Earlier this week we gave you a Top 11 list of our favorites from Detroit’s “bigger is better” days, and you guys seemed to like it, a lot. But with only eleven spots, it was inevitable that we would miss or forget a couple of overall favorites. and sorting through the comments brought up a couple of misses. So for this round of “Would You Rather?”, we give a couple of outliers a second chance. We went hunting eBay for the best example of each car, cost no object, and after some quick searching found two perfect candidates for your consideration. Remember, there’s no middle ground…it’s one team or another here!
1. 1970 Oldsmobile Ninety Eight 455
We hope you like red, because this Olds is cranberry from stem to stern, gut included. In 1970, the only thing shared among GM’s brands was the platform…each brand still had an their own engines and styling treatments that were more than just a badge change. So while the Ninety Eight shares underpinnings with the Chevrolet Impala and the Buick Electra, on the outside it’s all Olds, and under the hood it’s all Rocket, with a torque-heavy 455 hustling this big barge around. There’s enough seating for half of a New York borough and it’s plush enough to wonder why anyone would spend the extra money on a Caddy. There are even vestiges of tail fins out on the back, where they culminate into jet-like taillights.
eBay Link: 1970 Oldsmobile Ninety Eight
2. 1968 Cadillac Eldorado
The late Sixties and early Seventies weren’t just good for people who wanted a street terror masquerading as a basic midsize car. If you were riding high on the hog, the choices of new domestic luxury cars available were the best that they had been ever since the market crash of 1929. While Ford, Chevy and Chrysler had some very nicely optioned full-sizers, the main battle was a three-way between Imperial, Lincoln and Cadillac. Imperial had already started their slide towards the 1975 discontinuation, but Lincoln and Cadillac slugged it out with their two flagships. The Continental Mark III and IV are gorgeous cars, but the new-for-1967 Eldorado was a jaw dropper from the moment it debuted. Rolling on the new E-body platform and packing the “Unified Powerplant Package” consisting of a big-cube V8 and the TH425 transaxle, the sixth-gen Eldorado proceeded to set sales records for Cadillac. Besides…front-wheel-drive burnouts have never, ever looked better than when an Eldorado is annihilating the fronts.
eBay Link: 1968 Cadillac Eldorado
Errrrrrr!! Both! I want both!
The Eldorado is sweet, but I’ll take the Olds over it any day.
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Deep down, even though I’m a Land Cruiser and Hilux guy at heart, I still have a soft spot for a good red Olds. I’d take the Ninety-Eight and show the hell of it off at the local meets.
Olds
Olds…That Olds…The want is strong…..
I would take the Caddy but being FWD, not interested. Have never owned a FWD car and not about to start!
Olds wins out!
The Olds – look close – it’s a caddy w/ sheet metal changes .
I was in a mid-70’s one that spit a drive shaft at 60 or so one day …
It was vibrating after some work and a CV joint went in a big way …
We went from quiet land yacht to –
(1) drive shaft spit + beating on the bottom of the car
(2) as it did that it knocked the exhaust system off – now straight pipes
(3) – cracked the transmission – hot fluid on the cat converter flashed
and as we ground to a stop flames were up to the windows
YEE HA – drinks were served after the fact while waiting for a ride
Big Red Rocket of Love
Olds, of course.
So weird being with the majority for once.
Umm. I don’t mean to be a party pooper, but the Olds is 1973. That giant front bumper is a dead giveaway. The 1970’s had the 10.25:1 compression 455 with over 550 ft lbs of torque at a measely 3200 rpm. By 1973, the compression was down to 8.0:1. I would still take that Olds over the Eldo!!