The deep green Oregon woods and a vintage daily driver car: what a fine combo. Maybe the woods aren’t on everyone’s list of favorites, but the Cutlass sure was during its long reign at or near of the top of the sales stats. We haven’t seen a Cutlass Supreme coupe on these pages in ages; once America’s sweetheart, always a CC favorite. Seeing how deserving it was, we covered every generation of Cutlass in our epic CC Complete Cutlass Chronicles. But let’s take a quick look at this one, and at a typical Olds dealer’s lot during the Cutlass’ reign.
This shot from aldenjewel’s photostream shows a typical Olds dealership in the late Seventies; Colonnade Cutlasses as far as the eye can see.
This downsized example does sport some aftermarket wheels, but is otherwise original and shows signs of still being in front-line service, along with several others hereabout. The full CC for this generation is here.
I’m not exactly sure what this connotes. A Martial Arts method?
Initially, its iconic waterfall grille was shared with the Chrysler Imperial/New Yorker in the mid-’70s before becoming the Cutlass’ calling card. Almost a million ’78 and ’79 Cutlass coupes were sold in those two years alone, when Americans’ love affair with the formal coupe was reaching its zenith. But who wants to have the same sweetheart for too long?
The picture of the Olds dealer is from 1977, as there is a Delta 88 Pace Car backed up to the building. And we all KNOW that an 88 was the Pace Car in 77. 🙂
Oh, my were these popular. A cousin bought a new one in 1978, which was his first new car. Buying one of these made him a full fledged, card-carrying adult in my eyes.
We bought our ’79 Cutlass Salon Brougham at Templeton Oldsmobile. It was in Tysons Corner, Va., and it was a very busy place in those days. Long before Oldsmobile died, they picked up a Dodge franchise and became Templeton Oldsmobile-Dodge. Then they dropped Olds before GM did.
Haven’t been out that way in a while. Judging from Street View, it looks like it’s a Porsche dealer now (http://goo.gl/maps/PJ3ls). Peacock Buick next door looks like it’s now a used car lot.
There is another Delta pace car replica inside the showroom if you zoom in close enough 🙂
My grandfather owned at least 2 Cutlass coupes from this generation, an early 80’s style and a post ’87 wirh composite headlights. Such an iconic car.
Ah yes, the Cutlass Supreme with the back seat even more useless than the one in the Colonnades.
There’s a place on US 421 in the tiny unincorporated town of Waugh, Indiana, that seems to be the place where Cutlass Supremes go to die. The dude’s got 20 or 30 of them in various stages of decrepitude on his property. One of these days I’ll stop and photograph it — from the road, because the no-trespassing signs look like they mean business.
Believe me the 4 door G-body didn’t have a much better back seat than the coupe, it was just easier to fold yourself up to get inside with the extra door.
Don’t forget that the four door had those bizarre wing window vents in the rear with no roll down capability. I remember vividly because I thought the lot guy just didn’t know how to roll them down, so I lost $50. In 1980, that was dinner and a movie money.
My recollection is that you could order the rear wing vent windows with power option – at least two friends’ GM sedans (one a Cutlass, the other a Pontiac Grand Am) had that feature.
As a kid, I once rode in an Olds with that power vent window thing. Pushed the switch, window wouldn’t move – must be broken. But where’d the wind and noise come from? It took me a while to figure out that only the vent window was opening and closing. Maddeningly stupid, that!
I had a pristine ’86 Cutlass Supreme Brougham (!) I obtained in 1996 in Honolulu. Kalihi car – little old couple and it was sharp. A/C was shot. 307 four-barrel. Put Flowmasters and a new set of tires on it (Goodyear Tiempos were in OK shape, but one started to form an egg on the sidewall – dry rot). Mine was white with grey interior; broughamtastic loose pillow seats. The vent windows in the rear were power.
In July, 1997 I shipped the car to Oakland, drove it to Cleveland by way of SoCal and Virginia and sold it there (in Cleveland) to very appreciative retired Ford Cleveland foundry worker. I shed a tear as the Rocket V-8 rumbled away. . . . .
I drove past the same place a couple of weeks ago, but did not have time to stop.
