It's always nice to see a pristine example of an X-body. This
salmon-colored car came out of Oregon and ended up with New Hampshire collector
plates. Check out the nice Olds sport steering wheel and floor
console shift; this style of shift handle is more typically found in the Ventura
and Nova. It still had the original 350 Olds Rocket V8 under the hood.
"Hi, I think I own a car pictured on page 2 of the Omega section, the 2003 e-bay car from Ohio with buckets and floor shift and sport wheel. I bought it here in NH a year ago from a guy who bought it in Ohio! I would love to get any other info if it is still available. It is a little strange to run across pics of your car on the internet before you owned it. I dug out the Ohio plates and sure enough they were the same as the pictures. It is a really nice car, I drive it at least 3 times a week during the summer but I think I am going to sell it. It has all the sport options plus the HO 180 hp 350 4bbl . Thanks, Eric"
( I got to looking at the page 2 pic that Eric mentioned, and I realize that it's actually a '74, not a '73 as labelled...whoops! The bumpers are the giveaway. And guess what... the same car is on page 4! -Ro)
(R) This vintage toy was discovered and contributed by our friend Eli Perez. Wonder if his own scale model 74 GTO is done yet?
"ill tell u a little about it...it has factory paint and decals ..has posi with 373 gears unicase 350turbo tranny 350 olds motor bored 30 over so on and so on...blew up that 350 last month :( 2 rods went out of oil pan rebuilding a 350 4bolt main chevy bored 40over balanced...with 202 heads and more...got 2600stall new interior first car ive ever owned it was a mess when i got it ..if u know how many omega sports were made Please tell me!!!!!!! ive never seen one like mine...u can put these pics on ur site if u wanna...email me back if u got any questions...my omega might be for sale soon so if u know any serious buyers that would be nice..." (May 04)
(R) Let's welcome a European Omega to the
site...this car is cared for by Rene Muis (
RXMUIS@exide.nl ) And now, a few words from across the
Atlantic:
" Hi! My Omega 1974 is driving in the neighbourhood
of Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
The engine is in perfect condition but on the outside it needs a little work
because of little rust and bad paint. It took me 2 years to find new
headlight bezels so if you know some addresses where I can find more Omega
parts you would help me a lot in the future. Keep up the good work with your
website!" Our FREE ads are at your
service :-)
"This is my baby, only 54,000 original miles. No rust, all original including the paint. Has the 350 Rocket under the hood. It is not a hatchback or an Omega S, but it is immaculate. Thinking of selling to get 70-71 Chevelle, but it would be hard to part with. Excellent web-site, sending this to you from a small-town in North Dakota (stored winters)! Thanks, Jamey"
Sometimes you just forget about an
entire set of pictures...here's a set from last year!!! This car was
for sale at the time but is long gone.
before...
...after!
"I picked up the car back in July (2004) in Nova Scotia, Canada, and towed it back to Newfoundland. It's a 1974 Omega, with 80000 miles. This is an original car, with surprisingly all details intact. The original color was a lime green, and black interior (which is mint ), with houndstooth seats. The car had originated from Ontario, and the owner had worked in the factory where she was built. There was minor body work needed, but this car is solid.
Work started immediately, and we stripped out all the interior, chrome trim, bumpers, and valances, then sent for paint. Her new color is a GM Olive Metallic Green. I picked up the Rally Wheels cheap and had them blasted and painted black. Then came reassembly. Two months later, this is what she looks like. The new 235 tires and wheels really make the car look sharp. Stage two of the project comes over the winter, where I'll swap out the inline-six and put in something with a bit more punch. The car is a weekend cruiser, so any modifications will stay period-correct with factory options. Your site was a great resource for ideas, and it's too bad there isn't alot of information out there. Well, I'm glad I can add a little to the expanding group of pictures and restoration of a great car. Dave L. Newfoundland, Canada."
