Ever know a car you can’t escape? That’s my relationship with the Colonnade Cutlass models from 1973-77. It’s not the only car I’ve ever known, but it’s the car I’ve known the longest.
My own saga in the “Cutlass Chronicles” starts way before I was born. I’ve talked about the 1964 Super 88 that switched my fathers side of the family from being Ford loyal to Only Oldsmobiles need apply. When my dad landed a job at Raychem in 1970, out went his Dodge Lancer GT and in a lightly used Cutlass “S” Coupe, Midnight Blue, White Vinyl Top, 350 Rocket and, well, can’t you tell my dad still rhapsodizes about this car through his emphysema hack 40 years later?
Anyways, in December 1975 the dream Cutlass was totaled out by State Farm Insurance after a crash at the intersection of Bay and University (again, can you tell I’ve been told this tale time and time again?). And at Paddleford Oldsmobile sat an unsold and well optioned Cutlass Salon.
It was one of 4 Cutlasses purchased by my dad and his 4 brothers in 1975. My Dad’s Salon, White on White with a full white Vinyl top, 8 track player, 350/Turbo-Hydramatic/A/C and most power accessories save drivers seat was apparently ordered by a local Cocaine Dealer as a “business card” but when that Cocaine Dealer went to jail, the “Cocaine Cutlass” as it was known was sitting unsold, an embarrassment to Paddleford Oldsmobile for those in the know.
So with a “Drug Lord might kill you for his car” discount, my father drove off with one of the last 1975 Oldsmobiles on the showroom floor. This Cutlass would see him through 23 years of life. 3 Jobs, one divorce, one child (me). It eventually became my first (running) car at age 16. Running a loose term given that the Turbo Hydra Matic (never really serviced) could not shift to 3rd, so 60-64mph in Super was all she wrote before it overheated. Nevermind the fact that the back brakes didn’t work.
When I finally parked it in 1999, it had seen 374, 232 miles over 24 years of neglect. Above it’s shown next to its replacement, a 1995 Eighty Eight Royale LS. It sat in the garage dormant for the next 12 years until last year, my Uncles and Aunts and myself tired of the clutter that verged on Hoarders level, gave it to a family down the street that has a number of these Colonnades. Maybe it became their latest Cutlass to cannibalize or create with.
When I see perfectly restored or cared for examples I have to fight my initial reaction of WHY? They were huge, beastly, inefficient dinosaurs when motoring was taking a strong slant towards efficient FWD hatchbacks. But then I remember how safe certain elements felt as a Child, as the beltline above my skull and the whine of the Turbo Hydramatic hustling 4,300lbs of body on frame Body By Fisher Goodness from Lansing that was like my big brother, in steel.
In that I recognize that I long for the some of the comforts, along with the amazing discomforts (215 inches long and that’s all the rear legroom I get?!?!?!) of a car that said “Home” for the majority of life. Like that Aunt you learned to love as an adult, so it goes with me and the Colonnade Cutlass.
Think about how malaise-y the malaise was here: GM spent the money to put out a full page magazine ad showing a Cutlass with blackwalls and dog dish hubcaps.
Much better than the practice now of saying starting at $XX,XXXX and then have the disclaimer that either says “some equipment shown optional” or “pictured wheels, blah, blah and blah available at additional cost”
It was during 1974-75 that we first became acquainted with the term “sticker shock.” The economy was in a severe recession, while inflation sent car prices soaring.
Oldsmobile may have been trying to minimize the effect of price increases. At any rate, since lots of those European and Japanese cars were going out the door with blackwall tires and plain wheel covers, maybe Olds felt that it might not hurt to show a Cutlass Supreme equipped this way…
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a colonnade Cutlass (even a base Cutlass or a Cutlass S) with dog dishes and blackwalls. I happen to love the hubcaps that matched the body color like on this example (A rare 4-door Salon).
I associate that matching-color-hubcap thing with Mercedes sedans, going way back to the late 1950’s.
+1! I love that feature.
