1978 Oldsmobile Cutlass - Chevymobile

Back in the late 1970's General Motors found themselves in a bit of hot water for not disclosing they were using Chevrolet engines in Oldsmobile's. It blew over quickly as the 10,000 or so buyers who bought new Oldsmobile's prior to a certain date, that were powered with Chevrolet engines as opposed to Oldsmobile's, getting a warranty extension or $550 refund. All in, there were more than 75,000 1977 Oldsmobile's that were powered by Chevrolet built engines. 

I remember my father quite upset by it as his generation in particular was ram-rodded by GM into believing in Alfred Sloan's venerated if not vaunted "pricing ladder". In short, that an Oldsmobile was somehow superior to a Chevrolet and that would include everything about one from the bumpers to the engine. In reality, though, the only thing an Oldsmobile had going over a comparable Chevrolet was a higher price tag. 

This 1978 Oldsmobile Cutlass is powered by a Chevrolet built, 305 cubic-inch V-8 and from the looks of things, someone seems quite proud of that fact too. As they should. The Chevrolet small block V-8, in it's original iteration or one of its many variations, was and is a great engine especially with regards to being reliable and durable.  

The controversy centered around Oldsmobile's new-for-1977 "88" models. Oldsmobile fit many of them with Chevrolet 350 cubic-inch V-8's as opposed to venerated Oldsmobile "Rockets". The actual reason why they did that has never been disclosed although I surmise Chevrolet engines were less expensive to manufacture than the Oldsmobile's. Again, to a generation reared on an Oldsmobile axiom that it was superior to a Chevrolet, such things were heretic. 

Our Cutlass here stuffed with a Chevy actually makes sense since at the time, Oldsmobile didn't make an engine with that magic number of five-liter's of engine displacement that was seemingly the go-to in many a late '70's to early '80's GM make. Oldsmobile "buying" 305's from Chevrolet before they eventually built their own "five-point-oh" starting in 1980. Buick didn't build one either so they "bought" 5-liter engines from Pontiac as well as Chevrolet. For the record, the Pontiac mill displaced 4.9 liters or 302 cubic-inches; someone at GM thought buyers would think the "Pontiac 302" was a Ford engine so they claimed it displaced 301 cubic-inches. 

No one made a federal case of that fact or got a rebate, refund or extended warranty either. 

Compared to the Oldsmobile diesel engine fiasco that was brewing when this '78 Cutlass wore its original paint scheme, it may have been white but the gold trim is certainly not O.G., the "Chevymobile" controversy was relatively inconsequential. Besides, GM had been using four and six-cylinder engines in vehicle makes and models built by other divisions for years so the great "V-8 debate" rings fairly hollow and wreaks of profiteering on the part of the whistle blowers. 

Still, GM should have been more transparent with the switch-a-roo. 

Cadillac even used an Oldsmobile engine in their 1975 Seville albeit it was fitted with Bendix fuel-injection that was exclusive to Cadillac making it, I guess, not an "Oldsmobile" and more like a "Cad-mobile"?