Photos from the CC Cohort by Hyperpack.
June 2025: A Cutlass Ciera? The once common, how uncommon has it become? Still a few around, huh? Gotta be a late model, a ’92-’96 I guess. Certainly a post ’89, with its more “aero” nose. And how about when these A-bodies seemed to be everywhere around us?
Mid 1982: Ok, did you see those new A-bodies from GM? Reasonably modern, and with little evidence of that overplayed Brougham trend. Someone’s finally leaving the ’70s behind! That they all look alike, the Ciera-Celebrity-Century-6000 siblings? I guess that’s GM of the ’80s for you. But hey, they do look up to date and cleanly styled, in a 1980s wholesome kind of way.
Mid 1986: Well, that Brougham trend just doesn’t die, does it? And who buys these cars? Or better said, who doesn’t? They’re everywhere! But mention the Olds name (or Buick Century) to a high school mate, and they shudder as if someone had summoned evil spirits.
Mid 1989: Ok, a new modern nose. And if chosen, a sleeker –though conservative– coupe body (since ’86), with more “euro” cladding. But isn’t this car getting long in the tooth?
Early 1990s: Who buys this stuff? Fleets? (Yes) Old ladies? (Yes) Brand loyalists? (Perhaps) Talk about a brand getting old (small ‘o’), quickly.
At least the Brougham gingerbread is gone by now. It’s now –once again– a modern looking thing, in a 1985 kind of way.
Some Olds ginger had to remain in place, though. And that medallion emblem feels so… 1976. But well, Olds habits are hard to let go.
The international flag emblem. Talk about 1980s memories; in the 1990s. Just too soon to feel nostalgic. And for how long do they plan to churn these out?
June 2025: Gosh, what a survivor! Someone must have taken good care of this orphan for all these years. And this one, apparently still providing regular service? Almost thirty years after the last one left the assembly line. Respect. Begrudgingly, but respect all the same, old pal. Glad to see you are still around.
Related CC reading:
Curbside Classic: 1987 Cutlass Ciera – The Triumph Of TruCoat
Curbside Musings: 1994 Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera SL – Reluctant Admiration
Curbside Classic: 1985 Oldsmobile Cutlass Cruiser – Jerry Lundegaard’s Folly
1994 Oldsmobile Cutlass Cruiser S – The Station Wagon’s Last Gasp
Curbside Classic: 1994 Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera Brougham Convertible – A-Body Beauty
I seem to remember that Oldsmobile got into a minor debacle when the Cutlass international flag on the front quarter appeared WITHOUT the Canadian flag.
I think it was hastily reworked on later models.
I cannot find info on this.
Can anyone conform?
I went looking but found nothing other than the fact that a certain model of the Cutlass was not offered in Canada. On eBay I could see all kinds of these emblems in NOS condition dating back to first introduction and they all have Canada second.
I’ve always been baffled by all those European flags. The Oldsmobile marque was fundamentally unknown in Europe, and I’m certain the car was never sold in this side of the pond. Having driven a few rentals back in the early 90s, it felt nothing like any car I’d owned or driven in Europe.
Nice find, I always appreciated the later versions of these cars. I’ll take an International Series, with a five speed if possible. Incidentally , my 35 year old Cavalier is still bringing home the bacon – barely. In fact I just finished replacing a CV boot . Quite a frustrating job.
This was my first car, a MY 1991 in the late 90s. It fully explains my current preference for Toyota and Honda products now; there was no chasm so wide in the automotive world as that between a 1992 Cutlass Ciera and a 1992 Camry.
I can still feel the janky, loose imprecision of those door handles and the sloppy clank of the door closing, and the awful little sharp-edged black window switches. Torquey engine, nice velour, that’s about it.
One of the best styled mainstream American cars, especially as a wagon but really most of them. Pontiac my least favorite though. It seems like they have mostly disappeared off the streets in my area in just the last few years; even as late as 2018-2020 there were several of them in my neighborhood, now all gone.
