At the time of this writing, the annual benefits enrollment period at work had just ended. I’m always initially a bit shocked at how much comes out of my check each pay period, but this feeling is usually temporary, considering the blessing of having health benefits at all. I say this in a general sense. A recent visit to a neighborhood medical treatment center drove home the point of how much money this part of my total compensation package saves me. A small bottle of treatment solution for a nail infection would have set me back literally eighteen hundred dollars without insurance. One thousand eight hundred.
I don’t want to know how much my dental benefits are saving me. I have always thought of myself as having better-than-average dental hygiene practices. I am that guy who flosses his teeth in the men’s room at the office immediately after eating lunch. When I had first started this practice years ago, I was still somewhat self-conscious about it. At this stage of my life, however, I simply do not care what other people think about this. The percussive sounds of the floss snapping out of the spaces between my teeth as they echo against the hard, shiny, porcelain tile walls of the bathroom are music to my ears. These are the sounds of healthy self-care and preventative maintenance. Or so I had thought.
During my most recent visit to the dentist at the end of this past summer for the second of two biannual cleanings, it was discovered that I had an embarrassing number of new cavities. I won’t tell you how many (so don’t ask in the comments), but I will say that when I asked my dentist, “How many? Like, two?”, she reflexively chuckled at me. Dang, Joe, I had thought to myself. What had gone sideways?
My nights of occasionally coming home late (or early the next morning) on weekends and passing out have been far behind me for years now. I believe that I now have this dental situation under control with the purchase and implementation of a water flosser. Honestly, I should have bought one years ago. This did not, however, lessen the sting of seeing how much I owed my long-time dentist’s office for my portion of the cost of these fillings, prep work, and treatments that was not covered by my insurance. It was an early Merry Christmas to me. In August.
Still, I remain thankful that, at least this year, I will not need to resort to dentures or implants, which I hope to never need. As a kid, I had thought it was supremely cool when my grandma would take out her dentures to clean them. I had honestly believed, at first anyway, that she was performing some sort of magic trick with her real teeth. I had hoped at the time to grow up and mature into removable teeth like Grandma’s, like that’s something our bodies just did. That was an actual childhood goal of mine. It’s to my grandmother’s credit that those false teeth looked natural, and also that she took good care of them, Polident and everything. I like my teeth and my smile, and I’ve pledged to myself to do better.
When I had first spotted this ’78 Cutlass Supreme on a warm Saturday this past August, I could see from a distance as it approached that its smile… er, grille was not stock. Olds had incorporated the classic, wrap-over “waterfall” grille of the outgoing, enormously popular ’77 Colonnade-platform model into the front fascia of the downsized ’78. Even from half a block away, I could see that such a grille was not present on this blue beauty.
From my own recollection from years of having read others’ comments and observations, it seems clear that most prefer the ’77 Cutlass Supreme to the ’78. I’m not talking about the ’78 Cutlass Salon fastback, either, but the medium-priced personal luxury notchback coupe with properly formal styling. I’ll probably always prefer the 1978 – ’80 models to the Colonnades only because they were the first new Cutlass Supremes I remember noticing as a young kid, and thus they seem like the “default” to me. The Colonnades are beautiful Cutlasses, but I’m more drawn to the more compact dimensions and detailing of the smaller ones that followed. Like I said, I know I’m in the minority in this.
I had wondered if the custom grille up front was a creative solution to replacing a broken front fascia (missing teeth), or simply an aftermarket embellishment. The reasons I had pondered this were: a.) this car was still rolling on those beautiful, color-matched Oldsmobile Super Stock III wheels; and b.) there was no temporary license tag out back that would have indicated this was a new purchase. Either way, I think this custom grille looks okay, even if I’d prefer a stock one. The car clearly showed pride of ownership, so that’s all I really care about. It brightened my day to see it rolling westward on Howard Street that day.
Lots of buyers in ’78 liked these Cutlasses at least as much as I do, with almost 400,000 sold in this body style, alone, of which about 241,000 (60%) were non-Brougham Cutlass Supremes. This formal, two-door notchback comprised over three-fourths of total Cutlass production that year, with the Cutlass Cruiser wagon being the next most-popular body style, with 44,600 sold. With a combined total of 83,400 Cutlass Salon fastbacks produced, including both two-and four-door models in both base and Brougham trim levels, it’s clear how hugely unpopular those were with Olds buyers at the time. The corresponding, combined sales tally for the notchback coupe versions of the ’78 Cutlass Supreme, Supreme Brougham, and Calais (which had taken over for the previous year’s Salon) represented only a slight dip of about 24,300 units from the prior year, a decrease of just under 6%. Not bad at all.
Along with eyes, a smile is often one of the first things I’ll notice on a person’s face. I’ll often feel for those with compromised dental situations and with no viably economical way to fix it. At the same time, I view being the recipient of a smile, any kind of a genuine smile from anyone, as a gift, no matter what it looks like. If the custom grille on this Cutlass is a creative solution following an unfortunate run-in with another vehicle or object, I applaud the artistry, creativity, and execution that went into it. Whatever is happening with your own teeth, keep smiling, and keep taking care of what you’ve got.
Rogers Park, Chicago, Illinois.
Saturday, August 23, 2025.
The 1978 Oldsmobile Cutlass brochure pages were sourced from www.oldcarbrochures.org.
@Joe: Like you, I am fortunate to have dental health insurance. I also still have 27 of my original 32 teeth; (4 wisdom removed, one fractured in an accident) however, as we age maintenance is hell! Keep doing regular flossing in addition to the water flosser, as upon my last visit, I was advised that my periodontal issues were not being sufficiently addressed via the water flosser. Creative solutions for replacing components on a vintage car are the only path when replacements are made of unobtanium, and used ones may be in the same condition. The ones on this car definitely stand out (in a good way). A good smile is like a ray of sunshine through the clouds, and I try to utilize mine as often as possible! 🙂
“…As we age, maintenance is hell.”
It definitely gets more challenging. think pretty often (probably more than I should) about how blessed / fortunate I am to be in the shape I’m in at my age. I was joking with my nephew just this past weekend about how I may need him to help me change my Depends one day.
I look at my physical body like a classic daily driver that I’m trying to keep on the road and in as great a shape as possible.
Many of us have heard the phrase “Garbage in, garbage out.”. I see taking care of my teeth, joints, dietary things, etc. as using good oil and fuel and regular maintenance.
It’s also amazing how contagious that giving a random smile can be.
I grew up without fluoridated water — too many cavities to count, one root canal, and seven crowns. Like how you moved from smiles to front grilles and back to smiles. Keep smiling!
Oh, believe me – I’ve got some root canals under my belt as well, starting just before I had entered my thirties. That was embarrassing. LOL And yes to the keeping smiling!
Note the silvery speedometer in the brochure slot – these were not backlit and apparently were really hard to read especially at night; a few months into the model year they were replaced with black gauges.
I’m a big fan of GUM Comfort Flex Soft Picks, which easily and comfortably go places I have difficulty threading floss into. My teeth have never been good though, hope my dental implants ($$$$) hold up, they’ve been great so far.
The silvery speedometer background issue does seem like it would have been an issue. But also seems like the kind of challenge that might have been apparent only post-production. I’m glad they figured it out.
I tried using those individual flossers while on vacation this past summer and I just couldn’t quite get the motor movements down to where it would have been as effective for me as regular floss. But I did give it the old college try.
The grill works, but does have that false teeth vibe about it. But it’s obvious the owner is making the best of it, so credit to him.
So said the guy who got two fillings last week. My problem is from brushing too hard it seems, as I have gum erosion and the fillings are to help protect the un-enameled exposed roots on the backsides of my teeth. Of course, both were getting soft spots there also. There was no mention of my use of sugary drinks (primarily because since a surgery in 2020 water tastes like licking sandpaper).
You are braver than I about flossing in the men’s room. Not that I would care about what others are thinking, but the audio and aromas they are providing (with amazing acoustics) rather ruins the mood for being in there (and breathing) any more than necessary. There is a reason I utilize a little known bathroom elsewhere in the building.
I remember when these were new and seemingly all over the place. Like the Colonnade predecessor they have all seemingly evaporated. False teeth or not, this was a good catch.
I had to laugh at Joe’s comment about flossing in the men’s room. I used to completely avoid that practice, but do it occasionally now, like before a presentation, etc. But inevitably when I do that, someone else walks in (like even when it’s 7:00 p.m. and I think hardly anyone’s in the building).
I still don’t like doing it, but like Joe wrote, at this stage of my life, I simply don’t care what other people think. One of the benefits of getting older!
Eric, exactly. It comes with being part of our age cohort – most of whom are said not to give a care about much to begin with. Even if we sort of care. I’m going to brush, floss, and (if I feel like it) make eye contact as if to ask, “So, what?”
