Oldsmobile Regency — H-body (1997–1998)
The Regency was a freestanding Oldsmobile full-size sedan line for the 1997 and 1998 model years, built on the Eighty Eight's H-body (Wikipedia). The NICB VIN manuals for 1997 and 1998 list it as its own line (REGENCY), apart from the 88 Royale, 88 / 88 LS and LSS. No GM RPO code list in the archive prints the Regency, so no code here comes from a list of its own; the single row rests on the 1997 factory brochure and Wikipedia naming its engine, and on Wikipedia's Buick V6 engine article, with the 1998 Eighty Eight, Buick LeSabre and Pontiac Bonneville lists printing the code as sibling corroboration. Transmissions, axles, packages and equipment have no row: nothing names a code for the Regency.
Codes
Engines
| Code | Description | Years | Models/Notes | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| L36 | Engine, gas, 6 cylinder, 3.8L, multiport fuel injection, V6, high output | 1997–1998 | The 1997 Regency brochure gives a 3800 Series II V6 of 205 horsepower and 3.8 liters, and Wikipedia captions a 1998 Regency with the naturally aspirated 205 horsepower 3800 Series II V6; neither prints a code. The 1998 Oldsmobile Eighty Eight RPO code list (a sibling's list that does not print the Regency) prints L36 as its only naturally aspirated 3.8L (the Buick LeSabre and Pontiac Bonneville 1998 lists print it too), so the code is sibling corroboration only, tying the Regency by meaning. Wikipedia's engine box for the line prints the slash form L27 / L36, which names neither code, but its Buick V6 engine article lists the 1997–1998 Oldsmobile Regency under its separate L36 heading, which dates both years. | single-source |
Sources
Factory documents (T1)
No factory document prints the Regency, so no row cites one.
Other sources
oldsmobile/1998-oldsmobile-eighty-eight-rpo-code-list.txt— 1998 Oldsmobile Eighty Eight — RPO Code List (GM Service Manual Online via gm.saturn.team): prints L36 for the Eighty Eight only; a sibling's list, named in the row's Notes as corroboration and not cited as a factory document- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buick_V6_engine — L36 application list naming the 1997–1998 Oldsmobile Regency (retrieved 2026-11-05 as wikitext)
- NICB VIN manuals
docs/reference/nicb/nicb1997-gm.txt(p.63) anddocs/reference/nicb/nicb1998-gm.txt(p.53), T4, in the repository: they list the Regency as a line of its own in each year; the engine column is too garbled to read an engine from. - https://www.edmunds.com/oldsmobile/regency/1998/review/ (Firecrawl, 2026-11-05): confirms a 1998 Regency 4 door sedan; prints no engine code.
- https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/cc-outtake/1997-oldsmobile-regency-the-last-of-the-white-walled-oldsmobiles/ (Firecrawl, 2026-11-05): confirms the 1997–1998 run and the shared H-body parts; prints no code.
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oldsmobile_88 (REST page API, 2026-11-05): the 1997–1998 Regency, its 205 horsepower 3800 V6, its three options, the 1998 Regency caption and the L27 / L36 slash form.
- https://xr793.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/1997-Oldsmobile-Regency-1.pdf (Oldsmobile's 1997 Regency brochure, a scanned PDF read by OCR, 2026-11-05): 3800 Series II V6 of 3.8 liters and 205 horsepower, and a 4 speed electronic-shift automatic; prints no RPO codes.