This forum, of course, is dominated by the "A" bodied cars.
I'm starting this thread , and dedicating it to 88's, 98's, Starfires, Jetstars, and Fiesta's.
I borrowed the term " darksider " from a Pontiac forum.
What's a darksider ? Well, It's kinda like most of the hobby is concentrated on the "A" body cars, and the "B"& "C " bodies are on the darkside of the moon.
Life is a little tougher for a "darksider" because there is little support in the production of reproduction parts.
Still, us "darksiders" forge ahead with our restorations with used or NOS parts when we can find them.
I started this thread so that we can identify ourselves to each other, and share as much information as possible.

I would appreciate it if everyone who owns a 61-70 full size car would post a pic of it and tell us a little about it.

I will start it off by showing my 63 Dynamic 88 Holiday 2 door. I bought it 3 years ago out of NM . It's in 10,000 pieces right now. But I'm doing it Johnny Cash style. "One piece at a time".

 

More pics.
The brake and clutch pedals are Pontiac. ( A "green spring" HD unit.)
They stack up pretty close to the stock unit. Plan is to graft part of the stock pedal hanger onto the Poncho unit , to make sure that the dash/column is supported.
The linkage and "Z" bar will have to be fabricated. Yes, , It's gonna be a 4 speed car!

 

There is no dark side in the moon, really. As a matter of fact it's all dark.

 

What?
You can't have a manual trans Big Car.
That's crazy talk, much like "the moon is all dark." Just take a look.

But seriously, I have spare parts yet if you need
I have the elusive '65-70 upper LH ball joint!

 

The moon experiences day (light) and night (dark).

And my '65 Jetstar I is black as night.

 

[QUOTE=Octania;739058]

But seriously, I have spare parts yet if you need
I have the elusive '65-70 upper LH ball joint![/QUOTE

What do you have for 61-64 cars?

 

Here is mine, a 1962 Dynamic 88 conv with 35K original miles!

I have also owned a 1954, 1960, 1963 and 1967; all full-size cars.

 

Yep, it rained last night. I either have to knock some drywall out, or remove the bumpers, lol! I know I sure have had my share of Camaro's and Chevelles, but it's pretty nice to have something you don't see all the time, that you don't have to wrap up 50 grand in to be decent and different.


And, while I'll probably catch some flack for this, I don't really consider a car with 90% new sheetmetal restored. Somewhere the craftsmanship of restoration got replaced by a catalog.

 

Well I guess I fit in here as I'm rebuilding a 62 super 88 wagon and using my 62 starfire as a parts car (frame and floors gone). I'm also rebuilding a 63 98 convertible (frame off ) and have a 63 98 custom sports coupe in antique rose that is finished and a 63 98 midnight mist convertible that we restored 24 years ago.
When I get the photos I'll post them up.
Steve

 

Big cars rule. Harder to restore due to less reproduced parts.
I like being a little different. Going into my 5th year on this one. I know I'm slow, but I'm also broke.

 

Nothing says "patience" like a nice, straight, 9 foot long quarter panel!

 

A picture of my 66 Delta with factory 4spd nd Sfire option engine. The car is pretty much all original, never restored and it is showing its age. I bought it in 1981 for 700 dollars. It is a great. driving car.

 

Lets see some interior pics of your 66 Delta.

 

Only other shots I have now.

 

True that. I lost patience and painted it white! I have no patience and less skill when it comes to body work.

 

69 88. 455. Been called quite a few different names since acquired. Ugly. Boat. Titanic. OK then, they don't get a ride then on my couch. Pass the popcorn.

 

im with ya mate! this is my 64 old 98 , drives great!!!... i dont think there are any in sunny australia???, ....

 

Yes there is one...YOURS !
Seriously, There probably are only maybe a couple of thousand of this model in existance in the world.
64 Chevys got saved. Olds, not so much.
Convertibles and 2 dr.hardtops got saved. Four doors not so much.

 

One of mine, the only one that moves under it's own power. PS: I just found out that this car and a Vista Cruiser are within 200lbs of each other.

 

Here's a picture of my 61 Olds Dynamic 88 2dr sedan. Also a pic of my 63 Buick Wildcat. I know this is a Olds sight but it's about full size cars right?
I love the full size cars.

 

I love that Buick!
I think now that the supply of Impalas is drying up, that these "BOP" hardtops will only
gain in popularity.

 

hi charlie
yep i think you are right , so there are only a few thousand about , gee well it sure beats being like everyone in oz and owner a 57 chev or 80's corvette and mustang, so this is why parts for this olds is bloody hard to find ...i thought gettin parts for my mid 60's ramblers was tuff ....this 64 olds is tuffer, ...nobody in oz can every help , and even lookin on derbay is tuff , lucky my car is in great nic... ps my brother also owns a 66 olds coupe 98 , great car original and on the road..