The G body rear seat was more usable than older GM coupes. I know, since we crammed a family of 5 into a 1980 Regal going on family outings. My dad loved 2 doors. It was roomier in back than our ’70 Monte Carlo.
Love the selection of car colors on the lot.
I’m not fully sure why this stood out to me in the opposite way? In all those coupes, I only find a few appealing combos to my eyes. Many others just mash the positive styling elements into blah. That Red times four in the front row is especially puzzling – a matching interior/exterior plus padded roof AND wheels isn’t a bit much? (Forgive me if I’m missing something, I’m a product of the early 80’s…)
When these were new, I saw many, many, MANY of these downsized ones; usually in brown or green with a contrasting quarter-vinyl roof . . . . and, being California, the majority of these were with the Chevy 305 2-pot (Olds 260 was n/a in CA.) These were in the day (through the late 80s) VERY popular in the Aloha State. Some were used for police duty.
So many nice things about that Cutlass, the aftermarket tires/wheels, the color (paint looks to be original) and the styling. Love how thin the A-pillar is. With a few easy tweaks these could be made to handle really well, and were pretty nice right out of the box.
I still see tons of final gen El Caminos on the road but the Cutlasses got used up early on for low rider projects. It was the most popular car for that, folks started grabbing them up in the late 80s. It was like the 60s Chevy thing all over again.
Hate to see aftermarket wheels on these when the available Super Stocks looked so nice.
I see this one has the very typical collapsed spring package, and the ubitquitous Cragar S/S wheels.
A buddy of mine loves these cars, and seems like every one of these A/G bodies he’s owned has required new springs and new front ends like clockwork around 75,000 miles. I think GM changed the steel in the springs after 76, because even my ’77 Chevelle had saggy springs, where my 76 did not.
It needs door bushings too.
That’s what I remember most about these coupes.
(Mighty heave on inside door handle) – creeeeeeeaaaaoooorrrk – SLAM rattle rattle rattle
Not a bad looking heap i probably woulda bought one a little suspension tuning and it would be ok and just wait for the rust to put it off the road.
Wow. Cool. You are a tough customer when it comes to our American junk but it’s nice to know you respect the Cutlass!
Agree on the saggy GM front springs of the period. Had a 79 Oldsmobile 88 coupe in 1987 with about 75k that was down in the front. Loved it, it sat like a stock car and I didn’t have to cut any coils to do it. 🙂
A one inch drop usually settles most cars on the road not recommended for unpaved roads though ya get thru too many muffler systems
I was living in Milwaukee, WI at the time…no unpaved roads to worry about. Well, at least there was SOME pavement inbetween the cracks…:)
The Colonnade Supreme coupes were so popular, Olds dealers asked to keep them in production longer. But GM Brass said no. [But, they did keep G body past original cut off date of ’84]
The downsized Supremes coupes caught on, though. But we all know how badly the fastback Salons flopped.
Malibu sales increased greatly over the old Colonnade Chevelle. Older Impalas were traded in for them. My Grandmothers last car was a ’79 Malibu, from a ’75 Impala. Lots of new Malibus over Chicago area until 1981-ish.
Cool car. I very much like the ’78-’80 2-tone paintjobs on the Supremes. The ’78 & ’79 Supremes, ’78 GP, and ’81-’83 Regals are my favorite G-body cars. They were easy to keep running & it’s too bad most have been destroyed.
My ex-wife had a black ’79 Cutlass Supreme with Carmine interior, 3.8 engine, column shift automatic, SSIII wheels. It was a very pleasant car to drive: quiet, good-looking and the perfect size vehicle (for me anyway).
The Cutlass had it all over the Century when they were Colonnades but the Regal passed the Cutlass with the Gs. Olds held its own but Buick made a quantum leap.
