The Halloween season is upon us. Basically, the best time to binge-watch scary movies and eat Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and Butterfingers until you drop. But if you’re a diehard gearhead, this is also the ideal time to ponder thought-provoking and philosophical questions like, "Why do all the victims in horror movies flee to isolated areas rather than seek a fast muscle car to avoid their demise?” Or “why do all characters have haunted vehicles that don’t jump-start?”
Thankfully, some fictional vehicles can get their owners from point A to point B without turning into Christine and killing everyone within. One of these cool cars is the yellow 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88, driven by Ash in the Evil Dead. Interestingly enough, this vehicle is something like a Hollywood superstar, as Sam Raimi featured it in almost every film of his professional career. According to the Evil Dead Archives, the filmmaker’s father originally purchased the car in 1973, but Sam Raimi used it in the Evil Dead (1982), Crimewave (1985), Evil Dead II (1987), Darkman (1990), Army of Darkness (1992), A Simple Plan (1998), The Gift (2000), Spider-Man (2002), Spider-Man 2 (2004), Spider-Man 3 (2007), Drag Me to Hell (2009), and Evil Dead (2013). It’s safe to say that this man really loved his car; otherwise, it’s difficult to explain the cameos in all these blockbusters. For all the horror movie fans and auto enthusiasts who adore their cars as much as Raimi loved his 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88 built on a B-body General Motors platform, here’s everything you need to know about this classic vehicle.
The 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88
The seventh-generation Oldsmobile had a 124-inch wheelbase under the GM B-body and came with some significant improvements. For instance, the automaker added new roof lines. Additionally, vented power front disc brakes and variable-ratio power steering became standard features. Customers also had the choice of two engines: the 350 and the 455-cubic-inch Rocket V8s, which produced 250 to 340 gross horsepower. A base 350 Rocket V8 with a two-barrel carburetor (150 net horsepower) and an optional 455 Rocket V8 with a four-barrel carburetor and 215 horsepower with a single exhaust or 250 horsepower with dual exhausts were available as engine choices for the 1973 model. Another novel addition for the 1973 model was the federally mandated 5 mph front bumper.
Raimi’s Car Is “The Classic” Not A Classic
It seems Raimi loved his dead car so much that he even nicknamed it The Classic. And to make the story even more twisted and fun, some fans report that the Oldsmobile even appeared secretly in The Quick and the Dead (1995), where production hid it under a covered wagon. If you wonder why Raimi would hide his gem under a cover, it’s because the blockbuster featuring Sharon Stone, Russell Crowe, and Gene Hackman was a western, so a 1970s car should clearly not appear in the Wild West.
“This damn car has been in more movies than I have!” Evil Dead star Bruce Campbell, who played Ash Williams in the horror movie, wrote in his autobiography If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B-Movie Actor. “For some reason, it became the all-purpose car that appeared in almost every Super-8 film we ever made. When Sam began to make feature films, he kept using it – starting with Evil Dead in 1979.”
Hagerty claims that the 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88 got hauled from Raimi's home state of Michigan to North Carolina when he was filming Evil Dead II in 1987 since the vehicle wasn't operational. Raimi's car adoration, according to Campbell, was almost compulsive.
“By this time, Dave Goodman was the transportation coordinator and the car became the bane of his existence. It was just a pain in the ass. Sam needed specific things in the car to work because he had certain shots within the car that he needed, and he would never bend. I said, ‘Sam, you can’t do it this way—it’s going to cost you this much money,’ and he says, ‘I don’t care. I want it the way I want it.’ It was almost like he was crazy about it.”
This Is How Much A 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Costs Today
Fans of Sam Raimi movies, who want to experience the pleasure of owning a vehicle that was so important to him, can purchase a 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88 for a fair price. According to Hagerty, the two-door convertible version of the 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Royale in good condition costs roughly $12,300. Meanwhile, J.D. Power puts the average retail price at $21,700 and the high retail price at $38,100. Several websites sell these vehicles, although the Royale seems to remain the most sought-after version.