Hi Everybody. My name is Martin. I live in the Netherlands, that small country below the water level with the windmills. I work for the Royal Dutch military defence. I have been driving a 1979 Delta 88 V8 350, converted to LP. I drive this car on propane, and it drives well. With Gas being $7-8 a gallon, you will find an alternative fast. I own the car for 3 years now, and is my daily driver.

100_5582Small.jpg

Maybe nothing special in the USA, here I draw a lot of attention, because of style and size.


Recently, I decided I wanted a stationwagon, and it had to be an Olds. I wanted to buy one in the USA, so I can drive it when I am at my brothers place. I also want to have the import / export experience. (paperwork) I wanted a good condition loaded 77-86 custom cruiser, and started to look. 4 months. Hard to find. None. Then I run into this cruiser. It was going to be this, or a rental for 6 weeks. Easy choice. Not loaded, but hey, it is a
1971 Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser.

GetAttachment.jpg
1971 custom cruiser
GetAttachment2.jpg
1971 custom cruiser
GetAttachment1.jpg

GetAttachment3.jpg

GetAttachment4.jpg

In the end, I am happy I found this wagon. I think it is as nice as the 77-86 I wanted. The story goes that the first owner bought the car new, and kept it in the garage. He put a total of 115K on the car. He did not want to sell the car, and kept it till he passed away last year. The car looks to be in very good condition for its age. It still has the window sticker in the dash. I picked it up from caigslist. A friend who lives in LA, picked up the car for me, and his mechanic is working on the car. It had been sitting for a few years, and needed to be woken up. I arrive on sept.1, and will drive to my brother in OR, that is a 800 mile drive. I will post more from this date in this section. The waterpump, and timing are replaced, and some hoses are replaced, and everything will be checked. He said the car drives well, and has been maintained well.

There is only one small problem. I would like to get the AC fixed. The car was fitted with AC, however, the automotive AC Barrier Refrigerant Hoses are missing. Can anybody help me on these hoses? , or where could I get new ones that fit? I would like to get the car retrofitted before I take it back home.
If you have something, you only would have to send it to LA.

For now, it is waiting till september one before I can hug this baby and drive off. Can't wait. Hopefully with the AC on...

When I am at my brothers place, I will do some fixing and other small things to the car. The car will stay original, as it left the Lansing plant in 1971. The tailgate does not operate. Also the driver powerwindow mechanism is broken. Does anybody have a good one for sale? I am an electrician, so I can fix the electronic things.

 

Nice pair of Oldsmobile's you have there. The 4 door is a nice looking ride. We have several members from different countries on the site and their Old's draw attention wherever they travel as well.

I am sure someone on the site has already been through the AC hose issue and will be able to help you out.

Good luck

 

Nice find!

 

very nice the 71 is 100 times beter than a 77-86!!! that car looks good!!! i think im going 2 find 1 too for my sons 1st car, i want him in a tank just incase he crashs while learning how 2 drive!!

 

Welcome to our site! Beautiful cars! Beautiful tulips too! I don't understand the running on propane thing - how does that work?

 

Great wagon! I've been a fan of these since we had a 1972 Custom Cruiser growing up. A really cool wagon. They are very hard to find!

Would love to see/hear more about the LP conversion!

Matt

 

Hi everybody, thanks for all the positive reactions. Your gas is cheap, so I do not have to bring gas money. When the Delta is not driving, I am driving this wagon, and they use about the same.
Propane conversion is pretty simple. I have a 100 liter propane tank in the trunk, mounted securely. The propane is liquid, and through a line, it arrives at an evaporator. This makes gas out of the liquid. Then the gas goes through a hose, and into a mixer. The mixer mixes the gas and air. This mixture is sucked in by the carburettor. The only thing I use the carb for is the throtle body. Choke is disabled. The normal gas line is shut of by a switch in the car. When I run out of propane, I shut off the propane line, and open the gas line. Then the engine runs on normal gas. Because of the lower octane, I have to set the ignition time earlier. Most of the time I drive on propane, and so I set the timing for propane. On gas, the engine has a little less power because the ignition is off. The whole ignition system must be in good condition, or else you get knocking or backfire. Also the evapurator has to be connected to the heater hose, because heat is nececary to evaporate. When you take too much heat in the winter through the heater of the car, the evaporator can freeze, and the engine shuts. Running out of propane is strange too. Suddenly, the car is driving slower, and will not speed up anymore. Then after a few miles, it is over. Then I switch to gas, and go on.

There are many brands who make this LP equipment. I use the American Impco system. In California they have used it too. LP is a waste product, and therefore cheap. LP is a waste product in the proces of making regular gas for cars. Often, the LP is used in the farming world.

100_8776Small-1.jpg

My filler cap is behind the rear licence plate. I do not have a picture of the tank yet. LP is availible at most filling stations in the Netherlands, and is about as expensive as the gas price in the USA. Because my Delta is 25 years or older, it is exampt from taxing, or else I had to pay $200 a month on taxes, on top of the gas.

The cruiser will undergo the same thing. It will get converted, or I go into the poor house. Maybe I remove the gas tank, and mount a propane tank. I have to see how I will do it, however, it has to be out of sight.

 

wow thats crazy!!!! ive never heard of it b4!!

 

how much did you get the wagon for ? looks nice and once you drive it the delta will be parked.

 

Love your Delta, Love your Wagon.

Those CC's are hard to find around here too

I like the LP conversion. Our forklifts run on LP. Does it sound any different?

 

Nice car! I like the other one also. Our American cars are so nice looking in my opinion.

 

As some of you guys knew, I took a trip to the USA last year. I bought an 1971 Oldsmobile Custom cruiser, and drove through california and Oregon. In the End I am happy I bought the car. After some preventive rapairs, it turned out to be very reliable. I had a great time, and enjoyed the car. When i stayed at my brother, i fixed the tailgate, and some small stuff. I had a lot of positive reactions on the road. I did not need my AAA card. More talk later, here some pics.

Capital Record building

100_0961.jpg

Hollywood

100_0936.jpg

Golden gate

100_0585.jpg

Somewhere

100_0410.jpg

Streets of San Fransisco

100_0693.jpg

On route 1

033.jpg
036.jpg

The place who did an excellent job making my cruiser a reliable car. The bill was high, a lot got done. In comparison: parts are real cheap in the USA, here, everthing is 5x more expensive. Think shipping and taxing.

 

010.jpg

Cruising was nice. No strange noises or so. It was a comfertable ride. I did not have any problems. The engine does use some oil. I do not see smoke, engine runs smooth, and has plenty of power.

049.jpg

Running low on gas is not a good idea on route 1, so at this small station, i filled up. I was a friend at the gas station.

041.jpg

Bad switch caused the tailgate to quit.

101_0181.jpg

Found new gate stuff from a 1973 custom cruiser junker.

100_0885.jpg
100_0876.jpg

On interstate 5

100_0892.jpg

More pictures later. Have a nice day

 

awesome , love the wagon

 

Really cool. That will definately get you some looks when you get it home.

 

Here in the states we run our industrial motors off LPG. I think its cool that you got your car to run off it. How many km's can you go with your setup? And is your petrol setup still functioning?

 

I'm surprised LPG isn't more common in the US. Its very common in Canada. Most taxis, limos & delivery trucks run on LPG here.

 

Those two photos you showed of the beat-up CC are of another '71, I believe. It's not a '73 as I have one of those, and they do not have the vent grilles in the tailgate. Those appeared in '71 only, I believe.


I, too, love your photos and your story. My dad bought one of the first '71 Custom Cruisers sold by the Olds dealer he purchased it from in Rochester, New York. It was a "post-strike" car. To make sure he got it equipped just the way he wanted, he special ordered it as soon as the dealer would take orders for '71 models in the late summer of 1970, but before it could be delivered, the "big" GM strike began in September 1970 and lasted two months. We finally got the car in December or January, I believe, about 4 or 5 months after it was ordered.

I think my dad always felt that the car suffered for having been built either right after the strike or maybe even partly before the strike and the rest of it after. It just seemed to be put together sloppily, and by that I mean even more sloppily than GM was regularly noted for at the time. One thing I specifically remember about the car was that whenever you closed any of the doors, they sounded like you had just dropped a big can of nails. We never could find anything loose. Also, the compartment the tailgate would go into when lowered would fill with water after enough rain, and he had to take it to the dealer to get the drains unclogged, which seemed to have a tendency to get clogged easily.

