1977 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Pace Car

1977 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Royale

Offered here is my 1977 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Pace Car. It is a rare, Texas, rust and accident free example. I am the second owner and I have owned this car since 2006, and it is a love it or hate it paint scheme for sure. GM built 2,401 of these, noted by a W44 option code on the cowl tag, and there are not many left in this condition. This car has approx. 49,400 miles.

This car is the classic little old lady owned it story. The original owner bought this car August 31st,1977 from Macs Oldsmobile-Pontiac-GMC Inc. in Slaton, Texas. She went in to buy a GMC pickup and came home with the Pace Car. She sold it in 2006 to a neighbor, who placed it on Ebay, where I bought it in 2006. That neighbor never registered the car, so technically I am the second owner. I wrote a letter to the original owner and she replied with some great history on the car. I have those letters, the original 1977 Texas title, the original car shipping order/window sticker, and the build sheet from under the rear seat. There are some various insurance and registration cards, and repair receipts from the Texas area where the owner lived. The car also comes with the original owner’s manuals/pouch. All repair records from when I bought the car are also included.

Some information from the internet on this model of car…

1977 was the fourth of four years that Olds served as the official pace car to the Indy 500 during the 1970's - more than any other manufacturer! The car used for the 61st Indy 500 was a 77 Olds Delta 88 TargaTop driven by James Garner. The car featured a unique targa top design that would not be available on the replicas. Bucket seats and console mounted shifter were also unique to the pace car.

Oldsmobile made a limited amount of replicas available for sale. The package cost $914 and was only available on model N37, the Delta 88Royale coupe.

The option code was W44.
W44 included:
Special Paint Scheme - silver and black with red accent striping Flat black window/door frames, headlamp housings, grilles and door pull inserts and taillight housings.
Aluminum hood, hood hinges, and bumper support members.
L80 403 Rocket V8 engine
N72 Red Sport Wheels
QZP Special GR70-15 Silhouette Raised White Letter Tires
N34 Sport Steering Wheel
D35 Body color sport mirrors

The paint code was 13-13 without the vinyl top, 13-BB with the vinyl top. The vinyl top only came in black and ran from the rear edge of the side 1/4 windows forward.

Trimcode 45 was the standard bench seat.

Trimcode 65 was the available split bench seat. All interiors were firethorn red velour.

Option W43 was the Pace Car Decal package @ $40 and included 2 door decals and 2 sail panel Indy track decals.

The car runs and drives great, and I often take it for small local cruises on weekends. It has the original 403 V8 motor and 4BBL carb, with a Turbo Hyrda-Matic 350 trans, that provides adequate power and downshifts as it should.It drips a little oil from the front mail seal now and then, but it does not burn any oil. It drives great in town or on the highway where it floats along. The cruise control still works and it will coast down the road at highway speeds no problem, or faster if you wish, but the speedometer only goes to 85! This car does have the optional air conditioning and it works well. It was converted to R134a in 2006 and the compressor and clutch were replaced in 2017.

This car is documented to have had the W43 side decal option and has the W44 trim code on the cowl tag.The car was repainted in 2010 using the Rinshed-Mason factory colors for the 2-tone silver and black body, flat black trim, and red for the wheels. I re-striped the car using reproduction striping made from the identical original printed stripe material, and used NOS door and sail panel decals on the side of the car.The side marker and tail lamps were replaced with NOS units to restore the factory chrome on these pieces.Grille header, side fender, and trunk scripts were all replaced with NOS pieces. This work was 13 years ago, but the car looks great and shows well.

The interior is mostly original, and the red crushed velour seats still look great. The dash is uncut and holds the factory radio. The headliner, sail panel inserts, and sun visors have been redone with new fabric. The front and rear radio speakers were replaced with new models. I believe all the glass is original. This is a rarer power window, power lock, power driver seat car. It has cruise and a trunk release button in the glovebox.

Issues with the car. I'll try to present everything I know of and most of this is small stuff, but i know details matter. If you have questions, please ask. While looking good, this car is 46 years old so it does have typical minor issues. On the outside, there are some scratches on the drivers side glass and the rear window from something used to clear ice in a freak Texas ice storm, so I was told. I have a spare side window glass that can ship with the car if you want it. There is also a small chip on the windshield on the driver's side. For me these glass items are not really noticeable when driving. The paint looks great, but I have not waxed the black paint for fear of swirl marks, but it still shines. There are a few stray chips and scratches but nothing out of the ordinary. If this matters to you, ask and I'll send detailed pictures. Some of the pictures make it look like the car sides have damage, but that is just light reflections. Some of the side striping is peeling up at corners where stripes make angle changes. The vinyl top is original and presents well for its age, but it has a small tear above the driver's area, about half inch long. The metal trim strip that forms the edge between black and silver shows some vinyl fading from under it. Some of the red paint is chipped where the lug nuts attach on the wheels.

On the inside all options work, including the clock, but it does not always keep the best time. The radio is original as is the rare CB equipment. The power antenna with the CB option stopped working and was replaced with a normal power antenna, which also stopped working. The antenna is in the 'up' position so the radio works, but the CB functions do not without an antenna. The CB parts did work when the antenna was installed. The radio will sometimes lose one channel (left front/right rear) of speakers. Turning it off, and on again will reset it. One of the speedometer backlight bulbs is out. The left trunk arm was replaced by the previous owner and never painted.

Mechanically these items were replaced...

2006 - Fuel Tank (Previous owner)

2006 - Belts, Hoses, Water pump, Fan Clutch, Plugs, Wires, Cap, Rotor, Coil, Fuel Filter, Radiator, A/C converted to R134a

2006 - Front/Rear brakes and wheel cylinders, L/R calipers and hoses, master cylinder

2007 - Starter, Shocks

2008 - Steering Column Turn Signal Switch

2010 - Reman Carbuerator, Car Painted

2011 - Power Steering Hoses, Fuel Pump

2012 - Rear Springs, Alternator

2016 - Battery

2017 - A/C Compressor

2018 - Master Cylinder, Radiator

* The spare tire is either original or from that late 70s era. I kept it for looks, but I would not drive far on it.

Extras...This car will come with various parts I have collected over the years like interior and exterior trim, radios, etc. If the spare side window glass is wanted I will include it, but there is no guarantee on breakage of this item in shipment. I will also include a set of NOS Pace Car door decals. These alone sell for $500 or more and are great to have as a back up.

Fly in, drive home. Car is located 1 hour from Columbia, SC and 1.5 hours from Charlotte, NC airports. Or have the car shipped. Buyer is responsible for shipping. Car is offered for sale locally so I reserve the right to end the auction early upon sale.

Any questions please ask. Thanks for looking!

Want to buy? Contact seller!