Oldsmobile's Attractive Delta 88 Royale Hardtop Coupe: 1969-1973

Bill Mitchell (Wikipedia entry here) was in charge of design at General Motors 1958-1977.   That was from the tailfin era to when government regulations were resulting in smaller cars, but not yet having wind tunnel tested body shapes.

I consider 1963-1973 the peak years for good styling under Mitchell's command.  First in his term, tail fins and wraparound windshields had to be abandoned.  While towards the end, regulations began forcing reductions in designer creativity.  So '63-'73 was his sweet spot.

Todays' featured design was in production during the later years of that era, though its conception probably took place around 1965-66.  The car is an Oldsmobile 88 -- Oldsmobiles tended to have designs that were more pure, less cluttered, than those often seen on other GM brands.  And being a "hardtop" coupe, its shaping had the potential to be more graceful than that of a four-door sedan.

Unless noted, images below are of cars listed for sale.

Gallery

1968 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Holiday Coupe - car-for-sale photo
The previous equivalent Olds.  Voluptuous rear fender and passenger compartment beltline.  Sleek, almost fastback profile.  Chrome trim is reduced to the margins, leaving largely uncluttered sides.

1970 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Royale Holiday Coupe
Voluptuousness is considerably dialed back.  The fenderline/beltline still flows, but much more subtly.  Wheel opening are no longer classically rounded, but are more rectangular and framed by flared sculpting.  That detail add some interest to the otherwise nearly-clean sides.  The vertical strips abaft of the front wheel opening designate that this is a "Royale" and not an ordinary Delta 88.

1972 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Royale - BaT Auctions photo
Delta 88 hardtops were facelifted for the 1971 model year.  Fenderline flow was essentially eliminated, the only relief being the slight hitch above the flow at the leading edge of the C-pillar.  Besides those vertical strips on the front fender, Royales received the long, horizontal chrome strip.  While a mild form of clutter, it ties front and rear while making the car seem longer than otherwise. 

1974 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Royale
The succeeding design.  Retained are the wheel opening concepts, the vertical strips and the horizontal strip.  Also the small hitch mentioned above.  The main side-view difference is the window treatment.  The heavy C-pillar becomes something of a "Targa" bar as hardtop convertible elements are in the process of disappearing: an American car industry trend at the time.  I find the backlight window plus quarter window treatment unfortunate.

1969 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Royale Holiday Coupe
Original frontal design.  Like BMW and Pontiac, Oldsmobiles featured segmental grilles for many years.

1972 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Royale
The revised grille design is simpler, more attractive than the '69 version.  Those awful quad headlights are neatly packaged, at least.

1972 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Royale
Rear design also is attractive.  Basically simple, but the two-segment taillight assemblies echo the grille theme and add just enough interest.