1968 Oldsmobile Cutlass and Delta 88 Commercials

[machtlos]

When my grandfather died in 1981 my father took his 1968 Delta 88. This thing was the most impossible car imaginable. It was HUGE. You could not park it ANYWHERE let alone steer it around a crowded parking lot. And the fuel economy was a shame, even by 1968 standards. Something like 8mpg...but it was comfy and looked awesome. My dad sold it as soon as he could. He hated it.

[josaldinho1883]

to bad they dont made any more oldsmobile. I have always wanted own a 1969 oldsmobile

[zowiezowie777]

The image and sound is no good !!

[eddo1983]

Cars were cheaper back then even by todays standard...I mean adjusted inflation

[DontEverXrossme]

Um in my youngmobile!!

[bellier20]

When I was 7, My dad traded in our '65 Vista Cruiser for a big new Delmont 88 four-door, gold w/ a black vinyl top and interior.

Delmont was the cheap 88, below the fancier Delta 88 and WAYYYY below the 98. Great car though, pulled our big travel trailer around for 4 years.

[caleb6868]

Kdemonde me too lol I bought a 1968 olds cutlass 4 door a bought for $650 in 1983. Man what a luxury liner esp with the Rocket 350 V8

[428sj]

Finer that the finest woman in the world today!!!! ummmm...

[Jimboyc21]

Thanks for posting all are classic!

[andean89]

WOw! $2900 For an Olds! I'l take 10

[yolo1998]

They shoulda just called it 'youngsmobile' in the first place - how many times did they have to say ' young' to try to counteract the name 'oldsmobile'? haha

[McVaio]

By the way, my Grand Marquis also has that kind of hidden windshield wipers. Great details!

[McVaio]

Beautiful design!

[mercmarc]

If you did a shot every time they say young in a commercial you would be falling down.

[TheLizardKing1967]

Oldsmoblie says " Out of business in 2004" LAMO

[fabz77gp]

awww such beautiful cars. it seriously breaks my heart to see gorgeous cars like these (and my grand prix) discontinued.

[TheLizardKing1967]

Obamamobile says NO more Olds or Pontiac. LOL

[MiracleMileV8]

@TheLizardKing1967: Uh.............I'm sorry, but Obama has nothing to do with this.

Please, go troll elsewhere. Kthxbai :-p

[TheLizardKing1967]

@MiracleMileV8 . Are you proud of "Hope and Change" and 20% Unemployment. I bet you are one of the OBAMA babies drawing a check each month. You LOSER.

[MiracleMileV8]

@TheLizardKing1967: 'Obama babies'? I grew up in a solidly Republican family, thank you. {And yes, I am unemployed...........Have been since August '08.}

Now screw off and stop polluting this thread.

[Nieves57]

And to make a minority valet driver envious must be a good thing. Just gotta run right out and buy one if the valet attendant likes the car. No wonder they are out of business. Good old boys thinking they have their boys covetous--duh. By the way, the 67 Delmont belonged to Teds mother.

[bluedoris]

I love this ad' I bought my 68 ,4 door cutlass 350cu in UK, (1984) for £2000pounds(uk) no utube then!

its all original, been garaged all its life , now living in south of France,

dont intend selling it  I am 63 now. (want to go back to UK I'm homesick, life's not

always greener!)

[rever65]

it's beyond me that a company that had the no.1 selling car in the U.S.( Cutlass mid 70s-mid 80s) would sacrifice their oldest division. what the hell were they thinking?

[rever65]

back in 86 my first job was at a grocery store gathering up shopping carts all day/nite long and would spot all types of auto oddities. one that sticks out was a dark green, metalflake! 68 Delta 4dr ht with sidepipes and Cragars! and the driver was old, at least 60! i thought it was cheesy at the time, but today, with the 70s mods, i would love it!

[rever65]

kudos to you for running these commercials. how did you attain them? back in 78-79 (10 yrs old) my friend and i used to love playing in his mom's dk green 68 delta coupe. sadly, it took an ugly hit in the rear that fall and they replaced it with an 80 98 sedan. i learned to drive in a white 82 98 regency(and experienced my first and last tire blowout in one!) loved the shot of the guy with the tomato red jacket in a tomato red Olds!

