Favorite Car Ads: 1968 Oldsmobile Apprehender

You were never meant to see this ad. But you’ll want to look, because it’s pretty cool. Stripped from the pages of Law & Order magazine (1953-2016), this ad for the 1968 (and 1969, apparently) Oldsmobile 88 Delmont is striking for two reason: First, Oldsmobile wasn’t really known for building law-enforcement pursuit vehicles, and, secondly, that 390-horsepower number.

Then, as now, Ford sold a great number of vehicles to the law-enforcement community, as did Chevrolet and Plymouth. Ford kind of owns the segment now. Oldsmobile, however, retailed luxury and near-luxury cars, making their patrol-car offerings a little pricey for most police departments and federal agencies.

1968 Oldsmobile Apprehender

But, not only did this cop-prepped Olds 88 come endorsed by the folks at Popular Mechanics, it promised to be among the fastest accelerating cop cars in service—when properly equipped.

The “Apprehender”

1968 Apprehender package standard equipment, Police Package — 1968 Apprehender package standard equipment

Now, this is ad is for something called the “Apprehender,” which was never an actual Oldsmobile model. Instead, Olds referred to any models in its lineup fitted with the brand’s Police Apprehender Package, which could be had on almost every Olds including the compact F-85, midsize Cutlass and Cutlass Supreme—including the Vista Cruiser station wagon–and the full-size Delmont 88 and Delta 88 full-size cars.

Apprehender Models

The only models not available with the Apprehender Package for 1968 were the luxurious Delta 88 Custom, the entire Ninety-Eight lineup, and the personal-luxury Toronado coupe. We’ll get back to the Toro in a moment…

Oldsmobile “L32” Engine

The ad shown here boasts of the car’s 390-horsepower engine, which was, even by Oldsmobile big-block-engine standards, a pretty big number, but you had to pay extra for it. The 88’s Apprehender package came standard with a thumping 365-horse 455-cubic-inch V8. But, for very little extra money, the ’68 Delmont 88 police car could be upgraded with the “L32” 455-inch engine, which was rated at a big 390 horsepower. That tied the police-package 88 for second place among all Oldsmobile models in horsepower.

Hurst/Olds

Also boasting 390 horsepower was the Cutlass-based 4-4-2 “Hurst/Olds.” This overachieving Olds muscle car boasted the same version of the 455 V8 as the Apprehender 88, plus a unique Hurst-brand 4-speed manual-transmission shifter.

Toronado Trumps All

So, what’s better than 390 horsepower? How about 400. Oldsmobile’s flagship model, the Toronado personal-luxury coupe, came standard with a 375-horse 455 variant, but could exclusively be had with a 400-horsepower step-up option. The pricey “W34” upgrade ($211) included cold-air induction, a performance camshaft, and dual exhaust. Though the W34-powered Toronado was the most-powerful Oldsmobile of 1968, it was unlikely the quickest, as the big coupe was famously pudgy.

Not Your Father’s Oldsmobile

So, though police Oldsmobiles of any stripe have always been rare, should you see one, especially an Apprehender 88, do think twice before attempting to outrun it. Period specs have the car hitting 60 mph from a stop in just 6.0 seconds, and topping out at 120 miles an hour. No, this is not your father’s Oldsmobile. And, you never saw this ad.