This Week's Klockau Lust Object: '85 98 Regency Brougham
Today's vintage luxury cruiser is straight out of the Coen Brothers’ classic 1996 film Fargo. However I cannot verify if this car has the vaunted TruCoat.
While I am especially fond of the 1977 to ‘84 Oldsmobile Ninety-Eights for their downsized, yet still large and in charge style, I also love the downsized unibody front wheel drive 1985 to ‘90 versions.
While they were definitely smaller, they were also very comfortable, very quiet, just as plush as the earlier versions and with remarkable glass area.
But as appealing as the package was to many, it must have still been a shock to many new Oldsmobile shoppers.
Unibody! V6 only! FWD! Holy crap!
But despite all this, they sold quite well, even when factoring in the extended 1985 model year.
About 30 years ago my Uncle Don got my Aunt Candy a silver blue 1986 Buick Park Avenue with navy blue top and navy blue velour interior.
I got to drive it several times back then and I was always impressed with the comfort, silence and amazing glass area.
And it was so comfortable. It was a lot like my ‘91 Volvo 940 Turbo, but extra cushy and quiet.
This one is currently for sale for $3100 in Greendale, Wisconsin. While I’m not a huge fan of fake convertible tops, I love the colors and would drive it proudly.
Obviously it has the TruCoat! They put that on at the factory nowadays! There's nothing I can do about it!
Nice!
You wrote: "While I'm not a huge fan of fake convertible tops..."
I am a longtime "Car Guy."
I wrote for the Mercedes USA Club's "Star" magazine.
Later, my crack habit got so bad that I actually sold new Volkswagens from a VW dealership in 2004.
(Erm, the crack part was an attempted joke.)
I talked to a lot of people... when there were no customers.
My VW dealership (Cross My Heart and Hope to Die) was trying to offload singer Sergio Franchi's 1970-ish Rolls Silver Shadow, asking price $16,000.
I made an acerbic comment about how the new owner should budget the money to tear off the tacky vinyl roof and repaint the roof.
An older guy said, "Those bastards (meaning R-R) made vinyl roofs mandatory, because a vinyl roof was a lot cheaper than grinding down all the hand-work welding to attach the roof structure to the body structure."
I replied, "The Bastards."
I guess GM felt the same way: Charge More, Pay Less.
saint-jean