Behold – base 1977 Cutlass S with base hub caps and black walls.
My stepmother had a 74 Cutlass Supreme coupe for several years, until it was replaced by an 81 or 82 Cutlass Ciera. Her 74 was a white car with a blue laudau vinyl roof and white vinyl interior with a blue dash and carpet. It also had the fancy styled wheels. It was pure 1970s, but was a very durable and trouble-free car. I do recall that as it got older the seams started to split in the white seats and the door pulls were constantly pulling out of the door panels.
My dad had a trailer hitch put on it, so the Cutlass worked pretty hard pulling boats and utility trailers. This was also the car that I used to tow a 63 Sedan DeVille about 20 miles to a resting place as a parts car. The most nerve-wracking drive of my life.
The only think I really liked about these cars was that unmistakable sound of the Oldsmobile V8. For some reason, Olds seemed to give its cars more open mufflers than the other divisions got, and you could always hear an Olds take off from a traffic light. I will also say that the 4 bbl Olds 350 in the Cutlass was significantly stronger than the 2 bbl Pontiac 350 in my mom’s 74 LeMans. Maybe just my personal history with them, but I thought the 74 was the best looking of all the colonade Cutlasses.
I can only garner any kind of lust for the initial 1973 Cutlass Supremes, since the lack of a 5mph bumper on the back makes it look more integrated and cohesive. When you start talking half vinyl tops and the 1974+ models, that’s when I say “wake me up when you start talking 1986 Cutlass Cieras with the 3.8L V6”
I have to say, the basic car itself was astonishingly durable. Although it went through one transmission, the only thing major that ever happened to the engine was when it snapped the timing chain in 1992. It was far from in top shape at the end, but it reliably turned over at each turn of the key. And it didn’t really smoke or anything horrible.
But just about everything else, from the warped dashboard that turned into sticky candy which I repeatedly would stick my hand on, then cry that the car was trying to eat me, to the crumbling opera door lights, the rattling windows (which where coupe roofline specific, we found out the hard way trying to replace the drivers door glass after it shattered in 1993), the poor radio reception from the imbedded antennae in the windshield, the clock that never worked. Those HUGE doors I repeatedly slammed my small fingers in. If there was any type of car door that should be considered a hazard for small hands…
Admittedly these are things I remember not working or broken when the car was 8 or 9 years old. But til about 1987 it lived a babied life of a daily commute of less than 4 miles round trip. It imbued me with the mindset that you can abuse a GM car for the longest period of time before it will give up on you neglecting it, which lead me to buy a H-Body Eighty Eight in my early 20s. And that reasoning reasonably proved true.
As some people have been known to say, “GM cars run bad longer than most cars run at all.”
When this was introduced the tide was not yet turning to FWD, far from it and GM was the leader in FWD sales in the US at that time. Even as it ended it’s run FWD was far from being widely accepted, not even Toyota had introduced one in the US yet, that was still 3 model years away.
Put a Volkswagen Rabbit next to modern car. Put a Colonnade Cutlass next to a Modern car. Which one was ultimately more influential (even on GM’s own development of FWD compact cars)?
Yes but the Rabbit did not come to the US until the 75 model year and was just a small ripple at the time the tide did not turn until Car makers joined the fray en-mass after the colonnades had left the building.
General Motors did switch the majority of its car to FWD starting in 1979 and going through 1986. Development of the FWD X cars started in earnest in the Spring of 1974. Although it didn’t look like it from the outside, these overweight beasts were things of the past. Also, I don’t think I mentioned sales in the sentence above.
And I wouldn’t consider the Golf a “small ripple…” And the Honda Accord appeared during the Colonnade lifespan. The Colonnades emphasized “Lower, longer, Wider (Heavier, thirstier)” in what was supposed to be an “intemediate” package, while in weight and length they were about the same size as the Super Eighty Eight my uncle bought in December, 1963. During an energy crisis.