[hulkas442]

vistacruiser67, great job! New generations of enthusiasts are seeing these ads for the first time.

Some described these ads as 'cheesy'. I guess they are when compared to ads of today. Today, cars have it all over the cars in these ads, from a tech/perf/economy standpoint.

That said, how many car songs are written today? Where's "Little GTO", "409", "SS396" for today's cars? Where's the love affair we had with our cars back then? It's gone. I respect 2days cars, but nothing close to love.

[dylaantheranga]

no ads for the 69 delta 88 royale prob rarest olds me nd dad restoring 1 atm only left hand drive delta 88 royale in australia

[kosmosleha]

I'll take that young mobil :)

[SuperMike1955]

i remember seeing Cutlass Models coming off the assembly line in Lansing back in '68 thru early 70's. Dad worked and retired at Olds. Our drivers's ed courses at high school used 88's and cutlass.

[365degrees]

OLDS I OWNED- 71' CUT "S" $900 IN 79 70' Delta 88 $500 IN 76. IT HAD 20,000 MILES, 455-4BBL .76' 98 REGENCY $1200 IN 84 76' CUTLASS BROUGHAM $400 IN 91 (WINTER CAR BUT EXCELLENT EXCEPT FOR A LITTLE RUST) 79' CUTLASS BROUGHAM $2000 IN 87 80' DELTA 88 $2600 IN 85 87 TORONADO TROFEO $5500 IN 94 90 TORONADO BROUGHAM $1200 IN 04 THINK I LIKE OLDSMOBILES? I WILL BE ADDING TO THE LIST. ALL THESE CARS WERE IN EXCELLENT RUNNING CONDITION AND DROVE CROSS COUNTRY IN MOST OF THEM.

[Kingjamesif]

Great cheesy commercials! I'm looking into getting a 68 delta 88 myself! It has a 2 barrel 455 but hopefully that will all change! Great commercials

[Migsoon]

Never worked out as the damn things don't float. Kennedy finally got GM to quit making them.

[vistacruiser67]

July 1969 Ted Kennedy Chappaquiddick Oldsmobile was a 67 Delmont.  They burned down the courthouse and crushed the car.

[RabidKoala]

@vistacruiser67 Why was Red Ted driving a cheap car like that???

[vistacruiser67]

@RabidKoala The 1967 Olds Delmont was registered in his mom's name.

[kdemonde]

My very first car was a 68 Cutlass 4-Door, i bought it for $50 in 1982, i was 15 at the time. The radio didn't work so i put a small little boom box on the bottom of the floor. The heat didn't work well either, i bought it in January snd it was cold back in 1982 so i had to wait for the car engine to warm up for the heat to progress. It had a 350 Rocket engine which was fast, it had power windows that didn't work well when it was really cold and $15 dollars would fill it up back then.. memories!

[5biglynx0]

i got 4door 68 cutlass right now

[kdemonde]

WOW! that's great, you can't find the 68 4-doors anymore very rare. All i see are the 442's and regular coupes, i haven't even seen a photo of the 4-door cutlass. Could you send me some pics? let me know and i will give you my e-mail address.

[MiracleMileV8]

@kdemonde: Hey, sometimes you gotta make do........I got kinda lucky, though ;-).

[mansonrkmc]

A friend of mine had an Olds DelMonte. Never seen another one since. It was like an 88.

[columbusmediatalk]

Oldsmobile suits always seemed self-conscious about having an "old" image. They should have worried more about the product and the image would have taken care of itself.

[themx83]

does he say glass? oldsmobiles have real glass? lol

[vistacruiser67]

He said class not glass.

[demarcos69]

Wow how cheesy were these commercials

[RoundenBrown]

"Oldsmobile, Youngmobile."

I died laughing.

[MikeyL]

This is hilarious.

[JET997u]

Oldsmobile really tried double-hard to disassociate itself from the connotation of the word "old" inside its name. The Youngmobile theme got carried to extremes in the late 60s.