Bathroom privacy in the workplace is underrated. There’s a separate, individual bathroom on our work floor that I used for a while before I considered that there might actually, one day, be a differently-abled person who needs that designated bathroom. And then I would be like George Costanza parking the parents’ Mercury Monarch in the handicapped space at the mall. So I stopped.
I also had an issue with both brushing too hard and using bristles that were too stiff. Such a delicate balancing act, this business of taking care of our fifty-plus bodies is. No joke.
I don’t consider using a “handicapped” toilet or stall by a ‘normal’ person to be in any way comparable to parking in a handicapped parking spot (like George Costanza did), especially if the restroom is busy at the time. Just being challenged should not entitle you to never having to wait your turn in life.
It’s like when I am sitting in a traffic jam for 15 minutes, and then someone wanting to pull out of a parking lot or side street thinks that they shouldn’t have to wait more than seconds for someone to let them in. No, you can wait a little, too.
I get the attempt. Don’t love the execution.
I don’t like the “wrap over” grille from factory. This makes it look worse. For one, why have the ‘step up” at bottom? would look better straight across. And the “thin sheetmetal look gives it a dollar store vibe, imo. needs more.. “3D- Ness” to pull it off.
I’m sure others share your opinion. Me, I think it looks alright.
I’m on your side with this — definitely prefer the 1978-80 Cutlass Supremes to the Colonnade Cutlass Supremes. The 76-77 models were smoothed out and plainer-looking than the 73-75 models, and just so popular I almost got tired of seeking them. Also prefer the interiors and instrument panels of the downsized models to those of the Colonnade years (I’m probably in the minority on that, I know).
Beautiful car in a gorgeous color. But I would definitely search for an original grille.
Jeff, my favorite of those three model years is probably the ’79. I did like the “Olds Rocket” taillamp bezels on the ’78, but I like the enlarged lenses on the ’79. I also prefer the two-headlight look of the ’78 and ’79 to the quad-light look of the ’80.
Nice to see this one still going strong all these years later .
Taste is always a very subjective thing, I can see a lot of work effort went into that replacement grille, not to my taste but as long as the owner is happy who else cares ? .
In general the average American will lways buy the biggest vehicle they can, I like nothing more than absolutely necessary and wonder if President Trump’s relaxing of restrictions on KEI Cars will move me to buy one .
Teeth is a big bugaboo with my, like so many children I resisted proper daily brushing for many years, in my 30’s it all began catching up with me, I have barely enough teeth left to eat .
Implants are a mixed bag, I got lucky and the Dentist who installed one told me my upper bone wasn’t heavy (? thick ?) enough to support upper implants, the lower one failed after four or five years .
Dentures suck, you can’t really chew well with them,I had an upper plate some decades back and food stuck to it like glue, also a non solution for me .
-Nate
…As the owner is happy who else cares ? . Bullseye. 🎯
I do remember my grandmother telling me about certain foods she could no longer chew or enjoy due to her dentures, and that much also stuck with me. When I had all my metal fillings replaced with softer tooth-colored ones, I had to relearn to chew certain things. For one example, I couldn’t just crunch a mouth full of peanuts the way I used to.
I remember certain things like this when it’s late and I don’t necessarily feel like spending all the time I should to brush, floss and rinse at the end of the day. Gotta do it.
“Nice to see this one still going strong all these years later.”
This is exactly what I thought when I saw this pic. And it looks like there’s no rust at all.
I was also thinking how plain and dull the standard Supreme brochure pic looks compared to the ’76/’77 Supremes.
I agree that the dramatically lit ’76 brochure photo is more flattering. Looking again at the ’78 picture of the standard Supreme, I think the picture chosen was probably the best one for what was the assignment: photograph the car in front of a fancy, English Tudor-style building with a couple behind it. The angle of the ’76 is also a better angle on any vehicle, IMO.
Good catch, Joe (you must be blazingly fast with your phone camera). I guess I prefer the ’76-’77s since they were such a formative part of my college years and wholeheartedly (with the Monte Carlo and Thunderbird) defined that era of Brougham. I didn’t mind the ’78 downsize and thought GM did a great job…it just seemed like a different car (and certainly better than the shrunken ’78 Monte and brutal ’80 TBird). Nearly 50 years later I’m still scratching my head over the ’78 Cutlass Salon…
Thanks, Dave. These pictures were actually taken with my actual Canon camera and not with my cell phone, but I’ve got the motor memory down in terms of quickly unshouldering the strap, getting the lens cap off, and clicking away.
