10k: Hidden Treasure: 1970 Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser Wagon
When it comes to real estate, they always say it’s “location, location, location,” but for old cars, the chant is, “mileage, mileage, mileage.” This next feature is an Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser that has a sweet two tone baby puke/poop vintage gold/wood setup and an odometer reading that might be believable. Find this 1970 Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser Wagon offered for $10,500 in Sanibel, FL. Tip from Dascpu.
Sanibel is a barrier island located off the west cost of Florida, and the tropical paradise an escaped Hatian slave turned pirate known as Black Caesar buried his treasure sometime in the 18th century. Today, its 6000 inhabitants bask in the warm salty ocean air…which would have totally ruined any 40 year old Oldsmobiles — so this car must be a recent transplant. The paint, if original, looks incredible — and I’ve never liked the faux wood on these, but if you’re going for an original look, this one has the right combo.
Under the hood is a 350 cubic inch (5.7 liter) Olds Rocket V8 mated to an automatic transmission. The engine bay needs detailing, but it does have a/c and the belt is on it — a must for anyone who plans to keep this car in Florida.
On the plus side, the dash looks uncracked, door seals look good, no signs of rust, but the front seats look like they’ve been redone on the cheap (or covered with something?). The rear seats provide a pattern for what the front seat should
be and would be an easy re-upholster. If you look at the interior picture of the vista roof… if there were any leaks, that headliner would be shot…Now look again at the headliner… it’s clean as a whistle.
See another classic wagon that looks this clean? tips@dailytuismo.com
Didn't Clark trade one of these in for the Family Truckster?
Very cool wagon. I too dislike the fake wood. What message do these wood stickers convey? Do you want people to believe you built this car in wood working class?
The price is on the high retail side of the equation, but if you bid them hard, fixed the front seat, detailed the engine bay, and fixed the other hidden horrors you wouldn't lose money on this car.
Buy now and drive to Hershey Pa in April for the big station wagon fest and exhibit at the AACA Museum.
Remove the wood make the front seat right, someone must make a cover kit for these. Detail the engine bay, ie get rid of the surface rust. And get this thing out of the salty air asap. Sorry I can't get this out of the salty air so I'm out.
I dunno, seems like the fake wood is part of the charm of this era and these sleds.
No fan of woodgrain trim, but as a shape, another classic example of an era when GM didn't do ugly cars.
Well, seldom at least.
Probably not a longtime sanibel resident, agreed. Although it may be an original FL car, since both dark blue and black plates were available for 1970 YOM; the pic makes it hard to tell which color played this car has. That front seat recover was a bad idea from the beginning, someone clearly just wanted to get it out of the way. That AC belt notwithstanding, I whod definitely want to check that system out before buying, since it would have likely been worked hard; Sanibel has a decent breeze sometimes but more often than not it is just hot hot hot during most of the year. Pretty, slow-paced town. Lots of shells and starfish…
*plates