[NDrLoR]

"I was impressed about how much faster the non air cars were"

They only tested two cars, both equipped with AC--but they ran tests with the AC running, then turned off. With respect to the torque converters, all Buicks/Olds/Cadillacs '65-'67 had switch-pitch converters, meaning the vains would switch to a higher stall angle under part-throttle. I had a '67 Delta 88 in the late '80s and loved this feature in conjunction with the 425. This feature was discontinued in '68.

[NDrLoR]

Buick had first used the switch-pitch device in their non-shfting Dynaflows in 1955 to give it a semblance of a passing gear--it was so successful it was then applied to the two-speed autos in Cutlasses and Skylarks in '64, then the new Turbo-Hydramatic 400's from '65-'67--this feature was never used in Pontiacs of Chevies.

[NDrLoR]

I remember in I think March or April of 1968 Motor Trend ran a story called Econoperfoleration which stood for Economy/Performance/Accelerati­on. It explained how the principle of a big engine turning slowly that had been applied so successfully in '67 to the Turnpike Cruiser was now being applied to the '68s with the advent of the 455 driving a 2.56 axle ratio. They compared Delta 88's from '67 and '68 both with and without the AC running--the '68 was the fastest and most economical.

[vistacruiser67]

Yeah I remember reading that article in the late 80s. I think I still have it somewhere but couldnt find it to save my life. You jogged my memory because I was impressed about how much faster the non air cars were. It prompted me to take the ac belt off a 72 Cutlass 4dr I had at the time with a 350 2bbl. They make the 68s sound so much superior to the 67s. Seems like something was different about the torque converters too. I also remember the term Econoperfoleration.

[MikeyL]

Oh, the commercial is hilarious! Oldsmobile, Youngsmobile...... but that's what advertising was then - cheesy. Nice cars though!

[angusthethird]

I used to think of the Delta as the 98's feminine side, the LeSabre as the Electra 225's feminine side, and so it goes...

[retrojoet]

Really like those Delta 88's. Lots of people ordered that tilt&telescoping steering wheel, mainly because of its novelty. People did hate the hidden wipers (leaf and snow/ice buildup) and the rim-blow steering wheel (you basically had to drive with just your fingertips touching the outer surface). Even worse was 1969, when they eliminated the vent windows and "hid" the antenna in the glass - talk about MAD AS HECK customers! Olds built some damn fine cars, though!

[327caprice]

Groovy car, But I'm simply gonzo about the mod wallpaper at 4:48 Don't know what it is that makes me love it so? , Dusty Springfield!

[violet2048]

I had a 68 Olds Delta Custom. It had a 455 cubic inch engine that could flat out move that old boat. And talk about Comfort, Cross Country driving was a real pleasure.

[NDrLoR]

So did I--bought in '71 with 23K miles on it. Coupe, maroon/white top, bucket seats, floor shift, 4 bbl 455, tilt wheel, power windows/seats.

[cat4forlife]

American car commercials are very corny sheeeeesh!

[violet2048]

especially the old ones.

[ionosphere1]

The glory days of GM!!!!

[prideventures]

Ha Ha Ha did you hear when he said economy.....13 mpg instead of 8 mpg I guess....guess that .38 per gallon was killing them back then....the couple at the end can't be that young....they sleep in different beds LOL

[harley145000]

damn, i was 4 years old

[queensplazasouth]

GM let all their brands languish except for Chevrolet and Cadillac.Pontiac does good somehow despite poor management Prior to 1985 Olds was the best selling car in the United States.What happened 1985-1988?Olds, along with the rest of GM (except for full size Chevys and Fleetwood/Broughams),switched to Front Wheel Drive,along with(further)downsized bodies.While GM engineers and builds the finest front wheel drive cars in the world,nothing beats the GM B/C full size RWD cars and A/G midsize cars

[tokyofreaky]

can't wait for the 73-74 cutlass videos. Some of olds slogans seemed kind of silly for such a nice car.

[Handiman544]

I think the operative word here is "YOUNG"....MMMMMM....YOUNG. God, these commercials were so full of it.

[MayanEndTimeDec2012]

My father had a 1968 Delta 88 4-door. I loved that car. So much power and comfort.