They may have not been the only cases of this happening, but GM still controlled half of the market. In so many ways they didn’t have to be this huge and thirsty and shoddily built, considering how relatively well built and elegant the A-body cars the preceded them were.
You are sounding very Canukulheadish. It is not possible to create an entirely new car and/or power train over night, particularly in those years it took years since a lot of it was still done with slide rules and at the drafting board.
From your position in CA the Rabbit may have seemed like the tide turning but in reality across the US it was just a drop when it was introduced and didn’t really catch on until the second energy crisis. The Accord also didn’t amount to much when it was introduced either. At that time if you didn’t live on the west coast Honda Car dealerships were far and few between. In the case of cars, sales numbers are the proof of the tide turning.
Fact is when the Colonnades went to the drawing board longer, lower, wider was where the tide was going, again. Yes in 1974 the first energy crisis caused a dramatic shift in consumers buying patterns, it put the Pinto at the top of the sales charts beating ousting the perinial best sellers the traditional “standard” or “full size car”. GM did respond as quickly as was possible, they started development of the FWD X bodies. Of course just as in the early 60’s the American public’s fascination with really small cars quickly waned as the energy crisis passed. People were looking for the proverbial “right sized” car which was the Colonnades which put the Cutlass as the then midsized offering on top where it stayed for quite a few years. They got lucky with the timing of the second energy crisis so they struck gold with the new FWD X bodies at least until the fact that they did a hurry up due to the second energy crisis bit them in the you know where when they turned out to be so problematic.
Fact is the tide did not shift to FWD cars until the 80’s with those era’s GM X and A, Escort, Chrysler’s K and the Camry.
As far as comparing the Rabbit and Colonnades to modern cars I’d say in many ways the Colonnades are closer in concept to where cars are going today. Sure the Rabbit is FWD but on the other hand the last couple of decades has been the longer, lower, wider, heavier, more thirsty, thing all over again. Compare today’s best sellers Accord & Camry to one of just 10 years ago or even worse to the original versions.
Another FWD cars that was influential at the time was the Fiat 127 that was the best selling car in Europe pretty much throughout the Colonnades’ run. Opel and Vauxhall meant that GM would have been well aware that the best selling car in Europe was FWD. Austin in the UK had also been making waves with a few families of FWD cars, of them the Mini and MG 1100 had made the trip over in the ’60s, as did Citroens. On the US market pre-74 were Audi, FIAT 128, Lancia, NSU, Saab, Simca, and Subaru. Renault brought over a few FWD cars too. The Honda Civic showed up as a 1973 model, and showed just how badly traditional automotive architecture worked for GM on a subcompact scale. The Colonnades really were quite anachronistic even in their own time, something that became painfully clear when GM used them as reference points for the next decade to emphasize how efficiently packaged everything they produced after the Colonnades seemed in comparison.
Regarding Accord: The transformation of that FWD penalty box into the current FWD not-quite-bloat-mobile shows that no one is immune to size creep. The VW Rabbit has zero commonality with a modern car wrt size or horsepower. It was simply too small. This is demonstrated most shockingly by putting a new Mini beside a classic, a new Fiat 500 beside a Cinquecento, or even a new Corolla beside the original hatch. A very common trap, one that even Paul falls into from time to time. A modern car is rightfully a fusion of the Colonnade body style (three box saloon) with FWD powertrain. As unthinkable a modern car with the Cutlass’ thirst is, so is a modern car with the original Rabbit’s size or power (if you are in the USA).
The Colonnades were developed in 1969-70, with a planned introduction in the fall of 1971 as 1972 models. The long, bitter strike against GM by the UAW in 1970 pushed their introduction date back one year.
At the time these cars were developed, fuel economy was not a huge concern for most buyers. When Popular Mechanics surveyed owners of the 1969 Cadillac Eldorado, it found that most averaged 9.7 mpg in town, and 12.3 mpg on long trips. The highest figure for the 1969 Chevrolet Impala was 15 mpg on long trips and 12.3 mpg around town (with the 350 V-8). The muscle cars with the biggest engines were regularly recording “economy” figures in the single digits.
