How Much Is Dust Worth? 1968 Oldsmobile Delta 88
There’s always a bit of debate about how much monetary value the “barn find” designation adds (or doesn’t) to a collector car. In the case of this admittedly very nice looking 1968 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Custom Holiday coupe, the seller seems to be counting on it adding a lot of value because, despite a healthy $16,000 price tag, they’ve neglected to say whether the car even runs! It’s here on eBay out of Cleveland, Ohio; let’s see what we can see and offer our assessments on where this Olds fits into the great “barn find” debate.
Now, I’ll grant you, the car clearly made its way out of this garage for at least the header photo up there, and it’s an awfully heavy beast (4,290-pound curb weight, per the always-useful automobile-catalog.com), so I hope for the seller’s sake that the 455 V8 pitched in to the effort. Aside from the omission of the running status, the seller has committed a couple of additional sins in my book: they’ve struggled to fit the entire car into any of their photos (it’s a big car, I know, but maybe try turning the phone sideways!); they’ve shown the “as found” grimy state, but haven’t cleaned the car off; and they’ve mentioned surface rust in the text but provided no photo documentation. Those are big no-nos, especially when you’re asking comparatively big bucks.
On the positive side, this Olds is said to be a one-owner car, the odometer shows only 28,000-and-change possibly-original miles, and there’s a tantalizing hint of an interesting back story to this car. All we’re told is that “This car was gifted to a mechanic who helped Oldsmobile with an overheating transmission problem in the 1960s”—I’d love to know more, wouldn’t you! The spec is right, too; the Delta 88 Custom is the fancy version of Oldsmobile’s handsome mid-range full-sizer, with a standard 455 (since it’s not specified, I’d assume this is the basic 310-horse version, although 320 and 365 HP tunes were also available), Strato-back bucket seats with a center console and floor shift, and various additional bits of gingerbread.
The interior seems to be very nicely preserved, indeed, although options like air conditioning and power windows are absent. The seller has helpfully provided pictures of the very clean passenger door hinges, the immaculate inner trunklid—original jacking instruction labels still intact—and an underside that looks exceptionally clean for an apparently lifelong Midwestern car, although arachnophobes will want to look away! So, what do we think: is the possible low mileage, one-owner status and backstory, and barn-find-dusty but seemingly well-preserved appearance—weighed against the lack of information about mechanical condition and the failure of the seller to show us the car’s true appearance after a good cleaning—worthy of a north-of-average $16,000 asking price? Let us know what you think in the comments!
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Comments
That could be some interesting history regarding the Olds Division gifting the car to the mechanic if there is some paper documentation to verify it. My guess is the Seller is inexperienced when it comes to listing and selling cars.
The buckets and console in a Delta is interesting and in nice shape, but I doubt if it’s worth that much money. I do hope it finds a good home, though, instead of the engine winding up in a Cutlass and everything else scrapped.
We had a 4 door ’68 Delta 88 as our family car when I was a kid. A ponderous, heavy beast, for sure, but that 455 made enough torque to move it. We kept it long enough that I got to drive it as a teen. It rode like a dream, and was a great car for my 6 member family.
Same.
Ours was the 4-door hardtop, without the B-Pillar. Opening all of the windows meant that between the front and rear window frames, there was nothing to impede clear vision. Light metallic bronze color, no vinyl roof. Cloth seats, bench front with the shifter on the steering column.
Ours was the 2-barrel version of the 455. Tons of torque, cruise at 80 effortlessly. A great car for the time. I got to drive it on the double-dates for both Homecoming and Senior Prom.
A couple of other times I was allowed to use it, and the classmates who rode along were impressed with the ability to lay a stripe on the pavement via the “One Wheel Peel”.
The car met it’s end in a ravine on I-75 in Kentucky, when dad lost control due to ice on a bridge. I really liked that car.
I had one of these many years ago in Turquoise. Big, kind of homely, but man what a great ride. It was smoother than the Lincolns and Caddys I had and faster too. Rode like it was on a silk road. Got horrible mileage of course. As a car guy, this is one you would not expect to like very much, but I sure did. I sold it to a “rent a wreck” car lot where you could rent an older car for like $12 a day. They told me it was one of their most requested vehicles.
Gosh they are ugly. Way too much going on with the trim and details. Karguy James is absolutely right on; to own one is to love one. Perhaps the car would take on a new look if someone chose to remove most of the exterior details and add some clean consistency to it.
I believe it to be a very nice car. But 16,000 come opn At best tops 11,000 he might get? Dont know? But that’s my opion and we all have them. Opions and butts hehehe.
16000 is to steep for this car, 28,000 miles, maybe once around. An effective way to determine mileage is to look at the windshield glass. Unless it’s been replaced a low mileage car will have a relatively clean and scratch free windshield, not so much with a high mileage car.
Even if it was a convertible it wouldn’t get near that price.
There is a 1968 Buick convertible on Craigslist that has been trying to get around $14,000 for about 2 years now.
This is car for an Oldsmobile lover who doesn’t care it is rather ugly. I agree it should go to someone who will restore to its new car glory and it because its a powerful Olds. Because it is a ugly design and its appeal will be limited, $16.000.00 is way too high.
I had one of these in 1975, same colors, the exception being that mine had a 4bbl. Mine titled at 3992#’s.
could look like this. if $$$ spent.
I believe that is probably the color of the car our family had! (without the vinyl roof)
Not sure the marketing strategy of `68 but Olds called these DELMONT 88s in `67 & `68. No reference material here at office to double check, sorry. Yes, a big boat alright, but this one appears nicely equipped from what I can see. Better photos would help; the owner should’ve taken it to a more open parking lot nearby. Wire wheel covers, buckets/console automatic, and very likely a 4bbl. to go with the 455. Rockers look solid, and no real body damage issues that I can see. $16K? Uh, no. Not based on so little information, anyway. More like $6K, as these have literally NO collector following like that year’s Cutlass 442s do. It could make a decent ‘driveable dream’ that fairly original but the price would also have to reflect that.
The Chevy from the same year has much more value than the Olds, and I don’t think an Impala would approach this value.
The Delmont 88 and Delta 88 were offered concurrently in both of those years; the Delmont was the lower trim level. The photo of the green beauty posted upthread by Amos is actually a Delmont. The Delta sold much better, and was also offered in the Custom subseries, of which the featured car is an example, which was the top of the 88 line.
History or not it’s worth maybe 4 grand unless he is charging for all the spiders!
A Delmont was a serious error on the part of the Division and was actually an F85 with a huge body on it, an effort to build something to a price.
This is a great car with a price way out of the park. I would offer a much lower price, clean it up, fix what needs to be done and hit the road. You’ll love it.
Worth maybe 8 grand.
If it runs.
And if there is a ton of documents.
Its one ugly heavy brute
This is cool but it’s a $2,500 car. Those scalloped shock absorbers are the factory items, so low mileage may be correct, although my 62 Impala was still wearing them at 121k and thirty years old.