[regency98us]

My Delta 88 has a horn like the 68 Delta.. so authoritative!

[xvmon1]

2.5K for that CAR any time

[dtrks80]

Thank GM corporate management with those corporate minded so-called marketing pro's for turning this once great car into an boring old granny mobile by the early 90's.The final cars from olds were so boring,no one even gave them a second look.You just see em' then don't see em'.

[wildwest45067]

They should have kept Olds and dropped Buick. I have a Cutlass with almost 200,000 miles. Buick sales are really down l guess the elderly can only buy so much.

[NDrLoR]

"turning this once great car into an boring old granny mobile by the early 90's."

"Not your father's Oldsmobile" of the 50's/60's would have blown the doors off the 90's models!

[1967PmdGto]

"Not your father's Oldsmobile" of the 50's/60's""""""""

YES. Those "This is not your father's Oldsmobile" commercials of the 90s REALLY pissed me and a lot of customers off, and some believe it may have even LOST customers. I used to sit their laughing saying --- let Mr. V6 pull up to "your father's Oldsmobile" in an early 70s 455 Delta, see what happens mother F___r!

I have a 96 Bonneville 3.8, I love it compared to smaller 90s foreign crap, but I dont dare compare it to the old stuff.

[365degrees]

Love your comment. Even in 76../A friend had a 76'-Grand Prix with the 350. I had a 71' Cutllass "S" with the 350 rocket. He drove my car one day and couldn't believe the power my car had over his. I am in no way critisizing the GP as they were always my favorite car. I am saying the late 60-early-70' motors were more powerful. Was it 73 or 74 the emissions,etc. started? I would bet 72' was the last year for the huge power.

[1967PmdGto]

365 no insult taken towards the GP (which I love) at all, your statement is 100% true. As you move forward in time from say 1970, A 400 engine becomes only as powerful as a 350 was in 1970, and even farther in time - some of the last smogger 455s were only as powerful as a 350 in 1970, or worse! In college my 1973 GP (that I still own) had a 400. Another guy had a mint condition 77 with a 400, same body/weights.  The rated HP about 50 more for mine and it seemed to perform even better than 50.

[365degrees]

Now you're talking! When I started driving my dad owned a 73' GP with the 400-4bbl

Loved that triple black car.

On a rainy night I brought it upto 130 mph

you couldn't even hear the wipers it was so smooth

[MiracleMileV8]

@1967PmdGto: I'd also like to point out that according to one article I read{wish I could remember the source, though}, that, especially in the early days, a lot of these cars' horsepower was often significantly underrated{one extreme case I can think of is the 1974-76 Trans Ams. Apparently a very small number of these cars made about 370..........maybe even beyond!}.

[1967PmdGto]

Emissions, oh boy. 1968 - heads became open chamber, not closed, but it didn't hurt power. Some California cars had EGR power robbing intakes as early as 68. 1971 - compression on most GM cars drops to the mid 8s from 10 to 1, it didn't really hurt Olds/Pontiac/Buick engines as bad which relied on torque to perform. 1973 - EGR intakes that don't flow, & I know on Pontiac smaller valves w/heads that don't flow. 1975 another HP drop, cat converters, & I know on Pontiac compression down to 7.6.

[1967PmdGto]

I've always considered 1972 the last for huge power (some 73-74s are OK, not huge), because of that BS that started in 73 - the bad flowing heads/intakes & EGR, etc.

On Pontiac for power - we don't touch heads/intakes after 1972. The only exception was the rare 73-74 SD455 TAs which used pre 73 heads/valves/cam, EVERYTHING except for it's 8.4 to 1 comp was genuine late 60s Pontiac, which is why it was a true low/mid 13 car stock, even quicker than the late 60s 400 TA because it was a 455.

[markmarshall39]

GOD I LOVE THIS STUFF!!!!!

[JET997u]

Love seeing the car commercials of the late 60s. Great cars, great marketing. So much more interesting than the ads on TV today....

[markmarshall39]

i know what your saying jet.peace.

[oldsrocketscientist]

this is great!! please keep these videos up

[VB13]

Thanks again vistacruiser67. " The commercials are both informative and educational " ;)But seriously " GREAT JOB "

[MotoRooter]

Oh man!

