Yes column shift and the trans linkage was as strong as toothpicks. I got a 41 Buick trans (same thing) that was a floor shift and it was much better. the stick shift Olds were ex CHP cars.
I can tell you- when you moved the lever to the next gear- it hit like a truck(fast) rammed into your back.In 1960 I rode in a '53 Chev two door extremely lightened -for the time with a Buick nailhead - they have awesome torque. great ride.
Great story, I remember test driving a used '65Coronet 426/4spd back in the day. Thankfully(?) I waited and got the '68 Bee. That 426 was an awesome motor. Course, I also passed on a 63-64 Galaxie 500 vert with a tri-power 405(?) 4-spd. Red w/black top.
I tried to buy a '62 Ford 406 4 speed care new -the dealer had been burned by one who worked a deal that wound up nearly giving him the car and the dealer owner said no more super stock cars -I went to the Chrysler /Plymouth agency in Auburn California (Mike Johnson)- they were the only dealer in the area who knew what a super stock Plymouth was- the rest wanted t o sell me a383 golden commando, nice try. Plymouth was my first choicde of course but after going t o3-4 Sacramento Plymouth dealers and none knew what the SS car was I went to O.E."free and easy" Saugstead to buy a Ford- glad I didn't. the '62 ford was a slug in comparison some of yo u may have heard of Bob bunker (the Folsom flash whe from 1959 on had his '55 Chevrolet- bought as a 6 cylinder- he put a 348 in it with the 3 carbs and 3 on the floor, when my Plymouth was delivered April 26 1963 I drove directly to work at Aerojet in Sacramento. Bob also worked there and when he heard my Plymouth had arrived he demanded we race after work that night(swing shift) ( we had gone to school together) on the way home to Folsom- a decent straight section of highway- we stopped he honked his horn and we raced, he got out on me i n low- when I punched the 2 button I went by him like he was parked , so much so he flashed his lights- we stopped and he wanted a do -over as he thought his car stalled, .we raced 3 times-3 for 3 he lost, next day he ordered a 409 for his '55, it fared no better. heh heh. when we raced in pro gas at Sacramento I had my 426 hemi willys with clutchflite - by then he had an injected 427 in his '55. our last encounter in drag racing we were qualifying side by side for the 8th and last spot in pro gas that had a 9.60 minimum. his remark before that run was"you may as well put the willys on the trailer- Chrysler does not make an engine that will beat my 427"... we made that run Bunker ran a 9.71, I ran a 9.69, aww bunk- is you hurt baby? after that encounter he put a 6.71 on the 427. he did go on to have very successful pro mod using the same steel body from '59 that eventually ran in the mid 6's at 226 and above. I never got below a 9.23 at 155 in a SBC dragster with single 4 bbl shutting off at 1000 feet because of front end shimmy. the solid front end on the dragster (no front suspension) had a bias in the chassis that wanted to twist and the faster it went the more it unloaded and started to wheel hop. never liked solid front end front engine dragsters.
Well, I wasn't so lucky. I pulled a neutral shot with my cousins aboard ( showing off ) in my 56 Olds and promptly twisted an axle off! A somewhat humbling experience.
that's about the only thing I didn't break in the Olds.
agreed on that, never liked convertibles,plus they are heavy- not good performance material. I remember one day when I had my '68 Charger RT gas was 33 cents a gallon, you could not put 10 dollars worth of gas in the car. now 10 wont get me home. I bought many mopars back then, cheap and easy '68 Dodge RT coronet 440/4 speed/dana $1200.00 '68 road runner hemi 4 speed was $1400.00 at the lot- I offered $1200.00 he refused,I tried to out wait him and lost that one,no big deal. had more 63-64 plymouths and dodges than I can count ,now can't find anything that is not more rust than car. the '67 dart coupe(no engine/trans) I just got is the most unrusted car from that era I've seen in 25 years it was garaged for many years never seeing the light of day or water. it has the 8-3/4 rear end so I'm ahead of the game a little.
Working at gas station in 66-67(?) a guy pulled in with a wht. Coronet,nothing special,he said fill it with hi-test & check the oil. OMG black crinkle valve covers with plug wires right in the center of them. I had seen the 'Holy Grail' !!!
when I had made my '62 Dart wagon with the 426 Hemi it was the best sleeper in town, till it was running... I drove it everywhere as my daily driver. I went to a local Lumber builder department store where you drive your car through the lot and pick up your own lumber etc. I had put some lumber in it fora project ,a few bags of concrete and rumbled my way to the checkout station in the lumber yard- left it idling.. this caught the attention of a couple guys working there and they came over to look at it.. they asked what it had in it,I told them "I don't know, it's my neighbors car and he lets me borrow it to go shopping and such". they asked if they could see the engine,again I told them I don't know how to do that ,if you can open it- feel free,they did, they looked and one said "Jesus Christ- its f**king hemi", as they bounced around the engine they wanted to know who owned it where they could talk to the owner about buying it, I told them they don't want to sell it its just something they like-paid my bill and drove out...they never knew the truth.
in 1957 my father went to the local Chrysler dealer in Sacramento Vandenberg Chrysler/Plymouth, his attention was on the 1957 white Chrysler 300/ cream color leather interior. he wasn't much of a sporty type but he liked the car. after a drive he said he liked the car but didn't like the rumble idle and asked if they could changed the cam to a milder one- they said no- and he walked out....
going back to 1999 working at a Chrysler dealer n Sacramento (Vandenberg) a gorgeous 1969 Ply Satellite hardtop -B-5 blue . it was gorgeous unrestored car ,owned by an 80 something year old lady who bought it new kept it garaged all its life and loved it. buying it was out of the question. about a year later it came back in , scratched,dented from end to end I couldn't believe it was the same car or how it got this way. the eldery lady had died- her attorney took the car for a transportation hack and drove it on the streets of sacrament-paying no attention to where/how he parked. hated him for that . same dealer a '64 Plymouth 4 door hardtop with 361 came in via tow truck as a recovered stolen car. it- like the Satellite was in excellent shape, although not as nice as the Satellite . the owners came to look at it after recovery- even though un hurt- they refused to take the car back after it had been stolen. the insurance gave them $700.00 for the car- they offered it for sale for another $700.00 ,I immediately paid them and owned the '64. everyone in the dealership thought I was stupid to give 7 hundred for it after insurance gave them another 7?? why should I care ,I got an awesome car in great shape. curiously- the thieves had removed one front wheel and took off the brake spring hardware??? which was the reason for the tow in. never figured that one out, easy fix. BUT beings it had been stolen it now had a salvage title, that did not bother me at all. I drove it for a couple months- loved it, a friend started asking if I'd sell it to him as he "always wanted a '64 4 door hardtop". I finally said ok and sold it to him for what I'd paid to make his dream come true. turns out he was asking for another who wanted the car but didn't know me,he resold it to the other person first week for a profit , claiming the reason he sold was the salvage title. never forgave him for that.