America’s Sweetheart indeed. I remember the Motor Trend issue with that exact headline. These cars truly were “just right” for the times and so damn popular. The New Orleans Olds dealers were powerhouses, and they sold Cutlasses by the truckload. It is great to see the vintage dealer shot–could have been almost anywhere in the U.S. The color mix (including 2 tones) was particularly appealing, and one of the nice things about any of the A-bodies (colonnades or later) was the amazing range of ways you could have them equipped. Just made them so interesting, even for middle-of-the-road cars. I knew so many people with some variation of downsized A (and later G) bodies that I can’t even begin to cover them all. That said, my favorite of the 1980 vintage belonged to the father of a girl I dated. It was a Calais with the 305, black inside and out, Super Stock wheels, T-top (no vinyl top) and virtually every option available (including a cassette player that was “hot” in the early 1980s). I did have a chance to drive it, and the power and handling were good from my perspective as a teen (in Louisiana at that time you could get your license at 15!). Given their incredible popularity, it is amazing how they went from being everywhere … to nowhere. I saw one on Lake Shore Drive in Chicago about a year ago, still in great shape, and was struck by how handsome and distinct it looked. Couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen one just cruising along like that. And back in the day, it really was a sweetheart–well styled, not too big and not too small, well priced, decent power, and comfort in numbers. There was something reassuring about having these “nice” cars everywhere, a phenomenon which was pretty uniquely American.
“Given their incredible popularity, it is amazing how they went from being everywhere … to nowhere.”
Besides the POS THM-200C auto trans, the thing that did most of these in was that unless you lived in the vacuum of space, the rear frame rails were going to rust out . They make kits to replace them or in worse case scenario, you moved the car to another frame BUT most folks did not want all that bother so they scrapped them. GM never figured out how to fix this issue.
I never liked the pre 1981 Cutlass models. I thought the front end gave the car a squashed nose look. I like the “shovel Nose” front end of 81-86 and the “bottle Nose” style of 87-88
Vacuum of space = lower half of the U.S. ?
Maybe half of the early cars had the 200 trans. The other half had the THM350 By the early 80’s they were equipped with the 200R4 or 700R4, neither of which is a POS transmission.
From my experience, I might debate you on the 2004R. The one in my 1984 Olds 98 had chewed itself up in 54000 miles of little old lady ownership, always dealer serviced. I learned this right after I bought the car from here estate, of course.
There are still plenty in AZ..I see a few every week. They are either mild hot rods or lowriders, and you even see a few mostly stock beater ones. Seem to be very popular with guys in their 20s and 30s.
I’m just hitting 50,000 miles on the 2004R in my Fleetwood Brougham and it’s a jewel as far as performance goes. Doesn’t matter if the shifts are up or down, part throttle or WOT they are always quick and super smooth. In most step transmissions quick and smooth are tradeoffs. The car is always in the right gear.
I have my fingers crossed that it will hold up.
I have had three TH200-4R’s, all made it to high miles, no issues with any of them. One of the three needed a new lock-up solenoid (cheap and easy fix), other than that they were fine. My brother’s ’86 Cutlass Supreme 4-door was his daily driver until 2010. No tranny failures, the rear frame didn’t rust and it was operated in Ontario winters. It was a Canadian spec car with a 305 Chev, and had F41 suspension. Good handling and with the true duals he installed it actually was pretty quick (for a car of the mid-80’s).
FWIW, there are still tons of A/G-body cars in the Northeast – many still serving as beaters/daily drivers – and they don’t seem any more rust-prone than similar cars from that same era. G-body coupes are also the quintessential guido hot rod.
I stand by my comment the THM-200c and THM-200R4 were rubbish transmissions. The THM-200c was made up to 1987. A lot of the Cutlass sedans had this 3 speed trans in them and both the 200c and the Cutlass sedan both had their last years in 1987. My 1985 Cutlass sedan has the THM-200R4 and the old 1987 Cutlass sedan I owned about 7 years ago had a 200c. The 200R4 was supposed both add an extra gear for better gas MPG and to fix the internal issues that plagued the 200c(such as delayed 2nd to 3rd shifts, no reverse and bad TCC switches BUT the 200R4 still had the same issue with no reverse. Now the 700R4 was a chapter to itself. Ask one of the countless folks that suffered with a burned out 3-4 clutch pack about the trans reliability. up until 1987 the 700R4 was total rubbish and was known to leave the building quicker then Elvis. 1987 till it was turned into the 4L60 were better but still nothing to really write home about
Amen to that. Had an 81 with the 3.8 that I liked just fine. The POS auto though, cratered at about 45k miles. Should have bought a stick I guess.
In the late 80’s I lived in Bellingham and saw many TV ads aimed at Canadians. I remember one rental car company advertising their “Ski rentals” and they showed a G with rust around the wheel wells. Their pitch was save your car and rent one of these, comes with a ski rack, studded tires and chains in the trunk.