More great Oldsmobile commercials! !

These are sweet! Please keep them coming vistacruiser67! I can't get enough! I never get tired of looking at these. Thank you for sharing these with us.

[VB13]

Thanks for posting these commercials , and thanks for the " heads-up"

VIC

[lance62]

Keep on uploading these great commercials, i can't get enough.

[OLDS98]

Thanks for adding these commercials!! Keep up the good work. I hope to see ALL of them and ALL the Oldsmobile models.

[vistacruiser67]

Ive got 61 to 74. Im thinking of uploading the full size cars from 70-72 and then some 73 and 74 Cutlasses. Thank you.

[1967PmdGto]

Torque (peaking at 3200rpm in 67 to 1600rpm in 68): ""And they do it at lower rpm"" the man says, LOL. I LOVE IT! Thanks! I bet that stroke going up to 4.250 inches on the 455 in 68 from around slightly under 4 on the 425 in 67, helped the lower rpm range!

[vistacruiser67]

How about the prices on the Cutlass? $2,512 to $2,982.

[1967PmdGto]

Ya, if I had me a time machine to go back and buy one perfect new condition, think of the 10s of 1000s I'd save over one perfectly restored today.

[NDrLoR]

This was when a dollar was still worth something--just before the Great Inflation of the 70's destroyed the worldwide economy.

[NDrLoR]

Driving through a 2.56 axle, those '68 455's were loafing along at about 1,900 RPM at 70 with gobs of reserve on hand! All that was gone 10 years later with V-6's standard in Delta 88's at twice the price--so much for progress! The beginning of the end.

[1967PmdGto]

Hell yeah, you're speaking my language. I hear ya on a 455 and 2.56. In 1988 I blewup my 3.23 on a 73 455 Grandprix, too big of a job for me at time. Moms mechanic friend thru in a rear from a 77 junkyard econ Grandprix. After putting tape on the driveshaft & monitoring the turns for 1 wheel turn, it turned slightly less than 2.5 times. I had a 2.41! The speedo was accelerating slower than hell, I was depressed. Come to find out, the speedo got thrown off, 60 on the speedo was now really 78mph.

[1967PmdGto]

After correcting speedo perfectly, I hadn't really lost acceleration, I then liked 2.41s better in a lot of ways. I only gained top end! From 20mph and up, no acceleration loss. I found from 0-20 my car might (I say might) have dropped from 1.8 secs to 1.9. Does even better burn outs once the wheels break loose because the 2.41 causes higher speeds. Goes about 80mph in Low, 0-60 in an honest 6.0, my friends call it the HWY ENFORCER. Still have the car! GTO Heads, Cam, Tuning, etc.

[NDrLoR]

455's and the like are not high-speed engines--they do have high HP, but are specifically designed to produce max pulling power (torque) between 1,500-2,500 RPM. That's why they are so nice and relaxed at 70-80 MPH and don't have to constantly down-shift for every little speed increase like modern V-6's and 4 cylinders. We've lost a lot of engineering progress over the last 30 years--high revving little engines may make high horsepower, but they can't produce effortless, low-speed torque.

[1967PmdGto]

PS, I have a crappy 1973 EGR intake, but have a 1968 sitting on a shelf. This would add significant difference. I know because I had another friend do this swap and it added lots of performance. It's also choking thru 2 inch factory duals, I need to upgrade that too.

PS 2, My first car was a 77 Olds wagon with a 403 in the 80s in high school, had all emissions removed, a shift kit, super tuned. I had that sleeper beating most cars in the school! & It too, had a high ass rear end like a 2.56.

[NDrLoR]

I don't have an Olds now, but have the 4th '77 Mercury Grand Marquis I've owned since 1985. They have all had 460's with a 2.50 axle--arguably the stoutest big block from the 60's or 70's. It only has 202 rated net HP, but so much torque it can pull effortlessly from 35-70 without down-shifting, then turning only about 1,900 RPM. I owned an all-original '67 GTO convertible from '80-'89--sold it for $12K to buy a '53 Cadillac, which I still have.