My new to me $1000 Oldsmobile

[journeyforce]

Back in July I came upon a ad in Craigslist for a nice condition 1985 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme for $1000. I said what the heck? Why not. I can never turn down a nice old car(especially and Oldsmobile and one for $1000) so I bought it.

It is a 1985 Oldsmobile Cutlass sedan(the sedan is rare and only 20,000-30,000 of them were sold every year from 80-87 verses 100,000 of the coupe) It had the slow but reliable Buick 3.8l v6 and the leather top.

When I got the car it had a cracked grill and broken power drivers seat(it is hard to find a working power seat in these cars) so I bought a replacement grill from a 1984 Cutlass sedan and converted the power seat to manual by switching out the seat tracks with one in the junk yard. I also dumped the wire wheel covers in favor of ones from a 1966-1968 Oldsmobile. I also added a FM modulator(the kind that connects to the radio) for my iPod so I could keep the factory radio.

The dash looks perfect with no cracks(the headliner is another story and I will ether remove it completely or remove it and reglue it.(right now it is held up with Hello Kitty tape courtesy of the past owner)

It will make a nice winter beater car(unlike the majority of folks out there my area, I know how to drive a RWD vehicle in snow and rain having grown up driving them) The fake top looks great for 27 years old and the carb is working well(2 pumps of the gas pedal when cold and it starts up)

I need to re- vacuum line the engine and shim the starter but this is minor stuff

So here are some pics

The pic in the CL ad


What it looked like when I got it home







pay no attention to the steering wheel cover, it was from the former owner

What it looks like with the vintage hubcaps



At night


Close up of hubcaps





Only 91,710 miles


Very smooth on the road and gets about 22-24 mpg if I don't run it hard

It is slow with 110hp(the base 1.8l Vibe is faster )

I had and daily drove a 1987 Cutlass sedan in 2004

[ColonelPanic]

That was a great platform. I had an '82 Monte Carlo and secretly preferred the Cutlass Supreme for its more plush interior. Your Buick 3.8 was a far better engine than my Chevy 3.8 (229 cu in.) for certain.

80's GM headliners flapping in the breeze are par for the course -- mine was held up with thumb tacks.

The 4-doors were quite rare indeed, I guess most folks in the era opted for the Ciera or upsized to an Eighty Eight instead. One thing I didn't really like about the sedans were the fixed rear windows and only the tiny vent windows that opened. Cool that you found a 4-door though -- now that I think about it, I guess that's the one to get since the coupes have been mostly been ruined with the gangsta 20-something inch weels and such...

Anyway, good find!

[Cougar Vibe]

People always bagged on these cars, but they really were comfortable and reliable (for 80's vehicles).

I had an '86 Regal back in '94 and thought it was God's gift to motoring: A/C, power windows, power locks, landau top (I think that was name), wire wheel covers (not cheap) and plenty of 3.8L power for my suburban needs. After a lot of polishing/waxing (NuFinish!), Armor All and tire foam, it was a pretty sweet ride...ended up selling it to a Hispanic fella' who had been stalking me for about three months, wanting to buy it. Made a healthy profit considering I was only in to it for elbow grease, cleaners and a few vanilla trees.

Sure, it wasn't a Grand National, but it was the best money-to-value car I ever had.

C_V

[journeyforce]

That was a great platform. I had an '82 Monte Carlo and secretly preferred the Cutlass Supreme for its more plush interior. Your Buick 3.8 was a far better engine than my Chevy 3.8 (229 cu in.) for certain.

80's GM headliners flapping in the breeze are par for the course -- mine was held up with thumb tacks.

The 4-doors were quite rare indeed, I guess most folks in the era opted for the Ciera or upsized to an Eighty Eight instead. One thing I didn't really like about the sedans were the fixed rear windows and only the tiny vent windows that opened. Cool that you found a 4-door though -- now that I think about it, I guess that's the one to get since the coupes have been mostly been ruined with the gangsta 20-something inch weels and such...

Anyway, good find!

Its funny that you mention the rear vent windows. On my 87(the one in the last pic) the vent windows were manual but on this 85 they are power vent windows. The 4th pic of the car shows the drivers door with all the switches. The two in the middle between the mirror and the lock buttons on the bottom of the door are the vent window buttons. The two buttons in the fake wood on the top of the door are the drivers and pass front windows.

It had almost every option offered for the Cutlass that year (except for the 4spd auto trans, 307 V8(no great loss as that engine was just as slow) and the remote pass mirror.

The dealer C&O motors of St. Albans WV is still in business and sells Chevy and Toyota products (I think the C&O stood for Chevy & Oldsmobile back in the day)

I am actually considering another G Body as we speak, a nice 87 Monte with the fuel injected 4.3l V6 as a daily driver but who knows

[ColonelPanic]

That would be a great choice for a Monte... I loved the look of the 'LS' models toward the end. And I thought the TBI'ed 4.3 would have been a lot easier to live with than the lousy computerized 2 bbl carb my '82 had. I never could get it to run right consistently (though how I fixed it up after a small engine fire thanks to a leaky valve cover probably didn't help. But hey, it was $500 and otherwise perfect with 84k when I bought it. lol)

Around '96, I found an '87 LS with something like 10,000 miles on it. It was a little old lady car that sat in the garage all the time. It was pretty basic but absolutely like new including the original tires (no safety issue there. ) If they didn't want $15k for it back then I would have bought it and I bet I would still have it today!

[trb]

Nice looking Olds! As I mentioned before, an 81 Cutlass LS was my first car. I learned all kinds of stuff working on that car. I'd forgotten all the changes they made to the later models, with the steering wheel and the different light switches and such. If you really want a rare one, how about the fastback style 4 door models they had for a few years? I wonder if there are any of them still around.

[jake75]

In 2001 I inherited a 1986 Buick Century from my 90 year old dad. Used it as our 2nd car. It had only 30,000 miles on it. In Jan. 2003 When GM made me a deal (rebates, GM Card Points etc) that reduced the msrp by $5,000 on a 2003 Vibe I decided to sell the Buick - I think I got $750. Unfortunately the young man that bought this car had it stolen a year later - they were in demand by chop shops for parts.

[journeyforce]

Nice looking Olds! As I mentioned before, an 81 Cutlass LS was my first car. I learned all kinds of stuff working on that car. I'd forgotten all the changes they made to the later models, with the steering wheel and the different light switches and such. If you really want a rare one, how about the fastback style 4 door models they had for a few years? I wonder if there are any of them still around.

I am sure the older steering wheels were more durable as this one is made up of thin light plastic molded to a metal ring that cracks. There are chunks missing from it which is why the cover is on the wheel. When I get motivation, I will look for a padded one from a 1982-1993 Cutlass Ciera to replace it.

[cptnsolo77]

Looks great ! now all you need is a big block & leave the factory wheels on it...LOL

[jake75]

Wacko man! Can we vote on a shunning? [Is he trying to sell us something?]