Minneapolis Street Sighting: Oldsmobile 98 Regency Diesel

With all the talk lately about how Oldsmobiles are the most common make for older cars here, I figured I should post one soon; so here it is. I have a thing for "rare" cars, and then there's rare. Diesel technology in the late 1970s and early 1980s was nowhere near what it is today--but that didn't stop GM from trying it out. Rather than spend money making a few decent smaller cars, the firm decided it would be an awesome idea to have its bigger cars powered by a diesel--which wasn't a bad idea in itself; rather, the execution was piss pood, and as a result, not only was fuel economy rather dismal, performance was.. somehow even less exciting than the petrol versions of the said car. Slow, wallowy, and soft-riding, complete with the clatter of a 1960s-era city bust at stoplights.

In an era where Oldsmobiles were presented as luxury cars without the luxury price-tag, offering a diesel probably wasn't the best idea.  And both car magazines and the buying public agreed; very few diesel GMs were sold new, and even less remain today. I'm not even sure if this one is still powered by a diesel, let alone the standard 305 diesel.

In any event, this is a fairly boring car that was kept in nice-enough shape to warrant attention; and because I did pay attention, I found a pretty rare beast--even by Oldsmobile standards.

 As I said above, this 98 is a fairly boring car; I still see these from time-to-time in less than stellar condition; I took a close peek at this one since it was the most interesting car on the block, and I'm glad I did.  The paint was immaculate, with absolutely no indication of rust or rot anywhere--a sure sign that this thing has been babied from day one.

The only thing that leads me to believe this Regency may not be stock still is the dual exhaust; although the pipes appear to stock size, I don't know whether dual exhaust was an option on the diesels; if this thing was still a diesel, it'd be one rare piece. Even if the diesel did get chucked in favor of a petrol engine, this thing is still a nice car.

I normally don't give these Oldsmobiles a second glance, but for some reason, my gut told me to shoot this--and I'm glad I did; I haven't seen a diesel GM car since.