Convertibles In Two Sizes: 1974 Olds Delta 88 vs 1979 Triumph Spitfire

Welcome back! Today we’re taking a look at the two extremes of convertible sizes, with a great big American cruiser and a zippy little British roadster. Neither one is in great shape, but the name of the game is Shitbox Showdown, after all.

Yesterday’s cars were in decent condition, though I knew going in which one was going to win. Sometimes you can just tell. And yeah, I would choose that Esteem wagon over a sketchy early Hyundai too, but you understand why I had to feature it, right? It’s a Hyundai Scoupe. Stuff like that just doesn’t come up for sale very often.

It’s nothing official, or even written down, but I do have a sort of “hit list” in mind of cars I’m keeping an eye out for to feature, and the Hyundai Scoupe was actually one of them. If you ever see a Sterling 825 or 827, Renault 18i, Fiat Strada, or Mitsubishi Tredia or Cordia here, you’ll know I’ve crossed another one off the list.

For today, however, we’ll stick to the merely uncommon: a couple of old convertibles. Years ago, the only really “sporty” American convertible was the Corvette. You could get Camaro and Mustang and Cuda convertibles, but they usually weren’t the hardcore performance models, and even those weren’t really sporty. If you wanted a sports car with no top, you turned to Europe, where any number of tiny topless wonders stood at the ready to obey your every command on a twisty road. American convertibles mostly did what American cars did best: cruise along smoothly making V8 noises, only with more fresh air. I’ve got one of each for your perusal.

1974 Oldsmobile Delta 88 convertible – $3,000

Engine/drivetrain: 350 cubic inch overhead valve V8, three-speed automatic, RWD

Location: San Diego, CA

Odometer reading: 64,000 miles

Operational status: Runs and drives well, current registration

The malaise era hadn’t really started by 1974, but the writing was on the wall. Horsepower ratings had switched from gross (just the engine) to net (as installed in the car), making everything look a lot less powerful. Skyrocketing insurance rates and a fuel crisis had taken the fun out of muscle cars. And a whole list of impending new Federal regulations, including a rollover standard that would have all but outlawed convertibles, threatened to suck what little joy was left out of cars. A car like this Oldsmobile was a dinosaur, a remnant of an earlier time that was about to become extinct.

And really, the GM B-body, as well as other full-size American cars, had swelled to cartoonishly fat proportions. Just look at how much wasted space there is around this car’s 350 Rocket V8. You could practically climb in there with it to work on it. Not that this one needs much work; the seller says it runs and drives just fine, and it comes with a bunch of service records.

It’s a good thing this car is in sunny southern California, though; it’s permanently stuck in open-air mode at the moment. Neither the power-operated top nor the rear windows will raise. And something tells me the top isn’t much good even if you did put it up. What the hell; park it in the garage (if yours is big enough) and leave the top down. Drive something else when it’s rainy. The seats could use some upholstery, or pop down to Tijuana and get a couple of cheap wool blankets to throw over them.

It does have some significant rust in the rear wheel wells. The trouble with convertibles is that you can never really keep the water out; you just have to make sure it goes through where it’s supposed to. I get the feeling the rust on this car is the result of clogged drains or water collecting somewhere. Or maybe it’s just lousy mid-’70s GM paint prep.

1979 Triumph Spitfire 1500 – $2,900

Engine/drivetrain: 1.5-liter overhead valve inline 4, four-speed manual, RWD

Location: Lancaster, CA

Odometer reading: 44,000 miles

Operational status: Hasn’t run since 1988, engine won’t turn

There were no American convertibles between 1976, when the last drop-top Cadillac Eldorado rolled off the line, and 1982, when the first Chrysler LeBaron convertibles arrived. But British and Italian makers never did stop building convertibles; you could still walk into an MG or Fiat or Alfa Romeo or Triumph dealership and drive off with the wind in your hair – at least until British Leyland started killing off its cool cars one by one. This little Triumph Spitfire comes from the second-to-last year of its production, and only a couple of years before Triumph stopped building cars altogether.

The “1500” in this car’s name refers to its engine size; technically it’s 1493 cubic centimeters, but that would look weird on a badge. Like its MGB cousin, the Spitfire suffered mightily from US emissions regulations towards the end of its run. This car was rated at only 53 horsepower when it was new, hardly a respectable sports car number even then. This one can’t even do that now; it was parked in 1988 in favor of a kid-friendly ride, and hasn’t run since. The engine is now stuck and won’t turn over by hand. With patience and some Marvel Mystery Oil, you might be able to get it unstuck, or you might not. Luckily, engine swaps on Spitfires are common and well-documented.

The rest of it looks pretty good, as it should, having been parked in a garage for three and a half decades. The interior looks nice, even that wonderful wooden dashboard – real wood, mind you; none of that fake Ford LTD crap here. There is a blemish on the passenger’s seat, but it might just be gunk that could be cleaned off.

Outside, it’s shiny and rust-free, just how you’d like it to be. It includes both the soft top and a factory removable hard top, as well as the cardboard boxes full of spare parts you’d expect to come with an old British roadster.

These days, we’ve got a whole new list of regulations that are sucking some of the fun out of cars. Horsepower is no longer a worry, of course; today’s cars have plenty of that, but what they lack is charm and personality, which these two have in spades. One is tailor-made for rolling along down the highway, or Sunset Boulevard, while the other is more suited for zipping along the canyon roads or between cones in a parking lot. But they’ll both give you that connected feeling that you can’t quite get with anything other than an open-top car. Which one is more your style?

(Image credits: Craigslist sellers)