarsonline.com/cgi-b...aldisplayed=50

Dated Feb, '64, this would be better evidence than an order form that gets "produced" once at the beginning of the year.
At this point with evidence they were not available, I'd say it is up to someone to pony up the proof that they did, if that's what they think!

 

Logged into WAC, but was greeted with "Access Denied", so not sure what I'm supposed to see there, Kurt?!

Anyway, the proof can be pretty tough when a pic of a car so equipped will be unconvincing since it could always have been added later. (same thing happened with the SSI debate).

 

The point is not that a vinyl roof could have been added to the car later, meaning after purchase, and by the dealer or anyone else. Rather, the point is that a vinyl roof was not available as a factory option.

The February '64 version of the dealer specs book that Kurt references does not show this as an option on the 98, which pretty much refutes the idea that the factory could have added the option later in the model year. February '64 is getting pretty late in the model year, and if an option wasn't added by then, it wasn't likely to be added that year at all.

 

I got the point. What I was saying is that if I were to show a pic of any car with the vinyl top, people will inevitably say "prove it wasn't added later". I can't see the dealer specs book, but even if I could, I am not sure I'd be 100% convinced by it. I think there may be more to the story.

 

WOW, I stirred up quite a wasps nest, but glad to get all this info and just about ruined my eyes, squinting at the JPEG 1964 options file, on WAC.
No vinyl roof that I can see.

WOW, a/c was $450 clams!!! That's ten percent of the cost of the car, if not more on the cheaper models. No-wonder its a rare option, even on California models.

Nonetheless, was truly amazing to see that my Starfire convertible was the most expensive Olds in 1964. $4800 base sticker price.

BTW...that "vinyl roof equipped 98 sold at Meacum's today for %12,500. That's exactly what I predicted. People are out of touch with these fine machines AND scared of the Roto-Hydromatic trans.

Thanks Fellas!!

JT
Misfires C.C.
www.groundhoggala.com

 

Hardly a wasps nest; I think its a friendly disagreement.

Thanks for the update on the car. If its a nice in person as in the pics, sounds like a heck of a price for the person who bought it. A guy I know sold a wreck of a '63 sports coupe several years back for $2500; needed everything and didn't even run.

 

Convertible top care would have been in the separate Fisher Body convertible top supplement manual that came with all ragtops thru about 1968.

I remember the vinyl roof cover option in 63 and was under impression it had carried over for 64, but apparently not.

 

Hey Fellas, Don't want to keep beating this stupid dead horse/ vinyl roof thing, but look what I just came across. HA
http://www.ebay.com/itm/OLDSMOBILE-H...eb07b2&vxp=mtr

http://i24.ebayimg.com/07/i/001/2b/5a/7c00_12.JPG

 

That's an aftermarket top, made to fit a range of years.

Nothing to do with the question of whether it was a factory option, which I believe has been setled in the negative.

- Eric