---
title: "This Lifted 1980s Oldsmobile Sedan With a Camper Shell Totally Works"
description: "Strange idea, excellent execution."
date: "2020-08-18"
modified: "2020-08-18"
authors:
  - name: "Stef Schrader"
    job_title: "Contributor"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/stef-schrader"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/35836/this-lifted-1980s-oldsmobile-sedan-with-a-camper-shell-totally-works"
categories:
  - "News"
  - "Watch This"
---

# This Lifted 1980s Oldsmobile Sedan With a Camper Shell Totally Works

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/2020/08/98time_970x546-1.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

One of the most enviable garages on the internet isn't the world's largest BMW Isetta collection or one full of track-prepped supercars. No! It's that of YouTuber [PostalRedneck](<https://www.youtube.com/c/PostalRedneck/videos>), whose garage appears to be a magnet for [Oldsmobile Ninety-Eights](<https://www.thedrive.com/article/9588/the-1991-oldsmobile-98-was-the-last-olds-that-was-worth-a-damn>).

I admit that I am slightly biased. I love a good [brougham](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/34313/bring-back-cadillac-broughams>). Worse yet, my mom had a 1988 Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight Regency Brougham when I was a kid. It was the first car I ever got to drive around a parking lot. It's a good car. Naturally, I am amused at PostalRedneck's yellow 1986 Ninety-Eight Regency Brougham, which now features a [5,000-lb Harbor Freight winch](<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJtHUJnlSzM>), a mild lift and a camper shell.

https://youtube.com/embed/HYVzL5BVgv0

The channel has featured a few [Gambler 500](<https://www.thedrive.com/watch-this/11051/watch-this-off-road-lincoln-town-car-limousine-blast-around-in-the-dirt>) cars, and this is one of them. The Gambler 500 is an especially rowdy cheap-car navigational rally, and if you haven't done one yet, you absolutely should. This Ninety Eight [arrived](<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQa6MEjfEt8>) in rough shape, so this is truly the greatest use of it.

Rotted bumpers? Throw on [a pair of](<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4X3cPlq6pE>)

[stock Jeep ones](<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuwVNh7vw90>) since everyone seems to ditch those anyway. Gambler 500 terrain ahead? Why, there's a [mild lift](<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlnnDWPxoFc>)

 *and* the Ninety Eight Regency Brougham's plush velour seats, my dear chap. Exhaust too quiet? Simply remove that muffler, *s'il vous plaît*. Need to give the engine a bit more breathing room? Give it a [cowl hood](<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABuroXEiEII>)—why not?

![message-editor%2F1597803174630-two-98\_970x546.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content-b/message-editor/1597803174630-two-98_970x546.jpg>)
*Two Ninety-Eights at the SAME TIME., *YouTube | PostalRedneck**

The real star of the show is the bed cap, though. The trunk was taken out to allow the topper to sit over a proper bed space, and the rear roof and windows were left intact for that full pickup-with-a-cap effect.

The side profile of this works far better than it has any right to. Should the late-eighties Ninety-Eight have had a wagon version after all?

PostalRedneck seems pleased with his creation when he finally [test drove](<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEOODr5nFy8>) it after several fixes.

"This thing's amazing! The ride quality is just beautiful. It's like you're floating on a cloud," he said. "The heat works really good, and it's everything I ever wanted it to be. I gotta say, I'm impressed with how this thing rides."

That sounds like a genuinely enviable (because it's comfortable) Gambler rig.

https://youtube.com/embed/rjyH33B7NIw

The extremely classy *Regency Brougham* has since gained a moon visor from a Ford Ranger that added just a little bit extra to the car's roof, plus [additional lighting](<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jpZnNet_04>) around the roof. Another metal panel was added to bridge the gap between the trunk and the topper, too.

![message-editor%2F1597802893759-campershell\_970x546.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content-b/message-editor/1597802893759-campershell_970x546.jpg>)
**YouTube | PostalRedneck**

If there isn't a better example of "weird idea, excellent execution," I don't know what is. Our tips line is always open if you find it, though: tips@thedrive.com.

*\[H/T [Like Photoshop, but with welding](<https://www.facebook.com/groups/505269776754348/>)!\]*

## Author
Stef Schrader is a former senior staff writer for The Drive. She started writing about cars in 2013 after meeting Jalopnik's editor-in-chief at a race track, where Stef can be found at every available opportunity.

### Author social links  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/stefschrader/>)  
[Instagram](<https://instagram.com/stefthepef>)  
[Twitter](<https://twitter.com/stefthepef>)