1971 Oldsmobile 98

This car is a prime example of why my inceasant blabbing about how much I love old cars can pay off. While I'm yacking about my passion for the classics, my friend Jessica interrupts me and says, "Hey, my brother is selling my Grandma's old car." After I found out what engine was in it, I was on my way to Chicago to take a look at it. He was only asking $750 for it, so I expected to find it in pretty bad shape. Much to my surprise, it was in really good shape. The engine ran a little rough and the shocks were shot, but other than that, it was in very good shape. Even the 6 way power bench seat covered in white leather worked!

I was getting this car for a great deal, and I knew it. But... being the asshole that I am, I had to try to get the price down a little. I couldn't live with myself if I didn't even try. I offered $700, which is the same amount that I paid for my old Ponitac. He held firm at $750, and I can't say that I blame him. Jessica's Grandmother bought it originally in 1971. Her brother Dave had been driving it on a limited basis after her Grandmother's death. He had every reciept for every repair that had been done to it, and to top it all off, it had 96 thousand original miles! I did, however, get him to throw in a couple of 8-track tapes for the ride home! (Did I mention that it only had an AM radio, and an aftermarket 8-Track player mounted under the dash!)

I have to say that this was probably my best automobile purchase to date. I haven't had to do much in the way of repairs thus far. The thing may handle like a tank, but it accelerates like a bat out of hell! All gas prices aside, it's my first choice for a long trip. It's like driving an enormous couch down the expressway! Not to mention that I've significantly updated the sterio system. It now has a Clarion in-dash CD player pushing 2 Sony 3.5 inch main speakers in the dash, and a Kenwood amplifier pushing a 12 inch bandpass subwoofer ported from the trunk through the rear deck. At high or low volumes, it just has a great, full sound. To bad I can't afford to feed the engine!

And let me tell you, there's no better feeling than being surrounded by 2.5 tons of steel while cruising down the highway. I've been in one accident with this particular car. I was on I94 just south of the Wisconsin border. Traffic was moving along at about 70 mph, until it came to a very sudden stop! I laid on the brakes pretty heavy. It wasn't heavy enough. I started applying more pressure to the brakes when suddenly, I heard a pop, and the brake pedal sank straight down to the floor! Guess what, when you're moving 70 in a 2.5 ton vehicle, and you loose your brakes... you're going to hit something. There's no two ways about it. The brunt of my punishment was dished out on the little Saturn wagon in front of me. In what seemed like a defiance of the laws of physics, our cars collided, and the Saturn seemed to shoot off the front of my car at 80 mph! (mind you, I was only going 70!) It slammed under the bumper of the GMC Jimmy in front of it. After pumping the brakes in vain, and coasting for quite a distance on the shoulder, I was able to bring the beast to a halt.

So there we are... Phil, Paul, Jim and I stranded on I94 with no brakes. No one was seriously injured, thankfully. They did take the lady in the Saturn to the hospital to be checked out, but she turned out to be fine. They towed my car to Earl's Garage in Vernon Hills. They weren't going to be able to look at it until Monday, so Jim's parents came to the rescue and picked us up.