My Favorite Ride: There she was, Norman Noe's 1961 Oldsmobile Dynamic 88 Tudor Bubbletop

NINEVEH — After driving a maze of roads through the Cordry Sweetwater Lake community, my destination was confirmed when I spotted the two-tone dreamsicle-orange Oldsmobile parked front and center in the driveway.

There she was, the late Norman Noe's 1961 Oldsmobile Dynamic 88 Tudor Bubbletop.

If you've been following along since I first tried to identify the owner of this car seven years ago, well, you know the story.

It was 2016 when I noticed a picture of the car on a 2011 media card, wondered what and whose it was. I had no solid recollection, but I thought it had been taken in downtown Nashville.

I published the photo in My Favorite Ride in January 2016, and again this past August with a new caption to remind people that after all this time, I was still seeking the owner.

Last week's column detailed how I had located Debbie Noe. She told me her husband, who died seven years ago, had received the car as a high school graduation gift, sold it when he joined the Army and then bought it back.

I reported it was 2011 when he re-bought the car, but his widow checked and it was actually 2004, 40 years after he sold it to a man in California.

Last week's column: My Favorite Ride: A magazine cover brought his 1961 Oldsmobile 88 back 50 years later

Here is a picture I took the afternoon of Aug. 31, 2023, a closer view of that same side angle I shot a dozen years ago. It confirms how much I love the simple side lines of this classic car.

I took at least 20 pictures that afternoon. If you read this column online via the newspaper website, there's a photo gallery there featuring 10 images of the car. I've embedded some in the online version of the story, and there should be one or two in the print edition.

Here's what I found out about the car when I went to see Debbie Noe, who had parked it in the driveway so I could marvel at its' beauty.

Norman Noe's parents bought the 88 for him in the spring of 1961 at Charlie Stewart Oldsmobile in Indianapolis. Unbeknownst to his parents, "Stormin' Norman" Noe proceeded to drag race the car across the Midwest over the next three years, winning 43 trophies.

I asked Debbie about the car's speed. She paused, then smiled. "Let's just say it's fast." Her husband sold the 88, and his1920s Ford truck, when he joined the U.S. Army in 1964. The car went to a new owner in California.

In the early 1990s, a man named Michael Feinstein salvaged the hail-damaged Oldsmobile from a junkyard in Fontana, California. In 1997, he had the then-36-year-old junker rebuilt at a high-end specialty restoration shop.

It was featured on the March 2000 cover of Rod & Custom magazine, which was seen by Norman Noe back then. He didn't recognize his own car, which had originally been a mint-green color.

The 394-cubic-inch engine was rebuilt in California to meet to high-performance standards. Some chrome trim and the door handles were removed, and the car was lowered three inches with special springs and shocks. A simple stainless steel grille was custom made for the front end.

It was professionally painted in California with House of Kolor Pearl Butterscotch and fade-away Candy Tangerine scallops. When Noe got it back, Larry Webb Resortation in Gnaw Bone restored the paint and pinstriping.

It was Larry Webb who led me to the car.

Just when I thought I had this story told and the mystery wrapped up, I got a call from a man in Fontana, California. He left a message that said he had come across last month's column about the mystery Oldsmobile.

He said he knows the car. He said to call him back. I will, so stay tuned.

Have a story to tell about a car or truck? Contact My Favorite Ride reporter Laura Lane at llane@heraldt.com or 812-318-5967.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: My Favorite Ride: There she was, Norman Noe's 1961 Oldsmobile