1970 Oldsmobile Vista cruiser

1970VistaCruiser · Sep 9, 2015

1970VistaCruiser submitted a new Garage Item:

1970 Oldsmobile Vista cruiser

This was my father's Oldsmobile from approximately 1988 to 1993. I think he bought it back then for 400 bucks off the back lot of a local Ford dealership. He claims it was the best car he'd ever owned. I pretty much grew up riding in the back seat of this wagon. We took it on several vacations to Minnesota and Wisconsin and many weekend trips to the grandparents who lived about 50 miles from us. It even towed a camper to Wisconsin on one occasion and towed an old boat Dad used to have out to the lake several times. The car never did give us any trouble.

The wagon was eventually sold though as we didn't have a garage or much space at the time and the car was getting older. A co-worker of Dad's bought it and was going to keep it inside and restore it. We had contact with them off and on through the years but never did see the car until a couple years ago when they showed interest in selling it back. When we did finally see the wagon again after all these years we found her in shambles. This wagon was like a member of the family to me though so I had to buy it back regardless.

It sat in a shed with a rotten roof for the majority of the time that they'd owned it and it still had the same oil Dad put in it before he sold it in '93. The Olds 350 does still turn freely so we're hoping it will run next Spring when I get all the parts together. In the meantime I've disassembled the interior and cleaned it up (finding a lot of my old toys under the seats in the process) and begun the long and costly process of accumulating parts.

The plan for the short-term is to get it running and driveable, restore the interior and preserve the exterior for the time being. I won't be dropping in a 455, I want to keep the 350 and get it tuned for the best fuel mileage possible. In its prime my dad claimed it got 19 mpg! Hopefully one day I can take it on a few trips of my own and not spend a fortune on gas doing it.
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