Who would have thought there would be no more Oldsmobiles

Olds made cars for over 100 years - Legendary mechanical engineering and innovation made for great cars. Perhaps the peak of Oldsmobile's world came in 1970 - also the peak of America's horsepower binge. The very popular Cutlass 442 was selected for the Indy 500 pace car. So sad to see the nameplate die at the hands of incompetency - a victim of corporate century old thinking. Did we really need an Oldsmobile minvan or crossover that looked just like the Chev Pontiac Cadillac Buick? Same pile different badge.

Some Oldsmobiles will live on - most notably the 442. This 1970 88 Royale lived its life on the cold prairies - two generations of kids rode the back seat. Put out to pasture (literally) in 1993, the long winters took a terrible toll on what was still a good car. Moved from place to place to place over 10 years, we actually lost track of it when a former friend went bankrupt - left town with $4000 of undone restoration work. all the cars disappeared from his compound - 4 of them ours.

After a lot of searching from 2000 miles away - we lucked out. a tow truck driver that had once towed the car had seen the cars - knew where to find them. It was worth the $500 tow bills to get the cars back. We're off to a great start! Not a dollar put into the car yet.

Here's a look at the next stages of the restoration project: