Where do have all the thousands of CCs I’ve shot over the years ended up? It’s a question that haunts me at three o’clock in the morning. Undoubtedly the majority have been recycled into washing machines or rebar, but surely some have survived. A drive in the country this past summer revealed where one particular CC ended up. And not just any old CC; this Olds Cutlass Aeroback lived just a block from my house for decades before it was put up for sale back in 2016.
Although it still exists, I wouldn’t exactly consider its future rosy.
I first shot this neighborhood fixture in 2011, to use in the Aeroback chapter of the CC Complete Cutlass Chronicles (CCCCC Part 9).
In 2015 it was still being used by the two elderly women who owned it to haul this old utility wagon sporting Studebaker wheel covers.
In 2016, it sported a modest little For Sale sign on its dash, and I wrote it up in case anyone was interested. Turns out you all were not exactly ready to save this historically important car, even if it was a historical low point, given the very decided apathy the buyers when it was new.
It took over a year (or two?) before someone apparently took it off their hands. I suspect they were a bit unrealistic about what they wanted for it. But one day it was gone.
I was hoping it would go to someone who was really into these, and I looked for it at Eugene’s Annual Malaise Era Car Shows this pas two years, but no luck. So here it is, sitting in a weedy patch of a land in front of a rural residence, along with a few other gems. That’s not exactly a happy ending.
But it’s still very much resurrectable; no real body rust, just the usual mildew, lichens and mold on the outside.
Owning a four door sedan with non-opening rear windows should be worth the effort to get this back in shape.
I suspect the current owner would be willing to part with it; if you’re interested, I can give you its location.
Sad but who the hell wants a four door with fixed rear windows ?! .
I got stuck in the back seat of a Malibu like this once, of course in the middle of Summer .
-Nate
I remember the fixed window got a lot of bad press–deservedly so.
But, was it that much different that being in the back seat of a 2-door with a fixed window?
The two-door Colonnade cars had fixed rear side windows, so this wasn’t a new “feature” if you had previously owned one of those cars. Making the rear side windows of the four-door sedans and wagons stationary was another matter. In retrospect, that was the bridge too far.
This car has a lot more glass than a typical two door with fixed side windows. It might make a difference in the sun.
I marvel at the lack of sheet metal rust on the lower doors or behind the wheels, wow! This is a GM car from 1978 after all.
It still has the original wheel covers. The interior is a little bleached, but really not bad for an ordinary car that was probably never doted on.
I don’t know how long it sat, but if it has the optional 260 V8, these engines were tough as anvils (and not much quicker, with all of 110hp)
In 1978, the “new” GM mid-sized cars were Consumer Reports top pick* (* with the caveat for new–first year reliability, but based on past GM mid-size should be good), if that helps.
It’s too far away for me, but I hope some one saves it.
The “seemingly”,not bad condition amazes me as well. Even the seats appear to be cloth. See no tears, degradation.
Did a road trip from “Pgh” to “Knoxville TN, worlds fair” in one.
(Summer of “82” I believe.
I would love to but I’m in the north east. I guess I’m the oddball, I love this version of the A body.
Can’t say that these were my favorite, or even 7th or 8th favorite from GM from those days! haha. Never really liked them. However, I did think the Olds version seemed to look the best and in white too. Now after all these years, it would be great to see a well preserved or restored one in the flesh.
About those fixed rear windows: I agree with TomL above when they say about the rear windows in the coupe being fixed. I recall riding in my friends parents Pontiac Bonneville on this same chassis but with the regular trunk. It also had no roll down windows in back but it had the power little vent windows. We thought that was super cool.
Though these weren’t nearly as popular as their notchback sedan siblings back in the day, this car looks pretty cool through modern eyes. Shame it will probably sit there and rot to nothing.
S.O.S! Save our Salon!
I drove a similar car for several years, 260v-8 and automatic. Funny thing is it would get 20MPG no matter what. In town, or on the highway at 70-80 MPH. Good handling, comfortable, with RWD all very serviceable.
