Here's an old car that's not a Buick that I would LOVE to own, it's up for auction at Mecum this weekend. Super Sharp!! https://www.mecum.com/lots/AZ0320-405195/1964-oldsmobile-starfire/
Love those, especially '62s! There was a pair of '64s for sale in decent shape other then non-running here for $2500 each. Was very tempted to get one for another driver.
I'm old enough to remember the positive press about this car back in the day. I believe this car has always had a following as a gentleman's hot rod and classic design; will probably be a sound investment in the future!
A pal from work had a 1966(?) Starfire that had a substantial aluminum casting for a piece of lower rear quarter panel trim that had the exhaust coming out on the sides. 394 "Ultra High Compression" engine. ws
I may be wrong but by 66 Olds had discontinued the 394 (last year 64) and had move to the 400/425 Olds series. So a 66 Starfire would have a 425 Olds.
'65's had the exhaust thru the lower quarters, and.............. A new version of the Rocket V8 engine was offered for the 1965 model year, this one measuring 425 cu in (7.0 l) displacement, still using a Rochester 4-barrel carburetor, and generating 375 hp (280 kW) at 4800 rpm. This was still the most powerful engine in the Oldsmobile lineup and used only in the Starfire and the Jetstar I. Also new for 1965 was the three-speed Turbo Hydra-Matic automatic transmission which replaced the previous fluid-coupling Hydra-Matic used by Oldsmobile since 1940. Added to the option list for the first time on Starfires and other B-body cars was a four-speed manual transmission with Hurst shifter that was rarely ordered.
I always thought Olds one upped Buick with the early Starfires, they seemed higher end than the Wildcat till the 65's came out. The 62's were near perfection
No sale.................$54,000 and the bid goes on........... I'm not surprised it bid up that high, that's a beautiful restoration done on that car.
Yeah... I used to be a plethora of useless trivia too, but some things I let slide after 40+ years. I do remember helping him resize (heighten) the twin aluminum rocker towers) to tighten up the push rods into the lifters to help them quiet down. ws
Actually I was thinking of a repair on a 394 in a 63(?) BIG Olds wagon that my dads pal had. His older kid overheated it so bad that the water jacket under the intake cracked. That was the first "epoxy" repair I had ever seen, done by my dad who was a helluva diesel engineer; I was probably 12. It ran another 50K at least. Cheap German Irish guy LOL with 9 kids! ws
Sweet! I had a 62 ninety eight but it was too rough for me to be fully invested in. Was an awesome looking car.
As a eight year old kid, I have fond memories of a neighbours Starfire that had the exhaust coming out of the side of the quarter panels behind the rear wheels. I thought that was the coolest car ever, until the guy traded it in on a Red 68 charger.
I've had a couple of these big Oldsmobiles and have rebuilt a few Olds motors. I'm currently looking for a nice 62 Starfire and am willing to trade off or sell my Wildcat for it. About the only thing I don't like about the 61-64 full size Oldsmobiles was that lousy "Slim-Jim" transmission; - the Roto-Hydramatic was the biggest piece of crap to ever leave a GM drawing board. The 1-2 shift was always crucial, it would start to lag and if you didn't catch it in time it would start to work out other issues, and when it got really bad it would refuse to downshift out of 3rd; - then you know you're in for a rebuild. The pre-61 4 speed was much better, albeit slipperier and heavier, but more reliable. The 394 is a nice engine, it's heavy compared to a Buick, definitely a thick-wall construction, they were terrible to start at temperatures of less than 10 F unless plugged in. But they were pretty zippy and fairly easy to rebuild. As far as styling goes, Olds was always a little more avaunt-guard than Buick was; Buick is far more conservative. But, IMHO, a Buick was built better and the engineering was a bit better which was represented by it's higher standing in the GM pecking order.