I never cared too much for the 80 model year of A/G-Body. The quad square beams just made the car look to narrow than it actually was. At least all four divisions kept a lesser(as in cheaper) single beam model in their A/G-Body line up.
I dare you to find a 1980 Cutlass 442. That would be one of my favorite 1980 models.
I think Oldsmobile should had pick the 442 package on the Calais coupe instead of the “Aeroback” at that time.
I spotted a funny car stunt from a French-Canadian movie “Ding & Dong le film”, filmed in 1990 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tT3S4CGhlJE
They did, but only for 1980. I think the 442 package went away for a few years and came back again for 1984.
The 1980 442 was practically identical to the 79 Hurst Olds, with either the white & gold or black & gold paint scheme and gold wheels. I forget the exact figure, but they only made something like 800 of them.
I’ve never seen an ’80 442. It is not even shown in the 1980 Cutlass brochure. Maybe there was a separate folder for that model?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIdGxR-aU6o
“New Oldsmobiles are in early this year.”
“Baby clothes…”
“This place has got everything.”
I only had two experiences with this body style and the one previous.
#1. My friend and I were on our way to Summit Point, WV to enjoy a day of racing. We stopped in Martinsburg, WV for coffee to go, a short distance from the track. We were in my 1978 Rabbit. Once off the main road, the Summit Point road has a number of very sharp changes of elevation and sharp curves, sometimes both. A mid 70s Cutlass Hurst Edition came up on my ass and was pressing. I was driving one-handed, since this was prior to the advent of CUPHOLDERS. We came upon a sharp left hander with a sharp drop-off. No problem for the Rab, but I thought the Olds was going to end up in the weeds. Most amusing. The Olds driver collected it but never pushed me from then on.
#2. 1985, Rte. 220 south of Roanoke, on the way to Martinsville Speedway. Beautiful road, obviously recently paved. Smooth. Like a snake. I was keeping a pretty good pace in the Uber Rabbit (nothing extreme, occasional 3rd gear, a bit of tire whine from the Goodyear Wingfoots) when I passed a mid ’80s Gran Prix, two-tone puke and light green. He took up the challenge but soon faded. Once my friend and I got to the grassy parking area at Martinsville, this dude approached me and said that he was driving the Pontiac, and that his GP wasn’t made for that type of driving. I pretended I didn’t know what “this type of driving” was, and simply acted if this was just a typical Sunday drive, which for me, it was.
Yah, I know-Martinsburg, Martinsville? Confusing even for us Martins. But one thing is clear, neither the fatty mid ’70s (I don’t know, B-bodies, C-bodies, whatever), or the mid-“80s downsized versions were drivers’ cars. You could slap on the Konis and sway bars up the wazoo, but these things were still just profilers. Fun to F with, however.
Despite KiwiBryce’s expert opinion up above that these cars – of all ridiculous things – would be “OK” with a little suspension tuning, I’m gonna have to agree with you here. Just a very loose, sloppy chassis that is set up for maximum float from the factory. Even with the handling/HD suspension on the 442 or Hurst-Olds models they’re much more wallowy and prone to extreme plow than you’d expect a car of this size and vintage to be. Panther Crown Vics, for instance, are much more lively, better balanced and have more responsive and accurate steering; they actually feel smaller when driven hard than any G-body I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing.
I do like these Olds’ a lot, I owned one and I’d gladly own another, but they don’t like turning at all.
“Just a very loose, sloppy chassis…”
Take a look at the Edmunds blog where they are running a stock 1987 Buick Grand National. There is a video of it going through a slalom course and it moved exactly the way I remembered which isn’t bad at all for a relatively large, comfortable, BOF car. Wouldn’t be hard to get a non-GN up to that level.
The most interesting thing about their post on the GN is that they compared it to another cherry GN they drove a year earlier which was a mess. Most cars get sloppy with age especially cars like the Gs that tend to get handed down, sold multiple times, modified, neglected, etc.
Remember nearly all Panthers are newer than these G-bodies. I’m with Bryce on this.