I agree that GM did an admirable job with the ’78 downsizing. I look at the styling of 1980 Chrysler Cordoba and Dodge Mirada, though, and for me, those cars are the gold standard for beautifully executed downsizing.
The two-door Cutlass Salon, with its frameless door glass, has grown on me. I have seen nice-looking examples of these. There are a lot more cars on the street today with a similar fastback profile, so I wonder if this might be why my view of them has softened over the years to something approximating genuine appreciation.
The driver appears to not be using his seat belt, so he might also need some dental work, if he happens to have another fender bender. But it fits the 70’s style of driving with the 55 mph speed limit and all.
Oops! I hope it’s just the angle of my picture and/or that the driver normally wears a seatbelt.
I’d just bet, fwiw, that grille is an aftermarket style choice and not a replacement for a broken original grille. His car is in too nice a condition for him to go with something that wasn’t a specific choice. And I doubt that it can be all that hard to find an original in good shape if that’s what he wanted or needed.
Like you, I spent early childhood just assuming that people of a certain age simply acquired false teeth. This was due to the fact that my grandmother was the only older person I knew, and I never knew her to have teeth other than those in a plastic box that required fetching…as in “Jeffrey! Fetch me my teeth!”. And I’d then go to find them on a bedside table somewhere and deliver them to her. She must have lost her natural teeth at some point in her 50s.
I later discovered that much of one’s ability to keep their own teeth – assuming relatively routine care and yes, fluoridated water as a child helps – is genetic and relates to the thickness of your enamel. It’s kind of luck of the draw. I happen to have very thick enamel and have never had a cavity. I know many people who perform much more rigorous dental care than I do and they have a mouthful of them.
Jeff, I like your grandmother’s choice of the verb “fetch” in reference to getting her teeth. Come to think of it, if my grandma had entrusted me to bring her teeth to her, she might also have used the word fetch.
In response to the idea about the grille being a deliberate choice, and as I work my way through the comments on my commute home, I’m glad to see Eric703’s comment below! It seems you were right, friend.
Joe, it always shocks me when I hear about American medical costs. I could tell stories – but doubtless you’ve heard what it’s like elsewhere. Last month I changed dentists – three visits, X-rays, three fillings, and about $500 out of pocket. I still have all my own teeth, though they’re permanently stained (from tetracycline as a kid), and way out of alignment (did they even have orthodontists in the sixties?) – but they’re mine.
I like the grille on this Cutlass. At first I though it looked like some kind of proprietary expanded metal sheet bent to fit, but then I noticed the unusual ‘step’ up along the bottom. It’s an interesting alternative to a broken plastic grille or no grille, and goes well with the lack of side/sill/wheel well trim, and the pastel colour, but not what I would have chosen. Kind of a mild custom look.
Peter, good for us that we basically have all our own teeth in whatever shape they’re in. I had one substitute dentist who had once suggested invisible aligners for my bottom row (a little crowding), but I passed. They’re straight enough, and I like them as-is.
And I agree about the grille. The step-up at the bottom edge isn’t necessarily the resolution I would have designed, but as you’ve said, it does lend a mild custom look, and I kind of like it for that reason.
Looks like this grille is made by a Las Vegas company called Tiarra – here’s a photo and link to a company that sells them.
The price? According to this listing, it’s $1,799. At first I assumed that was a fluke (kind of like healthcare pricing, where the quoted prices are mythical), but there’s quite a few used Tiarra grilles listed on eBay for over $1,000.
Give that price, I’m betting this isn’t a creative solution to replacing a broken fascia!
https://www.wbr-american-autoparts.com/product/tiarra-luxury-grilles-1978-1979-oldsmobile-cutlass-supreme-442/3814
eBay listing showing a used Tiarra grille for a ’78 Cutlass seemingly identical to the one on the featured car here for $1,367:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/205240060622
Eric, thank you so much for doing this bit of research! See? Now I feel like a few more mouse-clicks on my end, and I wouldn’t have had an essay. LOL But I did write this from my airplane seat on a recent trip to Vegas, so I still feel pretty good about it.
