Car Stuff: Random Sighting #16

Some people will only photograph cars that are parked on the street, but if I can see it, I'll attempt to grab a picture of it. I found this car parked in a driveway in my neighborhood, on a day I decided to take a walk in a different direction and ended up on a street I had not explored before.

I wasn't going to walk up into someone's yard, so that's why I got only the one shot of this Oldsmobile Delta 88. This car is a close under-the-skin relative of the Chevrolet Caprice I posted about two months ago. The tail lights say this is either a 1984 or '85 model; the car was completely redesigned for '86. The two-door version of this car is a lot less common than the four-door, which may explain why someone appears to be putting effort into fixing up this one.

The badge on the vinyl roof says "Royale"; at one point this designated a higher-trim Delta 88 model, but by '84 all Delta 88s were Royales. The badge on the trunk may say "Brougham," which took things a notch higher, and the wire wheel covers were indeed part of the Brougham package. "Royale Brougham" is a bit of a mouthful, but in '85 they added an even higher trim level, the Delta 88 Royale Luxury Sedan.

Notice also the green-letter license plate. These were last printed in 1987 and have largely been replaced by the red-letter "Spirit of America" design, but the state grudgingly allows motorists to keep the "greenies" as long as they are still legible (more on the green plates here). This car has probably had the same plate affixed to it since it was first registered, which is kind of cool.