This super '73 was owned by a young lady from Illinois who used the car as a
daily driver to school, work, and the drive-in. Her dad had fixed it
up over a 2 year period of ownership, but her salary no longer supported the
car's appetite for ever-pricier gas, so it was reluctantly sold. It
was described as bone-stock, with the original Olds 350 Rocket w/4 barrel carb. The only glitch was that a previous owner had cut up the radio
slot for a new stereo.
Lightly cropped version of an Olds factory photo of a 1974 S model. You can just barely make out some writing at the tail end of the stripe...that's where the "Omega S" logo is usually found.
This GM promo shot (available thru Autolit.com) shows us that the Omega offered the camper tent option in 1973. I have an ad in my file for a '73 Nova with the tent, plus a '73 Ventura promo pic with a tent...so that leaves only the Apollo without this option.
He was actually in the market for another '74GTO or a Spirit of America Nova when he found this car, and it was too clean to pass up. Nice catch!
I HAVE DONE NOTHING TO THE DRIVETRAIN OTHER THAN REPLACE THE FACTORY .273 GEAR WITH A .373 POSI. BEST EVER QUARTER MILE TIME IS 15.788 AT SILVERDOLLAR RACEWAY IN REYNOLDS GEORGIA. NOT MANY PARTS WERE NEEDED TO RESTORE DUE TO THE GOOD CONDITION OF THE CAR WHEN PURCHASED. SOME RESTORATION ITEMS INCLUDE:
235/60/15 BFG RADIAL T/A, FACTORY OLDS RALLY WHEELS
FRONT DISC BRAKE CONVERSION, NEW NUMBERS MATCHING ROCHESTER QUADRAJET,
PULLED MOTOR/TRANS FOR COMPLETE ENGINE BAY RESTORATION ,
NEW PAINT IN SUMMER 2002 - PAINT CODE GM 75A (ORIGINAL), ALL NEW CARPET
ALL NEW SUSPENSION EXCLUDING REAR LEAF SPRINGS
SO MANY OTHER ITEMS I CANT REMEMBER AT THIS TIME. HOPE YOU LIKE IT!" Oh, we DO... this car really shines, and so does Dad's!
(R) Mike is busy with some upgrades to his slick blue Omega. His mini-site is at http://www.angelfire.com/il/mikefoye/index.html The paint on this car just glows!
Chris had a veritable fleet of Omegas being parted out (spring 2005), and this decent-looking 4 door was be one of his unfortunate victims. See one of its stable mates in the Wrecks & Relics section.
Idaho
Falls was the home of this heavy-duty '73 Omega. Check out the skinny
T-shaped shift handle, which seems to be the most common Olds design.
But some Omegas (like Bob's above) had the round '74GTO-/Nova-style shift handle.
"...That's where the former owner used to work ...the stickers have since been removed.
"Winters are rough on cars up here in Winnipeg Manitoba Canada .... Rust is a bad cancer on our cars. As we were bored one weekend, we tried to fibreglass up some patches, but it was an ugly, ugly job and well ... I have saved up some money over the winter and new metal has been purchased! Just gotta wait now for it to warm up."
Yep, fiberglass can be messy. Let's wish him good luck with the restoration.
Update: Dave has made some changes to his ride:
"The car is sitting in flat black paint at the moment ... Went to Walmart and bought 6 cans of Tremclad Flat Black ... Only took 4 to cover the car, to keep the bare metal from showing, primer from where the paint has peeled ... Just wanted the car all one color :)
"I have also changed it over to a 305 from the 250, as the 250 died over the summer. I traded a trunk lid and a front grill from a 73 Nova for a running 350 ... Which I was gonna originally use, until my buddy decided to get rid of his Parisienne and I knew that 305 in the Parisienne was a good motor.
"I'm now entertaining the thought of either a 355 or a 427. Would hate to butcher the car for the 427. Also thought of putting the 500hp 355 into my 73 Nova and move the 406 from the Nova into the Omega. Either way, I'm hoping to have 2 fast cars :)
"I have some nice photos of the car on it's website www.chevynova.ca/slomega ... It's looking decent. Thanx for listening to me rumble ... Stay in touch! Dave ( dmeier@hydro.mb.ca )