1983 Oldsmobile Cutlass - Old Man Smell

I just blogged about a 1986 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme so this one will be brief. This 1983 Cutlass Supreme Brougham popped up on Facebook Marketplace recently, I swear I wasn't looking for it but rather than another soliloquy about my personal experience with these cars or a deep dive on the history of GM "A- and G-bodies", I'll focus on this car itself and determine if it's worth my time to kick its cheesy fake wire wheel covers. Asking price is $6,000. 

While I'd prefer a Cutlass Supreme or Cutlass Calais, this car ain't all bad. She's only had two-owners, there are just 88,000-miles on her, and there's a smooth and sturdy Oldsmobile 307 V-8 under the hood. Downside, it has a prone to failure, three-speed THM200 automatic, the AC doesn't work, gas gauge is inaccurate and while the frame is allegedly solid, there are a number of rust issues. Like this. 

And this...

and this. 

Whoops. Missed a couple. There's also this...

And this. Good grief, are those cobwebs? 

Let's give the poster of the ad credit for attempting to be as disclosing as possible. However, I don't care how old a car is or how much I'm paying for it, the slightest rust bubble to me is a deal killer since even the teeny, tiniest bubble is just the tip of the iceberg. And this car has a lot of icebergs. 

                                                                                     

I say I'd prefer a Cutlass Supreme over a Brougham because of these seats. Buyers who checked the "Brougham" box on the Cutlass order form got these "loose, tufted pillow-top" seats straight out of an Oldsmobile 98 Regency that somehow and someway came to connotate luxury. My 1986 Pontiac Grand Prix Brougham had them and they were lumpy back breakers - I could never get comfortable in them or on them. What's more, if you have an oldie with these wretched things, every once in a while, have them professionally deep cleaned to get rid of that "old man" smell these cars are famous for. 

                                                                                            

If you look closely, that gap between the front of the door and the back of the front fender is suspiciously large and the chrome trim on the bottom appears to jut around from where the door trim is too. Why would that be? Pictures don't lie and that could only look worse in person. This car could be a handful. And for six-grand? Sorry, as much as I love these cars, this one too despite the interior, I'd make a hard pass on.