This Ninety-Eight could be ordered with an airbag in 1974 — two decades before they became mandatory. At $700 and facing public doubt about an unproven system, almost nobody actually checked the box.
Median 94 hp across 245 similar cars
Lead trim: Ninety-Eight 455 cu in Rocket V8 (320 hp, 1971)
Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight1971–1976
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Nobody in Burbles has spotted a Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight yet. See one on the street, point the app at it, and the first card is yours — with your @handle permanently credited on this page.
FactThis Ninety-Eight could be ordered with an airbag in 1974 — two decades before they became mandatory. At $700 and facing public doubt about an unproven system, almost nobody actually checked the box.
The 1971–1976 Ninety-Eight was very similar to the Oldsmobile 88 (by then the "Delta 88") except for a longer passenger compartment from its 3-inch longer 127.0 in wheelbase and rear Cadillac-esque tailfins; with the new GM full-size bodies (64.3 in front and 63.4 in rear shoulder room) these were the roomiest Oldsmobiles ever built, a record for interior width not matched until the GM full-size RWD cars of the early to mid-1990s. The standard 455 cubic-inch Rocket V8 was rated at 320 hp and, for the first time in 1971, designed to run on lower-octane regular leaded, low-lead or unleaded gasoline under a GM mandate. Length grew from 226.1 in (1971) to 232.4 in (1974–75), width from 79.0 in to 80.0 in (1976).
Collectors Spotted in the Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight Lineage
No member has published a public street spot of the Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight yet — the First · Worldwide stamp is wide open.
Trims & Figures
One published trim in the catalogue. A blank is a figure not recorded, not zero.
| Trim | Years | Engine | Power | Torque | 0–60 | Drive | Gearbox | MSRP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ninety-Eight 455 cu in Rocket V8 (320 hp, 1971) | 1971–1971 | 7.5 L V8 | 320 hp | 460 lb-ft | — | RWD | — | — |
Owning one
We don’t estimate running costs for a car like this. What it costs depends on its condition, its specialist and how it is driven, and an average would mislead.
Owners’ builds
Nobody has claimed one yet.
Photographs
This final Ninety Eight arrived on the nameplate's 50th birthday, and Oldsmobile marked it with a gold-striped anniversary package — cloisonné fender emblems, gold alloy wheels, even gold-flecked burled walnut trim.
Its Touring Sedan, aimed at Audi and BMW buyers, was finished by ASC of Michigan and cost about 30% more than any other Ninety-Eight.
For a few months in 1984, Oldsmobile sold two completely different Ninety-Eights side by side: the outgoing rear-drive car kept rolling off the line even as the all-new front-wheel-drive 1985 model reached showrooms.
For 1981 this Ninety-Eight switched to a V6 — but Oldsmobile kept the "98" badge anyway, breaking its own decades-old rule that the second digit meant cylinder count.
This Ninety-Eight could be ordered with an airbag in 1974 — two decades before they became mandatory. At $700 and facing public doubt about an unproven system, almost nobody actually checked the box.
Starting with this generation in 1965, Oldsmobile let coachbuilder Cotner-Bevington turn the big Ninety-Eight chassis into ambulances and hearses.
Oldsmobile cheaped out on this Ninety-Eight's transmission, swapping a smooth four-speed for a rough three-speed unit — and so many owners complained that dealers started quietly retrofitting the old gearbox back in.
While Chevrolet and Cadillac switched to GM's new X-frame for 1959, Oldsmobile quietly stuck with the older, stronger full perimeter frame for the Ninety-Eight.
For one year only, Oldsmobile's flagship Ninety-Eight dropped its own name — in 1957 it was sold simply as the Starfire 98, a naming quirk Oldsmobile never repeated.
A modified 1954 Ninety-Eight Holiday Coupe worked as a press car at the last-ever Carrera Panamericana, the legendary Mexican road race that was cancelled after that year.
For one single year, the 98 came as a 4-door fastback called the Town Sedan — it sold just 1,778 copies before Oldsmobile dropped the body style for good.
Only 6,659 of these Custom Cruiser 98s were built before World War II shut down production - but when Oldsmobile resumed, demand exploded to a record 37,140 sold in 1947 alone.
The 1941 Ninety-Eight four-door convertible is a true one-year wonder — only 119 were sold, and Oldsmobile never offered that body style on the 98 again.
Rivals
Same body, same money, other badges — tap any card to flip.
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This DeVille/Fleetwood was the first production car anywhere to mount its V8 sideways, Cadillac's front-drive gamble on the new C-body.