The Oldsmobile

The Oldsmobile
Creator	General Motors
Owner	Ash Williams
First Appearance	The Evil Dead

“	Man, that car has been with him through thick and thin, war and peace. It was his everything.	„
	~ Pablo Simon Bolivar (Last Call)

The Oldsmobile (sometimes called "The Delta", "The Classic", and briefly "The Deathcoaster") is a 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Royale owned by Ash Williams. In numerous alternate realities, the car is Williams' main method of transportation.

The Oldsmobile first appeared in the 1981 film The Evil Dead, and has since appeared in every form of officially licensed Evil Dead expanded media, including video games, comic books, and board games.

History

Early History

The car which would eventually come into the possession of Ash Williams was presumably built at the General Motors Lansing Car Assembly factory in Lansing, Michigan sometime between 1972 or 1973.

At some point during the first decade of it's existence, the car was acquired by the Elk Grove Destruction Derby in Elk Grove, Michigan, presumably to be used in the motorsport shows put on by the arena. However, the car was spared of a destructive fate by Brock Williams, who purchased the car from the Destruction Derby and gifted it to his son, Ashley. There is little information in regards to the car's usage prior to 1982, though at some point, Ash had sex with PE teacher Lillian Pendergrast in the backseat of the Oldsmobile.

Incident At The Cabin (1982)

The Oldsmobile speeds down a dusty road while on the way to the cabin (The Evil Dead)

In October of 1982, Ash let his friend Scotty drive the Oldsmobile to a secluded cabin in the woods for a weekend trip with a group of friends (consisting of Ash, his girlfriend Linda, his sister Cheryl, Scotty, and Scotty's girlfriend Shelly). Prior to turning onto the long and lonely dirt road that led to the cabin, Scotty briefly lost control of the Oldsmobile, swerving into the opposite lane and directly into the path of an oncoming truck. Scotty regained control of the car just in time to avoid a potentially fatal collision, and yelled at Ash for owning such a faulty vehicle. Unbeknownst to anyone in the group at the time, the Oldsmobile's sudden "malfunction" was an act by an invisible demonic spirit which had been unleashed upon the forest several days earlier by Professor Raymond Knowby.

Later that night, Ash would attempt to drive his sister Cheryl to the closest town after she claimed to have been attacked by the woods themselves (another act instigating by the unseen demon). However, the trip would be short-lived, as Ash and Cheryl soon discovered that the only automobile bridge between the cabin and the main road had been destroyed (once again another deed performed by the demonic spirit), forcing them to return to the cabin.

A rift in time is opened outside of the cabin, slowly pulling the Oldsmobile inside (Evil Dead II)

Throughout the night, the members of the group would succumb to the demon's attacks and be turned into soul-hungry creatures known as Deadites, with only Ash Williams remaining. During his second day at the cabin, Ash once again attempted to escape the woods in his car, only to be quickly reminded that the bridge had been destroyed. Williams was forced to drive away from the site of the bridge after the demon arose from the valley below, chasing the Oldsmobile back to the "safety" of the cabin.

Later that night, the Oldsmobile would be pulled into a time-rift opened by Annie Knowby in an attempt to destroy the evil spirit lingering in the woods. Though the incantation worked and pulled the demon inside, Knowby was killed before she could close the rift. the pull of the vortex was strong enough that Ash Williams was dragged right through the cabin, into the air, and into the heart of the rift itself.

The Middle Ages (1300 AD)

The Deathcoaster mows down Deadites in the courtyard of Castle Kandar (Army of Darkness)

The time rift dumped Ash Williams and his Oldsmobile into England, circa 1300 AD. After Williams had accidentally unleashed an army of Deadites led by his evil clone, Ash would enroll the help of the Blacksmith of Castle Kandar to help him convert the Oldsmobile into a steam-powered "Deathcoaster" to aid him in the coming battle against the legion of the undead. As "The Deathcoaster", the Delta was outfitted with a large spinning blade emerging from the hood, a large plow attached to the grill and front bumper, and several wooden spikes attached to the left and right sides by the doors. During this time, the Oldsmobile required two people to operate it: a driver to steer the car, and a fireman to maintain the fire powering the steam engine. Williams used "The Deathcoaster" during the Deadites' siege on Castle Kandar, though he eventually flipped the car onto its side after spotting Sheila (a woman whom he had become romantically involved in in this era) standing in the battlefield.