True. F41 or whatever Olds division called theirs does make a difference. The ’86 Broughamtastic Cutlass Supreme I had was originally ordered with full gauges and HD (FE6 in Olds speak?) suspension. Once I took off the dry rotted Goodyear Tiempo tires and put on some different Goodyears, with the gas-filled shocks and stabilizer bars, the four-door Brougham took corners quite well. Mine of course, was a low-mileage example.
Believe Olds called theirs FE3.
Have you driven one these cars with the F41 suspension? They are actually excellent handlers when setup properly. The early 80’s Malibus were known to be one of the best handling police cars of there era. My brother’s F41 Cutlass could drive circles around my ’88 Panther Ford when it came to handling. Maybe by todays standards they aren’t up to par, but for a BOF car from the 80’s they were pretty good. Stock suspensions were overly soft, but a decent set of shocks, springs and sway bars was all that it took to get these cars to handle.
My ’83 Bonneville was anything but wallowy, it was too stiff. I wished it was floaty. The car would jolt over expansion cracks or bumps, but it did handle very well. I noticed that the various divisions added more or less reinforcements to the body. There were cross braces behind the back seat, ahead of the engine crossmember and from the fenders to the core support. Supposedly the Malibu’s and Cutlasses don’t have all of those so it must be a Pontiac thing.
I briefly upgraded it to F-41 with the 1 1/4″ front sway bar and the 7/8″ in the rear and it was incredible how fast I could take corners. Handling, at least with my car, stock or F-41 was the best part of the car. The trade off was the bumpy ride which I attributed to the short 108″ wheelbase.
I came across this 1983 Oldsmobile Cutlass Calais Hurst Edition, it’s for sale here at a dealer for classic US cars. It says that it has “3 lightning shifters” and that it’s both a manual and an automatic. How does that work ? I see 3 sticks, one stick for every gear ? Here’s the ad, it’s in English:
http://www.coolcatclassiccars.com/cccc/page/147/Old_Cutlass_Hurst_1983.html
I do like the car, seems to be in a great condition, but I don’t like those all red brothel interiors.
http://www.oldspower.com/vb/archive/index.php?t-21859.html
That’s a decent explanation although there are videos of people using one on YouTube.
Thanks for the link.
I’ve always been a Cutlass fan – though they were pressed out of the same factories that made all of other A/G bodies, the Cutlass always seemed to have something special – it’s hard for me to put my finger on it – the styling just seemed more attractive than the Regal or Malibu. And I’ve always thought the Olds SS III wheels were one of GM’s best designs.
While the 73-77s had wonderful proportions, these 78-80 versions always struck me as “stilted” and “scrunched”. The 81 – 87s brought back the right balance.
I even had an 81 with the 350 diesel – and it wasn’t that bad of a car……….just plug slow.
Actually, up until 1984, Cutlasses (at least for the U.S.) were made ONLY in Lansing . . . . then the (then) G’s shifted to Oshawa . . . all the BOF/RWDs for all (remaining divisions that sold ’em) up until 1988 . . .
Cutlasses were made in different places during most of the downsized A/G run, some Lansing, some Arlington TX, some Fairfax, some Framingham, some Pontiac at the end. After the redesign in 1978, volume was so high that the lines were shifted around. You can do a simple test, google “Cutlass Supreme xxx (year) vin” and look for the 11th digit plant code. M is for Lansing, R Arlington, F Fairfax, 1 Oshawa, P Pontiac. US built car VINs start with 1, Canadian cars with 2.
Billy: I think you might be confusing the Cutlass with the Toronado. The Toro was made exclusively in Lansing until the downsized E body debuted for 1979, when production was moved to Linden, NJ. The 98’s were also Lansing only I believe, until sometime in the 70’s.
I think all 442’s with the W30 option were all made in Lansing as well.
The ’73 442 I used to own was built in Arlington Texas. I think Cutlass production began at the Doraville, GA plant somewhere around ’74 or so.. Doraville built a huge number of Cutlasses between ’76 and ’79…you should see the pile of buildsheets here, LOL.
I recently pulled a build sheet out of a Canadian-built, US-spec. ’79 Cutlass Supreme.
I’ve also heard that W30 cars were Lansing-only though.
Did CraiginNC leave us? 🙁
No I didn’t leave, but been doing a lot of traveling now and my employment situation maybe changing in the fall. So my postings may be erratic until things settle down.
