I was at the Northern Ohio Chapter Oldsmobile Spring Dust-Off today, and there were a few nice wagons, including a very cool, side-by-side contrast that I'm sure was just a coincidence. I doubt these two owners sought each other out and parked their cars next to each other on purpose. Parked side-by-side were a '62 Dynamic 88 wagon and a '92 Custom Cruiser. Two Olds wagons separated by about three feet and by 30 years. The '92 was for sale (asking $2,550 - I have the number if anyone is interested) and could use a little work, but it was still cool. Other wagons in attendance: '58 Fiesta I love how that rear window opens. Complete with its functioning "Trans-Portable" radio. This radio, which was an option at the time, could be removed from the dash and carried with you. It was playing the Indians-Rangers baseball game. '68 Vista Cruiser There was also this lowered, kind of funky '60 Chevy Parkwood. Not sure if its presence had anything to do with the show, but it was still pretty neat to see. The interior was in nice condition, and I'm guessing the owner is leaving the exterior untouched so as not to lose the advertisements, which I'm guessing are original.
Well, as Paul Harvey used to so famously say, here's "the rest of the story"... The white '58 Olds Fiesta belongs to Tom Bogo, and the '92 Olds Custom Cruiser belongs to Dave Lowe. I have known Tom for at least ten years now, and have known Dave for over 15. Both of them arrived before I did on Sunday morning; Dave in fact had called me right before I left, and when I pulled into the parking lot, both Dave and Tom had designated a space for me, right in-between both of them! Tom runs a collision repair shop, and when the time comes for a real upgrade in putting on the two NOS rear quarter panels I now have on hand, along with a pair of NOS rocker panels, he's going to do that work. Dave has accompanied me to several Oldsmobile-related events over the years, and has also lent his hand in helping me out on several occasions with all of my cars--some in an emergency capacity on the road, as he has previously worked as a mechanic. Here is a picture of the three wagons belonging to me, Tom, and Dave (in another of his Custom Cruisers--this one a '91), after leaving the Oldsmobile Homecoming in Lansing a few years back; this was taken at a restaurant a few miles down the road after the show... Thanks for posting the pictures of the wagons from the Northern Ohio Chapter of the Oldsmobile Club of America's Spring Dust-Off this past Sunday; there were 75 Oldsmobiles registered for the show, and it was a great day!
As I may have mentioned sometime before, Tom actually has TWO '58 Olds "Trans-Portable" radios, and often takes the second one out, complete with its factory external antenna option, and plays a ball game or whatever during the show to demonstrate how it works. ...in that picture, you caught me talking to Franklin Graf, who puts on a fantastic "RocketFest" show each August at his place, featuring many of the early "Rocket" engine Oldsmobiles. Almost looks as if I'm cocking my head to hear if there's any good tunes coming out of that radio...
Finally, it was ironic that there was a '60 Chevy wagon in the parking lot during the show, as Impala Jim owns a fantastic white '60 Impala convertible. However, with all due respect to the wagon's owner, I am sure like me, Jim would want to have his version of the wagon in factory stock condition. But, to each their own...
Sorry for the multiple posts--but just FYI stuff here. I accompanied David to pick up his wagon pictured here, as we spent a Sunday two summers ago making our way across to western Ohio, to pick up the wagon in Wapakoneta, which is the town astronaut Neil Armstrong hails from. The wagon at the time had 188,000 miles, and is over 200K for sure by now; Dave drove this wagon to Fall Carlisle, 2010, where we spent a couple days doing the swap meet thing. These CC wagons are great, roomy, and believe it or not, get about 22 mpg, easily making the 300-mile trek from home with plenty of gas left in the tank to spare...
Thanks for filling in the details Elvis! for "wagon story class" post. Wait, those symbols will only work for pics! . Well, you get the idea I hope?
One more thought--in the pic of the '68 Vista Cruiser, you'll notice in the background a Chariot Red '62 Olds Starfire convertible, out for apparently its inaugural public appearance (at least at the Olds shows). The gentleman who did such a great job in restoring the car over the past eight years, Tom Pawlik, told me he ran into me about that long ago in Hershey, and had talked with me about his Starfire, and has a couple of times in the meantime as well. Always nice to find out about the happy endings over the course of years in restoring a fantastic ride!
From the little we can see of it, that red Starfire sure does look nice. I was just thinking....Olds sure came a long way between the 1958 Fiesta and your 62. Not knocking the 58 of course, but there is quite a difference mostly styling wise and I'm sure running gear wise. 371 in the 58 and of course the smooth 394 in yours.
62/92 Wagon Hello every body I the person that owns 92 CC wagon I also have a91CC also . I run around with owner of 62 wagon .