During this era, Car and Driver actually considered dropping the fuel economy figures from its charts, as the editors thought that most readers simply didn’t care!
Remember that fuel economy figures for virtually all cars would get WORSE in the early 1970s as the first emissions standards took hold. Fuel economy finally bottomed out for the 1974 model year, and improved for 1975 as catalytic converters were adopted by most manufacturers, and engines could be retuned for better economy and performance.
When the Colonnade cars were introduced, getting 13 mpg probably didn’t seem so bad to most buyers. A fair number of buyers were swapping late 1960s muscle cars for the new coupes, as a wife and children were altering their priorities. Going from 8 mpg to 13 mpg probably seemed like a good deal at the time.
These cars came to market in the fall of 1972, or a full year before the Arab Oil Embargo. And they were huge hits. They successfully fought back the challenge posed by the bloated 1972 Ford Torino (the 1972 model allowed Ford to outsell the Chevelle/Malibu for the first time since the latter car had debuted in 1964). They pretty much put Chrysler Corporation’s intermediates on the ropes. And they would sell strongly right up until their final year on the market, despite a great deal of size overlap with the downsized GM full-size cars and competition from the 1977 Ford Thunderbird.
In hindsight, it’s easy to criticize GM, but the simple fact is that these cars were huge hits when they were introduced, and sold well throughout their run.
Paddleford Oldsmobile? Wow, that was in Palo Alto. It’s now a Whole Foods Market.
Yep. My Uncle worked in the parts department from 1963 til it closed in 1987, then he transferred to Pearson in Sunnyvale until he retired in 1996. It’s so weird to think there were Cutlasses now where there’s overpriced organic produce….
I clearly remember 3 of These… 1 a Weak V6 Pontiac Wagon 73-74 green with fake wallpaper siding…Slow, Weezy
a 73 Olds Sipreme Brown /Tan…
and my Sisters 74? 75 or Was It A Buick Lexus Century wagon? She Loved It Enough To keep it longer than her husband would prefer… She had gladly traded the Colony Park for The GM Wagon, size is easier to handle…ok..
I Think she finally was Given a NEw Continental after the Valentino model came out.
Oh my…here we go again…
I actually did like a couple of these – the Pontiac Grand Am and the Cutlass Supreme. I won’t tell these stories again, but you sure got a ton(s) of inefficient metal for your money. I didn’t buy either one, of course.
Having said that, is it any wonder that I went to AMC in the late 70’s and on to Chrysler K-Cars?
About a year ago I missed the opportunity to purchase a ’75 Cutlass coupe for the paltry sum of $700 in the local Craigslist. Four-barrel rocket 350 engine and bucket seats with floor shift and center console. The body was straight and rust-free, but the interior was destroyed.
The car was listed for sale for months before the ad was finally pulled. To this day I’m still not sure whether I missed an opportunity or dodged a bullet
I have a vaguely similar story, my father and grandmother both owned a 1979-80 LTD/Fairlane (302 & 351 Cleveland V8s) for about 12 years before trading them on new models which had the 3.9/4.0 inline 6 & 4sp auto as it was just before they brought back the V8. My grandmother kept her new Fairlane for another 10-12 years before trading it on a Camry, while my father turned his over regularly via leasing for his business for about the same time, the subsequent cars were all 5.0 V8s.
My best friend and bandmate in high school’s third car was a 1976 Cutlass Supreme (after a humiliating Daewoo and a super comfy 87 Park Avenue). Black, with black vinyl top and black interior. Only bit of color was a sinister red pinstripe. We thought it was just the most bad ass looking thing on wheels.
I drove it a few times. Being used to cars from the 80’s and 90’s, it was a unique experience, as if driving by mail. It felt like I had to turn the steering wheel fourteen revolutions before I got around a corner–made scarier by the fact that from the driver’s seat, I could see nothing but big black square hood and sky. Then, I’d mash the gas pedal and it’d eventually get up and go pretty well, but it was as if it wasn’t until a couple of days later. Same with the breaks. Had to stand on them.
