After 27 Years It's Still My Pop's Olds
By Ken Williams, Hanover, MD

   My Pop always bought Fords since I could remember. He started off with a 1950, then a 1954 and his final Ford was a 1958 Fairlane. You see my Pop bought a new car about every four years. In 1962 my Pop decided that since he was to become Master of Glen Burnie Masonic Lodge No.213, he would treat himself to a step up, and bought a new 1962 Oldsmobile Dynamic 88 four-door sedan. Four years down the road he did it again. This time it was a 1966 Oldsmobile Dynamic 88, four-door hardtop. In 1969 my Pop surprised even me. He broke his four-year cycle of buying new cars and bought a 1969 Oldsmobile Delta 88, four-door hardtop. This Oldsmobile had all the bells and whistles.

   With the four-year cycle broken and a three-year cycle started, my Pop purchased his last new car. It was a beautiful new 1972 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Royale four door hardtop. The color was saddle tan with a saddle tan vinyl top and saddle tan interior. I was working night shift at the time and decided to stop by my Pop's house that morning after work and he told me all about the new car he was about to buy. Pop had not sealed the deal yet and the more we talked about the Oldsmobile the more excited and interested I became. I guess you might say it got me thinking that it was time for me to make a change and move up to an Oldsmobile. I told my Pop that we might get a better deal going over to the Oldsmobile dealer and purchasing two cars instead of one. We did just that and that same day we each bought a new Oldsmobile Delta 88 Royale. I had to order the car I wanted and Pop just drove his off the show room floor.

   As I said, this was the last new car my Pop would ever buy. My Pop went into the hospital in February 1989. I guess you could say old age was catching up to him. While visiting him in the hospital he told me that the doctor said he would no longer be able to drive. He wanted me to have his car and hoped that I would enjoy the car as much as he did. He really loved the car and I know it was hard for him to give it up. On March 21, 1989 at 85 years old, my Pop passed away.

   I let my Pop's car sit in his garage for about seven months, trying to decide what to do with it. Every time I thought about the car I could see my Pop sitting behind the wheel. Well, my Pop said he wanted me to have his Oldsmobile, so one night in late October of 1989 I brought the car over to my garage, and then the fun began.

   Doing a complete restoration on the Oldsmobile was easy. All it really needed was a good cleaning, a new battery and new tires. My Pop's car was in excellent shape with only 3,400 miles. My wife asked me if I was going to put special tags on the car and I said I wasn't. It wasn't five minutes later when a friend of mine stopped by the garage and asked me whose car I was working on and I said "My Pop's", and so the new vanity tags read "MYPOPS".

   The rest is history. I joined the Oldsmobile Club of America and went to my first nationals in St. Louis, Missouri. I have met a lot of wonderful people and made a lot of friends. I am now the Vice President of the Oldsmobile Centennial Club. We got our charter on August 21,1997 at the 100th Birthday Celebration of Oldsmobile in Lansing. I thank "MYPOPS" for making it all happen.