Strangely, I've had seven. It wasn't intentional--at least at first--but then it kinda just became a thing.
I have photos of the last three, posted for your enjoyment.
First, here's a '84 Delta 88 Royale. It was equipped with the 231 3.8. It was slow.
Around the same time, I owned this '71 Cutlass S. I later sold it so that I could go to college.
That was in 2005. My next Olds wasn't until 2015, when I bought this '92 Custom Cruiser
I didn't start autocrossing until 2006, but since then, I have made a point of autocrossing every car I've owned. Proof:
Good times.
At the height of the OPEC Energy Crisis in 1974, when Americans waited in line to buy gas, my dad came home with a nice gold 1966 Toronado for $400. Front wheel drive, 455 cubic inches, a Godzilla Mini Cooper. In a few months, when gas became plentiful again, he doubled his money on the car. If reality TV shows about car flipping had been a thing back then, my dad could have been a star.
In all the cars I've ever owned, only one was an Olds. It looked just like this, except it was navy blue. I lost count of how many dead hookers would fit in the trunk, but it was a whole mess of 'em. I wanted to use it to take the kids to cruise nights, but I could just never get myself to feel comfortable that they would be safe in it, so I got rid of the car pretty quickly.
Call me a loser, but when I was a teen, I thought these were at least decent looking cars...
Then there were these...
A friend had a Calais in high school which he spray painted and put a racing stripe on..
I've yet to own an Olds, but have an odd appreciation for the ones that I've experienced.
I got a job pushing carts at a department store when I was 14. If you weren't old enough to drive, or didn't drive yourself to work you needed to make friends with the kids who did so, so you could coordinate your lunch break with them and get a ride to to the nearest Taco Bell/Wendy's/etc. and not have to eat something lame from the store. There was one dude a little older than me that would drive one of his parents cars to work. Either his Mom's Riviera Supercharged, or his Dad's first gen Olds Aurora. Man, I LOVED that Aurora. It was burgundy with chrome wheels and tan leather interior. Thing was comfy, sounded great and was surprisingly quick. I vividly remember that thing walking away from a 4.6 SN95 in a stop light race on the way to Taco Bell. Despite their known issues, they are an odd guilty pleasure of mine. They pop up frequently at a local cheap car auction and I'm always afraid I'm going to bring one home for a few hundred bucks and then need to do the dreaded Northstar head gasket job that shops apparently refuse to do...
The second one was a 3800 Intrigue. I dated a girl in and for a while after high school, who was notoriously terrible at purchasing cars. When we met, she drove a 5 speed Prizm that her Mom bought her that was bulletproof, but after graduation yearned for something "better". I ended up buying the Prizm (and laughing all the way to the bank), and she financed a POS 3400 Grand Am that was sitting on a used car lot with the notorious leaking intake manifold gaskets. For the record, I called the problem while looking at the car at the dealer, but my warning was seen as jealousy or something like that (I mostly drove two frequently broken 1G DSM's at the time, so I probably didn't look like the best judge of cars -_-). Needless to say I found it hilarious when the car pissed Dexcool all over the place the first day she had it. After a few trips back to the dealership to have the coolant leak misdiagnosed and then finally repaired, the car went through a whole bunch of suspension parts before she finally rear ended a bunch of cars at a red light while fiddling with the radio. She was going to school and didn't have any money, so her Dad picked her up this loaded 98 Intrigue that had something like 190k miles, but was absolutely mint. White with chrome wheels, tan leather interior and a sunroof. What a great car. I got to drive it around a lot and thought it was the best car for her. However, she thought it wasn't fuel efficient, so she sold it after only a few months and bought an oil burning Saturn SC2, which I also advised against. Eventually the Saturn blew a motor and this time she got stuck with a thirsty hand me down 2 door 4x4 Blazer. Obviously we didn't work out...
I'd happily consider a good shape 3800 Intrigue for a daily driver.
My grandfather had one of these that I used to drive around. It had a 455 and got something like 8mpg.
My dad had a 98 Intrigue with the 3800, wasn't that the only year of the 3800 in that car, after that it was the Shortstar. Bought it cheap from a geezer's estate with super low miles,white on gray cloth, total rental car spec.
Decent enough car, put a set of Eagle Talon 17s on it and it looked a little better than stock. My favorite memory is losing it in the Miller Park parking lot during a brewers game after we stayed at the bar a little longer than we should have pregaming, then left early because I had to work the next day. Trying to find a generic white sedan in a parking lot was not super easy.
When I was a freshman in college, the RD at the dorm next door had a silver Aurora on 20s when chrome 20s were a big deal. Tinted out, bangin stereo. We were all jealous.
I enjoyed the 95 Aurora that I owned. 
Despised the Achieva.
93gsxturbo said:
My dad had a 98 Intrigue with the 3800, wasn't that the only year of the 3800 in that car, after that it was the Shortstar.
1998 was the only year where all Intrigues were 3800 powered. In 1999 the Shortstar was introduced. However it was only standard in the top the line GLS, while optional on lower end trims. I think most 99's ended up with the Shortstar, but there were still a few 3800 cars made. For 2000, the Shortstar became the only engine available for the rest of production.
