Last night my friend Dave Smith posted this vintage ad on his FB group, the American Brougham Society. It was apparently a one-of-one 1980 Olds Ninety-Eight convertible. Pretty cool. And it made me think of the possibilities if GM had made ’80 Electra and Coupe de Ville convertibles back then.
But that was all later. My juvenile brain picked out the name of the dealer before processing anything else.
Well, at least his name wasn’t Harry. So, anyone out there in RG-land know of any unintentionally funny dealer names? Feel free to chime in, if so.
Photo: Dave Smith/The American Brougham Society
By the way, the car still exists. Cool!
I had a green four door 1978 Oldsmobile Regency 98 with the green top. While everyone made fun of me for having a “boat”, it drank gas like it was going out of style, and no one parked near those doors made of real steel lest they open too wide, which car did everyone want to pile into for open lunch at school. Still love that car and it never left me stranded.
A convertible like this one would have raised the cool factor.
We did take my car to the $5 a carload drive in on Friday’s and piled in a ton of people and lawn chairs in the spacious trunk. The late 80’s were a good time to be alive.
Thank you for posting
and it landed in our wee Province of Manitoba, it’s a small world after all…
my dad had an early ’80’s, triple green, 4 door diesel Regency which grenaded at ~25,000 miles, thankfully still on some kinda warranty
A friend had a 1979 Regency 98 sedan with a 6.6 liter/403 ci V8. I was shocked when I read the decal under the hood in 1986; as most GM sedans were lucky to have a 305 or 307 by the time I got my license, and nothing about the car’s performance suggested it had a large displacement engine. Nonetheless, it seems a shame that GM and Chrysler had abandoned full-sized convertibles by 1977. This generation GM boat was much more efficiently packaged than anything they called a full-size since 1958, so they would have made great parade rides. If you look at all the giant convertible options buyers had less than a decade earlier, you can see that we’ve been letting the government diminish our country for many decades.
If only the parents of your charming friends could have spotted their promise and the joy your friends would bring to the world, they wouldn’t have been saddling them with their hand me down parade floats. I mean a freaking 403 that won’t go vroom vroom adequately for CJ, how embarrassing to CJ’s father. Instead there would have been grand spanking new Siroccos all around, Oh My! EXCUSE ME, new Accords all around. They were all in the know.. after all.
The father whose company car the Oldsmobile had been moved through a nasty Buick Century into Volvo 760s and then Mercedes-Benz S-classes. I guess he wasn’t too impressed either.
If world class son had managed to get the keys to the 760 and raised the hood for his import humping friends, I wonder which engine would have wowed more than a 403 where you expected a 307. The ancient red block, turboed like a k car because the car gained weight. The super VW turbo diesel. Or perhaps the French V8 that had two cylinders sawed off. Any old port in the storm of sad. Pre Porsche inline six, that car desperately needed the domestic V8 conversion.
A Volvo is an inherently cowardly car for a man to drive, so I wouldn’t have cared if it was a turbo or a PRV.
Says the man plotting his escape to the mosquito coast in a 14 year old Honda that has been carefully protected from the revelation of the phrase, “Better get Maaco!”. I imagine coke and darky hookers are cheap there and nobody will hassle you for not waxing your car or building on the foundation your God, your parents, or your country gave you.
The 98 Regency seems an odd choice to base a “look at me ” convertible. The serious but unpretentious exterior combined with then new levels of luxury on the interior that the owner could enjoy privately. Back then there was a big market for that among local smaller town bank presidents, clergy, and factory managers that small towns so miss the services of.
If they had only installed a continental kit they would have increased the “look at me” factor by 100%.
I suppose it is too late to send that memo to Mr. Butts.
I got to drive a 1974 Pontiac Grand Ville convertible a few years ago. Beautiful car, amazing ride, but Lord, what a ponderous boat it was compared with any of the downsized-for-’77 B-bodies.
This 98 convertible is beautiful, even with the top up. I didn’t realize the world needed ’77-’91 B-body convertibles until today. Make mine an ’80 Caprice Classic, please. Tom, thanks for sharing.
Dealer names.
Well, not too far from me, is Don K Chevrolet.
Not funny…until you consider his web page, which is http://www.donk.com
He puts his name on used cars, too…some of them are donks, and some of them are hoopties.
There used to be a Larry Costly Chevrolet down here in Miami, I always thought that was a bad name for a car dealer, it became a more generic “Sun Chevrolet” later……
I’ve seen photos of an “Impala Ford” and a “Mustang Chevrolet” dealers…..
https://th.bing.com/th/id/R.3ed40d026b7eaf6bc1972f8ce26b199d?rik=dlM6cX7LBQ72rA&riu=http%3a%2f%2ftopclassiccarsforsale.com%2fuploads%2fphotoalbum%2f1985-chrysler-lebaron-convertible-turbo-mark-cross-package-k-car-garage-kept-3.JPG&ehk=1DetgtLITtCVhAupQNQL%2btKwkuxRQEVLekkRaAvVnqQ%3d&risl=&pid=ImgRaw
Looks a lot like a K Car convertible from that angle.
In Lakewood, Ohio – where I lived for some years – there was a Cadillac dealer.
Cadillac by DeLorean, announced the sign. Yeah, THAT DeLorean. John’s kid brother.
And, of course, officially or not, John surely got him the franchise.
All well and good, and the way that business is. Until John went rogue, and then, Full Retard.
Imagine, in 1982, with John DeLorean’s face in every newspaper, and David E. Davis making jokes about his old friend John’s new career as an importer of controlled substances…imagine having his name over your “prestige” car dealership. And knowing…everyone just KNOWS.
You would think little brother rolling in dough thanks to nepotism would have meant John would have had a discreet place to go during a cash crunch. That way the coke could have just stayed for personal “ethical” use.
DeLorean also had his own Cadillac dealership for a few years in Lighthouse Point FL after leaving GM in 1974.
I don’t think even a very successful Cadillac dealership would have had the finances to keep DMC going….
Here in Michigan I’ve seen a few:
Lunghamer Buick-GMC-Chevrolet in Waterford. Sounds like an outcast weapon or warrior from Norse mythology.
Krapohl Ford in Mt. Pleasant is my favorite…the best place to guy a Ford is Krapohl, because then you get the problem circled AND labeled!
There’s a Tinney Chevrolet in Western Michigan. I would never buy a car there. Who would want a tinny car?