It’s been a while since we’ve visited the Pavilions in Scottsdale, so we were curious what would show up. The weather was gorgeous—unseasonably warm, even for metro Phoenix—and the cars were trickling in for the afternoon, as later in the day the cruise tends to fill. My friend Carl, a Manitoban who spends a month as a snowbird every year, spotted a 1966 Oldsmobile Starfire pulling in. We walked up as the owner was parking and noticed it had a four-speed transmission.
Having been involved in the Olds world, I know 1966 was the final year for a four-speed in a full-size Oldsmobile, and I know any is quite rare. Production data for transmissions are somewhat wonky for these cars, but it’s possible (though undocumented) that 277 Starfires were built with a four-speed in 1966. That’s quite generous considering how rare they are today.
Among GM full-size four-speeds, Buick last offered it in 1965, Pontiac in 1968, and Chevrolet in 1969. I believe they all used the M20 wide-ratio transmission except Chevrolet, which offered M21 close-ratio and M22 “Rock Crusher” towards the end.
According to owner Jim Schultz, this Starfire was originally ordered by Dave Stewart at Neal Hurt Chevrolet-Cadillac-Oldsmobile in Prescott, Arizona. Dave had interesting views of automotive engineering at the time, so he spec’d out this Starfire without power steering or power brakes, in addition to the four-speed. Can you imagine driving a 375-horsepower full-size Olds with a four-speed and no power options? Yet that’s how it was ordered. “Stopping is challenging so your rocket launching has to be somewhat planned for stopping with manual drum brakes,” says Jim. The original color was Lucerne Mist metallic, which is slightly different than what you see here, a vintage Earl Scheib job that was on the car when Jim bought it in 1994.
Interestingly, there’s an even more unusual full-size 1966 Olds with a four-speed in the Valley: a white Delta 88 four-door that can often be found at local events.