I had to look this up a few weeks ago because I was at an auction that had a 99 Intrigue. I shrugged it off because I too thought that all 99-02's were Shortstars, but when they popped the hood it was a 3800. That's why I had to go out and get the story on 99's.
At the same time I had my '76 Cutlass, a friend had a '73 or '74 442. Looked a little like this one, but way more beat:
His was packing the 455, which de-tuned or not, still put out plenty of torque and would roast the tires at will. We were leaving a friend's house downtown one summer, and he followed me out onto a stretch of urban interstate. I romped on it (well, the pedal was on the floor, but in '76, the 350 was a wheezer) and moved to the left lane, preparing to merge onto another highway. I glanced into my rear view, and much to my surprise, saw nobody. Now where could he be?
I got my answer a split second later, as that 455 was full-throttle screaming outside my rolled-down window. I was just about over into the left lane by then, and all my friend had left to him was a narrow concrete shoulder and the Jersey barriers. If I had heard that noisy big block a second later, I'd have squeezed him into the barriers for sure. I gave him some room and he whizzed past me like I was standing still. Crazy bugger never lifted.
I really need to get in touch with that guy. Haven't spoken with him in years. Pretty sure he's still living and working outside of D.C.
I had an Olds for a while. It was brown.
That's about as excited as I can get for Oldsmobile.
I never had a whole Oldsmobile, but I sure had some fun with a Quad4 in the HPV Engineering Special, a Shannon chassis in C Sports Racing. Photos from Pocono North and Summit Point.
Danny Shields said:
Related fun fact: Oldsmobile founder Ransom E. Olds would later purchase land on the north edge of Tampa Bay to start a community known today as the town of Oldsmar, Florida.
He also started a band called REO Speedwagon.
This may not be completely factually accurate.
We were a Chrysler family as my Dad was an engineer for the company but I always secretly lusted after an Olds 442. To this day, two of my favorite cars of all time are the 66/67 Dodge Charger ( ya the weird ones that most people didn't like) and the 69/70 Olds 442. I guess you could say I had a "fastback" thing going on. I was so sorry when Oldsmobile went away. It's hard to believe it's been 15 years already!
Somewhere, Linda Vaughn is shedding a Botox inhibited tear.
Rocket 88 baby! Sadly, the last Oldsmobiles that interested me were products of the 1950s. 
1988RedT2 said:
In 1978 I worked for a builder in high school and one of the concrete guys had a white 1973 with the big engine and glass packs. I still want one.
I remember my cousin having a '84 Hurst/Olds in the late 80's. It may not have been very fast, but damn it looked cool + lightning rods!
When Olds was shuttered...it should have been Buick instead. Olds had much nicer product but I'm sure the name was working against them.
More Olds memories!
Back around 1994, my older cousin was in the market to buy his first new car. Back then, whenever someone was looking for a new car, we ALL went to check it out. So, my dad, cousins, uncle, and I piled into my uncle's Jeep Cherokee Laredo (we all went to the dealer to buy that too) and pointed the XJ toward Garvey Olds in Norwell, MA. We were Achieva shopping!
When we got there, my cousin wanted an Achieva with a manual transmission. They had two: a regular 4-door in silver with a red interior, and a red SCX. My dad, ever the gearhead, urged him to get the SCX. The sales guy also recommended it, and we watched a movie on endless VHS loop on a TV cart in the showroom talking about how awesome the Quad 4 was and how amazing the Aerotech concept car was. Nevertheless, he ended up getting the lowly 4-door one with a stick because it was more in his budget.
For some reason, I liked the Achievas. Still kinda do. Back then, they were lookers!
And bonus Aerotech content, because it rules.
I’ve posted this before - my dad bought a 1955 Oldsmobile 88 Holiday Coupe brand new when he was 20 years old living in Chicago. The B&W picture was his car and the color picture is the closest I could find.
It wasn’t until I was an adult that he admitted he put glass pack duals on it and yellow fog lights behind the grill that got him pulled over by the Chicago Police department. It was important to keep those white walls clean.
My dad bought a used 1958 Olds 88 2-door in the early 1960’s that he repainted beige with my grandfather. He kept it until 1974 when he bought a new VW Super Beetle.
At the time I hated this car being in grade school. It smoked and leaked oil and was a general beater on its last legs. My mom would car pool with my sports and it wasn’t as cool as the other parents cars. Yes, I was an idiot.
Once I got the cigarette lighter glowing red and melted it into the plastic steering wheel. Nine year old boys are knuckleheads.
Gearheadotaku said:
When Olds was shuttered...it should have been Buick instead. Olds had much nicer product but I'm sure the name was working against them.
I recall reading that the Buick brand was very successful in key markets--particularly Asia--and that they were safe from the axe. Pontiac and Olds, not so much.
1988RedT2 said:
Gearheadotaku said:
When Olds was shuttered...it should have been Buick instead. Olds had much nicer product but I'm sure the name was working against them.
I recall reading that the Buick brand was very successful in key markets--particularly Asia--and that they were safe from the axe. Pontiac and Olds, not so much.
And at the time they were shuttered, Pontiac was producing the best looking vehicles in the whole GM lineup.