 

i'm working on a 64 98 4 door looking 4 parts

 

Try Old Gold Cars and Parts in Old Town , FL

http://www.oldgoldcars.com/

Open Nov. until June .

 

Unlikely that there are thousands. Probably more like a few hundred.

Olds produced a total of 53,517 98 4-doors (Town Sedans, Holiday Sedans, and Luxury Sedans) in 1964. Of these, 11,380 were Town Sedans (pillared as opposed to hardtop) like the one aussie has. Typical survival rates are about 1% after 25 years, so, in 1989, it might have been reasonable to assume that maybe 100 or so of these were still in existence. After another 25 years? Who knows. Numbers tend to level off after 25 years as the examples still on the road are typically no longer being used as daily drivers but rather are being saved as collector cars. So maybe 50 to 100 1964 98 Town Sedans are still alive and running somewhere on the planet. But it's certainly not thousands. Heck, total survival numbers for 98 4-doors of all types is likely not more than a few hundred.

 

Mine is a couple of years older than what this thread is calling for, but maybe it qualifies on size alone, cause they don't come much larger than this at over 20.5 feet long on a 146" wb.

This '59 Dynamic 88 (with Super 88 trim) was converted by the Comet Coach Co. in Blytheville, AR from a stock 2 door sedan. I recently had it shipped to Rochester, MN for the annual Professional Car Society meet, where it took 1st in the funeral coach class, as well as funeral director's choice award and long distance trailered award.

This car is the only '59 Comet Olds landau funeral coach still known to exist.

 

And to think,, people were just dying to ride in this car at one time!

 

I'm in and would love to join the darkside club . I got my 63 Starfire, a couple of years ago, from the original owers, that are my next door neighbours. It was parked for 25 years before I got the car from them. They were saving it for their grandchildren, but they all declined and they all said that I would be a best caretaker of the car. I take the original owners for rides in the car and you cannot wipe the smiles from their faces for a week. Also, my wife and teenage daughters really enjoy cruising topless.

 

I'm in. I just bought a '65 Dynamic 88 on Saturday. My first classic car, too. 36,500 original miles.

 

Charlie, sign me up. It seems most of my life I've had "Darkside" cars - either before they became popular (musclecars in the late 70s) or ones that were never that popular. The big Oldsmobiles have always been my favorite and I have owned many - Jetstars, 88s, 98s, Toronados, and now my 63 Starfire. We need to keep them on the road and educate the masses!

 

 

They don't like to wear hats. What were you thinking.

 

geeeeeeeeeeeeeezzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz so wot you are trying to say that there are bugger all of the 64 98 that survived!!! unbelivable...i dont know if i should be happy cause my car is now "rare"...or cry cause thier all been made into into small chinese/ korean/jap"lawn mowers" that now grace our highways....

 

I'm not saying anything specific to the '64 98. Vehicle survival statistics apply universally based on age of the car. It doesn't depend on make or model. Doesn't matter if it's an Olds 98 or a Ford Galaxie or whatever. As the years pass, fewer survive.

There is some variation based on body style/brand/etc. For example, the survival rate for Chevrolet Corvettes is probably considerably higher than Olds 98 four-doors or your "typical" daily driver vehicle from back in the day, but that's because people generally regard Corvettes as collectible from the moment they come off the assembly line, and they save them. That's not the case for most cars.

Also, a greater percentage of convertibles has been saved over the years, again because people like convertibles.

 

Unfortunately Jaunty75 is probably right. The cars that sold the most back in the day - 4-doors and station wagons - were also the least wanted when they got older. The convertibles and two door hardtops were saved and restored and guess what the parts cars were? I've always loved old big car station wagons, try and find a mid 60s Olds 88 or 98 wagon today! And if you are lucky enough to have one good luck finding parts for it.

 

Well there was no big Olds wagon from 65 thru 1970 thats why they are tough to find....

 

Certainly is the "darkside", my 72 Royale 2 door, returns 11.7 uk mpg! No less love for it though!

 

pmsl!:d

 

Hmmnn....Don't give me any idea's! How cool would a 65' Jetstar1 4-speed station wagon be? I think I'm going to go out and mock it up in cardboard, lol!

 

What is a "uk" mile per gallon? I thought miles were the same length everywhere. Except for nautical miles, but that's for travel on the seas.

According to Wikipedia, the "international mile," which is used in the U.S. and the U.K. among many other countries, is 1,609.344 meters. This comes out to be exactly 5280 feet, or 1 mile.