Fall back on some car spotting for November (2022)

[trinacriabob]

This has been a larger and older GM sort of weekend.

Yesterday, I saw a powder blue Olds Toronado with a white top.  That meant it was a '75.  It was spotless.  I couldn't take a photo.  I waved at its driver.  He waved back.

This morning, I saw a mid 1990s' Olds Ninety Eight Regency of the variety @NINETY EIGHT REGENCY has.  I saw it coming up on me in the fast lane on the freeway.  I saw that it was silver.  When it caught up with me, its interior was burgundy.  But I already knew this is my favorite color combo for a vehicle.  This was another immaculate GM car.  For a split second, with its lack of finning at its rear, it almost resembled a small Lincoln Town Car from the rear. 

"Cathedrale roulante," baby.

Within the last half hour, I saw a '76 or '77 Cadillac Eldorado convertible - white-white-white leather interior sitting perpendicular to me at a light.

We're talking about times when nothing was cookie cutter.

 

[NINETY EIGHT REGENCY]

Great post. People have said for years that the back of the Ninety Eight looks like a Cadillac or a Lincoln.  I have heard different stories over the years. I heard  GM designers and industry people say that Oldsmobile styling was influenced by Cadillac as the GM divisions underneath Cadillac trying to aim for Cadillac. I must admit the back of the 1990's  Ninety Eight and Lincoln Town Car are quite similar. The taillamps are very telling. It can also be said the late 1980's and 1990's New Yorker/LHS and Ninety Eight also looked similar

See this intro from an 80's tv series:

 

[Robert Hall]

Took a drive down south past Tappan Lake and over to Steubenville for some of my favorite childhood food, then back home.   Beautiful 70 degree weather, though most of the trees down there have lost their leaves.   Saw these two vintage Corvettes at a rest area at the lake..chatted briefly w/ the owners.. a '60 and '66.

On the way home last night got passed by a dark red Lamborghini Huracan followed closely by a dark blue Ferrari 488 Itala. 

[trinacriabob]

15 hours ago, NINETY EIGHT REGENCY said:

Great post. People have said for years that the back of the Ninety Eight looks like a Cadillac or a Lincoln. 

I must admit the back of the 1990's  Ninety Eight and Lincoln Town Car are quite similar. The taillamps are very telling.

See this intro from an 80's tv series

Yes, from this vantage point, it sort of does have the taillamp bar of this Town Car. though the front very much remained '90s Oldsmobile.

As for the video clip, it's all there - there's both a "cathedrale roulante" and a "mini" cathedral that isn't rolling, even though he was rocking his way through those jump ropes.  (I wonder how many takes it took to get that scene right.)

Those very early Ninety Eights and Electras/Park Avenues needed to get some meat on their bones, which they did at some point into the '90s.  The Ninety Eight became more appealing than the more rounded Electra/Park Avenue models, IMO.

[NINETY EIGHT REGENCY]

Well stated again. The downsized 80's Ninety Eight( 1985-1990) had  one issue...  It and the Buick Park Avenue and Cadillac Deville from the same era all looked alike. Lincoln cashed in on that too.  GM paid a heavy price for downsizing and the styling.  Over at Chrysler the New Yorker and Fifth Avenue looked like a GM C Body car. It looked like a Ninety Eight from the rear. 

 

[G. David Felt]

I always loved the Ricardo Montalban commercials for the Chrysler cars. He was just luxury in his voice and presentation.

[Robert Hall]

Love those 80s Town Cars (grew up with them) and the RWD GM C-bodies of the early 80s. 

[G. David Felt]

Ran an errand and just saw one of the Aero Monte Carlos from the mid 80's. Made me think about if there ever were commercials on the Monte Carlo Aero, sure enough, I find it.

 

[trinacriabob]

Yesterday, a '91 or '92 Buick Riviera coupe was coming the other way.  With my window down, the exhaust growl was acceptable, but not as quiet as it could have been.

It was triple black - black exterior, padded black landau, and a black leather interior.