Then again, lots of hyperbole in my memories of the car may have something to do with the fact that this was back when we were passing the bowl back and forth just about any time we were in that car (I don’t do that anymore!). Bad idea, for many reasons, but also considering that frightening interior. Tiny rear windows, black vinyl and plastic everywhere; being trapped in the back was just a terrible experience. I almost had a panic attack back there one night!
But we really liked that car. Sad to get rid of it, but I believe it ended up in the hands of an amateur racer who put a roll cage in it and all that. Not sure if the Olds 350 is still in it.
The “Cocaine Cutlass,” what a hoot. Great to read a heartfelt family story that doesn’t sugarcoat anything. I winced a little when you mention your Dad’s emphysema, Laurence. My Mom hasn’t smoked in 30 years but the damage was done and she’s feeling it now.
I had a 73 Cutlass Supreme 4 door – reddish brown with tan interior and tan vinyl roof. Really pretty. Bought because I thought I needed 4 doors working in commercial real estate in Dallas. Turns out clients would meet us at whatever building they were considering so back seat not needed and was rarely used. After a summer of Dallas heat I tried to open a back door. Turns out the large, soft window seals had melted to the window. Huge mess. Olds replaced under warranty. Told me this was a huge problem with all colonnade cars. Replacement seals were just fine – never gave any problem and sealed nice an tight so wind noise was not a problem. Yet another example of GM having the customers doing the beta testing.
Isn’t it supposed to be `CUTLASS SALOON’ (with an extra O) in the third picture from the top?
>Isn’t it supposed to be `CUTLASS SALOON’ (with an extra O) in the third picture from the top?<
Nope. It was sort of a European affectation. Saloons in the states have always been drinking establishments, not sedans.
Absolutely love love love the colonnades. I had a 77 cutlass s442 in the 80’s with the 4speed manual.. Tried to show I was mature at the age of 25 and traded her for a Buick estate wagon. Diesel. Need I say more? Still have dreams of the old girl I named Minerva. 3years ago I came across a craigslist list ad for a 75 Buick Regal colonnade. Bought her immediately. Drove her until this February when I traded her for a 2006 Keystone Zeppelin 30 ft super slide travel trailer. Better trade then the diesel. Ps. Love my wagons too. Had 7 and still have my 1988 Oldsmobile Custom cruiser. 48,000 miles new and FOR SALE
The first time I borrowed money to buy a car was for a 76 Monte in 78. Red with white landau over white swivel buckets, red interior, and it had white tape stripes on the hood, fenders and trunk lid. i also loved the 400, 4bbl. I loved that car so much that I drove it through both oil embargos. Thanks for stirring up a great memory!
The colonnades are by far my favorite generation of GM midsize. My first experience with one was my dad’s rusted out auction-special ’77 Supreme 2-door. It was that awful “mandarin” color with camel vinyl bench interior, 350-4bbl & THM350 transmission. The build sheet behind the back seat revealed the car was built in Arlington, TX & was delivered to Hertz Rent-a-Car somewhere around Dallas. Hertz went all out & sprung for A/C, remote driver’s mirror, full wheelcovers, and an AM radio. No tilt, no clock, no rear speaker but thankfully no 1/2 vinyl top either. I loved the exhaust sound of the Olds V8 and it moved out quite quickly to be a 70’s era smog-strangled high-geared car. The Olds 350 (& Cadillac 425) were my favorite late 70’s engines…they ran forever…..
When I finally got a license I had the pleasure of owning a very nice ’73 442 for three or four years. I agree with Laurence in that the rear end of the ’73 looked fantastic — My 442 was really a 431 and came in that awful pale yellow/beige color with black stripes, black vinyl bench seat interior, 350-4, single exhaust. It had the base instrumentation which consisted of a speedo & a fuel gauge.
