chuck336

I am glad to join,
I am the owner of a very rare 1974 Oldsmobile Ninety Eight Regency with the ACRS and the tiffany package , all original with 21,000 mile on it .
I welcome comments or questions .
I wonder how many of these are around?
Please contact me if you know of any or possibly own one.
I have never been able to find another one like this, I would love to see if anyone has one like mine.



Thanks Chuck

jeff in colorado

hi. Welcome aboard.

chuck336

Thank You !

jaunty75

Can we see some photos of it? Sounds like a nice car.


As far as "how many are left," this is one of the oldest questions in the old car hobby, and there is no way to know. Vehicle registration records are kept at the state level and are not centralized. There is no single location or website or anything where you can search on model name or year or anything.

In the case of Oldsmobile, for cars made prior to 1977, records weren't kept even for things how many had this or that option, so you can't, for example, find out how many '71 Cutlasses were blue or how many '74 98's had cruise control, and there isn't any record that I know of about how many '74 98's were equipped the way yours is.

All you can do is go by statistical survival rates which say that roughly 1% of a typical car's original production is still on the road after 25 years. After that, things tend to level out as a car that survives that long is likely no longer being used as a daily driver but has become a collectible. Of course, cars like convertibles tended to be kept in greater numbers while vehicles that were seen as more utilitarian, like 4-door sedans and station wagons, tended to get driven until they could be driven no more, and then were junked. As I said, 1% is a very average number.

As far as your car, you don't say if yours is a two-door or a four-door. Production of 1974 98 Regencies totaled 10,719 2-doors and 24,310 4-doors. Using the 1% figure, that would mean very roughly about 100 2-doors and 240 to 250 4-doors still on the road somewhere in the world today.

oldcutlass

Welcome to the site, as you can tell we do like pictures.

chuck336

Thank you all for the welcome ! I uploaded pictures of the car on my profile,
I am still trying to navigate the site so bare with me .
I also found a thread were a guy came to look at my car on here at the time I was going to sell it. I think it was may 2013.

chuck336

Jaunty the car is a two door thanks
for the info and stats .

jaunty75

Car looks very nice. It is the more rare 2-door.

If you don't mind, I think I'll keep my clothes on!

chuck336

jaunty75 no need to bare anything ! lol

jaunty75

Whew! That's a relief. I was wondering what kind of forum you thought this was!

76 Regency

Hello Chuck and welcome to the forum!


Your car is awesome and I would say you have one of VERY few like it in the world. '74 was the first year that the Regency was offered in a coupe and the first year of the ACRS system so combined, I'd say it's unlikely that you will see another anytime soon! That's the kind of car that should be in the Oldsmobile museum!


How long have you had it, tell us some history on the car. I have 2 '76 Regency coupes by the way so I'm always happy to see another 98 Regency Coupe owner on here!


John

chuck336

Thanks John ,
This car was bought brand new off the show room outside of Pittsburgh P.A.
by my father. I got it about twenty years ago and have kept it up it has 21,000 original miles and an A, Pennsylvania title.
although over the years it has had some scratches and dents .
but overall its in really nice shape. It rides like a dream and still has all original parts, including the tires BFG bias ply ( dry rotted of course) that still hold air. the 21000 miles were put on it in its first years of ownership I have rarely driven it although I just had it out for a ride about a month ago. I also have the original paper work along with the owners manual and the 8 track tape that came with the car .
about 10 years after we started to store the car I found another one and parted it and have some of the important parts we thought we might need in boxes.
all in all it is a joy to own this car many times I thought of selling it and have even advertised it . But there are no buyers that realize the value of this car . so many low ball offers so its 40 now maybe ill wait till its 50 and try again. Or maybe ill just hand it down to my son. Who Knows !

76 Regency

Wow that's great that your family is the original owner! She is definitely more valuable than most people would realize but to the right collector, she's worth her weight in gold. It sounds like your car has a lot of sentimental value much like mine. My black 98 was purchased by my dad in '79 and I did a nut and bolt, frame-off restoration on her and I now drive and show her with a great sense of pride.

You've definitely got a gem of a car there so take good care of her and do your best to keep her from deteriorating. It's great that she's in original condition besides. A few dents and scratches on a 40 year old car is par for the course! At least she was never in a real collision or else you'd almost never find new airbags!

Was the parts car that you had also a 74 with ACRS? Dare I ask what spare parts you have from it?


Check out the pic I attached. It's a '74 98 with ACRS in a crash test....pretty crazy stuff !


PS. I would highly recommend putting a new set of tires on her. 40 year old tires are just waiting to blow out at any moment and any speed. I would definitely keep the originals as the rest of the car is so original but for any driving at all, definitely put a new set on there.

chuck336

John,
I love the 76 it has style and class and both of yours look to be in impeccable condition.
Thanks for the crash test video. The parts car was also an ASRS car and I have most of the important stuff the sensors the bags the header glass etc.


Chuck

chuck336

I have researched tires for the car I can get the exact tires from cocker tires I have since moved the car to a climate control garage to keep the deteriorating to a minimum. Unfortunately I live in South Carolina now and the car is in Pittsburgh.
Soon I will be transporting it to South Carolina, probably this spring.

76 Regency

Thanks Chuck. I've always like the '76 best but I am a bit partial to them having had one since I was barely 2.5 years old! I've always really liked the '74 too...it's a one-year only body style and it has some little features here and there that are also one year only.


I've gotten tires from Coke and from Universal Vintage and I was overall happier with Universal Vintage. Check out their site and give them a call. https://www.universaltire.com/


Will you have the car trailered down to SC or would you drive it down? We take my red 98 on long trips and it does fantastic on the open road. Took it form CT to NC twice and up to Niagara Falls just a few months ago among many other trips.

chuck336

I like the opera windows and the 1/2 vinyl roof and both your cars are clean that black one is beautiful.


Chuck

76 Regency

Thanks Chuck!


The black one is my pride and joy and she's finally starting to get some time out of the garage and seeing some shows and weekend drives. The red one is my "fun/driver" and is what I consider original even though I've done tons of work on it over the 17 years I've owned it. She's actually in mid-project right now as I had some body work done and now need to put a new top on and put a lot back together, including all of the rear glass.


You may already know this but the opera windows started in '75 so your car is the last year 98 with opening rear windows. As much as I love the style of my cars, I always wished those rear windows opened like on the earlier years. You could actually get no vinyl top, 1/2 top or full top on our cars. I've always liked the 1/2 top best on the coupes and full top on the sedans. I'm glad my cars were both ordered with the most common 1/2 tops. The black car's top is new and the red one is about to get a new top in the next few months. Both are identical to the originals which took some push on my part but my upholstery shop came through with flying colors!

chuck336

You should be proud ! Both cars are the best examples to Olds luxury and design !








Chuck

76 Regency

I'm definitely proud of both as I'm sure you can tell You should be very proud of yours as well. You have yourself a very rare piece of not just Oldsmobile history but automotive history. Yours is literally one of the first cars EVER to have airbags! That, combined with the fact that it's a first year Ninety Eight Regency coupe with such low mileage make it a VERY collectible car. My black one, while it may not have the ACRS like yours, has just about every possible option that was available including the very rare power sunroof and black leather.