At the 2025 Mecum Kissimmee, a white 1982 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Royale coupe with a White vinyl Landau top, a Dark Blue cloth Custom Sport front bench seat, and an indicated 8,900 miles sold for $20,500.
“A well-known, reputable name.”
1982 was a quiet year for Oldsmobile’s Delta 88, with a new grille made with horizontal bars being the most significant change. Inside, the all-in-one Smart Stick multifunction signal lever was new. The coupe was no longer available as a base Delta 88—all Delta 88 coupes for 1982 were either Royales or Royale Broughams.
Like all Delta 88s, the Royale coupe’s standard powertrain was the Buick-made LD7 110 bhp 3.8 liter/231 ci V6 with a two-barrel carburetor mated with a three-speed automatic. Optional was the LF9 105 bhp 5.7 liter/350 ci diesel V8 ($700). There were two optional gasoline V8 engines: the LV8 100 bhp 4.3 liter/260 ci V8 with a two-barrel carburetor ($70) and the LV2 140 bhp 5.0 liter/307 ci V8 ($120) with a four-barrel carburetor. A four-speed automatic ($172) was available with the 5.0 liter V8.
As an aside, I don’t understand the small V8 as an option when a larger and more powerful V8 was available. This choice is seen in many GM cars of the early to mid-1980s, and it makes no sense. For your $70 additional over the stock V6, you got to say you had a V8, you got a supposedly smoother engine, and you lost 10 precious horsepower. From Oldsmobile’s perspective, this additional engine option increased build complexity. Why?
The Delta 88 coupe was not quick—with the best-case 5.0 liter V8, 0-60 took about 12.5 seconds in a car with a 3,690-pound curb weight. The diesel was about seven seconds slower to 60 mph. Mileage wasn’t horrible for a large car in the early 1980s, even with the 5.0 liter V8: 17 city/29 highway by the day’s standards (14/21 by 2025 measures). With a 25.0-gallon fuel tank, a Delta 88 Royale coupe owner could expect a range of about 395 to 515 miles with a 10% fuel reserve.
Standard exterior and mechanical equipment on the $8,733 Delta 88 Royale coupe (about $30,300 in 2025 dollars) included a driver’s side remote control rear view mirror, low-drag power front disc brakes, power steering, and P205/75R15 steel-belted radial-ply blackwall tires (a size still readily available) mounted on 15-inch wheels with Bright Deluxe wheel discs. Inside, all Royale coupes included wall-to-wall cut-pile carpeting with carpeted lower door panels, a Custom Sport front bench seat, front and rear armrests, an inside day-night rearview mirror, and a Deluxe steering wheel. Oldsmobile did not include a clock or a radio as standard equipment.
Options & Production Numbers
Moving up to the Delta 88 Royale Brougham coupe cost an additional $469 and added bright roof drip moldings, pillar opera lamps, a divided front seat with individual controls, and a Convenience Group of lamps, visor vanity mirror, and chime tones.
Exterior and mechanical options included Soft-Ray tinted glass ($105), an electric sliding Astroroof in tinted glass, an automatic leveling system, an engine block heater, puncture-sealing tires, and Super Stock wheels with matching body color ($95). Inside, automatic cruise control with resume feature ($160), Four-Season ($695) or Tempmatic air conditioning, an electric rear window defogger, power side windows ($170), and power door locks were all available.
Oldsmobile offered a range of seven different radios for the Delta 88, ranging from a base AM radio to an electronically tuned AM/FM stereo/cassette with clock. Buyers could specify an independent digital quartz or analog clock if a Delco radio wasn’t desired.
Oldsmobile sold 41,238 Delta 88 Royale coupes in the 1982 model year. This was respectable, but not particularly great—in fact, they were the lowest in raw sales numbers and third lowest in percentage of overall Oldsmobile sales over the entire life of the eight-generation Delta 88. Of course, 1982 was a really bad year for auto sales in general—domestic auto sales were off by over a million units from 1981.
The View From 2025
There is some collector interest in these big coupes, though Hagerty does not track Delta 88s post-1975. Delta 88s of this era are sometimes available in the Hemmings Motor News classifieds, on eBay Motors, and at online auctions such as Bring a Trailer that cater to the eighties car market. As I update this post in October 2025, there’s an Burgundy 1985 Delta 88 Royale coupe with a claret interior and 83,000 miles for sale on Hemmings, asking $10,500.
Make mine Dark Blue Metallic, please.
Other B-body cars I have written about include the 1983 Chevrolet Caprice Classic sedan, the 1983 Pontiac Parisienne sedan, the 1985 Chevrolet Caprice Classic station wagon, and the 1987 Chevrolet Caprice Classic coupe. I should get to a Buick example.
Last updated October 2025.
Eighties Cars 
I very much like the style of the big GM coupes, though I lean to the Electra/98/Fleetwood cars based on their being more rare than the LeSabre/88/CdV.
I think you’re right about the smaller V8. In a Facebook group, a guy argued with me the 260/5spd in his colonnade Cutlass was a fine performer, I can’t see where that little v8 would be worthwhile in a full size car. Or why GM stuck with it, as Ford very quickly went back to a 5.0L as the base V8 in their cars.
Mark,
Thanks—as always—for your comment, and thanks for agreeing with me on the engines. I found the Delta 88 interesting because, at least in its base trims, the size was the sell. They certainly aren’t loaded up like the C-platform cars were.