This car has always been a little tricky with the vantage points.  It looks better in angled views.  From the front, the grille looks too short in the vertical sense.  From the back, it's another story.  As I pulled away and looked in the rearview mirror, the padded landau overpowered and the taillamps looked small and not that interesting.  From an angled view, and without the landau, the rear taillamps combined with the formal back lite look great.

No landau roof for this gen of Riviera.

In short, the Olds Toronado fraternal twin of the same years looks better from all vantage points.

[NINETY EIGHT REGENCY]

I was looking at that Toronado in your post. It got sold. If it was available, I would buy it.  The reason I know it was sold is because I went looking for it weeks and months ago and it was not on the website/dealership it came from and I saw a photo of it at a Oldsmobile car show that I get a newsletter from. I hope to find a 1991-1992 Oldsmobile Toronado non Trofeo trim model.  

As far as the Riviera:

 

 

[G. David Felt]

1 hour ago, NINETY EIGHT REGENCY said:

I was looking at that Toronado in your post. It got sold. If it was available, I would buy it.  The reason I know it was sold is because I went looking for it weeks and months ago and it was not on the website/dealership it came from and I saw a photo of it at a Oldsmobile car show that I get a newsletter from. I hope to find a 1991-1992 Oldsmobile Toronado non Trofeo trim model.  

As far as the Riviera:

 

 

WOW, it is amazing all the mid 80's Oldsmobiles Toronado Brougham for sale across the USA, but nothing else except this 1990 Very clean looking from the pictures.

Used 1990 Oldsmobile Toronado for sale in Canton, GA 30115: Coupe Details - 645497988 - Autotrader

[NINETY EIGHT REGENCY]

Thank you for looking David.  It is appreciated. I saw that white 1990 before too. Right car, wrong year. I have enough to buy that one too. It has been sitting up there for a few months. It was owned by a former GM executive. I will share what I am looking for and why I am looking..

My 1992 black Toronado was in an accident in May 2021.  I bought the body parts to repair it and the body shop started working on it, but they never finished. It has the body panels on the car, but they were supposed to paint it and they never finished. I admit it was difficult to restore( the damage).  I knew I had to let it go. It is still at the body shop unfinished sitting on the lot.

I have been looking. all year.  I am looking for a 1991 or 1992 Toronado with option package ISB and AM6. I will work with a bucket seat model. I bought a spare digital cluster and have it read to swap if I end up with a bucket seat model.  I have done the cluster swap before. The colors are open game, but I do not want white or red.  I will take: gun metal gray, platinum metallic, dark garnet red( maroon/ the purple looking reddish color), dark sapphire blue, medium sapphire blue, dark green gray, black, light driftwood.  I have had red , canyon yellow( rare) and black( most recent one). 

The reason why I do not want a 1990 is the steering wheel controls did not appear until 1991, and 1990 has some unique to 1990 features or parts that would be hard to locate or find.  Ask me how do I know. The 1990 has a different anti lock braking system compared to 1991 and 1992. I have worked extensively on 1991 and 1992 models and know them. 

I have looked on all the sites online. The only one I cannot access is Facebook marketplace because I do not have a Facebook account.  

So the quest continues daily. It is out there somewhere. 

I am driving my 1996 Ninety-Eight daily. Right now it looks like a vehicle on the GM proving grounds like you see in spy photos or used to in the magazines back in the day. LOL!  It needs paint correction, the headliner done and a small tear in the driver's seat.  I am prepared for that.  I am, torn though. I want to either paint it the dark green gray color it is or paint it black and it look like this one:

 

 

[G. David Felt]

@NINETY EIGHT REGENCY I will keep my eyes open for you. Yes, as the years progress it does get harder and harder to find what one is looking for.

In regard to your 98 daily driver, I love green, and I could see it in that color. Wishing you the best in determining the color and fixes you choose to do.

[NINETY EIGHT REGENCY]

8 minutes ago, David said:

@NINETY EIGHT REGENCY I will keep my eyes open for you. Yes, as the years progress it does get harder and harder to find what one is looking for.

In regard to your 98 daily driver, I love green, and I could see it in that color. Wishing you the best in determining the color and fixes you choose to do.

Thank you so much.  It is appreciated.  