It had about five or six louvers in the hood directly over the engine. It looked awesome but water pooled up on the air cleaner & intake manifold & they both got quite scaly,,,scaly enough to where the intake manifold bolt heads became rusty blobs.
Cornering was fun since it handled well with the rear stabilizer bar. My butt broke traction on the slippery vinyl bench seat though since the sorry base seat belt receptacles crumbled away. I’d still own the car but I could not live with the beige and the column-shifted automatic. I was young, poor, and knew changing the color was beyond my means…it was too nice to monkey with so I did the responsible thing and traded it even up at a car lot for a ragged out V6 4-speed Fiero which I enjoyed for many years.
My favorite colonnade Cutlass is the ’76 Supreme. I love the square headlight, waterfall grille, and unusual taillights. When I was just a kid living in Illinois, I remember a lot of these cars lost their rear bumpers due to rust. Some cars had fist size holes on each side…then the bumpers would start to break apart & tilt rearwards. Eventually the bumper would fall off & all you’d see were the bumper shocks.
The ’77’s lost the 455 option & cool “ball” A/C vents in the dash but the Broughams got a wild new interior pattern.
My ultimate colonnade Cutlass would have to be a Lime ’76 Supreme Coupe with white interior and either a 260/5-speed or a 455/THM400 powertrain. 455 & 5-speed cars are very rare. A close second would be a loaded out Brougham.
“The ’77′s lost the …. cool “ball” A/C vents in the dash”
Supposedly, the dies wore out and a new dash vent design was created, since so many Cutlasses sold.
Regarding the base price Cutlass ad above, the recession of 74-75 hurt car sales, along with inflation. The MSRP jump for 1975 models was near $1000 [in 1974 cash], and most required costly unleaded gas, so buyers kept their leaded gas powered old cars.
Thus, in the winter of ’75, many ‘S’ stripped models appeared in ads and Auto Shows. [Also, Chrysler started the ‘buy a car, get a check’ program, aka rebates]. It wasnt until 1976-78 model years that sales improved, as people got used to the prices. But, in reality the time was the ‘eye of the storm’ between the 2 Oil Crisises.
I owned and love a burt orange/ tan 75 98 Regency, a burgandy/ white 75 Cutlass S(special edition), a lime green 78 Cutlass Supreme, a Black/Silver 79 Cutlass Brougham(2 tone), a burgandy 81 Toronado, a white/gray 98 Intigue, a silver/charcoal 99 Aurora. And all are fondly remembered but I’d buy the 75 Cutlass S again.
My brother in law had a 1975 Cutlass Supreme coupe, 350 V-8, a/c, gold with black vinyl top and interior. I spent many days in that car growing up. I can still hear that distinct Oldsmobile 350 sound. I always thought the a/c vents were so cool as was the dash in general. It was stolen from a local mall in 1980 and recovered. I don’t think he kept it long after that – he said it didn’t feel the same after the theft. Our next door neighbor also had a 1975 coupe, silver with the burgundy swivel bucket seat option. It had the 260 V-8 which at the time I thought was kinda weird. I always thought the seat cushions that could be reversed were so cool. It seems like they had that car forever. We used to go to the beach in it a lot every summer. I remember the back seat being really tight. I think their oldest son ended up totalling it.
I have an all original, very nice 1975 Pontiac Grand Am Collonade Coupe. White, red/white interior (white seats ,red dash door panels and headliner. 400 4bbl. Catalyic converter is long gone with real dual exhaust now. I love this car. The Grand Am was probably the best of the Collonades. Motor Trend’s test in September 1972 said only one other American car outhandled it and that was the Corvette. It was bigger than it probably should have been but still super cool. I had been looking for a first generation Grand Am for years when I found this all original, rust free, 76K mile example. AC still works, Cruise works and so does the 8-track!!
Thought you might like to see this, since there so few still around. Took me a long time to find it. The color was called Mayan Gold. It has 73,000 original miles. Sold to me by a vintage car dealer in Chicago, who bought it from the original owner (or his estate) in Kansas.