Historically speaking, the Rallye 350 wasn’t necessarily the most successful car released by Oldsmobile, but on the other hand, the limited output is precisely what makes it a rather highly desirable nameplate these days.
Launched with much fanfare by none other than Oldsmobile General Manager John Beltz in February 1970, the Rallye 350 smiled in front of the public for the first time at the Chicago Auto Show. It sported a unique setup, including a W25 fiberglass hood, a custom steering wheel, and a W35 rear deck spoiler. Power came from the L75 350 (5.7-liter) V8 engine.
The reception of the car, however, was lukewarm, to say the least. The production was therefore pretty limited, with Oldsmobile eventually building just a little 3,500 units. Some of them remained unsold in 1970, so the sales continued in 1971 even though the production was no longer running.
One of these ugly ducklings is right here trying to get back on the road.
It’s not difficult to figure out that this Oldsmobile comes in a super-rough shape, but this kind of makes sense given it appears to have been parked behind a few trees for quite some time. The vehicle looks abandoned and given it’s been sleeping under the clear sky, the rust has already invaded most of the metal.
Most panels seem wrecked, so if you end up buying this Rallye hoping to get it back to the road, just assume that it needs to be rebuilt from the ground up.
The engine is obviously missing, and considering it’s such a rare model, you have no other option than to find the correct unit. Restoring it to factory specifications is pretty much the only way to go, even though this is clearly a massive project given so many parts are missing.
The bidding published by eBay seller smokingv6 starts at $350, but the good news is that there’s no reserve in place. This means whoever is ready to pay less than the cost of a new iPhone should be able to take this Oldsmobile home.
