VCCA Home Forums GENERAL DISCUSSION General Discussions Not a Chevy, but a cool GM anyway

Unique car and story;

http://www.kingoftheroad.net/59olds/olds-2.html

Gator
You wont find too many others in that condition of any make.
Tony

That is what I thought...all of us dream of finding a car in this kind of condition. You know the...'only driven by a little old lady to church on Sunday'. LOL

That is a fabulous car! We had as family cars, at one time, a 1956 Oldsmobile 88 and a 1963 Oldsmobile 88. Both were great road cars and well built! At present we have a low mileage 1984 Royal 88 that we use as a family car and there is no comparison to the other two Oldsmobiles that we had. The '84 is a nice road car but it is gutless and it is not as fun to drive as both the '56 and the '63 Oldsmobiles were. :( :(

The '59 and JYD's '56 & '63 are "your daddy's Oldsmobile" and I don't see anything wrong with that...IMHO. Never cared for the new saying of "this isn't your daddy's Oldsmobile", sent the wrong message in my opinion.

Really like the roofline on the '59 above. Sorta looks like the 'flat top' haircut which was popular then.

Were the Olds one step up from Buicks and right below Caddys?

In general the GM model line went.....

Chevrolet - Pontiac - Oldsmobile - Buick - Cadillac.

However, the "top" model of one could be "bigger" or "better" than the "bottom" model of the next one.

Bill.

This is just about the time period that I became interested in cars.

What great years for GM those where. Also, what a change from the 58's. Seems like every year there was major changes in body design. We couldn't wait to see what the next year's model would look like.

My Uncle Frank worked at the Olds/Caddy plant in Linden, NJ and he would allways tell us that the new Models were better looking and bigger than last years.

The Linden, NJ GM assembly plant is essentially closed, but not officially (the last S10 was produced months ago) but the workers are still being paid, because of the GM union contract, until sometime next year. My office is across the highway from the factory. The crooked mayor of Linden is itching to get his hands on the property for yet another shopping mall. In its glory days I had a tour of the plant in the 60's when they were still building Cadillacs.

Yeah Greg, My Uncle worked there for years. His wife, now in her late 80's was still getting some of his pension.

I believe Linden built the Eldorado and Monte Carlo there. Toronado too ?

Yes, the Eldorado, Toronado and Riviera were built there from 79 to 85. Back in the 60's I believe they built DeVilles and 98's, maybe Electras too, I'm not sure. I was 8 or 9 in the mid 60's when I had a tour with my Boy Scout troop, but it had a lasting impression. My father sold sandpaper to the plant so he had the connections to get a behind the scenes tour.
Greg

Had GM persisted with the "There's a Rocket For Every Pocket" ad instead of the "Not Your Father's Oldmobile", we could still be seeing the grand old oldsmobile on dealers lots. Our 50 Olds 98 2 door hartop is one heck of a car.mike

That is a truly incredible car!

If interested, here is another one - a website devoted to a nearly perfect, very low miles, original 1960 Buick convertible.

http://hometown.aol.com/equipoise60/60buickhomepage.html

That's an awesome car too!

great stories, made better by the fact that they are now being cared for by people that really appreciate & committed to keeping them exactly as they were...


epi

Great cars!

Remember when I was a kid and how excited we (all the males in the family anyway) were when the new models were unveiled each fall....trips to the dealerships at night to see the new ones...windows with paper over them so no one could see inside. Going from one dealership to another and popping the hoods and checking out the details...cool.

Where has all of that excitement gone to with the 'cookie cutter' cars of today?

I think a lot of the new model interest is satisfied on the internet. Lots of info on the www prior to the car(s) even being available. Also most of the "interesting" new cars can be seen at big "auto shows" even before actual production begins.

For example the '03 SSR, the '05 C-6 Corvette, etc. etc.

These days it seems the local dealership is pretty far down the line for getting info about "new" cars.

Bill.

My wife bought a new Malibu Maxx this spring.

In my opinion these dealers today might as well be selling washing machines or TV's.

They know nothing about the car or model that they are selling. For the most part they just want the sale without knowing the product.

Maybe that's why Dealerships are not into big unveilings.

I would hate to think it's also the product. I saw that a few years ago, but now some of the new Chevy models should get a good introduction.

You might be right about that...they are just sales people not car people....and the turnover in car sales people is very high. The owner of the dealerships seem to change a lot also.

Seemed like in the 'older' days the sales people know their product and were there year after year, and the dealership was owned by a local person/s for several generations.

It would seem the "description" ( as noted in the previous few posts ) of car sales people, dealerships, ownership of dealerships and so on is indeed as it was in the "older days."

That no longer seems to be the case. Particularly in larger metropolitan areas. Probably the same even in the smaller size communities.

I'd think most folks would think that's "too bad" and would miss the way it used to be.

Bill.

In our case the salesman left the cubical to get a price from his boss. This was after my wife and I figured out all the options, trim levels and whatever else we wanted in the car. All he did was supply an inventory list, and we asked for prices on a few of them from that inventory, provided he could locate the ones we wanted to see.

He came back with the numbers and my wife had to remind him that we came in for the advertised offer from the Automobile Club. (AAA) He left again and came back and said that there was no change to the price so we got out of our seats and put on our jackets. My wife asked to see the manager before we left so she can give him a piece of her mind.

The manager sat down and tried to double talk us into his final deal. He offered free oil changes for a year and took off another $100. We got up and said good by.

He then begged us to reconsider and said he would make us another deal that he would give to his Mother! Ha...my wife and I are laughing out loud now and low and behold he dropped the price by $3,000.00!!!!

To end this story, my wife bought the car and she loves it. It turns out that that last final offer was the same offer all the dealerships gave starting in June. The GM employee discount!

I guess he figured the same profit given the GM insentive offered within the next few months.

Man-oh-man, just think how much money somebody could make by running a dealership in a way that didn't give potential buyers a head ache or acid indigestion or both!!! You know, just treat folks like they were normal human beings.

I wonder why it's so hard for 'them' to figure that out???

I guess my thinking must be "too simple." Altho I don't see what's wrong with my idea. I guess I'll certainly never know..........

Bill.

Cars and trucks are going retro...why not dealerships?

One dealer we stopped at before buying the Maxx LT was a Pontiac Dealer to check out the G6 GT. Pritty cool car for my wife. The Salesman was fresh from Ireland and this kid new his product and all the performance options. His deal was the GM Employee Discount with free oil changes for the life of the ownership. The highway was all tore up in front of his place so I guess they started the incentive early.
My wife liked the car but thought it was too cool, and wanted the Maxx because it has more room for running around town.

Yes Gator this kid had the old style but he was the only one that I could relate to after visiting five dealers in my area. Too bad.

The Buick dealer that I have been dealing with for years does things the way that keeps me and many others coming back. NO HIGH PRESSURE. They know about the cars, the promos, etc, and are a REAL pleasure to deal with. When I bought my last car from them in July, I asked them why GM hasn't pressured them to move to a highway location (they are an in town, single line dealer). He replied that the GM did approach them, but since they sell more Buicks, by far, than any other dealer in the area, and carry such a high reputation, they are staying put. It doesn't hurt that they are in an old established wealthy suburb where a "starter home" is about a half million dollars.
It seems that they are the exception, not the rule as far as dealers go.