1981 Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight Regency Coupe for sale on BaT Auctions - ending January 2 (Lot #94,870) | Bring a Trailer
Not with frame rot. And, my Canadian brethren, do Canadian provinces not issue ownership titles on new-sold vehicles?
Yeah I guess I’ve been away from Chicago too long. When I see a dark brown under carriage my interest really drops. It’s a stunning looking car, but the lack of title is also a bit disconcerting. Know it’s early, but with the lackluster bidding thus far I would say others may have similar concerns.
I don't see any rust-through, though. For a 31 year old car, I would have expected much worse than just surface rust. If it stays out of salty traffic, from now on, it should stay okay:
Funny, I see that metric 200 transmission and want to run far far away before I noticed any frame rot issues.
Frame rot? Pfft! Hold my beer.... I had a '67 Mercury Montclair with unintentional "four wheel steering" - the frame was rotted that bad. In fact, when I lived in PA most of the '65-72 FoMoCo fullsizers had some rot to them. It was rare for them not to be rotted. Weirdly same with the '78 and up GM G-bodies, but further back on the frames. If this is all the rot this car has, that's fixable. Of course the price should reflect that. This one's gonna go cheap...
That looks like condensating water rot of which can occur even in desert climates. Chasing the damage with a cutting torch will reveal the true extent of damage. Welding it shut and cutting drainage exits should solve this problem
As far as the title goes, it could be like New Hampshire once a vehicle gets to a certain age, they stop issuing titles for them. in New Hampshire anything older than 2000 cannot get a title, in Vermont it’s once it hits 20 years old.
I do like the looks. 1981 was not any sort of high-water mark anywhere in terms of performance. But This Olds could be a nice boulevard cruiser.
Those big GM cars of the 80's may have been slow but they sure were comfortable rides and had well designed teriors.
