Mom's Saffron Yellow 1966 Olds 442 convertible

[ReasonOne]

To this day I still remember the story of how my father got my mother interested in his wholesaling business. One day in 1974 my old man convinced my mom to go with him to an auction. My mother wound up being bored to tears and wandered over to the administration office where she could chat with other women. Out of the corner of her eye behind the office she spots a car in her favorite colour at the time - Saffron Yellow. It had a sign on it that said in bold letters "NOT FOR SALE". She had to have it. She returned to my father and informed him of the car.

After the auction my dad sets up a meeting with the owner (he owned the auction gallery). Turns out the car was a fully loaded 18,000 mile 1966 Olds 442 convertible. His wife was the original owner and she just passed away 3 months ago. It had just been repainted (Saffron Yellow paint was not available in the 1966 model year). No matter what my father said, the owner was adamant that he couldn't part with it. My mother then begins to go on and on about how much she adores the Saffron Yellow paint. Finally, the guy caves. "You sound just like my wife. It was her favorite colour too. That's why I had it repainted. Tell you what. I'll take into consideration that you've bought a lot of my inventory in the past. If you give me $1750 it's yours. Better that someone who likes it gets to enjoy it."

My mother adored that car. She cleaned it thoroughly every Friday. She named it the Banana and it stuck. In fact, one of my first memories was being buckled in the back seat staring up at a blue cloudless sky whenever she had the top down. To this day I still recall the distinct rumble of the V8 through the dual exhausts and the tinny sound of Mom's Barry White 8-tracks. That car brought in more business than Dad had ever expected. Whenever Mom hung out with her friends, their husbands would crawl over and under it and ask for his business card. At this point she felt fully involved in the business. After a while Mom asked to drive other cars that appealed to her and Dad was more than happy to oblige. Every time she drove something it was usually sold in a month. Then she would go back to driving the Olds until something else appealed to her. She had many offers on the Olds but she refused to part with it until 1979-1980. I'll miss that Banana Boat.

[Eric]

To this day I still remember the story of how my father got my mother interested in his wholesaling business. One day in 1974 my old man convinced my mom to go with him to an auction. My mother wound up being bored to tears and wandered over to the administration office where she could chat with other women. Out of the corner of her eye behind the office she spots a car in her favorite colour at the time - Saffron Yellow. It had a sign on it that said in bold letters "NOT FOR SALE". She had to have it. She returned to my father and informed him of the car.

After the auction my dad sets up a meeting with the owner (he owned the auction gallery). Turns out the car was a fully loaded 18,000 mile 1966 Olds 442 convertible. His wife was the original owner and she just passed away 3 months ago. It had just been repainted (Saffron Yellow paint was not available in the 1966 model year). No matter what my father said, the owner was adamant that he couldn't part with it. My mother then begins to go on and on about how much she adores the Saffron Yellow paint. Finally, the guy caves. "You sound just like my wife. It was her favorite colour too. That's why I had it repainted. Tell you what. I'll take into consideration that you've bought a lot of my inventory in the past. If you give me $1750 it's yours. Better that someone who likes it gets to enjoy it."

My mother adored that car. She cleaned it thoroughly every Friday. She named it the Banana and it stuck. In fact, one of my first memories was being buckled in the back seat staring up at a blue cloudless sky whenever she had the top down. To this day I still recall the distinct rumble of the V8 through the dual exhausts and the tinny sound of Mom's Barry White 8-tracks. That car brought in more business than Dad had ever expected. Whenever Mom hung out with her friends, their husbands would crawl over and under it and ask for his business card. At this point she felt fully involved in the business. After a while Mom asked to drive other cars that appealed to her and Dad was more than happy to oblige. Every time she drove something it was usually sold in a month. Then she would go back to driving the Olds until something else appealed to her. She had many offers on the Olds but she refused to part with it until 1979-1980. I'll miss that Banana Boat.

Another great story - and great memories!

The closest I came to something like that was in 1983, when I went with my parents to look at new cars at the local Olds dealer. There was a brand-new '84 Hurst Olds on the showroom floor - and I tried my best to talk them into it. They did look at it, but in the end went home with a 98 coupe instead. Not so bad, though!

[ReasonOne]

The only pics we have of the 442.....

[Eric]

The only pics we have of the 442.....

What a great looking car.... when I see something like that in a crowd of Camrys and (modern) Malibus it just makes me sad.....

[ReasonOne]

The saddest part about it was that Mom traded it in on a new Pacer without consulting Dad. They still argue about it to this day.