Minneapolis Street Sighting: Oldsmobile Delta 88 Royale two door

I love Oldsmobiles; I can't help it. Obviously, some of the more modern Oldsmobiles do absolutely nothing for me (I'm looking in your direction Acheiva, Aurora, Alero, etc but the older cars interest me quite a bit. I have a strange fascination with cars of the Malaise-era and no one did it better than GMs as far as the domestic cars go. Big engines with decent performance potential, a wide selection of bodystyles, and parts interchangeability made the GM vehicles of this era last exponentially longer than their Ford or Mopar counterparts.

I have always liked the Delta 88 lineup of Oldsmobiles, especially the two-doors. The car looks badass, and even the name sounds cool. I don't care for the 1990s Delta, but the RWD ones are too cool; obviously I dig the 1970s ones most, but the 1980s two-doors are pretty close on the coolness scale. Unfortunately, not many are left stock. Here (as well as the deep south), these cars succumb to the donking trend more often than not, so finding a nice one is getting increasingly hard.

But that's exactly what occurred this past summer; out of nowhere, it showed up parked on a side street--and I did a double take. I've never seen one this clean--even in Lawrence; I did shoot a clean four door quite a while ago, but this two-door is where it's at.

Cars like this are pretty rare in my area for a few reasons; as I explained above, donk customizing has gotten the best of most of the non-rusted ones left; and that's a shame because these look very nice when well preserved. And this one was--quite so.

The paint looks absolutely pristine; no evidence of any non-stock additions, rust or otherwise; even the often-torn vinyl roof is still intact--and in great shape to boot. Whitewall tires and wire hubcaps certainly make this car stand out--and make it stand the test of time as well. I'm not quite sure how old this example is, but I would guess it's a pre-1985 car judging by the lack of third brakelight.

Obviously I didn't open the doors, so a mere glimpse inside is all I had--and it appears that this Olds does duty as a well preserved daily driver; hell it's got groceries on the floor for crying out loud. If that doesn't say "daily driver", I don't know what does.

This thing would be classified as a classic by me; it's a nice car, it's old enough that it isn't common, and despite the bling crowd, these big coupes do have a cult following. I wish more car enthusiasts took notice and saved these before they all go extinct.