19 years ago, I was driving a mostly blue 1964 Oldsmobile Dynamic 88...a two door model with the "Impala Roof" option and a 394 two barrel. It looked rough around the edges, but was mechanically new. Rebuilt engine, new transmission, new battery, new rear carrier, new u-joints and new brakes. The black steel wheels with dog dish center caps made it look like a derelict cop car...and being 18, I drove the car everywhere, and drove it hard...hanging it out around corners, frying one tire away from the lights, hauling ass down I-94. It had a slight rake to it that suggested "hot rod", though the whisper quiet single exhaust revealed nothing of the car's potential. It was no "musclecar"...but it got up and went all right! One of the "Dynamic 88" emblems was broken, and it simply read "Dyna"...so that's what we named the old girl. 'We' being my girlfriend, Kim...and my next door sidekick, Harold. We traveled our World with Dyna back in 86! I came upon her by accident. The wiring in my 68 Chevelle had fried, and the car had been nothing but trouble from day one. It was a terd...and I was sick of it. A friend mentioned that he'd be interested in taking the car off my hands, if I wanted to swap it for a 64 Olds. The blue bomber had been sitting in front of his house all Winter...a slow moving project car he'd just never gotten around to finishing, but he ASSURED me that it was mechanically sound, despite it's lackluster appearance! Doubt encircled my mind, but he told me to drive the Olds home and see what I thought. I didn't go three miles before I knew that the car was something special...it felt like Home right from the start, and I called my friend to tell him the crappy old Chevelle was all his...I'd found the new Love of my Life! Dyna and I traveled far and wide...I taught Kim how to drive in that old car, and Harold, the sometimes annoying little 15 year old kid next door who managed to con his way into coming along on our dates now and then also got plenty of seat time! He was at least a year away from having a license, but I'd let him drive the Olds around as Kim and I made out in the back seat. You could do that with Dyna...she'd never hurt you, or let you get into trouble. Two kids learned to drive at her helm and she made 'em look like old pros at the game! The car had a genuine Spirit...and it looked out for us. Then, one morning after dropping Kim off at school, some stoned out bitch driving her Daddy's Granada came racing down the side street and plowed into the driver's side fender. Dyna absorbed all the impact, leaving me unharmed...but my beloved Olds was dead at the scene...the front wheel and frame driven into the side of the engine block. All life was gone from her in an instant. No lights, no radio...nothing. Life went on, and cars came and went...but I always wanted another just like Dyna. I didn't push the search too hard, especially while the heartbreak was still fresh. Replacing Dyna with a look-alike would potentially cheapen her Memory...like immediately grabbing another puppy to fill the void left by the passing of a family pet and companion. It just wouldn't feel right. Here and there along the Path of Years Gone By, I'd see a 64 Olds in the trader rags, or hear of one for sale somewhere and would go to check it out. None of them were "it", though...either they ended up being a 63...or a four door, or they'd have the squared off roof...or something else would turn me off to the prospect. I resigned myself to cherrishing the Memory of our beloved Dyna, and was almost content to leave it at that. I'd had a brief, but wonderfull relationship with a car that shined above all others. There'd be faster ones, newer ones, fancier ones, and prettier ones in my stable at times...but none that ever captured the same coveted spot in my heart as that ratty old 64. It was more of a person than a car. Then comes Sinkemlow in 2005 here with a two door 1964 Oldsmobile Dynamic 88...and it has the 'Impala Roof' and the mighty 394. This one is a little 'worn in'...not as mechanically fresh as Dyna had been...but there must have been something Magic in the air where these cars were built, because this one has that same warm, friendly vibe that old Dyna expressed! This past Sunday, Chris (Sinkemlow) drove this old gal up to Detroit from Columbus, Ohio to deliver it to Hack Headquarters. The keys were handed over, and just like that...19 years after Dyna went to her final resting place, one of her sisters stepped into my life to carry the Flame! Now, this car isn't Dyna's TWIN sister...it's not one to anxiously jump off the line blazing one tire across an intersection, and me being tempered with the wisdom (?!) and experience of Years...I'm not so inclined to hang her out in a four wheel drift and slide her precisely into traffic with one hand on the wheel and the other holding 16.9 ounces of Pepsi in a cold glass bottle...but she drives smooth and easy...and makes going anywhere a genuine pleasure. Dyna sat high in the back on new springs and shocks, and had the tight, firm feel of an old cop car...sure-footed and confident...always able to hang her ass out, then bring it right back...steering with the throttle and momentum as much as the big steering wheel. This car runs an aggressive reverse rake...lowrider cool on cut coils with burbling duals...a low, mellow rumble sounding sweet to the ears in spite of some oil smoke here and there. She's old, she's been around the block...but she goes along effortlessly...no complaints, no excuses. This old gal and I are ready for The Road Ahead, a reunion of sorts, blended with the joy of new found Love...the adventure has Begun... (a BIG thanks to Sinkemlow, and to a very special friend who helped out ALOT!)
Well, fuckin good for you!!!!!!!!!!! That is a cool bodystyle. I think you will have fun with it. Just dont go looking for the old girlfriend And, not to embarass you but did you lose a few pounds? Lookin good, I sense an upswing.
Ha Ha...Kim is alive and well, happily married to her second husband and raising a house full of kids. We're still friends and keep in touch by e-mail now and then. And yes...I'm 91 pounds lighter than I was at this time last year! Thanks!