This was a BIG year for me, dental costs wise. And a $1500 max does not go far when you need to take down a bridge and replace your front grille. The two front teeth (8 & 9) got implants, and crowns went on the anchor supports (Nos. 7 & 10) on either side. This all stems from an accident I had with a baseball when I was 12, so it has been a long road with these two front teeth. Suffice it to say that the total out of pocket for me would have bought me a really nice used car!
But enough of that… As to front grilles, I do prefer the original, but this doesn’t look bad, and works with the blue color here.
And I’m with you Joe on preferring the 1978 – 1981 PLC(s) over their Colonnade predecessors. My preferred choice in these years would be the Grand Prix, followed by the Regal, but I’m cool with the Cutlas and even the Monte.
Back to the Implants for a bit… after having a bridge for 13 years across 7 to 10 (the top front 4 of the grille), I can honestly say that this dental work was SO worth it… It feels like I’m back to my original equipment! I’m just too young (even at 65) for freakin’ dentures! I enjoy tasting food with my palate too much! LOL.
Oh, wow. Rick, I’d have to say that thinking about the state of my dental things makes me glad that I wasn’t prone to getting into fistfights when I was a kid. The teeth, man! The teeth!
I’m always happy when I see commercials where people have been able to restore a certain amount of functionality after dental procedures that are effective and somewhat affordable. Eating is one of life’s pleasures, even if we all have to do it.
I stayed out of fights… in the case of the baseball impact, I just didn’t get the glove up in time.
But hey, No. 9 made it to age 52 (albeit dead) and No. 8 made it to 64, but was a bridge support along with 7 & 10, so the whole thing had to come down.
But I’m back to a full set of 32 teeth again (even my wisdom teeth!), even though Nos. 18 & 19 are also crowned.
Nothing remains perfect forever!
I would have never guessed that the grille in the featured Cutlass was a very expensive aftermarket part. From your photos Joseph, it resembles the metal guard in the back storm door of the house in which I grew up.
I suppose it’s one way to return to a metal grille, as all cars had back in the day (pre-1970s that is). Speaking thereof, I wonder when the last car (leaving out trucks, vans, and SUVs for the sake of argument) was available with a stock metal grille instead of the now-ubiquitous plastic?
That’s a great question. A lot of plasti-chrome just sort of sneaked into the picture without me even noticing it. I only started paying attention to grilles not being actual metal when I noticed ad copy for, say, older Chryslers (IIRC) where it was touted that they had a “die cast grille”. (I’ve been watching a lot of vintage dealer promo films lately.) So yes, I also wonder when the last stock metal grille was on a new, mainstream vehicle.
Count me in the minority that prefers these over their predecessors. The design is just that much more trim, as someone pointed out, no larger than needed. I’ve always liked this GM style though as first seen on the Seville. Perhaps growing up with the Cruiser wagon version of this car was a big influence on my tastes though.
Thankful I don’t have dental issues at all though, despite doing just the minimum for care.
Not only were these more sensibly sized, but they lost little if any usable interior space, if I recall correctly. I’m probably also tainted by the memory of seeing so many Colonnade Cutlasses missing their rear bumpers by the ’80s. Not a good look.
Joe, as you can see from the comments, you are far from alone in preferring this iteration of the Cutlass to the somewhat oversized Colonnades. They (and the Buick and Pontiac variations) were very popular here in SoCal. So many of my friends had them, one had a new 78 and 79 Cutlass, the latter a gorgeous top of the line coupe in black and silver with a very nice black cloth bucket seat and console interior. They continued to sell well into the 80s and many other colleagues and friends bought them. Stylish, efficient size, comfortable interiors and ride, decent quality. Can’t say that I’m crazy about the aftermarket grille but it’s great to see the car still on the road.
What we spend on medical care in this country is amazing. I had a bone graft and dental implant (not covered by my dental insurance) that ran close to five figures. Fortunately it was done during COVID when we could not spend funds on travel or outside entertainment. The downside was being the sole patient in a clinic that looked like a hazmat zone, including the endodontist in her big safety suit. Happy to say I’m still around and the implant is too.
I can’t even imagine what that must have been like to have a dental procedure during the onset of COVID quarantine. I remember it being a big deal for me when I had my first cleaning when we had to basically mask-up immediately before and after getting just a routine cleaning. “Am I going to catch COVID and die from getting my teeth cleaned?” was a legit question running through my mind at the time.
This generation of downsized Cutlass is my favorite from the four GM divisions – followed probably by the Grand Prix, with the MC and the Regal being a draw.