A Nova By Any Other Name: 1975 Oldsmobile Omega
The original Oldsmobile Omega was a badge engineered version of the X-platform Chevrolet Nova and was sold in two generations 1973-1974 and 1975-1979. The Omega was more luxurious than the Nova it was based on, but it still rode on the same basic chassis and is just as wonderful or horrible depending on who you talk to about it. Find this 1975 Oldsmobile Omega offered for $3,500 in Santa Fe, NM.
The Omega offered all of the reliability and road manners of the Nova, but with an upscale Oldsmobile grill and some wood trim on the inside — this was some serious mid 70s luxury folks. Suspension in the 1975 version, of course, shared with the Nova, but very similar to the one used in GM’s 2nd generation Camaro/Firebird F-body cars.
Under the hood of this Omega is a 260 cubic inch Oldsmobile V8, rated at a staggering 105 horsepower which is terrible, but slightly less so when you consider the engine puts out 205 ft-lbs of torque.
The engine might be a tough sell, but one peak inside at the 81k mile original interior will melt the heart of the biggest GM hater on the planet. Just look at that red/reddish/redder interior combination. Why can’t I get a new Oldsmobile GM econobox with an interior like that?
See another cheap malaise-mobile for sale? tips@dailyturismo.com
BTW, those X cars were cleverly named:
N-ova (Chevy)
O-mega (Olds)
V-entura (Pontiac)
A-pollo (Buick)
Then GM put their clever hats away for good.
No AC in Santa Fe? No wonder it only has 81K on it.
Keep it the appearance the same except for the Pep Boys trailer wheels, add a 400hp crate motor and a stick, oh and fix the AC, and you'd have a pretty cool anti-malaise car.
Is that a belt-less AC Compressor in the engine-bay shot? All of the added weight of Air Conditioning and none of the Air Conditioning. At least there isn't the AC compressor reducing further the already dismal 105hp output of this car.
Our 155hp 2.0 4 cyl in the CX-5 loses about 10hp with the AC Compressor engaged. Those are usually the 10hp required to get us up the next hill w/o downshifting.
I lived in Santa Fe for three years and found that it was not very hot. In fact the years was there It had very snowy winters. Great food, margaritas, and rust free cars. Very nice landscape as well, not a lot going on there however.
This car is a very clean example. I am trying to think what wheels I would swap out, maybe older 442 rallys with a bigger rear tire? Could transform the look.
For some odd reason having mostly to do with regarding junkyarding as recreation in my younger days, at one point I was actually collecting parts against the prospect of buying a four-door example. I think I have a four-hole 120mph-speedo-and-tach gauge cluster for one of these in my parts bins somewhere, and I know I've got a '78ish Z28 steering box. I think I also have a set of late '70s Seville rear discs. You'd need Seville rear axle shafts with the 5×5 bolt pattern, a set of B-wagon/C-body tall front spindles with the big calipers and 12in 5×5 bolt-circle rotors, a set of the 17×8.5 '94-96 Impala SS wheels and some 255/40-17 tires.
At one point a few years back GM Parts was selling the Impala SS wheels as sets of four on a pallet for seriously cheap money. Probably all gone now.
I saw the crusty compressor and equated "no ac" to the look of a long-term dormant state.
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Tempting – pretty easy fix to get it looking tough
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I own this car now. It's in really good shape.
Congrats! I am friend with Walter in Santa Fe, good guy.
I actually emailed him about buying it I like it so much. Keep us updated with the work you do to it.
Just bought a 75' omega for $500! I even test drove it! Pretty happy right now. Odometer shows 33000 so im assuming It's 133000 miles. Transmission is slipping but that's a quick junkyard fix. Its about 98% complete. All chrome is there! Needs some interior and paint work but a lot less than I would expect for being 42yrs old. Still has the factory rims with a spare and beauty rings It also has the 260 in it, which is perfect for my 2 teenage daughters to learn learn to drive in. They actually love the style of these cars. Daddy will hot rod this badboy out AFTER they're done with it but we'll keep the 100hp and primer for now! Keep your eyes peeled and your head on swivel and you'll spot them… Still some great deals out there.