Back In The Future

As the Oldsmobile exists in a myriad of alternate realities, it's history truly begins to differ in the aftermath of Ash's adventure in the Middle Ages. In one world, Ash slept his way back to the future in the back seat of the Oldsmobile following the battle of Castle Kandar, only to wake-up in a post-apocalyptic London. In another reality, Ash left the car in 1300 AD, only reuniting with it during his return trip to the era to plow through a skinless Deadite horde gathering outside Castle Kandar. Another timeline saw the Oldsmobile getting outfitted with enormous robotic saw-blades by the students of Alan Shepard High School after the car had been vandalized outside of S-Mart. On Earth-818793, the Ash Williams of that reality used the car to knock Jason Voorhees into the icy waters of Crystal Lake, with the Delta sinking and pinning Voorhees to the bottom of the lake.

The Oldsmobile and the Airstream Trailer (Ash vs Evil Dead)

In the "prime" reality, the Oldsmobile returned with Williams to the 20th Century and underwent a complete overhaul, losing it's steam-powered modifications from the Middle Ages and turned back into it's original form. Ash still used the car as his main method of transportation, and used the car to carry his Airstream Trailer during his travels across the state of Michigan. One event of note occurred when Williams returned to his hometown of Elk Grove, and the Oldsmobile became possessed after getting stolen by a group of teenagers. The car went on a rampage through the city streets, killing Brock Williams in the process, and was only brought to a halt by Ash after he plunged his chainsaw into the engine. The car was quickly repaired, and was used by Ash's companions to help break him out of the Kenward County Asylum. Several months following this incident, the Oldsmobile would be recovered by the Knights of Sumeria, who retrieved the car (as well as the severely wounded Ash himself) in the immediate aftermath of Ash's confrontation with Kandar The Destroyer. The Oldsmobile would once again be converted into a monster-killing machine in the years while Ash slumbered and recovered from his wounds. Ash would eventually be awakened from his slumber and discover the world had turned into a post-apocalyptic wasteland, with the only trace of his past remaining being the Oldsmobile. In this new incarnation of "The Deathcoaster", the Delta was given two mounted machine guns, LED lights, a swiveling mount for Ash's shotgun on the driver's door, and a blade from a bulldozer with "Hail To The King" written in white paint.

Notable Specifications & Modifications

• The Oldsmobile is outfitted with 455 V8 engine.
• At some point after the Oldsmobile's overhaul from returning from 1300 AD, Ash fitted the car with nitrous designed for race cars (in the event he was ever pursued by evil again), as well as a custom activation panel built into the bottom the dashboard.
• In one alternate reality, the Oldsmobile was given two enormous saw-blades by the students of Alan Shepard High School, which were hidden beneath two rectangular panels stretching from the headlights to the windshield.

Other Oldsmobiles

• In the "prime" universe, Ash Williams encountered a dust-covered variation of his beloved Delta in the alternate dimension known as "The Deadlands".
• On Earth-818793, the Ash Williams of that reality purchased a second Oldsmobile identical to his original, except the vehicle was painted in a matte gray/blue color. Outfitted with a bumper lined with spikes and a vanity plate reading "KICKASH", Williams used this car in the years after his original was believed to have been lost at the bottom of Crystal Lake.
• In another alternate reality, a simulacrum version of Ash Williams purchased his own Oldsmobile after the original was pulled back in time with the real Ash, using the vehicle during his time as an Uber driver.

In Other Media

Comic Books

• With the exception of only a handful of titles, the Oldsmobile has appeared in most of the officially licensed comic books based on the various entries of the Evil Dead franchise.

Video Games

• The Oldsmobile appears in the 2000 video game Evil Dead: Hail To The King. Much like the climax of Evil Dead II, the Oldsmobile is once again pulled into a time vortex, this time landing in Damascus in the year 750 AD. Having arrived in the past sometime before Ash, the Delta was converted into a market by a local shop owner, though Williams would frequently return to the car during his time in Damascus to retrieve items from it.
• The Oldsmobile (in it's Deathcoaster form) is an unlockable power-up ability in the 2011 mobile game Army of Darkness Defense, which can be summoned by the player to inflict massive amounts of damage to the oncoming waves of Deadites.
• The Oldsmobile appears as part of static decoration on maps based on the Knowby cabin in the games Deploy And Destroy, Phantom Halls, and Evil Dead: The Game.
• The Oldsmobile is a drivable vehicle in the 2022 video game Evil Dead: The Game.

