Oldsmobile left the world in the early 2000s ahead of a handful of other near and dear General Motors brands. However, like all orphan-car brands, Oldsmobile hasn’t been forgotten. One peculiar fan of the brand? Porsche North America CEO and President Klaus Zellmer.
Autoblog sat down with the executive to discuss, well, Porsche-related things, but the conversion quickly slipped into Zellmer’s love affair with Oldsmobile. The executive’s first car upon coming to America was none other than an Oldsmobile Delta 88. He came to the United States when he was 19 with a friend and decided to see the world. After arriving in Los Angeles, California, he had $1,000 to purchase a set of wheels.
‘”Well, we’ve got $1,000. What can we have?” he asked a used-car lot operator. “He took us to the back and next to the fence. The grass was already quite high. He said, ‘You can have that for $1,000.’ It was an Oldsmobile Delta 88.”
The air conditioning and heat didn’t work, but it started up and Zellmer bought it on the spot. He said the car took he and his friend from California to New York City. Sometimes, the car doubled as a sleeping space, too.
After breaking down somewhere in Texas, Zellmer had the Delta 88 repaired and upon his arrival in New York City, he sold the car—for a profit, nonetheless.
“We sold it in New York for 1,200 bucks! Can you believe it?”
Comments
The year of the 88 would be good information to know, just as a 1964 Impala isn’t the same type of vehicle as a 2004 Impala. The fact the heat and air didn’t work doesn’t narrow it down in GM world between old and brand new.
That’s a neat story. Maybe they can make a Delta 88 driving mode for the Panamera. Set it to make all of it’s power before 2500 rpm (It’d be a heck of a surge in that car) and make sure you can steer it with only your pinky finger. That’s what I can remember of my dad’s Delta 88. Oh…wait, It needs to have crushed velvet seats.
Probably a late 60’s or early 70’s 88. GM has and still makes the best large automobiles in the world. My boss at a pizza shop I worked at in the early 90’s drove a late 60’s 98 with close to 400k miles. It was the biggest damn car I’d every seen, but he drove it until his death in ’94. I remember he drove his family from Ohio to Idaho and back in that thing in the early 90’s. Now over half of the cars and trucks are cars from other countries that we once went to war with and won. It makes no sense…
GM is all about MAGA. We have Chinese Buicks, Chinese Cadillacs coming soon!
Not coming soon they’re already here.
Isn’t funny how that works? I think the problem is that back then, companies and people were a lot more proud of their home country. Nowadays, people and companies alike have foregone that pride for a quick buck.
I know this opinion would be unpopular among economists and foreign parties but “sell here build here” would really jump start some pride in this country.
That’s why I love to drive through Michigan. I see less than one foreign car per mile. Most foreign cars I see there are Canadian Mopar.
If people buy them then they have a part in buying foreign cars. Some American brands have better reliability scores then the foreign ones (Buick). Mercedes and BMW are always lower on the totem pole. They get a pass from the media.
If he loves it so much, why doesn’t he put pressure on GM to bring it back? Why doesn’t he propose a design partnership between Porsche and GM to introduce a new Cutlass 442? Admiration without action is useless. It’s nostalgia for the sake of nostalgia. We need actions, not vane praise.
How about a 2018 Toronado?
The car ahead of its time with a cool first generation design would be a show stopper in collaboration with Porsche.
Oldsmobile did have some great cars and their Rocket V-8 engine back in the day . Their Cutlass Supreme was the #1 top seller in the country back in the mid 60’s to mid 70’s . I owned quit a few Oldsmobiles in the past , the first was a triple black 1976 2-door Cutlass Salon . To this day that was my favorite one , it was 2 years old when i bought it from an older lady that must have drove it church on Sundays and back . It had like 18,000 miles in it and was dang near brand new .
Pinstriped in gold w/ raised letter tires and a black vinyl top and those black pillow velvet seats .
Those days are LONG GONE . The quality wouldn’t make it to a dealership lot these days . Plus you wanted one that was built in Lansing instead of Flint because Lansing built them better and won quit a few quality awards because of the competition between the two plants .
It would be interesting to see a rendition of the Olds 98 from the Cadillac CT6 , it would of course be cheaper and willing o bet it would sell relatively well .
Must be a full moon today . 😉
it would be GREAT to see Oldsmobile revived , between my wife and I , we had 13 of them almost every model from 1964 Starfire-to 1997 Aurora . every one was driven to over 100k up to 187K . Bring OLDS back and we’ll buy 2 . GM made a mistake retiring Olds it had better lines and sold more than Buick . Buick should have been the one to retire ..