On one hand it bums me out seeing a car whose siblings were all mostly scrapped 30 years ago and today finding itself in a long belated state of decay, which will happen rapidly off pavement, but then again it’s not a car that has any real appeal to me. The aeroback 442 variant otoh…
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-american/curbside-classic-1978-oldsmobile-cutlass-4-4-2-esmerelda-had-more-sympathy-for-quasimodo-than-did-the-general/
There’s something so bad it’s good about these
@XR7Matt, just for you, it looks like Paul N got BAT to list a fastback 78 Cutlass 442, you get bucket seats, a tach, and Hurst Shifter. You shouldn’t get too many speeding tickets with the 260 2bbl V8
Check it out
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1978-oldsmobile-cutlass-7/
Wasn’t this car available with a 5 speed ?
Yes, but the take rate was extremely low, most likely less than 1%.
Good thing too…those boxes were crap….ask me how I know.
They were probably the same 5-speed GM introduced on the Vega platform (Vega/Monza/Sunbird/Startfire/Skyhawk), which had the Vega aluminum engine or the boat anchor-like 2.5 liter “Iron Duke”.
So that 5-speed wound up in those cars with the Buick 231 V6, and the Chevy 305.
Also, for whatever reason, Olds used it in mid-size cars with the 260-V8. And not just the downsized 1978–you could get a Collonade with a 5-spd 260V8.
Over 4000 pounds of car using the same trans as a 2600-2800lb Vega…
I recall Olds offered the 5-speed with the 4.3L 6 cylinder diesel too.
This is the twin to the car that I sometimes carpooled in to Junior High School in Los Angeles when it rained (i.e. not often); it belonged to my friend Tim’s parents, they lived around the corner from us, this was in the early-mid ’80s. The back seat feeling roomy is my only real recollection as well as being astounded that it wasn’t actually a hatchback. Well, that and remembering that I could not recall ever seeing another of the same bodystyle. I guess that’s three memories after all. I believe it was even the same color as this one. It may be the same one!
They purchased it (used) to replace a red AMC Hornet Sportabout (red with black stripe), which I thought was a hideous car, yet they kind of liked, at least enough to not actually replace it in the end, the Hornet just became the third car (they also had a van).
The Cutlass went away after a few years and was replaced by….a Chevy Citation! I don’t recall ever riding in it.
The Citation didn’t last long term. It was replaced by a…Chevy Nova – but this time it was a NEW Nova, the NUMMI Corolla clone, also red like the Hornet. This one stayed with them as long as I can remember.
Loyal domestic car buyers to the core, I wonder if they actually realized the truth about the Nova.
Do they want to sell the car I’m very interested
The 1978 ‘aeroback’ GM A-body doesn’t get much love, and with good reason. I wouldn’t describe it as a Deadly Sin, but it didn’t help The General’s cause much.
With that said, while I’d definitely skip the two-door, I might consider the Olds/Buick sedan version of one of these over the conventional Chevy or Pontiac. If the feature car didn’t have any glaring issues, Ii’s just enough of an interesting curiosity and could probably be had for a song, then used as a daily-driver, at least for a while until something major did finally let go. At that point, well, off to the boneyard.
Maybe that’s exactly what happened and why it’s sitting in a field now.
I’ve been reading this website quite a long while, as I’ve watched the progress of this car across its pages. Sad to see it languishing after surviving this far.
Thank you, Paul for keeping tabs on it for us. One unlovely aeroback watched from all over the world.
These cars were forlorned when they were new! Take it from a former Oldsmobile dealer.
I’ll say one nice thing about the Aeroback sedans – it did give the rear seat a roomier, airier ambiance than the Malibu or LeMans from those years, and a *much* airier feeling than the stiff-roofed sedans that arrived for 1980 (Olds/Buick) or 1981 (Chevy/Pontiac) with their thick C pillars without windows.
What are scrap values like these days? Amazing the amount of abandoned cars you see that don’t get hauled away.
My grandparents had a Framingham-built ’78 Century version of this with the 3.8. It replaced a 72 or 73 Impala because they were worried about another gas crisis (which would hit a year later). Like many of the Greatest Generation at that time, as a loyal Chevy owner they moved up the Sloan ladder but down in size. He had this until 1995, adding a Lesabre in 87 and a subsequent one to replace this. In true GM evolution their last car was a CPO ’98 Seville and the first V8 since the Impala.