I always liked the Cutlass coupes (let’s just forget about the ’78-’79 fastbacks, shall we?) from 1964 through the Eighties. They just had a style that other GM mid-sizes lacked, and I’d take one any time. That dealer shot reminded me that the Cutlass was also the best of the Colonnades. I’ll take one with an OLDS 350 and a 4 speed, thanks.
These Cutlasses and their Chevy, Pontiac and Buick siblings are still around in Albuquerque. Mostly as low riders, but you still see an occasional restored car and some beaters here and there. There are also some Colonnade coupes riding around out here also.
If you have the time and the gas money, Albuquerque is a CC wonderland!
Oh, how much nicer these could have been with a (ahem) little design enhancement…
These were from the days where the 2-door was the design model and the back doors looked tacked on. No more.
As many know, I had a 79 Cutlass Calais in dark red with T-tops W-30 clone. Loved every minute that I had it, kept it 6 years, put 54,000 on it and sold it in 1985 for 1/2 what I paid for it. One of these days I will get around to write a COAL on it, it was my first new car and quite a car for a budding engineer of 25. It had the 350/350, FE2 Rally Suspension, 205/70/14 white letter tires, body colored rally wheels and of course the Calais buckets, console, floor shifter, and sport steering wheel. I could have kept that car forever. Kept in mint condition (as I do all of my cars), I could have sold it today for every penny I bought it for.
Somewhere in the mid-90s, used Cutlass/Monte Carlo/Grand Prix and a burgeoning aftermarket stereo market met their nexus. Luckily, I was in the car audio business at the time.
It was the perfect combination of young buyers driving 10-15 year old used cars and having enough cash in their pockets to upgrade from a “knobber” AM/FM to a CD player, or perhaps a tape deck that could control a 6-disc changer in the trunk. 6x9s in the package shelf provided decent thump, though they took some metal hacking to install.
We sold so many subwoofer boxes for these cars that we made them in advance; a series of templates hung next to the table saw and the stack of 3/4″ MDF.
I became extremely proficient in “manufacturing” plates to replace the original knobber bezels in the lower dash. If the bezel was in good shape, I could simply Dremel out a DIN-sized hole and install the stereo—but more often than not, one or more of the four corners of the bezel would be broken off due to carelessness or attempted theft. Therefore, I would cut an ABS plate to size (had a template for that, too), drill the screw holes, grind out the DIN-sized rectangle and the HVAC controls, drill a hole for the cigarette lighter, and voila, a semi-attractive homebuilt bezel was made.
I see these cars so rarely now, which is disconcerting considering how incredibly thick on the ground they were well into the 90s.
I spent many hours riding in my friend’s ’78 dark blue over medium blue metallic coupe, and it was a great car. Not quick, that’s for sure, the 3.8 wasn’t nearly as good as it would be later on, but it went about 375K before the timing chain jumped a tooth. At 250k, the trans went the first time, and he replaced the floor boards as the salt had eaten them up pretty badly. It hit a pothole and was totalled the first time right after the motor had a new timing chain, heads, intake manifold (crack found on the bottom when it was taken off for the head change). Why he did all that instead of putting a short block in it, well, I don’t know, but it went on, and on and on. Finally, with the oil light staying on at anything under 2000 rpm, it was time for it to go. He put it out in front of his business, with a “$500 or best offer” sign in it, and sold it for $500 two days later, telling the kid buying it what it needed to have done to it. The kid just drove it with the oil light on for over 4 months before it spun a rod bearing. Then he wanted his money back. He just got laughed at. It had over 500k miles on it when he sold it to the dopey kid.
each year I bought the daily mail world cars magazine/book which tied in with the London Motor Show. I remember a cutlass coupe taking pride of place in my diminutive brain one year in the late 70s. Crazy to think you cant buy one any longer.
I never liked the boxy, oddly proportioned ’78-87 Cutlass, or any other G body of that downsized era. It was downhill for a long, long, time style wise for GM, until they finally got their act together within the last couple of years of actually building good looking automobiles once again.
My first car was a 1980 Cutlass Supreme Brougham 2 tone gold with factory t-tops. Looks just like yours except mine had t-tops. Man I wish I can find one like that and buy it.