Project GEZROKET: The Pedigree Is a Large Part of What Makes a Car Valuable

Sometimes, as obsessed with cars as I am, you'd have thought that I was born in California, with their car culture.  A car is not just a machine to transport you from point A to point B.  It's art.  It's sport.

I've been here with a collector car twice now:  Once with my Shelby Lancer ES (a Numbered car, #108), that started as a garden variety, "power everything," Dodge Lancer ES that was sent to the Shelby Automobiles plant in Whittier, California, for a:

• Shelby Spec Engine (using the Dodge Turbo II top end on a Turbo I long block),
• Inter-cooler and Matching Radiator, 
• Shelby Grille and Badging,
• Shelby Graphics, 
• Ground Effects, 
• Fog Lights, 
• Special Shelby Aluminum Wheels, 
• Rear Disc Brakes, 
• Shelby Signature Steering Wheel, 
• Shelby Velour Interior package or Shelby Leather Interior Package and 
• Pioneer AM-FM-CD Stereo System with Graphic Equalizer and Amplifier.

My second collector car is the GEZROKET, a 1996 Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight Regency Elite Sedan.  

And here's the Documentation on the GERZOKET (the pedigree, if you will), that makes it important:

So what do we have and why does it matter?   Simply, it's evidence that corroborates what I know about the story of the car.  

• Starting from the left top, the two pages are the Employee Special Order Letter.  The late Mr. Blaney, an employee of Packard Wiring, a GM subsidiary, ordered the car for his wife, the late Elizabeth Blaney.  We see the Employee Address and Employee Discounted Price.  We see the the Order Number, the VIN, but notice this car was ordered as their is no Stock Number.  We also see something marked PRC EFF (Price Effective?), dated 09/06/1995 (on a personal note 4 days after my oldest child was born).  I'll assume this is when the car was ordered.  We see the car was Invoiced and Shipped on 09/29/1995.  two more items and dates appear on the the letter: the EXP I/T (Expedited In Transit?) and INT COM (Internal Communication to the Dealer?) dated 10/02/1995.  When the car was ordered, the Blaney's lived in Burghill, Ohio, in northeast Ohio, less than 5 miles from the Pennsylvania border.  It was, per her son R. Blaney, her retirement car.

• To the right, we see the Window Sticker, showing the Standard Equipment and Pricing, Optional Equipment that made up the Regency Elite Sedan Series II package.  This package is substantial enough that when you go to a parts store to purchase replacement parts for it, the computers are programmed to ask "Regency Elite?"  We see the only two options that were ordered:  The Electric Sliding Glass Sunroof and the AM/FM Audio System with Cassette and Compact Disc player.  This sound system is the precursor to the GM Concert Sound Series II Stereo system that was in stalled in cars like my wife's 2001 Buick Century Custom.  We see the car was delivered to John Rugala Chevrolet, Buick, Oldsmobile, Pontiac Inc. at 6209 East Main Street, Andover, Ohio 44003, Dealer No. 06-644.  We see the EPA Estimated Fuel Economy, the Vehicle Identification Number, the Final Assembly Plant (Lake) Orion, Michigan (where the C bodied Oldsmobile 98s and C-Bodied Cadillac Sedan DeVilles up to 1995 had been assembled), the Order Number Z3A417, and the Model Number, 3CX69.

• In the Middle of the Right Side are the (broken) "Oldsmobile" and "Ninety Eight" emblems that were removed from the car when it was repainted after a neighbor had backed into the front of the car, taking out the grille, the headlight lens (appears to be the right headlight only), bent the left front of the hood (it has been partially fixed) and it appears that it possibly took out the A/C Condenser and the Radiator.  This Damage caused the car to be declared a total loss.

• The Lower Right is where the "Car Owner's Companion" Envelope from John Rugala Chevrolet, Buick, Oldsmobile, Pontiac in Andover, Ohio with the salesman Signature Jim Portuna and Mrs. Elizabeth L. Blaney's name on it

• At the Bottom Center is the Consumer Information Requirement Paperwork, showing 50-state Emissions Compliance, Compliance with Federal Standards for Low Speed Impacts by the Front and Rear 5 MPH bumper systems, the amount of US and Canadian Parts Content (95%) the Final Assembly Point at Orion Township in Michigan and the Country of Origin for both the Engine and Transmission (US).

• Finally, at the Bottom Left is the Oldsmobile Pre-Delivery Inspection Check Sheet (or PDI Check Form, to those of us who've been in Fleet Management).  We see the car was delivered on October 5, 1995.  It passed the Underhood Check, The Body/Chassis Check and the Road Test on 10-5-1995.

So, is it special?  Well, probably not.  So why is it a collector car?  Because of its pedigree.  While the Shelby is a limited edition, with mine being #108/800, this car isn’t “numbered.”  It's possible it could be far more rare than 1/800, due to the combination of its optional equipment, but I’d seriously doubt that.  

I live in a suburb of a major metropolitan city in the South, but I can still can count at least 5 different ones, now 22 years after they were sold, that have crossed the narrow path of my life.

1.  A Sky Blue example belongs to a fellow driver at the logistics company at which I’m employed.

   

   My Olds 98 Regency Elite next to another one in the parking lot at work.  I added 16" Cadillac wheels, but I have a set of correct for the car 15" Olds Cast wheels.  The car doesn't "float" with the 16" wheels and Michelin Tires.

2.  A Dark Blue example picked up a lady who was in physical therapy at the local Orthopedic Clinic,
3.  A Medium Tan version was carrying a student to the local university,
4.  A Silver version was at a former Employers Branch location about 90 miles North of here and finally,
5.  A Plum example resides in the town in which my Father was raised, about 90 miles south of where I live.