I was 14 years old at the time and could not drive it, but I sure loved it. My dad would occasionally, when we got home from being out, stop in the driveway, get out, and let me pull it into the garage. It wasn't far, but I sure loved it!

We still had it when I turned 16 in February of 1973 and could get my learner's permit, but he kept it only until March of that year before trading it on a '73 Custom Cruiser, which is the car I did pretty much all my learning to drive on (and which I have another one of now!). That car never had a problem with water collecting in the tailgate compartment, and the doors sounded just fine when you closed them.

 

Hi Jaunty, I followed your posts as wel. Very nice wagon you have. Nice story you wrote about your dads 71. Mine was delivered in june 71. The doors close real nice, good sound. I know the 71 tailgate had water problems. I did not have this problem. In LA it was dry, and here it sits in the garage. I only take it out when the weather is nice. I also have a letter from Oldsmobile, thanking the first owner for the purchase. I do not have the protect o plate. And, it was a 73. It did have the 71 tailgate. I took one interior piece. This was more yellow colored, mine is real brown.

100_0872.jpg

The rear was filled with water, and there was much rust. If you need something, I have the adress. As for my car, I have to replace the transmission seal at the converter, and the rear axle. Further through cleaning of the engine compartment, and inside of doors. Since the car sits inside, I am not going to rustproof. Wat you see is what you get. I do not like a thick sticky layer...

100_0421.jpg

100_0442.jpg

Don't worry, she was easy on the paint. I like the American scene of the fifties. This was an abandent hotel on rout 97. There were more nice things by the road.

100_0456.jpg

And nice American food the American drive in way. The only drive through we have is the Mac Donalds

101_0201.jpg

 

in the last picture, you see the missing gate switch. I found one in the 73 cruiser. Till that time, I left it out of the dash, so I could close the gate with a wire if the rear switch went bad. It was not too good...

 

More great photos! Thanks.

Boy, that '73 in the junkyard doesn't look half bad from the front. That bumper looks beautiful. I don't really need anything except I could use the headlight trim on each side if it's not pitted. The ones in that photo, though, don't look any better than mine.

 

 

A wonderful example of one of the beautiful 1971 GM full-size cars. I think that the paint color of your car was one of the most striking offered for that model year.

I like the '71's because it was the pure, original design of the 1971 - 1976 generation. Facelifts during the years that followed frittered away some of the beauty of the original design.

I appreciate Jaunty75's comments about the strike against General Motors during the fall of 1970, shortly after introduction of the new 1971 models. My parents -- I was seventeen years old -- were highly-motivated to purchase a new '71 GM large car, and we actively shopped for cars like Electra 225's, Pontiac Grand Villes, etc. Unfortunately, the dealerships were unwilling to sell their cars even for full-price cash offers, needing them to attract orders for the time that production resumed. The car they ultimately purchased -- a 1971 Buick Centurion Formal Coupe (same concept as a Delta 88 Royale coupe) -- was built during the first week of December, 1970, immediately following the strike's conclusion. I still have the car!

 

Hi Centerion, nice story. I can not believe poeple are able to keep a car that long in a good condition. As for my station, the guy bought it new, kept it in the garage, and used it in the weekends. He drove Cadillacs. When he was not able to drive anymore, he sold the Cadillac, and kept the Cruiser. I will keep the car as nice as he did. It sits in the garage, and goes out on nice day's. For the daily commute I have a beater. I work at the navy, and the car sits close by the salt water. Also bird droppings go right through the paint.

My car is a post strike car. You people complain about workmanship on the cars. Here in Europe, it was no difference. The average car here, take a beetle, renault 4, Citroen 2cv could rust very well, and luxery and comfort were things they had to find out yet.

 

Nice ride.

 

nice wagon and car my brother had a station wagon im thinking same color and i had a78 delta 88 white real nice cars

 

Very nice cars, and looks like a great adventure. Thanks for sharing the fantastic photos of the ride, I found myself smiling while scrolling through this post.

 

Great collection of Olds ! If you ever wanna sell the 1971 Cruiser in Europe, I'm here!