[trinacriabob]

On 11/23/2022 at 6:44 AM, NINETY EIGHT REGENCY said:

I was looking at that Toronado in your post. It got sold. If it was available, I would buy it.  The reason I know it was sold is because I went looking for it weeks and months ago and it was not on the website/dealership it came from and I saw a photo of it at a Oldsmobile car show that I get a newsletter from. I hope to find a 1991-1992 Oldsmobile Toronado non Trofeo trim model.  

As far as the Riviera:

 

 

With regard to YouTube 1, there was a whole slew of Buick commercials done with the same kind of lighting and similar jingle.  That first pan over it was flattering to the car.  Again, this gen of Riviera was a great car, but not every angle on it was flattering.  

With regard to YouTube 2, that is a great looking interior ... when car interiors were more about relaxing long-range driving than trying to get us to be astronauts.  (That is, if a person only has 1 or 2 cars in the driveway that are daily driver type cars.)  Kudos to the rear seat design as well, and that armrest.  Also, the rear backlite looks great from the interior.  It probably helps to have one like that to work around that thick rear pillar.  It's funny when he cranks it over, how the (3800) GM V6 can sound a little "farty" compared to a GM small block V8, but they have proven to be just as reliable over the long haul.

On 11/23/2022 at 8:39 AM, David said:

WOW, it is amazing all the mid 80's Oldsmobiles Toronado Brougham for sale across the USA, but nothing else except this 1990 Very clean looking from the pictures.

Used 1990 Oldsmobile Toronado for sale in Canton, GA 30115: Coupe Details - 645497988 - Autotrader

That's a nice looking one and the price isn't that bad for a Series I 3800 V6 (a successful rendition of it), providing it has been kept up and the body is tight (upon further inspection).

@NINETY EIGHT REGENCY

Yes, if you open yourself up to a bucket seat model, that will give you a lot more leeway and increase your chances of snagging one.  Take your time.  You might save even more coin in the interim with one car.  Of all the colors you mentioned in another post, the light driftwood metallic with the similar color interior would be my first choice.  With the finned alloys, it looks great on the car.  As for that yellow, I thought it was a weird color and more suited to a 1977 Coupe de Ville with wheel covers ... just my 2 cents.

Edited December 21, 2022 by trinacriabob

[trinacriabob]

My retroactive and last November car spotting entry, taken sometime after Thanksgiving and someplace pretty damn far away.

There were snow showers, but no steady snowfall to speak of.

[NINETY EIGHT REGENCY]

35 minutes ago, trinacriabob said:

With regard to YouTube 1, there was a whole slew of Buick commercials done with the same kind of lighting and similar jingle.  That first pan over it was flattering to the car.  Again, this gen of Riviera was a great car, but not every angle on it was flattering.  

With regard to YouTube 2, that is a great looking interior ... when car interiors were more about relaxing long-range driving than trying to get us to be astronauts.  (That is, if a person only has 1 or 2 cars in the driveway that are daily driver type cars.)  Kudos to the rear seat design as well, and that armrest.  Also, the rear backlite looks great from the interior.  It probably helps to have one like that to work around that thick rear pillar.  It's funny when he cranks it over, how the (3800) GM V6 can sound a little "farty" compared to a GM small block V8, but they have proven to be just as reliable over the long haul.

That's a nice looking one and the price isn't that bad for a Series I 3800 V6 (a successful rendition of it), providing it has been kept up and the body is tight (upon further inspection).

@NINETY EIGHT REGENCY

Yes, if you open yourself up to a bucket seat model, that will give you a lot more leeway and increase your chances of snagging one.  Take your time.  You might save even more coin in the interim with one car.  Of all the colors you mentioned in another post, the light driftwood metallic with the similar color interior would be my first choice.  With the finned alloys, it looks great on the car.  As for that yellow, I thought it was a weird color and more suited to a 1977 Coupe de Ville with wheel covers ... just my 2 cents.

Yes, I am open to a bucket seat models as I can swap the cluster to digital. I have done it before myself and see it done on Trofeo trim levels. I am still looking and still saving in the meantime.