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Where have all the '65 Jetstar I's gone???


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Has anyone seen one lately, anywhere?....Yes I know of the one at fall Hershey and the one on ROP that is souped up some, the red 4spd one in Ohio and the one that sold on Ebay a year or so ago which was also a 4spd car....Been into Oldses for about 30 years now and they all seemed to have vanished.....With a production run in '65 of around 6800 I believe I would expect to see some in Hemmings, JWO, the Net, etc or at shows. 64's seem to be more plentiful. There was one in a junkyard here years ago. These are about the only ones I can remember!

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1965 Jetstar Is are like an elusive dream...and I kinda like it that way. If they were any more common they would have less of a mystique for me. I hope to own one someday. Its funny, if you have 30 grand (or so), you can go on the net right now and buy a gorgeous 1970 W30 convertible. You can probably have your pick of colors. Now go and look for a 1965 Jetstar I for sale. Its as though they can't be bought for ANY price. Aint that cool?!

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Total 1965 J-I production- 6552. Figure a 10% survival rate and you have 650 left, and I doubt there's that many. There were a few over 16000 64s built and I rarely see any of them except at Nationals. There was a Bermuda Blue beauty on Traderonline right after I bought the green Starfire this summer.

Saw a white one in a junkyard near Asheboro NC today, which was a complete and restorable car when it went in there some 6 years ago. Front fenders and console are gone, grille still there but rough, no drivetrain.

There was a dark blue one in a yard near Martinsville VA about ten years ago. I remember when we went in the yard it was sunny. An hour later it was snowing.

An old drunk had one here in town when I was in college in the mid 70s. Used to see it sitting out in front of his house every day driving to class and wish I could save it.

I think these cars had the misfortune to be overshadowed by the Starfire and Toronado from within its own house, and the Grand Prix and Impala SS from GM itself. Plus you had other carmakers' personal luxury offerings too. And then there was that damned Jetstar 88 confusion... People never really understood what a Jetstar I was supposed to be. It also hit the performance market about time it was shifting to mid-sized cars, which didn't help sales a bit.

I've often thought that if Olds had renamed the Dynamic 88 series "Jetstar" and then marketed the J-I as an upscale sporty version of that series (it already was) similar to the Impala SS, it would have done better. I never really thought Olds needed a lightweight small-engined full-size car like the Jetstar 88. That market was already well covered by Chevrolet. But economics figured into it, and they could amortise more of the 330 engine's development costs by sticking it in the big car, ergo, Jetstar 88.

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I saw one today for sale in Staunton, IL at a lot by the name of Country Classic Cars.

www.countryclassiccars.com

Look out, you might have a heart attack at the prices on some of his vehicles.

From what I remember, the car was outside in the "restorable" line of cars. He's got about 500 sitting there, it was kind of fun to see what he had, but everything was so pricey that I was driven away.

Adam

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During July, we had a joint Olds-Pontiac-Buick tour in my area (Washington state), and one couple showed up in a beautiful show condition '65 Jetstar I finished in a light beige color with brown/gold bucket seat interior and the standard 88 wheelcovers. This was probably the most unique and interesting car of all that showed up. The owner also has a beautiful '60 Cadillac Eldorado convertible and '61 Buick LeSabre convertible.

A few years back, I attended the annual Oldsmobile Picnic in Edmonds, Washington. Among the cars displayed -- and, again, my favorite -- was a gorgeous medium blue metallic '65 Jetstar I. The owner evidently had more than one of these, and also claimed to have some '65 Starfires. As nice as this Jetstar I was, I assume that it is still around.

Finally, I occasionally saw a beater '65 Jetstar I around Bellingham, Washington during the mid-1990's. This car was finished in the dark metallic blue color, but the original buckets were long gone and had been replaced with some ugly later model seats that might well have come from some Japanese model. Still, it was always special to see one of these seldom-seen cars.

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  • 11 years later...
  • 5 months later...
Guest 2DAVEUTER

MY Feb. 02, 2015. About 13 years later from the above Posts dated 2002. Except the one Dated Aug.14, 2014 from Southern Ohio. [who R U?] I Owned my '65 Oldsmobile Jetstar1 in target red with white interior. 3 speed automatic. Now Located in Las Vegas, NV. I have Never seen any other JS1 at any Car shows for over 10 years. IF interested contact me for my car pictures on my Face Book. I thank U in advance for the courtesy of your reply. David

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