Suckers To The Side, I Know You Hate My 98!

Murilee Martin
by Murilee Martin

Public Enemy’s 1987 ode to the Olds 98, “You’re Gonna Get Yours,” has long been one of my all-time favorite car anthems, and I’ve always pictured Chuck D’s 98 as a mint-green example of the late-70s iteration of Oldsmobile’s top-of-the-line big car. Then I’m at the junkyard and… here’s Chuck’s car!


See, there’s no way the post-1985 front-wheel-drive Olds 98 could inspire the lines “Smoke is comin’ when I burn/Rubber when my wheels turn,” and the pre-1977 98 was just too big for tearing around the streets of New York City.

I had a vague recollection that the back cover of the PE album “Yo! Bum Rush The Show” had a photo of a lime-green ’78 Olds 98, but it’s been years since I purged most of the LPs from my music collection. Turns out my memory was faulty.

The standard engine for the ’78 98 was the venerable Oldsmobile 350, which made 170 horsepower and a non-shabby 275 lb-ft-o-torque. If you planned on rubbin’ on the railing cuz you’re feelin’ proud, you’d want the 403 engine: 185 horses and a burnout-friendly 325 pound-feet.

What other brand of smokes would you find in a car favored by 90-year-old men and old-school New York rappers?






Murilee Martin
Murilee Martin

Murilee Martin is the pen name of Phil Greden, a writer who has lived in Minnesota, California, Georgia and (now) Colorado. He has toiled at copywriting, technical writing, junkmail writing, fiction writing and now automotive writing. He has owned many terrible vehicles and some good ones. He spends a great deal of time in self-service junkyards. These days, he writes for publications including Autoweek, Autoblog, Hagerty, The Truth About Cars and Capital One.

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  • GS650G GS650G on Jan 23, 2011

    I know someone that bought one of these and had it shipped across the country. He went to extremes to find another after his first was lost. The first one this guy had was stolen but the recovery was really rough. Broken steering, trashed interior, etc. The car he got from CA had a warning sticker on the drivers side window that the car could have lead contamination from the fuel and to exercise caution. Those CA lawmakers, what a bunch of cards.

  • Mrtut Mrtut on Jan 24, 2011

    I'm driving a 1977 98 with the 403 as my daily driver and this is a great car. Removed the cat, installed a flowmaster and K&N filter and she's fast, powerful and very very reliable. Aside from the headliner, which I had to replace, the interior is close to mint. With new snows on the rear, she goes though any winter weather. I used to drive old Caddy's but now prefer the late 70's Olds. Without exception, everyone who rides in it loves the plush luxury these cars have. Once she goes, I'll find another. And thankfully, since most collectors don't care for them, you can still find these with low mileage and in very good shape.

    • Texan01 Texan01 on Jan 25, 2011

      Yup, I picked up my '77 Chevelle because no one wants a colonnade sedan, I bought it because it was comfortable, easy to work on, and you don't see very often anymore. The 78-91 B/C Bodies don't get much love anymore despite being good looking cars, and fairly well built. We had an 84 Delta 88 that was let down by the woeful TH-200C and a mediocre Olds 307 that like to shed internal parts despite a steady diet of regular oil changes. It looked brand new when dad sold it for $100 after it lost 3rd and reverse for the 3rd time in 1996.

  • THX1136 Always liked the Mustang though I've never owned one. I remember my 13 yo self grabbing some Ford literature that Oct which included the brochure for the Mustang. Using my youthful imagination I traced the 'centerfold' photo of the car AND extending the roof line back to turn it into a small wagon version. At the time I thought it would be a cool variant to offer. What was I thinking?!
  • GregLocock That's a bodge, not a solution. Your diff now has bits of broken off metal floating around in it.
  • The Oracle Well, we’re 3-4 years in with the Telluride and right around the time the long term durability issues start to really take hold. This is sad.
  • CoastieLenn No idea why, but nothing about a 4Runner excites me post-2004. To me, they're peak "try-hard", even above the Wrangler and Gladiator.
  • AZFelix A well earned anniversary.Can they also attend to the Mach-E?
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