Board Games

• A miniature of the Deathcoaster was included in Leading Edge's Army of Darkness Board Game from 1993.
• The Delta (referred to as "The Classic") was going to be an object in Space Goat's Evil Dead 2: The Official Board Game in 2016. A mini-game that could be played alongside the main game was "The Classic's Last Ride", where players fight enemies in the woods surrounding the cabin as they drove the Classic down a shifting dirt road. The game was ultimately scrapped, and the Oldsmobile miniature was not reused for the Jasco Games/Lynnvander Studios 2020 version of the game.

Gallery

Films

Behind the scenes of Army of Darkness

Behind the scenes of Army of Darkness

Ash vs Evil Dead

The Delta and the Airstream Trailer

Ash and Pablo in the Delta (Bait)

Approaching Brujo's farm (El Brujo)

The possessed Delta in the Elk Grove Destruction Derby arena (DUI)

Ash on the hood of the possessed Delta (DUI)

The possessed Delta and Ash (DUI)

The Delta on the streets of Elk Grove

Lexx unveils the modified Oldsmobile (The Mettle of Man)

Behind the scenes of Ash vs Evil Dead with Rob Tapert, Bruce Campbell, and Sam Raimi

Comics

The Delta slams into Jason Voorhees (Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash #6)

Ash is reunited with the Deathcoaster (Ash Gets Hitched #2)

The Deathcoaster goes up in flames (Furious Road #5)

The Delta is vandalized outside S-Mart (Ash Vs. The Army of Darkness #0)

The Delta's upgrade, courtesy of Alan Shepard High School (Ash Vs. The Army of Darkness #5

Trivia

A 1974 Oldsmobile Delta 88 appears in place of the 1973 model in Fede Alvarez's Evil Dead film.

• The Oldsmobile featured in the original Evil Dead trilogy and the Ash vs Evil Dead television series is personally owned by Sam Raimi. The car originally belonged to Sam's mother, Celia Barbara Raimi, from the time of the car's purchase and up to 1977, where it was then formally given to Sam during his time attending Michigan State University. The car has since appeared as some capacity in every theatrical film directed by Sam Raimi since 1981's The Evil Dead, with the exception of 1999's For Love of The Game (though it does appear in a deleted scene). According to Bruce Campbell, the Oldsmobile's personal significance to Raimi is based on the fact that Sam lost his virginity in the car, though Raimi himself has never confirmed (or disputed) Campbell's claims.
• Despite having appeared in the first three Evil Dead films and the expanded media based on them, the Oldsmobile does not appear in the 2013 Evil Dead film or Evil Dead Rise.
  • In the 2013 Evil Dead film, a rusted 1974 Oldsmobile can be seen outside the Allen family cabin, not a 1973 model like Raimi's. According to writer/director Fede Alvarez, the car's appearance was meant to indicate that his film built upon the events of the first film only (in which Ash died at the end of The Evil Dead, and his car had been left to rust).
  • The Oldsmobile was not included in the 2023 film Evil Dead Rise at the request of writer/director Lee Cronin, who said he did not think the car would fit character of Ellie. To make up for the lack of the Oldsmobile itself, the chainsaw used by Beth at the climax of the film is painted the same shade of cream/gold as Raimi's Delta 88.
• The Oldsmobile's license plate reads "586 IKV" in the first three Evil Dead films. For Ash vs Evil Dead (and later in the Ash Vs. The Army of Darkness comic), the plate was changed to "3971 KTL". Promotional posters for Ash vs Evil Dead gave the Delta a heavily rusted "GROOVY" vanity plate. In the Army of Darkness comic story Ash Vs. The Classic Monsters, the car's plate read "ASH-4362".
• In the original first draft of the Evil Dead II script, Bobby Joe steals the Oldsmobile and is given chase by the Kandarian Demon. She accidentally drives the Delta off a cliff after remembering that the bridge leading to the cabin had been destroyed, where it sinks to the bottom of a river.