91!? Shit be carefull or Kim will try and make you #3!!!!!!!!!!! Hell, I lost 15 pounds this summer and my family noticed. 91 is impressive! My congratulations. T
173 lbs this morning...vs 264 lbs last Christmas! The Hack Diet is easy...drink nothing but water and an occasional beer, no fast food and no snacks. Ride a bike all summer and walk alot. You won't even notice it at first...but soon the pounds will vanish. I can't even fathom being 264 pounds now...I couldn't lift 91 pounds if I had to...how the Hell did I ever walk around with that much extra weight attatched?
What'd you do, trade your hair for it?? lol I love that car, it looks damn good. I'm a '63 fan, but this one is reallllllly steering me to '64's. I don't want to see any V-6 swaps on this one though. The '64 F-85 my dad used to have was red with a white top, and since i was a kid I've loved that color combination. You can't go wrong with an Oldsmobile.
Well, congrats on the weight loss, good job! The first car I ever drove was a 64 Olds Dynamic 88 too. The relationship I had with the one I drove was, um, somewhat strained. My older sister tried to make Dad's garage door a little wider with it, I took out about 25' of farmer fence with the front end once. Some old lady pulled out of a parking place into the side of it once. Dad backed it into a power line post once. And then after a fun Friday night, the transmission ceased to function the next day. (That one cost me $150.) I finally refused to drive it when the tires got bald. Dad gave it to a junker, he drove it about two weeks before the brakes failed and it ran into the back of his rollback. He loaded it onto the rollback and took it to meet its maker. All this happened in just about a year and a half. Strange thing is, the 69 Buick I replaced the Olds with only lasted me a year. The 72 Plymouth I replaced the Buick with lasted 7 years and I drove it a total of over 133,000 miles. Ever wonder why I like the Mopars? Gene
I disagree with T-man on this. I'm challenging you to look up the old G.F. It just might be the finishing touch to this little saga. Frank
Kim and I are a done deal...we're still friends...but that's it!! But, stay tuned...there's a few more pages left in this book yet, Frank!! Cool Things are on the Horizon...
Hey, Chris...the car said it wants to keep the wheels and tires!!! (I never dreamed I'd be using Butt Reynolds old rubbers for a week!!! ) Ha Ha...seriously, I've never been much into wheels...but how can ya not dig the Look?!
2 pals, neither one with a job, and they both accuire new rides all the time. What are you two up to?? Selling your blood....sperm??? Fill the rest of us working stiffs in on the secret please! and congrats on the new ride. Sure hope it gets you around town this winter in comfort and warmth.
FOUL ! I wanna know how it's still got the 5 spokes on it ? I was a millimieter from saying "sold" when it first popped on the classifieds but it said the wheels didn't go with it. Anyway, just kidding....I'm looking for a 63, and it sounds like you were the ass for that seat (no pun intended ). Glad I didn't and you did. Hell if you'da written that and I'd bought it I'da had to sell it to you
Ha Ha...Sinkemlow said if he let me BORROW the wheels for a week, it'd give him the incentive to come up for Stinkyfinger's Detroit HAMB Chop this weekend to get them back! Plus, that way he didn't have to drive the car three and a half hours on four May-Blows wrapped around black steel wheels...they rode in the trunk instead! I sure hope my skinny ass can bust them lug nuts loose when the time comes...they looked awfull tight to me!! Ha Ha Ha!!!
I got to take a rid in the olds yesterday.. I love this damn car so much! Hell me my g/f and hack went out to dinner in it and Alex got all happy in it and shit. She loves it to And that rare cause she is picky as hell if a car is a little ruff around the edges... keep it low vato! o Yea and any one selling some supremes for hack. This car NEEDS these wheels! i think it will loose so much style with out them...
Well, I was really pissed that I missed out on that deal (or should I say STEAL). I walked around my place hurling colorful expletives at the computer, myself, the dog, and pretty much everything else (what can I say, I am damaged goods and have issues) but hearing how stoked you are to have it, I'm happy for you Hack. I made the mistake of selling my 63 Dynamic 88 years ago to some stupid kid who just got out of prison & then screwed up and lost the car to one of his "friends", so I had my own reason for wanting that one. I forget who has the seriously nice gold 63 with astros around here, but every time I see it I just want to punch myself in the face. However, it sounds like you have way more memories and emotional attachment tied to these cars, so I'm glad you got it. Now send homie back his astros and immediately replace them with another identical set because they're perfect for that car. Good for you man. I'm stoked for you.
Hack...that sounds like my story except it was 86 and I had just put $1,200 bones for a blue prolly same color 63 F-85 Cutlass...buckets console on the floor and the high compression Aluminum 215...that car was mint...78,000 original miles and the old guy that passed away that owned it wrote down every fill-up and oil change expense..that trunk was as clean as the day it rolled of the showroom...gawd Ioved that car....sold it for 2 g's to another old guy to by a mini truck....I still drive by that old guys house in town to see if its hid up in his garage...sure he is gone along with ole blue...I too will get her back some day...joe
Hahaha!!! Yeah...the travel plans got all screwed up and I had to make some last minute scrambles to get it up there to him at least close to when I said I would. Headed back up next weekend anyway. Yeah she's a good ol' bucket. Olson
Oh yeah...she'll rotate that right rear real nice if ya catch it right. Almost brought it right around once takin' off on a right hand turn. Not bad for a tired old boat!
The Jalopy Journal
