1977 Oldsmobile Cutlass S - Family Heirloom

 

This librarian's special of an automobile no doubt has been able to survive four decades by being a cherished family heirloom. It was probably Grand Ma or Grand Dad's "last car" and someone in the family held onto it as a keep sake or thought that it would be an appreciating asset. After all these years, it's time to sell "The Oldsmobile" and you have to believe that if it was held onto with the idea that it would one day become a little nest egg, a 529 fund isn't going to get as large a deposit as once anticipated.

Usually, a bone stripper like this, which is so bereft of options it may have started life as a rental, right down to it's 1977 only, Buick V-6, are completely beat to death by now. If they're even still running. Priced appropriately at just $3,800, this Cutlass is a good value but it will still be hard for the owner to find a buyer. These cars are not sought after by collectors and with this Buick V-6 reducing performance to a veritable standstill, most interested buyers would take one look under the hood and walk away without even so much as a test drive. At least it's not powered by an Oldsmobile Diesel, those being in development as this thing went over the curb brand new.

Even those seeking a cheap car might test drive it and think something's wrong with it and walk the other way. No. Nothing's wrong with this car; it just has an absurd power to weight ratio that's all. Sorry, who ever it was who coined the phrase that it's more fun to drive a slow car fast than drive a fast car fast never drove one of these two ton brutes with only 110 horsepower.

To the engine crane you say? Well, perhaps it would make sense if you just happened to have a good engine in your garage already and you were doing the work yourself. Otherwise, a solid junk yard engine, transmission and rear axle swap will run you in the neighborhood of at least $2500. Not bad, right? Again, that's with you doing the work. Figure $5500-$7000 for a shop to do it. You could be into more than ten grand on this car easily if you went with a custom build engine and you'll never see that money back if you were to flip it.

Hope you really like these car since what you'd have then is a non numbers matching, 1977 Oldsmobile Cutlass; these 1973-1977 Colonnades have never gotten the love that I, for one, feel they should have. Even if they aren't hard tops. Too bad. Grand Dad's "last car" deserves better.