Missed a circa-2012 entry: “Who still drives these? It’s either someone’s last car or someone else’s first, often both in succession.”
As I recall, out of the four original FWD GM A bodies, the Ciera and the Buick Century lasted until 1996. The Chevy Celebrity was dropped after 1990, and the Pontiac 6000 after 1991. Sales for the last year of the Ciera were around 124,750 units, and the Century at 92,468, pretty respectable numbers for older models.
The Ciera in the post has to be a 1990 or 1991 because the taillights are solid. The hubcaps also indicate it was from that time. Not an 89 bc door mounted seatbelts. The 92+ have different taillights. Our family had a 1990 SL in silver with red interior. It was my dad’s company car. Lots of good memories with it. I remember early 1993 it hitting 100k miles due to the amount of driving he did for his sales job. Never had any problems with it.
I really need to step up and audition for a COAL – my rides from 1987-1990 were a 1984 Pontiac 6000 (2.5l Iron Puke) and a 1986 (2.8l carbureted V6). At the time what truly sucked is my friends owned an MR2, a CRX and a 300ZX. So generally I ended up as designated driver in what was doubtless the least charismatic ride. The 84 came into our possession flawed as it had lifter knock pedestrians across the intersection could hear – it fortunately waited to expire until handed down to my sister. The 86 has better provenance as it had been my Dad’s company car since new so we were well-aware of the care it was given – he was moved to a black 1988 6000.
I’d begun a 40 miles-each-way nearly-daily commute from Fort Worth to University of North Texas at Denton and a place these A-bodies excelled was eating up the highway miles. You’d think going from the 84 to the 86 wasn’t great shakes but there was going from the knocking 4 to the slightly stronger V6, a sand exterior with brown interior replaced by white with blue. The 1986 also had factory cassette, an extra transmission gear and a few more colors in the dash lights.
Might be a lingering after-effect from this portion of my automotive tenure that my least-sporty new-car purchase was a 2000 Prelude. The 84 was the worst piece of excrement I ever had the misfortune of owning. The 86 was at least competent but nothing in its ride, handling, looks or reliability made me think a new 6000 would ever be desirable beyond mere competence.
While my folks never had one, I grew up riding around in countless A bodies with friends and relatives. I was actually in the market for a Cavalier wagon in 1996, for the first car I was buying myself. But I ended up with a 1990 Pontiac 6000 SE wagon and loved it, it was loaded with the ground effects and AWD wheels. Since then I’ve had at least one A body in my driveway at all times. A 1989 Celebrity sedan, my main summer driver which I bought in 2003 and has currently 315k and runs perfect. A 1989 Cutlass Cruiser in near mint condition, bought in 2018 for the special times and I take it to shows. And as of couple months ago, a 1990 Celebrity Eurosport wagon, structurally in excellent condition but needs a lot of minor work. New project, like I need any more haha.
As with many cars, in my experience people seem to be faithful to these cars. In college with the 6000 wagon, my girlfriend had a Celebrity coupe and her mom had a Century sedan. Later on I dated someone who had a 6000, it caught fire on the highway and she immediately picked up a 90s Century. And my kid’s mom had a Celebrity when I met her in 2000. After she left in 2003 and her Celebrity rear axle rusted off the body, I bought it for parts and my current Celebrity has a bunch of those parts still on it, like a full swap to the bigger spindles, axles, and brakes.
Can anyone explain the flags badge?
And another thing. Why do they refer to the car in the ad with no definite article? “We present Cutlass Ciera”. And not “We present the Cutlass Ciera”.
I do like the Cutlass Ciera brougham two-door. That´s rather pleasing. Is it nicer than the Buick equivalent?
In Oregon, the A body Ciera and Century are still a common sight, and sometimes very well preserved
. Tauruses and Sables of that era are essentially non-existent. And the A bodies don’t look ridiculously ancient.